Corruption Grows With Power
Power and corruption, manipulation and murder, these are the things that weave the tragic tale of Macbeth. Macbeth turns from a noble man to a tyrant throughout the play through a series of heinous acts in order to gain power and maintain it. His quest to become king and keep the throne tore his character apart, taking everything he is and replacing it with blind ambition and lust for power. The power Macbeth sought after and eventually achieves results in his corruption through his learning of the power, his suspicion upon gaining it and his addiction to the power. William Shakespeare shows that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely in Macbeth through the titular character.
Macbeth first shows …show more content…
When King Duncan comes to stay at Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth that he must use this opportunity to murder the king. Macbeth follows through with his wife’s plan, despite his unsureness, and kills King Duncan. After making his decision to do so, Lady Macbeth goes to ring a bell to signify when he should go to commit his crime. Upon hearing it, Macbeth says “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. / Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell / That summons thee to heaven or to hell” (2.1.64-66), saying that the murder is as good as done, followed by a dark quote saying that the bell signifies King Duncan’s death. In this quote, his reluctance seems to vanish, introducing a new ruthless side of Macbeth which appears more and more throughout the play until it overtakes him. The heinous act of killing his king sets the scene for the slippery slope of murder and corruption Macbeth will go down in order to keep his power. Following Duncan’s murder, his body is discovered by Macduff, who then informs everyone in the castle of what has happened. Macbeth and Lennox go to see the scene of …show more content…
Macbeth shows this with his suspicion of Banquo, whom he believes will take his power from him, as his descendants are prophesied to be kings. He seems to fear Banquo and his wisdom, saying that “He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour / To act in safety. There is none but he / Whose being I do fear” (3.1.58-60). He fears that Banquo is too wise for him. So wise, in fact, that he could suspect him of Duncan’s murder, which he does. Banquo is never given the chance to act upon those suspicions, though, as Macbeth has him killed before he could have. Macbeth’s suspicions of those around him were of not only those close to him, but also those who were near strangers, the murderers. Macbeth, likely fearful that the first two murderers should not be trusted to kill Banquo and his son Fleance themselves, sends a third murderer to ensure the job will be done. In the end, it did him no good, as Fleance still escaped. The first two murderers did not know of Macbeth sending a third, the second murderer even saying “he needs not our mistrust” (3.3.3), which can be interpreted as the murder believing Macbeth does not trust them. When Macbeth goes to visit the witches for the last time, he is seeking information. He does not trust those around him, and wants the witches to aid him in knowing who to mistrust and beware of. When the first apparition appears, telling him to beware Macduff, he responds with “Thou hast harped my
Power and corruption, manipulation and murder, these are the things that weave the tragic tale of Macbeth. Macbeth turns from a noble man to a tyrant throughout the play through a series of heinous acts in order to gain power and maintain it. His quest to become king and keep the throne tore his character apart, taking everything he is and replacing it with blind ambition and lust for power. The power Macbeth sought after and eventually achieves results in his corruption through his learning of the power, his suspicion upon gaining it and his addiction to the power. William Shakespeare shows that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely in Macbeth through the titular character.
Macbeth first shows …show more content…
When King Duncan comes to stay at Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth that he must use this opportunity to murder the king. Macbeth follows through with his wife’s plan, despite his unsureness, and kills King Duncan. After making his decision to do so, Lady Macbeth goes to ring a bell to signify when he should go to commit his crime. Upon hearing it, Macbeth says “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. / Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell / That summons thee to heaven or to hell” (2.1.64-66), saying that the murder is as good as done, followed by a dark quote saying that the bell signifies King Duncan’s death. In this quote, his reluctance seems to vanish, introducing a new ruthless side of Macbeth which appears more and more throughout the play until it overtakes him. The heinous act of killing his king sets the scene for the slippery slope of murder and corruption Macbeth will go down in order to keep his power. Following Duncan’s murder, his body is discovered by Macduff, who then informs everyone in the castle of what has happened. Macbeth and Lennox go to see the scene of …show more content…
Macbeth shows this with his suspicion of Banquo, whom he believes will take his power from him, as his descendants are prophesied to be kings. He seems to fear Banquo and his wisdom, saying that “He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour / To act in safety. There is none but he / Whose being I do fear” (3.1.58-60). He fears that Banquo is too wise for him. So wise, in fact, that he could suspect him of Duncan’s murder, which he does. Banquo is never given the chance to act upon those suspicions, though, as Macbeth has him killed before he could have. Macbeth’s suspicions of those around him were of not only those close to him, but also those who were near strangers, the murderers. Macbeth, likely fearful that the first two murderers should not be trusted to kill Banquo and his son Fleance themselves, sends a third murderer to ensure the job will be done. In the end, it did him no good, as Fleance still escaped. The first two murderers did not know of Macbeth sending a third, the second murderer even saying “he needs not our mistrust” (3.3.3), which can be interpreted as the murder believing Macbeth does not trust them. When Macbeth goes to visit the witches for the last time, he is seeking information. He does not trust those around him, and wants the witches to aid him in knowing who to mistrust and beware of. When the first apparition appears, telling him to beware Macduff, he responds with “Thou hast harped my