Kareem Hosan Ms. Tran English 10, Period 4 8 April, 2024. Hell’s Hunger for the Power-Hungry. Having fallen through the boiling pits of hell, one finds themselves at the only gate that welcomes them. Once a king hoarding power, you have lost all grace through your horrific actions. Upon arrival, Plutus unlocks the gate to your new home, the fourth circle in Dante’s Inferno, greed. One of Shakespeare’s greatest representations of greed stems from the tragic play Macbeth. Originally performed in 1606, Macbeth still reigns as one of the most influential stories in history. This play presents the story of the tragic hero, Macbeth, demonstrating the reality of the power hungry. This concept of how power can alter someone’s desires into an obsession is a consistent message …show more content…
They never bonded as royalty, only hanging onto each other to keep their fragile positions as king and queen. This hunger for power is the main driving factor that compels them to share no empathy for one another. With friends or lovers, Macbeth shows how one can easily ruin their relationships to feed their desire for power. Similar to breaking relationships, Macbeth shows how one’s hunger for power can drive one to lose loyalty and respect for their nation. This was best seen in Macbeth’s relationship with King Duncan. After his first confrontation with the witches, Macbeth is quite conflicted about taking the king’s life. He felt it would leave Scotland in a shattered state and betray his morals as one of King Duncan’s most appreciated generals. On the other hand, he felt he could benefit from the king’s death. In a soliloquy, he recalls, “Vaulting ambition, which o'er leaps itself / And falls on th' other” (1.7.27-28). This message indicates that his only motive for killing Duncan and becoming king is his ambition for power. He knows the fault in this when he mentions “which o'er leaps itself / And