Power of Ambition
We humans have always desired power and in decades, our ambitions have blinded us. What we are capable of doing to get what we want, might sometimes surprises us and afterwards leaves us unrecognisable. Even though the amount of power of ambition varies from person to person, the theme has at least created inspiration for many great stories. Some, which morals I will touch upon throughout this essay.
First off, we have the famous Shakespeare play; Macbeth. A story in which the protagonist Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth completely loose themselves in their own ambitions of claiming the throne of Scotland. The first deceitful thing Macbeth does, which is the beginning of his decay, is killing the current king; King …show more content…
Some of it goes like this:
“..Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood, stop up th’ access and passage to remorse..” (Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5, line 36-40)
She actually knows before they even begin that she will not be able to do it whilst being herself. She is very aware of that she is going to have to change. Is it worth the price?
Even though they eventually become king and queen, they are no longer themselves and are deceased with guilt. Lady Macbeth commits suicide and Macbeth himself is killed on the battlefield. Both ruined and half the persons they used to be. Near the end Macbeth is so lost, that he does not find anything meaningful anymore. All of his power was useless and he finds himself, as well as everything else, insignificant.
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”
(Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5, line …show more content…
We can find similar stories back in Roman or Greek mythology. Gods, Kronos for example, eating their own children, because they fear they will take their power. We can have a look into the real world as well. Here we also have examples of people losing themselves and their values in their chase for power. Fidel Castro is a good example. The Cuban revolution ended, taking one dictator of the power just to replace him with another. Even though Fidel Castro had good intentions, Cuba is without a doubt still a dictatorship. Handling power is not as easy as it seems.
So, does this mean that power of ambition brings out the worst in people? Or is it just us humans, who love a good story of men loosing their values? Maybe we can all relate to the feeling of being blinded by our own ambitions. You cannot say that everyone powerful is evil, there are examples of the opposite everywhere. Maybe power just isn’t for everyone.
I guess we can at least agree on, let me just quote game of thrones here, that; “the game of thrones is a dangerous game to play”. You might end up losing yourself or dying.
On that note, I am going to end this essay and of course with a quote by no other than superman;
“With great power comes great
We humans have always desired power and in decades, our ambitions have blinded us. What we are capable of doing to get what we want, might sometimes surprises us and afterwards leaves us unrecognisable. Even though the amount of power of ambition varies from person to person, the theme has at least created inspiration for many great stories. Some, which morals I will touch upon throughout this essay.
First off, we have the famous Shakespeare play; Macbeth. A story in which the protagonist Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth completely loose themselves in their own ambitions of claiming the throne of Scotland. The first deceitful thing Macbeth does, which is the beginning of his decay, is killing the current king; King …show more content…
Some of it goes like this:
“..Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood, stop up th’ access and passage to remorse..” (Lady Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 5, line 36-40)
She actually knows before they even begin that she will not be able to do it whilst being herself. She is very aware of that she is going to have to change. Is it worth the price?
Even though they eventually become king and queen, they are no longer themselves and are deceased with guilt. Lady Macbeth commits suicide and Macbeth himself is killed on the battlefield. Both ruined and half the persons they used to be. Near the end Macbeth is so lost, that he does not find anything meaningful anymore. All of his power was useless and he finds himself, as well as everything else, insignificant.
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”
(Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5, line …show more content…
We can find similar stories back in Roman or Greek mythology. Gods, Kronos for example, eating their own children, because they fear they will take their power. We can have a look into the real world as well. Here we also have examples of people losing themselves and their values in their chase for power. Fidel Castro is a good example. The Cuban revolution ended, taking one dictator of the power just to replace him with another. Even though Fidel Castro had good intentions, Cuba is without a doubt still a dictatorship. Handling power is not as easy as it seems.
So, does this mean that power of ambition brings out the worst in people? Or is it just us humans, who love a good story of men loosing their values? Maybe we can all relate to the feeling of being blinded by our own ambitions. You cannot say that everyone powerful is evil, there are examples of the opposite everywhere. Maybe power just isn’t for everyone.
I guess we can at least agree on, let me just quote game of thrones here, that; “the game of thrones is a dangerous game to play”. You might end up losing yourself or dying.
On that note, I am going to end this essay and of course with a quote by no other than superman;
“With great power comes great