Examples Of Greed In Macbeth

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While the name "Macbeth" means "son of life" in Gaelic, Shakespeare contradicts its meaning as he shows the gruesome consequences that Macbeth faces. Macbeth, a modern tragedy written by Shakespeare, cautions the audience of those consequences. He highlights the terrible choices driven by ambition that Macbeth makes, and in the process, warns the reader to stay away from those choices. Shakespeare's use of symbolism in Macbeth reveals greed's power to destroy one's mind and soul. Through the symbolism of blood, Shakespeare emphasizes the corruption that greed has on the mind and soul. Greed corrupts the mind with guilt, as symbolized by blood in Act 2, scene 2. After murdering King Duncan, Macbeth cries out: Will all great Neptune’s ocean …show more content…

(2.4).
Ross has noticed that the day has been taken over by dark, and compares this to evil being strong and good being weak. By comparing the light and dark to evil and good, Shakespeare highlights how the goodness in humanity slowly fades because of the selfish acts of Macbeth. This use of symbolism reveals a corruption of the human heart and innocence purely because of greed.
Greed can also bring about a mental disorder, as symbolized through bad weather.
The human mind has been made for joy and peace, yet when acts of greed have been committed, the mind resorts to pain and depression as a consequence. Light and dark symbolize the mental storms that result in greed, as shown in Act 1 Scene 2. After a bloody battle, the Captain of Duncan's army begins to feel discomfort and sadness as he says, "Shipwracking storms and direful thunder break,/So from that spring whence comfort seemed to come/Discomfort …show more content…

Mental instability can also be brought about by greed and ambition, as shown through hallucinations in Act 2, scene 1. When Macbeth considers murdering Duncan, he sees a floating dagger that points him in the direction of the sleeping king's room, and questions the dagger to be real or just a “dagger of the mind, a false creation/ Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain” (2.1). This hallucination of the bloody dagger and Macbeth's uncertainty of what he really sees, symbolizes an instability of the mind. His thoughts of greed and ambition have led to this point of aberration. While hallucinations symbolize the instability of the mind, they also make evident that guilt can be another reoccurring spiritual consequence of greed, as shown in Act 3, scene 4 when Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are holding a banquet after the secret murdering of Banquo, when Macbeth suddenly sees an apparition of Banquo's ghost, which turns out only to be a hallucination. After the strange behavior Macbeth has exhibited, LadyMacbeth asks, "What, quite unmann'd in folly?", hearing Macbeth reply, "If I stand here, I saw him" (3.4). This hallucination that Macbeth sees symbolizes the guilt stained on his soul because of the crime he committed out of greed. Shakespeare uses the symbolism of hallucinations to reveal the instability and guilt that acts of selfishness inflict upon the soul and

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