“Macbeth”, one of William Shakespeare’s most emotional and powerful tragedies, revolves around Macbeth’s betrayal, power, and murder. Although admired as a fierce warrior at first, Macbeth, dictator of 11th century Scotland, reigns maliciously, resulting in an uprising of the commoners under the command of Malcolm, the rightful King of Scotland. Macbeth betrays the trust King Duncan awards him and while the he is vulnerable, Macbeth murders the king in his sleep. Upon murdering Duncan, Macbeth’s sanity slips and the mad king proceeds to murder innocent people, including his best friend, Banquo, under the pretext of securing his rule. Galvanized by the king’s madness, the Scottish thanes and Malcolm gather an army and lay siege to Dunsinane, the hill upon which Macbeth’s castle stands. Macbeth is cornered and killed, Malcolm is named King, and order is restored to Scotland. Macbeth exhibits many of the characteristics common to dictators of the 21st century and his reign can be closely compared to that of the Haitian dictator François Duvalier (1907–1971). Like Macbeth, Duvalier was well admired by the commoners for his innovative ideas for Haiti. However, upon his ascent to power, the dictator abused his power and gave orders to murder over 30,000 people ("François Duvalier" 1). Consequently, Duvalier loses valuable supporters and allies and leaves Haiti in chaos. Macbeth is most similar to Haitian dictator François Duvalier because they are both ambitious and liked at first, they abuse their newfound power, and ultimately fall from power and perish alone as consequence of poor decisions while in power.
Macbeth and François Duvalier are closely related due to shared ambition and an initial endorsement by the commoners. Macbeth...
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... Agency for International Development mission was withdrawn from Haiti, and by April 1963 an American fleet moved into position close to Port-au-Prince. On May 15, to show its disapproval of Duvalier's continued presence, the United States suspended diplomatic relations with Haiti, refusing to engage it in discussions of international matters.
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"François Duvalier." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. World History in Context. Web. 21 May 2014.
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Crassweller, Robert D. Trujillo: The life and times of a Caribbean dictator. New York: Macmillan.1966.
Mansel, P. (1998, March 1). Napoleon the kingmaker. (his nepotism weakened his power). History Today, p. 39-46.
Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, portrays Macbeth as a kinsman, subject and trusted friend to King Duncan I of Scotland. A trusted friend, that is, until Macbeth has a chance encounter with the “three witches” (Shakespeare) or the “Weird Sisters”. The witches predict that Macbeth will become the next King and that his fellow companion, Banquo, will be the father of a line of kings. A change comes over Macbeth after his meeting; he is no longer content to be a follower of the King, he will “be” King at any cost. After killing the King and his friend Banquo, losing his wife to madness and ordering the execution of many, Macbeth is killed in much the same fashion as he has killed. But does this really reflect the real King MacBeth of Scotland? While examining the characteristics and actions of the two Macbeths and decide if Shakespeare’s writing was historically sound or was it just “double, double, toil and trouble” (4.1.22-26) playing with MacBeth’s character.
Haiti was once an economic power when France held claim to the Eastern Part of Hispaniola, then named St. Domingue. It was a French colony flourishing with coffee and sugar. Eventually the ideals of the French Revolution - Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity - made its way to the colonies resulting in a revolution. Haiti was the first slave-led revolution and declared its independence as a republic on January 1, 1804. After their declaration of independence, things started to make a turn for the worst. In 1934 the U.S. forces occupied Haiti to establish stability. The U.S. appointed heads of state but the real power was present in the U.S. occupiers, whereas the heads of state are just figureheads. Haiti’s economy dwindled further down when France demanded reparations of 150 million francs, which wasn’t paid off until 1947. In 65 years, Haiti had 22 heads of state.” In 1957 Francois Duvalier is elected president. He later “creates a totalitarian dictatorship and in 1964 declares himself president-for-life.” This is where Haiti’s political instability really begins.
The work details the change that the French republic underwent, with the thesis of the work is stated as “This article examines why empire as a particular political model came to the fore, how it was presented to the French people, and how they reacted to it” (Dwyer 341). Dwyer like Hunt Diminishes the contributions that Napoleon makes to the revolution. Instead of being this Revolutionary Hero, Napoleon is depicted as nothing more than a puppet at the will of his colleagues. This sort of degrading towards Napoleon can be seen as “Napoleon’s reaction to these urgings appears mixed, if not hesitant, when it came to adopting heredity, but he was eventually brought around to their way of thinking.” (Dwyer 341). This sort of statement is seen throughout the work, and differs from my work on the basis that Napoleon was more than a figure head of the revolution. Napoleon wasn’t a leader who wait for instructions from his peers, like the quote above demonstrates. Instead Napoleon was a critical individual in the French revolution and was truly a revolutionary aligned with those of the year 1789. Actions such as the abolishment of feudalism, the passage of law codes, and the changing of social hierarchy throughout France reemphasize just how prominent Napoleon was in the
“I have killed one man to save 100,000” (“Charlotte Corday”). This famous remark was Charlotte Corday’s justification for assassinating radical journalist and politician Jean-Paul Marat in his bathtub on July 13, 1793. Exploring Corday’s time period and upbringing as well as the life of her victim, Marat, allows for an understanding of what made her the infamous assassin she is remembered as today. Though her actions were seemingly cruel and merciless, she, like many others of the chaotic times that so deeply characterized the French Revolution, acted upon noble intentions to purify her nation.
Macbeth, Shakespeare’s revealing play about the darkness that lies within human nature, depicts the rise to power and subsequent downfall of its eponymous protagonist. Shakespeare illustrates that demise of Macbeth is at the mercy of many forces that come from within him and externally. Due to many of Macbeth’s terrible flaws, conflicting thoughts and “vaulting ambition” he becomes and easy target for three deceitful witches and for his wife Lady Macbeth to manipulate him and influence the choices he makes that lead him to his downfall, making Macbeth predominantly responsible.
Stalin established a dissembling character towards Lenin, who believed that Stalin would become a great leader until the years following his own death. Stalin was a principal aide to Lenin and assisted the regime in winning a civil war in opposition to those who combatted the Bolsheviks: “Stalin began plotting to gain power before Lenin’s death… Lenin expressed misgivings about Stalin’s use of power.” (Joseph Stalin). Stalin created a deceiving persona towards Lenin that misleads him in order for Staling achieve his goal of taking Lenin’s position in dominance and influence. Likewise, Macbeth established a misleading character towards his predecessor, Duncan. After the battle, King Duncan splendors Macbeth for his victory in combat in which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth invite the royal family for a celebration banquet: “Our honored hostess, the love that follows us sometime is our trouble, which still we thank as love... and thank us for your trouble” (I. VI. 11-13). In this scene, King Duncan with his gratitude has no idea that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are arranging to scheme his murder which creates a false pretense. Macbeth’s false pretense towards Duncan in his career tremendously corresponds with Stalin’s deceitfulness against his leader, Lenin. Both Stalin and Macbeth were notorious in ascertaining a false pretense towards their processors of the
Civil unrest and failing economics present a perfect political opportunity for tyrannical mindsets to manipulate themselves into power. The prestigious, and well revered Napoleon Bonaparte was the embodiment of Rousseau's worst nightmare. While his Coup d’Etat in Brumaire liberated France from the conforming rule of the Directory, Napoleon’s desire for hegemony clouded his vision and caused him to destroy the democratic empire he originally created. Consequently, through Bonaparte’s numerous enactments and actions during his reign, it is clear as to how forcibly created, and spurred nationalistic feelings in France and surrounding countries. Napoleon exemplifies this proposition through not only his various policies but numerous military conquests.
Contrary to these negative qualities, Macbeth’s character (in the beginning of the play) was a selfless individual who would surrender himself to his country, and his king to make his country a better place. This is evident in the regard that he killed the former “thane of Cawdor” who was a traitor to the king (although he would be the one betraying his country
Macbeth can compare to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth has to gain power. These characters showed the
When Jean-Claude Duvalier took over in 1971 Haitians continued to live in terrible conditions, while he and his family lived in luxury. “At the same time the Duvaliers have been salting away millions of dollars in foreign banks and squandering millions more, the vast majority of Haitians live in deep
Hitler and Macbeth are extremely similar in multiple ways, but there are two main points. Their desire for power, and their drive to push through anything in their way. These two people, one fictional and one not, were extremely powerful, possible the most powerful people of their time.
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” (The Dark Knight, 2008). This quote describes the archetypical tale of the tragic hero. As Aristotle had illustrated in Poetica, the tragic hero is defined as possessing hubris and harmartia, arrogance or a tragic mistake respectively. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, we follow the titular character as we witness his rise to the throne to then see his immediate downfall. Macbeth stands among Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, showing the effect of power on an individual. His ultimate demise in the story’s resolution gives insight into what catalyzed the supposed events. Without a doubt, Macbeth had transformed from the hero to eventually the villain.