The Temptation od Power Analysis

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In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses motifs and themes in his writing to highlight significant points and messages throughout the play. In the tragedy, Macbeth, a once valiant solider, gets promoted to thane but his ambition to be King runs too far after the witches’ prophecies show that he will become king one day. Macbeth eventually becomes king by killing Duncan and his best friend as he turns violent, insane and greedy for absolute power. Using the motif of temptation, Shakespeare portrays violence, insanity and greed through Macbeth in order to show the consequences associated with absolute power’s corrupting nature.

By describing Macbeth’s violence towards others as a result of his ambitions to become king, Shakespeare demonstrates that power can cause people to commit evil actions. Although not written, Shakespeare implies that Duncan encountered a gory death to show how controversial Macbeth is willing to be in hope of gaining power. Macbeth says, “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me./ Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell/ that summons thee to heaven or to hell” to demonstrate that he is ready to end the life of a man who once regarded Macbeth so highly in order to be king of Scotland (II. i. 75-77). Even though Macbeth does not kill Duncan when he is in power, the ambition to gain that power convinces him to commit the evil act. By foreshadowing the gory death of King Duncan, Shakespeare clearly believes that violence is often an outcome of unrestrained power. Likewise, Shakespeare shows the extent to which Macbeth will go to obtain power through the killing of Banquo. Even though Macbeth did not kill Banquo himself, Macbeth has an enormous part to play in the murder of his best friend. In order to kill Banquo and keep...

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... a result of the corruption of power. Overall, Shakespeare shows his disdain for the corruption of power through Macbeth’s greed by addressing the consequences.

These demonstrations made by Shakespeare have caught the eye of many people including Harold Bloom, an American literary critic at Yale University. Mr. Bloom believes that Macbeth’s actions are mostly done because Macbeth is “scarcely … conscious of [his] ambition[s]” (Bloom 170). Harold Bloom, similar to Shakespeare, believes that the ambition of power has caused Macbeth to act in an evil manner. By using scenes to show Macbeth’s violence, insanity and greed, Shakespeare uses the motif of temptation to clearly portray the consequences associated with absolute power’s corrupting nature.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William, Burton Raffel, and Harold Bloom. Macbeth. New Haven: Yale UP, 2005. Print.

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