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The role of power in Macbeth
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Since humans were able to get a grasp of dominance against one another, there exist the undeniable hunger for power. When a ruthless person is given an unlimited source of power, it is only natural for them to fall into the hand of temptation and abuse their power--these leaders are known as dictators. Through the history of the world, some dictators that were infamous for their inhumane acts toward humanity are Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. However, dictators can be found in not just history but also in literatures such as Shakespeare’s notorious play Macbeth, as well as Geroge Orwell’s novella Animal Farm. Throughout History and English dictators are depicted as being manipulative, as well as greedy, which ultimately generates a notion …show more content…
Throughout Macbeth, the main character Macbeth lived in a constant state of fear that others are trying to be superior to him, and besides the fact that he’s greedy and manipulate people to get what wants--he felt that violence was the answer to his fear as stated when he exclaims,”I did so, and went further, which is now/ Our point of second meeting. Do you find/ Your patience so predominant in your nature/ That you can let this go?/Are you so gospeled/ To pray for this good man and for his issue,/ Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave/ And beggared yours forever?”(III.i.87-93). Macbeth uses his manipulation skill to provokes the violence and hatred inside the murders so that he could eliminate Banquo and his son to secure his thorn of power. Much like Macbeth. Adolf Hitler was notorious for his extreme use of violence to gets what he wants. For example according to the Modern History Textbook in 1934, the SS arrested and murdered hundreds of Hitler’s enemies. This brutal action and the terror applied by the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, shocked most Germans into total obedience. Similar to Macbeth, Hitler did not want soak his hands in blood, he uses his power in the government and manipulation skill to get the police force to do the dirty work for him. He saw violence as the way to keep the oppressors to stay quiet and less of a
As the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare went on, the friendship and comparison of Macbeth and Benito Mussolini grew. Both of their actions forced them into power and made them the historical features they are today. The cause of their terrible actions lead them to their death. Throughout the play Macbeth, Macbeth shows many similarities to Benito Mussolini because both used other people to push them to power, lost that power and were both brutally killed.
What is power to a human? As time has gone by, there have been many forms of control and influence in the world. Many strive to achieve total rule over a society or group of individuals. Yet the question still presents itself to the average man. Why does man desire power so greatly even though there is visible trouble that follows? Shelley’s Frankenstein, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, whether through the situation or the character themselves, depict the evils and hardships due to an imbalance and poor management of power.
The corruptive nature of power can be observed in both novels Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945) and The Wave by Todd Strasser (1981). In the wise words of Lord Acton, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." (Phrase Finder, 2012) The simple nature of mankind is to want power and when man achieves this, he gets addicted, wants more and thus becomes corrupt. This exploitation of dominance relates to when the dictator loses his moral values and abuses power purely for his own benefit and loses sight of what the initial goals were. Even the best intentions, such as those that were only just formed in Animal Farm and The Wave, can be distorted by the basic human instinct of selfishness
In The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, we see Macbeth, a loyal soldier, turn into a complete monster by killing innocent people for the sake of power. This eventually leads to Macbeth’s mental breakdown, descending into madness as a cold blooded murderer, until his fateful death. There have been many Macbeth-like figures who have followed in his footsteps throughout our history, such as Julius Caesar, Joseph Stalin and especially Maximilien Robespierre, in the French Revolution. Robespierre killed many people, including one of his colleagues, to gain political power. The selfishness and greed that is shown in Macbeth Robespierre, and other historic
Fidel Castro has many similar qualities to those of Macbeth. Many people said he was a very charming man before he took over the reign of Cuba. He had a small following that would have done anything for him, as did Macbeth. Castro’s rise to power is shockingly similar to Macbeth’s. Banquo was Macbeth’s best friend and his right hand man, and as all great rulers, Castro also has a right hand man. Even though they share many similarities, their rise to power, loss of their right hand men, and their hunger for power stand out the most.
Comparing Macbeth to a tragic hero would be like comparing Spiderman to Venom. Although Spiderman was the hero in the beginning, he had a bad side too. This is much like Macbeth in the beginning of the story. He went against his wife and did not want to kill until she finally got into his head and convinced him that it was the only way for him to receive the throne. Now, is Macbeth a tragic hero? No. Macbeth is not a tragic hero due to the fact that tragic heros always learn from their mistake and always undergo some sort of meaningful suffering; Macbeth did neither.
