Comparing Power In Macbeth And Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare and the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the theme of power is explored and displayed in many forms, showing us that power ultimately corrupts. The aspiration for power and the methods by which the characters go about attaining it have many parallels. In Lord of the Flies, Jack battles for the title of chief, and in Macbeth, the title character seeks the Crown of Scotland. The ideas of dominance and control lead both characters to do atrocious things which they would not have done if they were not blinded by their pursuit of power. With the absence of society and order on the island and the seed that the witches plant in Macbeth's mind, the reader observes as Jack and Macbeth degrade from their once respected and civilised selves and …show more content…
Both Lord of the Flies and Macbeth show that ultimately, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

In Macbeth, Shakespeare shows the reader a noble soldier, highly regarded by his colleagues and the corruption of power as Macbeth becomes a tyrannical leader capable of appalling acts and crimes. The earliest sign of corruption and the desire for power can be seen in Act I scene III of Macbeth, where Macbeth and Banquo stumble upon three witches. The witches chant to them ‘All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!’. This clearly has an immediate effect on Macbeth as Banquo asks him, ‘Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear things that do sound so fair?’. It is clear that the witches awoke Macbeth’s true ambition and created the idea that he needed to fulfil their prophecy. The idea of power overwhelmed Macbeth, as ideas of killing Duncan polluted his mind, even though the witches never mentioned anything about the