The Power Of Power In Shakespeare's The Tragedy Of Macbeth

Improved Essays
Power is something that we all want, it is what gives us control of our lives, but the outcome of it, is what affects our values and morals. For instance, in the play The Tragedy of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth wanted to have power and pushed Macbeth to murder Duncan so he could become king. As time passed his lust for power grew and turned him into a murderer.
Lady Macbeth, in The Tragedy of Macbeth, was eager to convince Macbeth to kill king Duncan, eager so that her husband could become King of Scotland. After her and Macbeth murdered Duncan, everything had changed for them. For instance, Lady Macbeth had went mentally and emotionally unstable after murdering Duncan. The doctor had examined Lady Macbeth and said, “Foul whisp’rings are abroad.
…show more content…
In the beginning of the play Macbeth had been a kind, gentle, loving man that cared deeply for his wife. Lady Macbeth herself had thought her husband was too good to even complete their mission. She said, “What thou art promised./ Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness/ 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.” (Shakespeare, 361, 1.5.13-19). Lady Macbeth fear that her husband is too good to seize the throne by murdering. He lacks the necessary wickedness to gain power. But his opinion of wife meant the most to Macbeth and wanted to prove himself to her, that he was worthy of her. Throughout the play he did everything for her, he killed for her so she could become queen. But the power had consumed him and turned him cold. Macbeth was too consumed in maintaining his power as King of Scotland, he did not mourn his wife when she died. Macbeth had claimed he did everything for his wife, but even after her death, he continued to fight to stay king and would harm whoever got in his way. He did not mourn his wife so he could fight, he wished she died during a more convenient time for him to mourn her death. Macbeth said, …show more content…
Macbeth had wanted power. “It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it” (Kyi, 1990).Macbeth is aware of the consequences of his evil actions, and foolishly overrides his better judgement. His conscience alerts him to the evil nature of the “deed”; he is aware of the “even-handed justice” or “judgement” which instructs people about good and evil. He knows that every action has consequences and one day they will return to haunt the perpetrator. Macbeth is tragic in the sense that he predicts his downfall but cannot control his ambition. He is also tragic in the sense that, as a fine and noble soldier, he becomes corrupted. As a tyrant, he becomes steeped in blood for evil

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history, the level of power a person has influences what their morals are. Men with power become corrupted and men without power become inhuman. From kings to slaves, there has been a correlation between power and morality. This can be shown in Night, Macbeth, and The Prince. Losing power changes people and their morals, turning powerful men into cowards and civilized people into savages.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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
  • Superior Essays

    the second thing that Macbeth did was tell his wife about the prophecies, when he wasn’t sure if he should kill Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth told him that he wasn’t being very manly and that he should kill Duncan, because that would mean that she then would be married to the King of Scotland. Looking at their relationship through the text, it is easily put together that Lady Macbeth was in charge of her husband 's actions until she started to go crazy. As the story developed, so did their lies and they started to drift apart. It came to the point that Macbeth didn’t even care that his wife committed suicide because he was so obsessed with the idea of being powerful.…

    • 2372 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    William Shakespeare was well known for the main characters of his plays using their tragic flaws to create their own downfall. In this play, we see a different kind of tragic hero. Macbeth is pushed by his mentally unstable wife to commit the murder of the beloved King Duncan, and even though Macbeth has always been known as a great warrior, he can’t use these skills for evil no matter how much he craves power. Before the idea of power was brought to him, Macbeth was a noble and loyal soldier to King Duncan and the country of Scotland.…

    • 1857 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Lady Macbeth’s desperate desire for power and control is evident through her vaulting ambition for the throne. The ambition that Lady displays is proven through her quick leap to obtaining more power when a chance for procuring it becomes clear. For instance, as Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth’s letter she responds with saying “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be/What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature;/It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way” (1.5.14-17).…

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth’s desire for power lead him to commit murder not once but three continuous times throughout the play. The death of Banquo, Duncan, and Macduff’s family proves how willing he was to do whatever it took to secure his spot as King. Macbeth believed he was undefeatable because the witches told him “Fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman Shall e’er have power upon thee”…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The irony of Macbeth’s situation is that what destroys him – his ambition – is what has made him great leader and has the potential for making him greater. From early on in the play, Macbeth himself recognises his ambition as his “fatal flaw”. In Act 1 Scene 7 he acknowledges this, “Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself / And falls on the other.” From the beginning of the play up to the commencement of this scene, Macbeth has been seen as a nobleman; who has the potential to achieve great things. As this scene progresses, with persistent persuasion and coaxing of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s moral compass is slowly decomposing and eventually his human psyche.…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    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
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Honor In Macbeth

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Macbeth chooses to honor his manhood over his loyalty to the king and his country. He is willing to do anything to prove to his wife that he is a man, even if it means the well-being of the kingdom is…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare highlights the corrupting power of unchecked ambition. The downfall of Macbeth lies ultimately upon a fatal flaw in himself; ambition. However, fate in the form of the witches and prophecies is partially accountable for his undoing as they impose his evil. Lady Macbeth also plays a role in the annihilation of Macbeth due to her ambition for power. She uses manipulation as a driving force behind Macbeth to influence him to kill Duncan and fulfil her own desires, all contributing to the downfall of Macbeth.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Power is dangerous, it attracts the worst and corrupts the best” Edward Abbey once said on how addictive power can be. In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates how the lust for power can make anyone lose their identity in order to achieve power. Because of the desire for power, people will betray anyone in their way, even if they’re close. They disregard their conscience, which leads to immense guilt, thus a part of their humanity is stripped away. In addition, power makes people greedy.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Is Lady Macbeth more responsible for King Duncan’s death? Is Lady Macbeth is more evil than her husband? Lady Macbeth was a component during the murder however she cannot be accused of being more responsible for King Duncan’s death. Lady Macbeth was not eviler than her husband Macbeth.…

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    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
  • 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

    Macbeth Tragic Flaw Essay

    • 1016 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Macbeth’s story truly is a tragedy and he is in every respect a tragic…

    • 1016 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays