In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the namesake protagonist is caught in the ever present struggle between right and wrong. Throughout the play, many characters are seduced by the corruption of power. Macbeth’s fate is decided when he makes a series of bad choices to follow his ambitions towards power and sends him on a path of self destruction.
Throughout the play, Macbeth’s actions are controlled by either his quest to gain more power, or by the manipulative power that his wife, Lady Macbeth, holds over him. When the play begins, the reader sees that Macbeth is already a man of great power, for he is a successful General and the Thane of Glamis. His pride is fueled once he receives a prophecy from three witches, who tell him that he will become King of Scotland. This intensifies his ambitious desire for power and he will do anything to gain it. At the threat of his dignity as a man, he is persuaded by his wife to pursue the prophecy. Under strict orders from his wife, he is forced to murder the current King. It is shown that Lady Macbeth truly holds power over him, for when Macbeth hesitates to murder the King, Lady Macbeth calls him a coward and that he is not a man. Through the murder of the King, Macbeth’s growing lust for
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Without these events, the entire play would lose its meaning. If Lady Macbeth had not made him kill King Duncan, there wouldn’t be a play. However, this did not happen, and this caused Macbeth to be thrown onto the path of self destruction which was intensified by his blind ambition for more power over others, he wants to be in control over as many people as possible. This overconfidence caused by his fatal flaw led to his demise. The power blinded him, and only continued to poison him as the play progressed. The constant struggle for power caused many unnecessary deaths, and it ruined his once perfect