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. No power is stronger than the lust for power, that pushes people to commit atrocious crimes. In William Shakespeare 's play Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth, is fueled by his desire for power, as is Stefan; a noble king, in Robert Stromberg’s film Maleficent. As a result of their lust for power, both Macbeth and Stefan metamorphose into a tyrannical, treacherous and paranoid …show more content…
A tyrant by definition is “a ruler who uses power oppressively or unjustly” (Dictionary.com). Both kings fit the role of a tyrant impeccably, for they become cruel, unjust and no longer value the important things in life. Their over-inflated egos cause them to abuse their power and to take actions that threaten the greater good of their subjects. For instance, in Macbeth, after Macbeth assassinates and steals the crown from King Duncan, getting his first taste of power, he spirals into madness which leads him to rule Scotland with an iron fist. Because of his tyrannical ways, Macbeth’s “nation” becomes “miserable/ With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptered” (IV.iii.117-118). People all around him, especially his best military man: Macduff, notice his shift towards oppressive power and plot against him, escorting him to his doom. He treats his people like filth and tries to play God by controlling when they die. In a large portion of the play, Macbeth is even …show more content…
Their guilt slowly builds up, making them restless. Even when they try to get back up to the place of sanity, their paranoia drags them down deeper, like quicksand. In Macbeth, after Macbeth kills Banquo, in fear that Banquo’s son will steal the throne from him, Macbeth hallucinates and sees Banquo’s ghost at his banquet. When he spots the ghost he yells, “Avaunt, and quit my sight!/ Let the earth hide thee” (III.iv.113-114). Macbeth’s meltdown indicates his mental turmoil and instability. Since only Macbeth can see Banquo 's ghost, it can be assumed that the ghost is a concoction of his guilt, which plagues his mind. Macbeth’s paranoia sprouts after killing Duncan for the throne. His paranoia leads him to believe that in order to satisfy his desire for power, he must kill all those who are in his way, even if they have committed no crimes against him. While in Maleficent, Stefan’s paranoia spawns from his guilt of taking Maleficent’s wings and in fear that she will take revenge upon him. Unfortunately, his biggest fear comes to life when Maleficent curses his daughter to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into death-like sleep. Driven by paranoia, Stefan orders “his men to seize every spinning wheel in the kingdom” to be “broken and burned, that they might never be used, and thrown into the deepest dungeon in the castle”
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. No power is stronger than the lust for power, that pushes people to commit atrocious crimes. In William Shakespeare 's play Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth, is fueled by his desire for power, as is Stefan; a noble king, in Robert Stromberg’s film Maleficent. As a result of their lust for power, both Macbeth and Stefan metamorphose into a tyrannical, treacherous and paranoid …show more content…
A tyrant by definition is “a ruler who uses power oppressively or unjustly” (Dictionary.com). Both kings fit the role of a tyrant impeccably, for they become cruel, unjust and no longer value the important things in life. Their over-inflated egos cause them to abuse their power and to take actions that threaten the greater good of their subjects. For instance, in Macbeth, after Macbeth assassinates and steals the crown from King Duncan, getting his first taste of power, he spirals into madness which leads him to rule Scotland with an iron fist. Because of his tyrannical ways, Macbeth’s “nation” becomes “miserable/ With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptered” (IV.iii.117-118). People all around him, especially his best military man: Macduff, notice his shift towards oppressive power and plot against him, escorting him to his doom. He treats his people like filth and tries to play God by controlling when they die. In a large portion of the play, Macbeth is even …show more content…
Their guilt slowly builds up, making them restless. Even when they try to get back up to the place of sanity, their paranoia drags them down deeper, like quicksand. In Macbeth, after Macbeth kills Banquo, in fear that Banquo’s son will steal the throne from him, Macbeth hallucinates and sees Banquo’s ghost at his banquet. When he spots the ghost he yells, “Avaunt, and quit my sight!/ Let the earth hide thee” (III.iv.113-114). Macbeth’s meltdown indicates his mental turmoil and instability. Since only Macbeth can see Banquo 's ghost, it can be assumed that the ghost is a concoction of his guilt, which plagues his mind. Macbeth’s paranoia sprouts after killing Duncan for the throne. His paranoia leads him to believe that in order to satisfy his desire for power, he must kill all those who are in his way, even if they have committed no crimes against him. While in Maleficent, Stefan’s paranoia spawns from his guilt of taking Maleficent’s wings and in fear that she will take revenge upon him. Unfortunately, his biggest fear comes to life when Maleficent curses his daughter to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into death-like sleep. Driven by paranoia, Stefan orders “his men to seize every spinning wheel in the kingdom” to be “broken and burned, that they might never be used, and thrown into the deepest dungeon in the castle”