Since the time of Machiavelli, people have struggled to answer the question of whether the ends justify the means. To sum up in a definition, the saying “The end justifies the means” is used to say “that a desired result is so good or important that any method, even a morally bad one, may be used to achieve it” (Merriam-Webster) For centuries, people have quarrelled over this topic and debated whether the end result is worth the methods you used to get there. In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth, a lord under King Duncan, receives a prophecy from three witches saying that he will become king. Believing that it will be true, him and his wife plot to murder the king. After exterminating him, they do everything they can to stay in power,
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In the play, Macbeth murders many guiltless people: King duncan, “I go, and it [The murder] is done,” (II. i. 63) Banquo and his son “ you must kill both Banquo and his son, Fleance,” (III.i.138-140) Macduff’s family “ My soul is too much charged with blood of thine [Macduff’s family] already,” (V. viii. 5-6) and Siward’s son “Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier’s debt.” (V. viii. 39) When Macbeth killed Macduff’s family, he sent murderers to his castle and killed everyone: his servants, children, and wife. Macbeth’s murders of guiltless people is relatable to Adolf Hitler during World War II and his attempt to make the world of one race. In the article, “The End Justifies The Means, They Say. But Does It?,” Cris Baker discusses Adolf Hitler and his belief of the ends justifying the means. He bluntly states, “Hitler, and the many who follow his policies, erroneously believe that the end justifies the means. But the world of deceit and the world of truth have no connection - truth and illusion are not connected.” This substantiates that the end does not justify the means because Adolf Hitler killed millions of innocent people, though he was a strong leader and would have made world peace if he won the war. That Macbeth murdered innocent people proves that him becoming a good king would not justify the means he used to get there because he was immoral and evil with what he
In the play, Macbeth murders many guiltless people: King duncan, “I go, and it [The murder] is done,” (II. i. 63) Banquo and his son “ you must kill both Banquo and his son, Fleance,” (III.i.138-140) Macduff’s family “ My soul is too much charged with blood of thine [Macduff’s family] already,” (V. viii. 5-6) and Siward’s son “Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier’s debt.” (V. viii. 39) When Macbeth killed Macduff’s family, he sent murderers to his castle and killed everyone: his servants, children, and wife. Macbeth’s murders of guiltless people is relatable to Adolf Hitler during World War II and his attempt to make the world of one race. In the article, “The End Justifies The Means, They Say. But Does It?,” Cris Baker discusses Adolf Hitler and his belief of the ends justifying the means. He bluntly states, “Hitler, and the many who follow his policies, erroneously believe that the end justifies the means. But the world of deceit and the world of truth have no connection - truth and illusion are not connected.” This substantiates that the end does not justify the means because Adolf Hitler killed millions of innocent people, though he was a strong leader and would have made world peace if he won the war. That Macbeth murdered innocent people proves that him becoming a good king would not justify the means he used to get there because he was immoral and evil with what he