The Struggle for Power in Macbeth

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Recommended: Hamlet theme of power and leadership

The desire for power seems to be one of the strongest human drive and there are many ways which it is shown. Sometimes the need for power becomes overwhelming and can take over a person physically and mentally. A person’s judgement can easily be clouded due to the desire to be in control. Once one has the idea of gaining power and are willing to do anything for it, they start to change as a person. Knowing that you are powerful and in control, it can sometimes be beneficial or harmful. If a person is careful and wise, having power would be a good thing. They can use it to improve themselves or to help others with selfless acts. But in reality most people are selfish and are not as giving. They only do things that would benefit them, even if that means hurting someone else. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the struggle for power is presented throughout the play. The characters are so power crazed that it leads to their downfall. This play gives you the deep understanding on how wanting power so much that it can actually change you as a person or even kill you.

In the play Macbeth, the character Lady Macbeth shows a great deal of struggle to gain power. Just at the beginning of the play as she was being introduced, Shakespeare presents her as a character that is willing to do anything for power. Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband Macbeth saying that it was in his prophecy to become the next Thane of Cawdor. Without questioning her husband or the prophecy, she immediately jumps to a conclusion. To her, killing the current king Duncan would be the only way. But she had one fear in mind, Macbeth. “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness.” ( 1.5.13-14). Lady Macbeth knew tha...

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...alk and vigorously washes her hands. Lady Macbeth keeps imagining that Duncan’s blood is still smeared all over her hands. Not being able to live with her conscious, she kills herself. Lady Macbeth realizes that her desire for power in the end had its consequences. In the end, Lady Macbeth was still a female that had emotions and could not handle the guilt she had put upon herself. Thinking that ending her life would be the easiest thing to to end all of the pain.

The struggle for power made Lady Macbeth go insane. She did things that she would not have normally done. The desire for power changed her as a person, it made her cruel and heartless. Lady Macbeth only had one thing on her mind, which was power. Power can be a very dangerous temptation that will always have its consequences in the end. No matter how you get there, it will always be a messy battle.

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