The concept of ambition as seen in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Adolf Hitler’s rule of Nazi Germany is the cause for both the rise and downfall of those whose ambition consumed them. When an individual or group is ambitious in gaining power by immoral ways, there is little to do to stop them from trying to achieve their goals. In Shakespeare’s time, those higher up in society such as nobles, wealthy land owners, and those of royal blood were constantly in search of more and more and would do whatever it took to obtain their desires. Macbeth was written to show how ones ambitions can over take morals and delude right and wrong. One of the most infamous men
The Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Throughout the play of "Macbeth" written by William Shakespeare there is an on-going relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This relationship is one of the functions of the play that creates most of the actions, reactions, moods, feelings and attitudes. Macbeth's relationship with his wife was not always great. This is shown in one of there conversations; MACBETH: "We will proceed no further in this business: He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon. "(Macbeth,I,vii, )
Macbeth: Shakespeare's Comparisons and Contrasts. Throughout Macbeth Shakespeare uses comparison and contrast to bring out characteristics of his main character, Macbeth. Shakespeare uses comparisons with Duncan, Lady Macbeth, and Banquo to bring out aspects of Macbeth's character. After hearing of Macbeth's courageousness on the battlefield, Duncan, a good and honest king, bestows the title of Cawdor on Macbeth.
“When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.” Richard M. Nixon states during an interview with David Frost during May 19, 1977. Both Macbeth And Richard Nixon live by this quote. Weird, considering they could not contrast more. Focusing on the similarities and differences between Shakespeare’s fictional Macbeth and nonfiction Nixon conveys a message of character flaws causing the abuse of power. One real, one fake, one a murderer, and the other a liar... Macbeth is a fictional general from Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, who conducts a series of semi-successful murders to become the King of Scotland around the eleventh century. Richard M. Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, is one of the main conspirators
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth it is taught of how one’s ambition can take the wrong turn to be confused for greed. Macbeth used the advice of the witches to determine his journey of becoming king. Throughout the story Macbeth takes the prophecy of the witches and acted in an evil manner by going on a killing spree. In order to become king he thought that the easiest way was to annihilate anyone that could stop him from doing so. Everyone has some sort of ambition to become the best of the best as no one would like to fall short to anyone. Donald trump was a man with a vision that he thought could possibly become president of the United States. Trump used his multi-millionaire company to help him get ahead in his journey of reaching his goal. Both titles of King and President can be compared as one because the president and king is ultimately above all. Donald Trump and Macbeth are two people that share the same characteristics of how they used their ambition and greed to come out on top to ultimately become kings. Both men are well known in society today for their ability to overcome obstacles, their ability to degrade
They both shared many qualities when it came to ambition taking over them. They both manipulated there way into power, and they also believed they were invincible. Hitler killed millions of innocent people and Macbeth killed the people that loved him. In Macbeth, Shakespeare shows us the side effects of ambition. It’s like a drug that makes you believe you are indestructible and makes you act irrational. For example it says, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o 'erleaps itself, and falls on th 'other" (Macbeth). The quote illustrate Macbeth desire for more power, his ambition drives his reasoning for killing the king. This is how he justifies it to himself. He 's saying he as nothing against the king its just part of the prophecy and his desire to gain more power. Lady Macbeth is also to blame when it comes to the death of King Duncan, she was the one that questioned Macbeths manhood and pressured him into murdering Duncan. It says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o ' th ' milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without. The illness should attend it” (Macbeth). As you can see Macbeth has the ambition to get more power its just he is questioned if he would really have the nerve to kill
Macbeth was willing to ruin his life in order to gain uncontrollable power. The author of the article, Roland Frye, analyzed the play and when describing Macbeth’s desire to rule Scotland stated, “he would be willing to ruin it (his life) if only that would help him to rule it” (Frye 85). This is as analogously dramatic as the effects of Hitler and Stalin’s plans against themselves and the countries that they were ruling. These men were all deceivers that had the ability to trick people into believing they were better than they truly were. For example, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to “look like the innocent
Lord Acton, the British historian once said, “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the author gives many examples of how power is used to manipulate and produce fear. In this book the main character, Napoleon, became a master of using various tactics to gain and maintain power over the rest of the animals. Napoleon used propaganda, manipulation and fear to gain more loyalty and power throughout the farm.
In the play Othello and the play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the main characters in both plays as warriors. Both characters in each of their plays, had constant outside voices seeping into their minds which ultimately contributed to the fate of both Othello and Macbeth. The witches in the play Macbeth had more of an effect of Macbeth’s actions then Iago had on Othello’s actions in the play Othello. Each character had a lot of pressure on them throughout the play however the witches influence on Macbeth resulted in more destruction than Iago’s influence on Othello.