“With great power comes great responsibility”, a quote that has been repeated over the ages and said to every person of power. Yet we ask ourselves from time to time, who among us deserves to rule and bear such a burden upon their shoulders? Well, Shakespeare in his play Macbeth reveals to us a message about power, its implications and consequences on human beings, and offers an answer to our question above.
When people come into a position of power the definition of power is altered and changed according to their perspective, where they believe that every decision that they take and do which hurts others and may even result in their demise is not of their responsibility, they would believe that what they are doing is the right thing no matter what it is and even if it is to others morally repugnant. And such people would do anything to remain in that position withholding power causing them into doing horrible things such as murder, deception, lying, bribery, coning and stealing. Now as we ponder through out this play we notice a drastic change in the one of the leading characters that is Macbeth, because of the power he held and of the greed that got the best of him, and turned him to his antithesis. At the commencement of the tragedy Macbeth was a noble man of high rank in the king’s army he was man who could be trusted with a person’s life. He fought for the king, for justice, fairness and for freedom, he was never afraid of anybody, he was never greedy, where he was humble and never aspired to be king. He was valiant and noble, where he defended the king’s honor and was a true gentleman. He truly embodied the idea of a man. His manhood was never questioned by anybody. He cared for his friends, especially Banquo who was hi...
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...agitated and angered where when he asked Macduff to attend the feast, Macduff refused and he considered it an insult and what made him even angrier was the fact the Macduff fled to England to where Malcolm was to join forces with him thus he sent the murders to slaughter Macduff’s family thinking that it was a resolution but actually it was truly a motive for Macduff to attack Macbeth.
In the end we can’t truly blame Macbeth for his actions because he is like any one of us, a human being with wants and needs he needs to satisfy. And any person in his position if he was kind trusting, fair would end up like Macbeth. We can only hope that when a person has power, that he uses it fairly and justly. This goes to show that no one on earth whom ever they may be must rule because power leads to greed which leads to the dark side of the individual, which leads to anarchy.
Macbeth is a very power greedy person. It is not necessarily his own doing that he is such a ruthless person. It all started (Macbeth being power greedy) with the Three Witches predictions: "All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of/ Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth!
Perhaps the most fundamental theme of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the inherent corruptibility of even a seemingly good man when ambition turns to greed, and Macbeth himself exemplifies this concept throughout the play. While at the outset he is seen to be loyal to his king, generally considered trustworthy, and displaying numerous other laudable qualities, Macbeth ultimately succumbs to the influence of those around him and becomes unequivocally evil, setting aside all his previously held morals and coming to be driven only by his lust for power. This transition is brought about by a wide variety of factors and plays an integral role in the development of the plot. In his tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs
The drastic measures for the attainment of power are necessary for any upcoming ruler to obtain what they desire. Macbeth had the right ambitions and aspirations when stepping up to rule Scotland, but unfortunately the increase in power increased his greed and paranoia which also painted a larger target upon his back. The people did not appreciate the means of how he obtained his power and especially did not appreciate the ways he kept and defended it. No evidence in the play exists to say Macbeth ruled as a tyrant one could speculate he was an excellent ruler like many that came before him but that would be a large speculation to make. Under the circumstances, Macbeth had great potential, but became corrupted and sank due to his greed, desires, and the opinion of his
When a person is in power, situations arouse where they can acquire anything by lying, bribing, conning, or stealing. With these in mind anybody in power could easily become a powerful foe.
What drove him to become a power hungry tyrant was his wife. She put ideas in his head that changed him. A day before Macbeth would not speak of the idea of killing the king and now he was considering it. By killing the Duncan, gaining the title and king, and not being caught, Macbeth was given an enormous boost. He now felt invincible and let power finally get to him and corrupt him. With this new amount of power, Macbeth was not willing to let it slip away. To protect his power, he did whatever was necessary. Macbeth cowardly had Banquo killed, going against everything he ever believed in. Killing Banquo was not enough for Macbeth. Shakespeare shows to the audience how power can make a person go higher in the world but at the same time make them more vulnerable. Macbeth was now vulnerable, to solve this he sent the murderers to kill Macduff.
"Power poisons every man who covets it for himself" (Chute 126). In the Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, the character, Macbeth, kills the respected King Duncan in his quest for power. However, during his rule, Macbeth demonstrates that he is incapable of mastering the power and responsibilities of being a king. His drive for power and maintaining his power is the source of his downfall. Macbeth is not meant to have authority beyond Thane of Cawdor. When Macbeth is king, he does not use his authority judiciously.
His metamorphosis all began with the confrontation with the ‘wayward sisters’. This was an inevitable ‘accident of life’, which was to have serious repercussions on Macbeths future role, as ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’, implying that beneath every human is a potential to be either. Although the stories are based on tyrants and their ability to gain power and pride through the scarification of others, I believe that the authors also attempted to describe the tyrants need to feel praised and express passion and anger. Their determination to reach what is most important to them, is the reason the two tyrants were able to reach absolute power, at different points in their command. Macbeth’s form of ruling was tyrannical in terms of how he reached the epitome of power that he achieved after killing King Duncan.
Power can transform even the most loyal of men. In Shakespeare’s gloomy and morbid Macbeth, nothing is as it seems. Even the most loyal characters are duplicitous in their nature, exemplified by Macbeth. The greatest Scottish warrior becomes power hungry in his quest to re-kindle his relationship with his wife, Lady Macbeth, and is thrown over the edge when he is not appointed the Prince of Cumberland, an honor he feels he deserves. This same hunger for power ultimately destroys Macbeth, leading him to betray all those he loves, including king Duncan, his friend Banquo, and his wife.
Humans are always fascinated by power. Sadly, they do not realize the danger of it until it is too late. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare's underscores how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both consumed by power. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth dominates Macbeth, manipulating him to kill Duncan. After the death of Duncan, Macbeth becomes ambitious, and hires murderers to kill Banquo without notifying Lady Macbeth. Even though he is a decorated soldier, when Macbeth rises to power, he becomes ruthless. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth becomes weak, and insane. Shakespeare illustrates how Macbeth’s obsession with power undermines his moral judgement, leads to his mental deterioration, and ultimately results in his death.
Macbeth started off as a noble, virtuous man, he was loyal to the king and was well respected by the other noblemen. The prophecies and hallucinations corrupted Macbeth’s intentions and as a result, Macbeth became power
It is in human nature that the more power one desires the more corrupt actions one must do to attain it. In Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, a Scottish noble's craving for power leads him to do terrible deeds that leads to his demise. Shakespeare shows that power corrupts by using Macbeth who corrupts under the thought of have power over others. Macbeth becomes corrupt under the thought of becoming king and gaining almost complete control over the people that he rules. Macbeth wants the power badly enough to do horrible deeds such as commit regicide. Lady Macbeth becomes very ambitious and allows herself to become seduced to the idea of becoming Queen. Her ruthlessness urges Macbeth to commit regicide by questioning his love for her and his own manhood.
Macbeth chooses the wrong path to accomplish his ambition. Killing Duncan is wrong and he knows it but can’t help himself. An example for dominance of power in addition to Macbeth can be presented in Brian De Palma’s movie Scarface. Al Pacino as Tony Montana creates excessive wealth from distributing cocaine because he thrives for power. As the movie progresses, the drugs make him crazy and he kills more and more people who die in violence followed by the main character. Similarly, Macbeth’s ambition for power becomes his weakness which finally brings tragedy to his character. He is a tragic hero because he can’t seem to help himself even though in the beginning he was good and was a hero in Scotland. Similarly to Dr. Mathur, Faith Nostbakken argues that “The witches do not completely determine Macbeth’s actions. If they did, Macbeth would simply be a victim rather than a tragic figure who suffers the consequences of his own choices. As he wades deeper and deeper into his own darkness, pulling the kingdom down with him, the weird sisters spur Macbeth to his own corruption…In the service of evil rather than good, they equivocate in their prophecies, encouraging destructive behavior.” (Understanding Macbeth
Macbeth was a perfect example of how correct society is when it is said, "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it". It means not everyone does the right thing to get to where they are, people use and abuse one another for what they want. Although it may be deceiving, no one cares as long as they get what they want. Power is literally what rules the world, corruption is what happens to the ones who gain too much power. In other words, there is no getting around the statement that power leads to corruption.
The tragedy of Macbeth opens up with him returning home from a victorious military battle, displaying his honor and excellence. This is, also the first time he is presented with the opportunity for power. His success covered him with glory in defense of the crown. Macbeth is busily basking in his own glory and soaking up credit when Duncan basically steals his spotlight from right over his head, proclaiming Malcolm, Duncan's son, as the heir-apparent. This action also belittles Macbeth's achievement, since the procession of the throne is not necessarily dictated by bloodlines. Duncan is basically announcing that Macbeth, while noble, is inferior to his son Malcolm. This is where Duncan provokes Macbeth to hate him and also points out what Macbeth must do to become King. Duncan even tempts Macbeth, by pronouncing him as the Thane of Cawdor. This gives Macbeth a taste of power and he begins to have a desire for more. This desire or ambition is his fatal flaw. Shakespeare, by using Macbeth as a guide, shows that even the honorable men can fall into the hands of evil just like everyone else. No one is safe from his or her own ambitions of power and success. It is clear that Macbeth ends up a far more brutal and simple...
Throughout the play we are able to see the change Macbeth has encountered. He started out as a noble thane, content with his life. But as soon as the Three Sisters' have gotten the notion of Power in his head, we see his thrive for power ultimately corrupting him. By studying the impact power has on relationships in Macbeth, it is obvious that Banquo and Macbeth's relationship best represents the impact which the need for power can have on a relationship. This conclusively demonstrates that lust of power can drive people to doing the cruelest things in order to capture it.