Examples Of Hunger For Power In Macbeth

Decent Essays
Many people in this life have dedicated blood, sweat, and even some tears to gain the power they want. They are hungry and are willing to do anything to quench their thirst. Once they gain power, it's hard for them to stop. They continue to keep trying to raise to the top. Macbeth’s hunger for power leads to ultimate annihilation of the world as he knows it.
In Macbeth, our main character Macbeth, hears whispers that he has the potential to rise to a higher social status from a few witches. He wants to become king and is willing to do anything to get there. Even Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth is hungry for the power Macbeth hopes to gain. Lady Macbeth is also willing to take whatever measures necessary.
Together, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murder

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Does ambition have the ability to shake a whole nation to its very knees? The author William Shakespeare wrote a bloody drama titled “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, which took place in the distance past of Scotland, England. In this piece, the main character, Macbeth wanted to become king, and in doing so he murdered anyone in his path. In the end was only slain by the forces of the true air to the throne. The theme of this drama can be portrayed through the ambition of these three men: Macbeth, Macduff, and Malcolm.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, the protagonist and Macbeth, is first portrayed as a valiant hero who serves the benevolent king. He helped to suppress a rebellion thus was exalted by the venerable King Duncan. However, after Macbeth’s meeting with the three witches, his thoughts turned to usurping the king. By his wife’s firm hand, he…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is a natural human inclination to achieve success; however, any desire in excess can become a destructive force. This is what happened to William Shakespeare’s tortured protagonist Macbeth in one of the Bard’s most unsettling tragedies. Although Macbeth’s ambition initially appeared to be typical of a soldier’s need to succeed and receive recognition from his leader, it would eventually take over his life, obliterate his conscience, and transform his character from hero to villain. Macbeth was clearly his own worst enemy, but there were others in his life who contributed to the orchestration of his downfall. The witches and his equally ambitious wife fed his ego and whetted his appetite for power.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This quote shows how much Macbeth has a thirst for being a king and he wants in a selfish way. Reaching rich dreams, aiming for higher always a great thing, but the way and how you get them and how you do it's all it matter. It’s always been one of the most driving and insane human power that how if they’re really ambitious and passionate about something they can get it and reach their goals. The key is how and from what perspective are you approaching your goals, the pathways that we choose to take is all influenced by the people who were surrounded by.…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Who knew the desire to have wealth and power could lead to total destruction and the murdering of many people? The author, William Shakespeare, wrote a drama entitled “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, which occurred in Scotland. In the drama, the main character, Macbeth, is overwhelmingly overcome with the desire to be king. His desire overpowered him to the extent that he was willing to kill anyone to attain his goal. The predominant theme was good vs. evil, which can be continuously seen through the actions of Macbeth vs. the witches; Macbeth vs. Himself; and Macbeth vs. Malcolm.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth plot to kill the king after hearing a prophecy proclaiming that he will one day be king of Scotland. When eerie manifestations begin to occur, Macbeth and his wife become paranoid, so much so that their guilt slowly becomes apparent to others. Driven by her ambition and hunger for power, Lady Macbeth leads the play. Her decidedly bold character begins to fade as she witnesses her husband making a frightful scene at their dinner party, where she herself becomes wracked with the fear of being found out.…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, a war hero named, Macbeth, wishes to be king and will do anything to become king. Paranoia drives Macbeth to have visions, feel disturbed mentally, kill an entire family. One way Macbeth appears to be affected by paranoia is when he is at a dinner and imagines a floating dagger. He questions how real the dagger is and says, “Is this a dagger which I see before me” (Shakespeare 2:1:34).…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s imprudent desire to rule…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The idea that, “men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.”, as Joseph Conrad said, is one founded upon hundreds of years of tyranny, dictatorship, and violence, and one of the few of which I fundamentally agree. From the earliest days of mankind, there is evidence of primeval humanoids slaughtering animals not only for their meat, but for the bones and tusks as well. As time progressed, and Homo sapiens evolved into what and who we are today, the need to kill animals for food remained, but it was the violence that advanced. Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Attila the Hun: All men yet all the while monsters. In fact, Adolf Hitler nearly orchestrated a genocide while remaining hundreds of miles away from where the killings were taking place.…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Plagued With Power With great power comes great insanity. Power brings out the corrupt nature of even the purest souls and changes a person for the worse. Power is like a fire which once ignited cannot be put out. Power is a hungry animal feeding on your deepest and darkest desires. Once you get a taste of power there is no turning back, for it will engulf you in darkness.…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Power In Macbeth Essay

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Through all elements of history, these will always be people who crave for power. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth is an allegory about a gentleman who wants to be a “uile-neartmhor” member of society through unrighteous methods. The question is…who has the most control throughout the story? The possibilities range from many different characters such as Macbeth, the Weird Sisters, or Lady Macbeth, who are all a big part of this classic piece of literature.…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every child has grown up with dreams of being the president of the United States or a princess or a doctor which is encouraged by our parents. Even from a young age we are attracted to positions of power, but at what cost? Shakespeare demonstrates how one can not maintain upward mobility in the social hierarchy while keeping moral values through irony, metaphor, and dichotomy to warn society of the possible outcome when individuals thirst for unnatural power. In the play of Macbeth, the newly appointed thane of Cawdor, Macbeth, lusts after the crown after receiving an omen from the three supernatural Weird sisters and criticism from his wife about his masculinity. In hope of quickly achieving his goals, Macbeth kills the current king, Duncan,…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    15-16). Macbeth’s sense of humanity is taken away because he cannot think for himself. He obsesses over the prophecies without comprehending the possible outcomes. Consequently, the hunger for power can lead people into insanity, which can cause them to ruin their sense of…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s well-renowned plays that centralizes on a king’s struggle with guilt and, ultimately, the road to his demise. Although Macbeth was known for being a man of bravery and honor, Shakespeare utilized a plethora of literary devices to showcase that his ambition had overcome his state of mind. In Macbeth, Shakespeare used strong dynamic characters, significant motifs, and powerful soliloquies to develop the theme that the ultimate desire for power has the capability to tempt even the most noble men to be driven to corruption. To begin with, Shakespeare uses a strong dynamic character to develop the theme that the desire for power can cause noble men to become corrupt. In Act 1, Macbeth concluded that the key to the…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sometimes people are not always what they seem like on the outside. They can be better than what they seem like or they can be worse. In Lady Macbeth’s case, they are worse. Is she thinking and doing what she is because she wants the best for her husband, or is she doing this because she wants more power? Lady Macbeth does some pretty extreme things to make her husband King.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays