Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lady Macbeth is one of the perfect examples of the total corruption power and ambition can cause. She starts out confident, sure of her ambition and how to gain it. She believed that by becoming a man, becoming what she thought was a creature who would stop at nothing to attain power and it's privileges, she could gain what she needed without being impeded by emotions such as remorse, or pity. She calls upon the witches to give her these things and so creates an interesting relationship with them despite never actually meeting them. Finally, however, Lady Macbeth appears not to be able to hold her cool and collected self together. She begins sleep-walking and it is here that we see her fear truly appear. She becomes corrupted not only in body and soul, but fully in the mind as well.
Lady Macbeth from the very beginning talks about how she wishes to be a man:
And fill me from the crown to the toe top full
Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.
Stop up th' access and passage to remorse . . . (1.5.49-51)
She seems to believe that manhood is the ability to perform acts of “direst cruelty” without remorse. Throughout the play we see that she worries her husband will not be man enough to do what she and him deem necessary to attain the throne. “Yet do I fear thy nature; / It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness . . .” She says. Constantly we see her telling her husband to “man up” - to stop feeling remorse or guilt or fear and to start behaving like she believes a man should; like a being with no guilt or remorse. However, it is this wish for her to lose all “passage to remorse” that eventuates in her death - her corruption - from the madness that comes upon her i...
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...etimes the knowledge can drive you insane, as we see in the case of Lord and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth turns into a woman filled with evil and no escape. She eventually dies from the pain of it.
Lady Macbeth and her husbands downward spiral towards dark destruction is one the most famous of all time. We watch with pleasure as their horrible actions lead to their ultimate destruction. Lady Macbeth makes the choice to, as one source put it, lose her womanly virtues and become what she thinks is a man. It is this choice that leads to her unknowingly helping the witches in their desire to destroy Macbeth and ultimately her as well. She changes from a woman sure of these decisions to woman riddled with fear, corrupted in all possible manner – mind body and soul. Her ambition and power lead to her destruction. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare illustrates two seemingly ordinary nobles whose lives intertwine in a whirlwind of power, corruption, and the supernatural resulting in their descents. They were both so wrapped up in this greedy world they failed to consider the consequences of their actions more realistically. Macbeth started to succumb to the belief that deeds "must be acted ere they be scann’d,"(III.IV.140). Lady Macbeth in particular loses sight of rationality from the play’s beginning to end. She feigns an image of ruthlessness and believes she can handle the intrusion of unearthly evil in her mind and soul. She presents a seemingly stable foundation of control in which she clutches with an iron fist.
On the level of human evil, Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth is about the character Macbeth's bloody rise to power, including the murder of the Scottish king, Duncan, and the guilt-ridden pathology of evil deeds generating still more evil deeds. Perhaps, the play's most memorable character is Lady Macbeth. Like her husband, Lady Macbeth's ambition for power leads her into an unnatural, phantasmagoric realm of witchcraft, insomnia and madness. But while Macbeth responds to the prophecies of the play's famous trio of witches, Lady Macbeth goes even further by figuratively transforming herself into an unnatural, desexualized evil spirit.
Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition, helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches, is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, explores the darkest corners of the human psyche. It artfully takes its audience to a place that allows one to examine what a human being is truly capable of once tempted by the allure of power. In the play, Scottish noble Macbeth and his wife inevitably fall prey to their own self corruption. Initiated by prophesies made by three mysterious witches, the Macbeths set their sights on the throne. When the curtains open on the plot to murder King Duncan, Lady Macbeth is the driving force. Her criminal mind and desire for ruthlessness have led many a critic to define her as evil. Closer examination, however, reveals that she is a multifaceted character; other sides to her persona include: genuine good will towards her husband, coy manipulation, and feminine tenderness.
Shakespeare's Macbeth is a heroic tragedy that shows the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition for those who seek power for its own sake. These psychological effects can be seen in many characters, but are most clearly displayed in the main character Macbeth. Macbeth begins the play as a noble and stable character- a loyal husband, subject, and the Thane of Glamis. However, as Macbeth receives more power and becomes more ambitious, he loses his mental stability. Macbeth’s mind deteriorates from his strong ambition, his guilt of killing, and the paranoia that comes of power. You can also see Macbeth’s mind deteriorate by examining his visions, attitude toward fear and death, and how
Unfortunately, it corrupts if it is not restrained. In Macbeth, Shakespeare effectively uses the characters of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to underscore their struggles for power. Their hunger for power is the determining factor for their destructions. Lady Macbeth longs for power, and hopes to get it by manipulating her husband to kill his own cousin. While Macbeth kills Duncan and becomes king, she fails to realize her husband’s obsession with power exceeds her. Her role in the play fades; in the end, she suffers from sleepwalking and insanity. As for Macbeth, he transforms from a honourable and respectable man to a monster as a result of his thirst for power. Not only does he betray Duncan’s trust, but he also hires murderers to kill Banquo as well as and innocent people like Macduff’s wife and son. Like Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s ambition results in his demise when he is killed by Macduff when they finally meet in a battle. Indeed, power is destructive. The downfall of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth is indicative that power is like cancer. Sooner or later, it destroys human judgment and turns humans into
Lady Macbeth was so influential when it came to her husband. She frequently asserted many notions into her husband head that it changed him. Macbeth would not speak of killing the king, but now he was considering it. Macbeth was given reassurance in this concept when he was bestowed the title, king, killing the Duncan, and not being caught. He let the power finally wash over his morals and
Lady Macbeth’s wicked character has an extreme impact towards her husband. Lady Macbeth is responsible for influencing her husband to commit both crimes; she unleashes the dark side of him and motivates him to become an evil and horrendous man. In various parts throughout the story we find that Lady Macbeth strives beyond limits to be converted into a bitter and sour women. The audience is revolted by her horrific actions and although she may seem repugnant, she is an extremely talented actor. In her role, having a deceitful and convincing character is important
She even insults him by telling him that the only way he’ll be able to prove his manhood to her is to commit murder, since he hasn’t already proved it to her by “giving her a son.” That was a very, very harsh insult because in those times, males were everything. (p.9, The Follies of Power)
A woman receives a message from her husband, suggesting a path to power, although paved with unspeakably wicked deeds. She has a choice, but rather than steering him clear of that path, she pushes him down it, leading to the murder of the King, and a reign of tyranny and death. This woman, Lady Macbeth, is responsible for King Duncan’s grisly murder, shows a complete lack of compassion for others, especially for her husband, and is, therefore, fit for the title of evil.
In the play ‘’Macbeth’’ by William Shakespeare Macbeth struggles with his conscience and the fear of eternal domination if he assassinates King Duncan. Lady Macbeth’s conflict arises when Macbeth’s courage begins to falter. Lady Macbeth is has a cruel, venomous, evil personality in which no man can escape from her wrath and raging power. Lady Macbeth is like a black widow who utilizes aggressive and ruthless tactics to persuade Macbeth to commit the assassination. This cruel minded woman utilizes the power of manipulation and reverse psychology to get what she desires.
..., Macbeth becomes everyone’s enemy, he in convinced he is invincible which leads to his inevitable downfall and demise. 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 to much power. In other words there is no getting around the statement power leads to corruption.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s desire and ambition lead to her eventual downfall. When Lady Macbeth hears of Macbeth’s prophecy, she dreams of the glory and high-standing that awaits being queen. She cannot withhold her ambitions, and she is willing to manipulate fate to bring about Macbeth’s prophecy. She invokes evil spirits to be filled from head to toe with cruelty to do the evil actions necessary to make Macbeth king and to remove all remorse and pity for her action from her heart.
While not the only contributing factor, Lady Macbeth does play a substantial role in the downfall of her husband. She is a like a catalyst for Macbeth and essentially pushes him to do what he would not have been able to do on his own. Macbeth himself highly ambitious and determined, but his wife is even more so. At first he refuses to kill Duncan but she persists and eventually gets him to do it. It is important to note here that Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth forward by manipulating him. In this sense, she can be related to Cathy Ames from East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Also, being a woman, she is confined by the conventions of society which prevent her from doing much. At what point she even wishes that she were 'unsexed' so she could commit the murder herself. Because of this, she pours her ambition and desire for power into Macbeth. Again she accomplishes this through manipulation. For example, at one point when Macbeth is disagreeing with her idea of killing Duncan, she questions his manhood:
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the focus that is placed on the character of Lady Macbeth helps to convey the play's theme of the strife created by the struggle for power and control that is present throughout the entire work. Shakespeare presents her character in great detail and shows her to be a dominating, authoritative woman who thrives on the power she holds over her husband. He then shows the principle character, Macbeth, rise up and join his wife in a struggle for power of his own. It is the actions that Macbeth takes in attempt to achieve ultimate authority that lead to his downfall, and it is Lady Macbeth's loss of control over her husband as he gains this independence which causes her own weakening and eventually leads to her demise as well.