Everyone wants power. Even the most humble among us can be caught cutting in the line at Starbucks, cheating on a test, or using a tiny white lie on a resume to set ourselves apart. We all want to stand out and feel superior to the average Joe. Shakespeare’s Macbeth shows how fast a person can change as a result of the desire for power.
The Shakesperian play Macbeth is about drive and misfortune. There are different messages and themes in the story of Macbeth which depicts how it could affect an individual’s life. During the course of the story, we as the reader are capable of recognizing how easy it is for ambition to transform into greed. As the story progresses, we are able to view how the build up of the story leads to Macbeth’s eventual downfall. The events in Macbeth demonstrate the theme of how power corrupts and leads to greed and fear of losing the power.
The Deterioration of Macbeth In most of Shakespeare's works, there is always a certain theme. Romeo and Juliet’s theme was love and tragedy. Hamlet’s theme was the mystery of death. And the theme for Macbeth is power corruption, which I will elaborate on. In Macbeth, there are many times in which power corrupts Macbeth and he loses every bit of morality that he has.
The corruption of power in Macbeth In Shakespeare's Macbeth, he shows the theme of power and its corrupting influence on individuals and society. With this theme being such a large influence throughout the play, it leads to the characters having a strong desire for power and them going through great lengths to gain it. Two main characters throughout it demonstrate this: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth show how much they desire power and how it affects them and their kingdom because of their actions. To begin with, Shakespeare shows the corrupting influence of power on individuals and society. Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare shows how much power corrupted Macbeth.
A leader: someone who holds the power to influence people and situations into opportunities for success. However, it is that same power that can cause uprising and corruption. Within William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, this idea is expressed. Throughout the play, Shakespeare writes about a King who has lost his humanity, three witches messing with fate, and a Prince, who was once in hiding, finally winning back his title. All of these embody the relationship of leader and follower; showing the consequences of misdeeds, and the successes gained from stability.
(A5,S5,L17) Macbeth has lost touch with his normal emotions because he is so preoccupied with his own ambition and remorse. The depth of his damaged mentality is revealed by his lack of empathy and indifference to his wife's passing. It's a tragic example of how shame and power may invade a person's body. Macbeth has ended up with a completely disturbed mind and now, as a result, throws away everything he cares about to only put himself on top and get rid of others and people in his way. Overall, Macbeth’s journey through the play goes from starting as a noble warrior to a disturbed mind.
Macbeth's guilt haunts him throughout the play, ultimately leading to his downfall. It is a warning that the pursuit of power at any cost can lead to disastrous consequences, not just for an individual but for an entire
Throughout life, following a moral compass is crucial and should control ambition, no matter what golden opportunities arise. Reality might have moments where ambition seems the better choice, but ceaseless ambition causes harm. Shakespeare’s Macbeth alludes to the question: as long as the final goal is achieved, should morality matter?
Greed for power leads corrupt leaders to pursue power through ruthless and violent ways, putting their countries in an unstable state. Macbeth commits murders and violent acts to earn his absolute power, but his corrupt mindset of yearning power leads to instability in the Scotland. After hearing from the witches, Macbeth admits that, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical/ Shakes so my single state of man/ That function is smother'd in surmise /and nothing is but what is not.”
Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a powerful person, but to what extent is he truly powerful? The play's writer made him a deeply complicated character showing an internal conflict between power-hungry ambitions and his mental ability to commit the actions to achieve his ambition. In the play of Macbeth, Shakespeare uses his character to portray the universal truth that dark desires to take more power will end up taking the power you already had. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is presented as a mighty warrior who leads his country to a victory over the traitor Macdonwald, at this point of the play he shows his great loyalty and respect to the kingdom he served we can see this in the quote ‘Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements’ the quote further presents his status as a great warrior and violent man who is not affected by the brutal killings he is
Macbeth’s Downfall to Power The human psyche inherently has a desire for power, whether it be an attempt to control others or escape domination and gain autonomy in one’s own life. Pleonexia, the extreme greed for something that rightfully belongs to others, acts as a toxic impulse in mankind, often resulting in immoral actions to obtain the power one desires. Literature emphasizes this corrupt mindset by depicting a character’s dissatisfaction with mediocre control. The character continuously craves more until facing his tragic flaw, ultimately resulting in the character drowning in the fear of defeat, making a misjudgment as he approaches his downfall.
A man, goaded by his wife, murders time and again to satisfy his hunger for power, slowly driving himself into insanity through his ambition. Ambition, both a blessing and a curse, lead Macbeth to a series of betrayals and murders of and by those closest to him. Conspiring with his wife in Act 1, Lady Macbeth had convinced Macbeth that by killing Duncan, King of Scotland, he could become the next King. He and Lady Macbeth planned the whole thing; who they would frame, how they would get past the guards, which one of them should be the one to do it, and how would they hide the knives once the deed had been accomplished. At the last second, Macbeth appeared to have a change of heart, but then his wife taunted him, insulting his manhood.
In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the soliloquy in Act 2.1 marks a pivotal point where the reader can closely analyze the gradual erosion of Macbeth’s character. The soliloquy provides a clear insight into the internal conflict faced by Macbeth. It becomes more and more evident throughout the play that hunger for power knows no bounds, and in its insatiable quest, it devours the valiancy and humanity that once dwelled in Macbeth. Shakespeare uses several literary devices throughout this passage in order to show the development of Macbeth’s character, and more importantly highlight the theme that unchecked ambition has the power to corrupt a human being.
What drives apparently good men to become ruthless, ambitious, jealous and greedy? We see an example of this in the play “Macbeth” performed at Pop Up Globe, directed by Tom Mallaburn, was written originally by the well-known author, William Shakespeare. Macbeth is based upon a big tragedy, where the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, inevitably were forced to do evil things due to their ambition; taste the sweetness of victory and then downfall again. Although the play was written by an English author, Shakespeare smartly sets his story based upon the idea of ambition, a concept that relates to all of us, no matter where we are from. We have to admit that in our minds, the concept of power and ambition is linked to men.
The play also illustrates the inner turmoil one can face and what it looks like to be eaten alive by guilt. As the audience watches Macbeth make increasingly corrupt decisions, their loyalties are slowly forced to shift. This change in Macbeth shows how humanity is capable of both good and
