Power And Fortune In Macbeth

Improved Essays
Show More
Is power and fortune worth the life of a longtime friend? Shakespeare answers that question in one of his most famous dramatic plays, “Macbeth”, which takes place in Scotland. The main character, Macbeth, desired to become king, so he plotted to kill King Duncan. After going through with his plan, Macbeth is then proclaimed king and later killed in battle. The theme of the play was ambition, which can clearly be seen through the characters Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Malcolm. To start with, Macbeth’s dialogue greatly showed his desires to become king after encountering the witches and hearing the prophecy. “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’ other” (Act I scn …show more content…
“To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win” (Act I scn v, ln 18-22). In this scene Lady Macbeth has read about Macbeth’s plan to kill Duncan to become king, but she doesn’t believe that he will really go through with it and is willing to help Macbeth kill Duncan. Later on in the play, Lady Macbeth discusses the plan with Macbeth, but he is skeptical of failing, but then Lady Macbeth says, “We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking-place and we’ll not fail,” (Act I scn vii, ln 60-61). These quotes clearly show Lady Macbeth’s ambition towards making Macbeth king no matter the …show more content…
During the play, Malcolm receives news of how Macbeth is killing so many people and is furious and says, “Let’s make us med’cines of our great revenge, to cure this deadly grief,” (Act IV scn iii, ln 214-215). Malcolm then decides to go to war with Scotland to overthrow Macbeth and save his people, as stated, “Come, go we to the King. Our power is ready; our lack is nothing but our leave. Macbeth is ripe for shaking, and the pow’rs above put on their instruments,” (Act IV scn iii, ln 236-239). This demonstrates how much Malcolm cares for the people and is determined to do anything to keep them

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth Power And Greed Quotes
    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Macbeth Power And Greed Quotes

    After Malcolm’s father passes away, Malcolm needs to decide whether or not he’s going to become king and show that he realizes how the influence of power and greed can negatively affect people. In the first act, the motif, “The prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down or else o’erlap.” (1.4.55-56) Malcolm’s father passes away, and the people in the kingdom expect that Malcolm will become king.…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth And Scar Compare Contrast Essay
    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Macbeth And Scar Compare Contrast Essay

    Macbeth and Scar from The Lion King are similar because in the beginning of Macbeth, King Duncan’s death is planned when Macbeth is told by the three witches that he can claim the throne if Duncan passes away before Malcolm becomes old enough to rule. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both plan the murder of King Duncan. After King Duncan is pronounced dead his son fleas out of town worrying that he might be next on the list. The Lion King was supposed to be based off of Hamlet in the first place but somehow seems to make more sense when comparing it to Macbeth, for insistence, in The Lion King we have Scar (who is playing Macbeth) who wants to get rid of Mufasa because he wants to take over the Pride Land with the help of the hyenas (who are playing the three witches) before Simba turns old enough to take over. So Scar murders Mufasa and talks…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth Fate Vs Free Will Research Paper
    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Macbeth Fate Vs Free Will Research Paper

    Fabian Solis English 4 Mrs. Crockett December 18, 2015 Macbeth Fate v. Free will Fate and Free will opposes each other, in the story Macbeth is told that he will fulfill a prophecy by some witches that. People believe that fate does not control your life, people each live to do what they want in life. This freedom is called free will. Macbeth had that choice to do what he wanted. He chose the path to be a king, which led him to problems.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Role Of Manipulation In Macbeth
    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Role Of Manipulation In Macbeth

    Only motivated by his drive to unseam “the merciless Macdonwald” (I.ii.2) and win honor from his battles for Scotland, the thought of becoming king never enters Macbeth’s mind until he is pushed into believing the possibility may arise. The three witches, in their own amusement, start Macbeth down his path to evil and cruelty. It is Macbeth’s free will, however that keeps him on that path. The witches implant ideas into Macbeth’s head that they know he will act upon. For example, they reveal to Macbeth that he “shalt be king hereafter” (I.iii.6) and that Banquo’s “children shall be kings” (I.iii.7).…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Great Gatsby Critical Analysis
    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Great Gatsby Critical Analysis

    Critical Analysis Review for The Great Gatsby and Macbeth Macbeth: 1.Summary: The three witches tell Banquo and Macbeth about the prophecies, Macbeth will become King and Banquo will be a father of a line of kings. Banquo is sceptical of what is being said to him and Macbeth is hesitant to believe them at first. Ross told Macbeth that the king gave him the title of thane of cawdor and now he believed the witches. How: Macbeth was behaving timidly, when he got told the news by Ross he automatically thought about killing the king to make the last prophecy become a reality.…

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Examples Of Schizophrenia In Macbeth
    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Examples Of Schizophrenia In Macbeth

    Also by Macbeth showing passion he want the joy and riches of being king and will do anything to get in the light of power that will give him the fame and fortune of being king. They strove so hard to make Macbeth king that they became totally obsessed with it. It became all they thought about and their whole being revolved around it. When Lady Macbeth finds that Macbeth has been prophesized to be king, she does not believe he is capable of fulfilling the prophecy alone. So, she says to herself, " Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thane ear, and chastise with the valor of my tongue which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned withal.…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Corruption Of Power In Macbeth
    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Corruption Of Power In Macbeth

    They say that knowledge is power, but power itself can drastically change a person. Power hunger leads to corruption, which eventually leads to an internal conflict of morals. The play titled Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare is a story of a noble man who is manipulated by his power hungry wife into murdering the King of Scotland and anyone who got in his path to power. The effect of power changes Macbeth in many ways through the oversaturation of power and the manipulation of his wife Lady Macbeth. This results in the corruption of Macbeth, causing him to perform heinous acts in order to secure his position of power as King.…

    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Importance Of Knowledge In Macbeth
    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Importance Of Knowledge In Macbeth

    Sharing his plan with Lady Macbeth, the would-be queen, shows he hoped “it would find welcome lodgement with her,” and she would encourage his greed for more power (Flathe 2). Realizing it is against his morals, Macbeth tries to back out of the murder plan but he is “charged with cowardice” by Lady Macbeth (Richardson 1). She scolds him for being too frightened to achieve his goal to become king and not being “the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire” (1.7.40-41). This accusation spurs his ambition and his greed, so he murders Duncan, knowing the prophecies are on his side. By committing this crime, Macbeth destroys a bond with a parent-like figure and violates the “powers of [his] own superego, or conscience” (Reid 5).…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Danger Of Ambition In Macbeth
    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Danger Of Ambition In Macbeth

    Macbeth shares the prophesies with her and she has the same first instinct. She believes that the solution is to kill King Duncan, but Lady Macbeth is not confident in Macbeth’s evil character. She thinks that he is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (1.5.16), and not capable of doing what it takes to fulfill this prophecy. She then illustrates what she believes is the road to success: “To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great: Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it.”…

    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Similarities And Differences Between Macbeth And Lord Of The Flies
    • 1802 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Similarities And Differences Between Macbeth And Lord Of The Flies

    He ponders the possibility of becoming a monarch and sets his whole heart on the attainment of this goal” (Foster). That quote shows that Macbeth will do anything to become king, even ignoring his best friends orders. At the start of the play Duncan is the king, and he is the only thing that stands in between Macbeth and the crown. At first Macbeth is very hesitant about killing Duncan, and says he won 't do it, but after lots of convincing from Lady Macbeth he decides he should. After killing Duncan Macbeth thinks that his throne is safe, but it’s the opposite.…

    • 1802 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Predictions In Shakespeare's Macbeth?
    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Predictions In Shakespeare's Macbeth?

    Even if the witches had never prophesied Macbeth’s future, his personality and influences would have caused him to attempt to become King. Shortly after the witches first appearance, Macbeth’s ambition can be seen when his ‘black and deep desires’ (Act I, Sc IV, 51) lead him to see Duncan’s son, the heir to the throne, as ‘A step on which [he] must fall down, or else o’erleap, for in [his] way [to the crown] it lies’ (Act I, Sc IV, 48-50). Correspondingly, Lady Macbeth’s impact over, and desire to advance her husband is shown when Macbeth states ‘We will proceed no further in this business’ (Act I, Sc VII, 31) in regards to the murder of Duncan, and Lady Macbeth calls him a ‘coward’ (Act I, Sc VII, 43) and asks ‘Was the hope drunk wherein you dressed yourself’ (Act I, Sc VII, 35-6) to encourage him to go through with the murder. In contrast to Macbeth, after Banquo hears the witches predict ‘Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none’ (Act I, Sc III, 65) he does not act on the prediction by attempting to make his son, Fleance, king. Comparing how Macbeth and Banquo react to the witches’ predictions illustrates to us that Macbeth’s character and influences are part of the reason he acts on the prophecies Although, there is no evidence to suggest that Macbeth had thought about becoming king prior to his…

    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Macbeth And Ambition In Macbeth
    • 1762 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Macbeth And Ambition In Macbeth

    Macbeth had just returned from winning a major, and receiving another area of land. He felt the power he received coursing through his veins, and he wanted more. The manner in the way the witches speaks to him really hits home for Macbeth. They manage to become the only thing he thinks about, and slowly take over his mind. In an article published by the British Broadcasting Company, they state:” They have given Macbeth the apparent certainty that he is to become king, and he will do exactly as he subsequently does.…

    • 1762 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Theme Of Power In Shakespeare's Macbeth
    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Theme Of Power In Shakespeare's Macbeth

    Power can transmute the way a character devolves and grows throughout a piece of literature. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth becomes power hungry and changed him into a demanding dictator. His need for power affects his relationship with other characters in the play. The other characters get to the point where they feel the only way to stop him is to slain him. The power changes Macbeth throughout the play to the point where he doesn’t even know who he has become.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Fate Vs Free Will In Macbeth
    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Fate Vs Free Will In Macbeth

    All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (Shakespeare I.iii.48-50). The witches make these statements that excite Macbeth and builds a desire to make this come true. But again, they only speak the words of it happening, they did not make him kill the king. This came from his own actions and ambitions to be royalty.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth Tragic Flaw Essay
    • 1016 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Macbeth Tragic Flaw Essay

    Macbeth was a powerful general who had it; however, he got ambitious and through a series of tragedies and mistakes he was knocked off of his pedestal. In the tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is told prophecies that he will become king of Scotland from three witches and he kills his king, Duncan, to see this realizes. Macbeth is not opposed once Duncan is dead as Duncan’s son, Malcolm, raises an army with the help of England and with Macduff he challenges and eventually defeats the crazed and erratic Macbeth. Macbeth is in fact a tragic hero as he loses all of the power and respect he had as a thane and general all in a bid to gain power, and through all of his misdeeds he maintains a sense of guilt for all the evil…

    • 1016 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings