Examples Of Greed In Macbeth

As the curtains are drawn back, the lights dim until the stage is almost completely black. The only light appears on the three strange figures, the witches, gathered in the center of an open field. Lightning strikes; followed closely by a loud clap of thunder. The strange figures begin to speak. Their ragged voices can be heard over the thunderous storm. The words of “fair is foul, and foul is fair: hover through the fog and filthy air” (Act I: Scene I) are carried through the violent wind as they vanish into the night. This meeting set the opening scene to Macbeth, which ultimately casts the forthcoming story into an ominous and eerie light. It foreshadows Macbeth’s rapid decline from being an exceptionally noble man to an awfully violent individual.

Greed can be described as an intense and selfish desire for something. Macbeth displays this fatal flaw perhaps the most throughout the story. His greed stems from his need for power, for he wants more and more. Although he already has an abundance of power as a general of the army and the Thane of Glamis, he thirsts for more constantly. Macbeth’s greed for power leads him to become a murderer and a betrayer. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” (Macbeth Act II Scene I) Macbeth envisions a bloody dagger that leads the way to his first atrocious crime. Macbeth brutally murders Duncan, the king of Scotland, while he slumbers at his and Lady Macbeth’s home. This is the ultimate betrayal towards a king whom Macbeth sworn allegiance to. With the death of the king, Macbeth is crowned the new king of Scotland. Once Macbeth obtains the thrown, his greed for power leads him to continuously commit atrocities. Macbeth later betrays his good friend Banquo due to his obsession with the witches’ prophecy and Banquo becoming too suspicious of Macbeth. The witches had prophesized that Banquo’s son would eventually hail king. Macbeth’s greediness for the