Power and Corruption in Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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Nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”(Abraham Lincoln). Power is the ultimate force in the universe. Power by definition is control, controlling everything would make everything go the way that person wants it to so power is sought. Power is desired by most normal people, people who aspire to be more than themselves, to rise above the common man and do as they please. Power appeals to human nature. There are many different types of power, but the main two are necessary and unnecessary power. Necessary power is that of a natural cause for example, the lion expresses his power over prey to eat; to survive he needs to use his power. Humans, on the other hand, do not need oil to survive yet rape the earth with drills and pumps to make their lives easier. Unnecessary power is evil, unnatural and human; it can change everything and in most cases not for the better. Power to humans has become something used to bend the world to their will for a little comfort or leisure. It’s unclear who the real victim is, does power make a human do bad things or does a human do bad things with power? Both are true, many tragic stories begin with a man trying to gain power with good or bad intentions; either way, it goes downhill. Because of its tragic outcomes, power is a very prominent theme in literature, specifically warning people of the consequences of power. Many authors discuss how power influences people. Throughout every time period, there is some mention of the danger and corruption that comes with power. This topic that comes up again and again is very intriguing. It’s almost as if the lust for power is inborn in humans. Even though these works of fiction try to warn people who pursue p...

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... Flies." IUP Journal Of English Studies 6.1 (2011): 85-90. Literary Reference Center. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

"Power (See Also Greatness, Politics, Tyranny)." Columbia Dictionary Of Quotations From Shakespeare (1998): 284-286. Literary Reference Center. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

Malhotra, Deepak, and Francesca Gino. "The Pursuit Of Power Corrupts: How Investing In Outside Options Motivates Opportunism In Relationships." Administrative Science Quarterly 56.4 (2011): 559-592. Business Source Complete. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: New American library, 1996. Print.

Crowther, John, ed. “No Fear Julius Caesar.” Sparknotes.com sparknotes LLC, 2005. Web.5. March 2014

Meyers, Jeffery, and issac Rosenfeld.”chapter 10: Animal Farm: Part 65: issac rosenfeld, natan” George Orwell (0-415-15923-7) (1997): 201-204. Literary reference center. Web. 12 march 2014

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