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Macbeth Power Essay

1385 Words6 Pages

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 meeting his tragic flaw, ultimately resulting in the character drowning in the fear of defeat, making a misjudgment as he approaches his downfall. In Shakespeare’s play titled Macbeth, Macbeth develops an internal desire for greater influence over Scotland, going against his morals as he murders those in line to …show more content…

Therefore, not only must he continue in order to cope with the guilt, but Macbeth ironically finds the need to gain more power so nobody can take it away from him. As the Battle at Dunsinane approaches, Macbeth determines that he has experienced enough horror throughout his journey to be king. He states that “‘direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, cannot once start me’” (Shakespeare 5.5). At this point, Macbeth knows that he is guilty of the terror of the entire country, and fears that anyone can take power from him. Consequently, he simply desires to remain in his position of power for as long as possible. However, because of this immense feeling of guilt, nothing else troubles him. As a result, due to his incessant reminders of guilt, he is unable to recognize the genuine threat of Macduff, facing his downfall as his power dies with him. Although Macbeth develops guilt over the course of the plot, he finds ways to justify his actions, hoping to morally explain the purpose of

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Dismiss me, enough” (V. i. 78-79), “None of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth.” (V. i. 87-89), and Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until / Great Birnam wood / to high Dunsinane hill / Shall come against him. (V. i. 101-103.) These visions lead Macbeth to be so blindsided that he puts himself in danger.

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The play entitled Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth, a loyal and brave thane to the king. When a prophecy reveals he will become king, Macbeth is overcome with ambition and greed. Convinced of this prophecy and the encouragement from his wife, he is able to kill the king and take the throne. Although Macbeth was able to obtain the throne, he was was overwhelmed by power and guilt leading to internal conflict, which suggests that success is not desirable through cheating and corruption and ultimately cost more than its actually worth, Macbeth`s reckless pursuit of killing and becoming the king is representative of the power he has and what he is able to do with the power he's gained; therefore. His relentless ambition for king reveals the guilt behind power.

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Macbeth's desire to "make assurance double sure" by having Macduff killed reveals his paranoia and his willingness to use violence to maintain his power. Macbeth believes that by eliminating all possible threats to his reign, he will be able to sleep peacefully and without fear. However, this ultimately leads to his downfall, as his violent actions bring about his own demise. Additionally, as declared in Document E, "I bear a charmed life, which must not yield to one of woman born. " This augments Macbeth's character flaw of overconfidence because despite the many warnings and signs that his reign is coming to an end, Macbeth remains overconfident and complacent.

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Greed causes even the best of men to brood immoral intentions. The Tragedy, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, describes the flaws of human nature and the traumatic effects unrestrained ambition may cause. The play commences, featuring Macbeth as an eminent, highly esteemed Thane and loyal warrior to the king; however, after being prophesied by the three witches, a torch of ambition is lit. Furthermore, upon hearing the witches prophecies, his reputation is downgraded as he steps into a realm of evil, and more tragically, finds that he has “in blood stepped in so far that should [he] wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er”. After murdering the rightful king of Scotland, Duncan, and therefore subsequently, one murder leads to another; to a point where he cannot return from his life of evil “I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er”.

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Instead, it tears Macbeth and his wife apart, as he slowly descends into madness, haunted by visions born of his misdeeds. Lady Macbeth, consumed by guilt, takes her own life. Macbeth finds himself trapped in a vicious cycle of violence, compelled to commit further atrocities – the murders of Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff's family – to cover his tracks and maintain his ill-gotten power. This downward spiral of dire consequences and poor decisions ultimately alienates him from all he once held dear, transforming the once-honored warrior into a dishonorable tyrant, despised by his subjects until his inevitable demise. The play demonstrates that morality and ethics serve as the best countermeasures to keep ambition in check.

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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.”

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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

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Simply put, power is everything. Those with power are calculated, doing anything to maintain control. Those who lack power yearn for it. They will do anything to get it within their grasp. These ideas are prevalent throughout Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

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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.

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In one of Shakespeare's most popular tragedies, ‘Macbeth’, which was first staged in 1611, personal power is persistently emphasised and often prioritised more than authority. Initially, Macbeth, the protagonist, is shown to portray a captive attitude at the start of the play, despite having a high position of control in the army of King Duncan, until he experiences a downfall once the prophecy is revealed to him and decides to rush his way to destiny without waiting for it to happen. With his social power shown to increase every scene, his sanity and mental state deteriorate at an even faster pace, with him turning paranoid and seemingly lost at life towards the end of the play. His change in power is constantly altered throughout the performance;

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5-7). In this instance, Macbeth shows that he can feel guilt, and he exhibits this by demonstrating that he does not desire to end the life of a man whose family was already victimized at his hands. Guilt is the one thing throughout the entire play that stops Macbeth dead in his tracks and causes him to take a moment to consider his present and future courses of action. Although Macbeth was lead to commit murder by the witches’ manipulative predictions of the future, he is the one who ultimately makes the choices that prove that he is in control of his actions, even when his actions cause him to be filled with

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At the beginning of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ the protagonist Macbeth is described as ‘brave’, ‘noble’ and ‘honourable’, however Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeths desire for power consumes them. Macbeth’s ambition overrides his conscience and transformed his greatest strength into his greatest weakness. Macbeth’s inability to resist temptations that led him to be greedy for power, Macbeth’s easily manipulative nature which allowed his mind to be swayed, Macbeth having no self control and his excessive pride was what allowed him to renew his previously honourable and celebrated title into one of an evil ‘tyrant’. Macbeth is led by the prophecies of the witches after they foretell he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Not only the witches, but also his wife easily manipulate Macbeth as she attacks his manhood in order to provoke him to act on his desires.

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In Macbeth, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, Macbeth goes to the extreme, murder, in order to seize his place on the throne. Macbeth’s ambition for murder becomes ignited when he realizes the only way for him to quickly be the successor to the crown is to kill the current king, Duncan. As the play proceeds, he becomes increasingly paranoid about his place on the throne that he goes on a killing rampage, killing Duncan, his best friend, his best friend's child and his fellow nobleman including his family. Macbeth’s efforts proved nothing, ultimately being killed in the battle between himself and Malcolm, the rightful heir to the throne. Macbeth’s attitude toward pursuing his ambition transforms from willing to sacrifice his wellbeing, to thinking

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Power is always coveted in any society and the world of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is no different. In the play, Macbeth, a noble lord, shows his hunger for power with thoughts to remove an heir to the throne from power. Macbeth’s impatience to be king leads him to stain his honor by using murder. Macbeth travels further down the path of evil by arranging the assassination of a friend.

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Macbeth’s Moral Deterioration Throughout the years where ruling and power took place everyone has always wanted to feel powerful and wouldn't stop at any lengths to have it even if it means hurting others along the way and choosing the wrong path . For others not so much, but some will choose anything to have power for instance in the tragedy of Macbeth. This is a story of an unsuccessful ruler who became king by murdering and manipulation. He chose to kill and lie in order to have power. His immoral decisions eventually lead him into extreme feelings of guilt and remorse later on in the tragedy.

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