Power can easily become a corruptive force when ambition and desire get out of hand. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth (1606), Macbeth’s ambition and Lady Macbeth’s greed for power transform them into a corrupt king and insane queen. The witches are the trigger for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s inhumane actions. A variety of literary and dramatic techniques are used to present these themes.
The catastrophic consequences of desiring power can be seen through the development of Lady Macbeth. She is introduced as a strong, manipulative woman that is corrupted by supernatural forces and her thirst for power. When she hears of the witches’ prophecy, she believes she and Macbeth are entitled to the “promises” the witches made. Lady Macbeth, after discovering her husband is “too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” to go through
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This is contrasted with “and take my milk for gall”, which presents Lady Macbeth, unlike Macbeth, as someone full of poison and cruelty. She begs the spirits to “unsex me here” and to fill her with “direst cruelty”. This use of imperative language emphasises her yearning to give up her femininity for the greater good she believes will come from killing Duncan. Her manipulative nature becomes evident when she begins taunting Macbeth’s weakness by calling him “drunk… green and pale”, “a coward in thine own esteem”, and the “poor cat” that wanted the fish but was too afraid to get its paws wet. Macbeth is exactly like this cat—desperate to be king, but is afraid of dirtying his hands. She then shoves him off the fence by saying she would rather “dash[ed] the brains out” of her own child than break such a promise. Religious allusion is used when Lady Macbeth says, “a little water clears us of this deed”, in which Pontius Pilate is clearing himself of being involved in Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. This shows that Lady Macbeth thinks it is easy to wash away any guilt her and Macbeth are experiencing. The lines
When in a relationship, one's quest for power, can result in an endless effort to satisfy this desire, producing a tragic outcome. In the tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare explores how greed and ambition has an influence on one’s actions, leading to the occurrence of a tragedy. In the case of Macbeth, greed and ambition results in Macbeth becoming a highly manipulative, and dangerous individual. The dominant status Lady Macbeth owns, allows her to influence Macbeth into committing harmful acts. When Lady Macbeth’s dominant status begins to deteriorate, Macbeth begins to mature, gradually becoming the more dominant individual within their relationship.
They find it onerous to “give away” the power that they hold on so endearingly to. To retain control, situations arise in which individuals will resort to committing unspeakable acts. Throughout the Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth, this theme has been reiterated several times. Shakespeare has used the characters to portray different ideologies. The most prominent example of “power corrupts”
Because Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s decision to murder Duncan, Both face the guilt of the power they abused portrays on the shadows that reflect on them as well as the natural consequences they will face. During the first half of the play, Lady Macbeth expresses her unnatural feelings and this is demonstrated through the corruption of power when she want’s to hire people to kill Duncan because she thinks that Macbeth is too scared. At first, when Lady Macbeth hinted “Their drenchèd natures lies as in a death”(1.7.78). This demonstrates that Lady Macbeth is characterizing corruption of power due to the fact that she want's to kill Duncan, therefore she can be queen of cawdor while Macbeth is king.
The sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures; 'tis the eye of childhood That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, For it must seem their guilt.” (Shakespeare 2.2.53). In this scene, Lady Macbeth has tried to change herself to get what she wants because she is overcome with greed. We see that she was unable to kill Duncan, however she is still willing to smear blood and frame innocents to get what she
Power is always coveted in any society and the world of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is no different. In the play, Macbeth, a noble lord, shows his hunger for power with thoughts to remove an heir to the throne from power. Macbeth’s impatience to be king leads him to stain his honor by using murder. Macbeth travels further down the path of evil by arranging the assassination of a friend.
The reader is able to see this through Macbeth’s contemplation on whether or not he should kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth's lust for power and Macbeth’s final yet selfish decision. The overall comparisons are able to demonstrate the harmful physical and psychological effects of power throughout a community. As a result, the reader can learn from both Queen and Shakespeare that one's evil pleasure and desires can be a result of one's destruction all
Macbeth’s lust for power is heavily displayed in literature and is also evident in many political figures in history. This is strongly showed in history, with mirrored actions of Hitler. The strongest of which, were both of their ambition to gain power. Although in their roots, they have their differences. Macbeth started out as passive and obedient, but as the witches controlled him, the stronger they manipulated him.
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely”, this an excellent example of the drama by William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth. When we meet Macbeth at the beginning of the play, he is labeled as “brave Macbeth”, a man who is recognized for his honor, bravery and heroics on the battlefield, and kindness and love away from it, but these qualities fade as the play develops. The motor that drives the tragedy of Macbeth is ambition, throughout the whole play, ambition is what holds the most overwhelming power to influence the actions of others. The murder of King Duncan was influenced most by Macbeth’s ambition and hunger, at the cost of his morality.
She is malicious not only in words but also in her intent. Her sole object is to obtain power and wealth, with its attendant treasures. Lady Macbeth lacks humanity and regrets that she was not born as a man. She understands that power and violence are synonymous with manhood and bravery. Additionally, Lady Macbeth interests’ and ambition, override her love for even her husband, Macbeth.
Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I am the Second Witch from the play, Macbeth and my job is to identify and analyse how I have represented power in Macbeth. Macbeth is an English play published in 1606 by William Shakespeare during the reign of James I and is based on Shakespeare’s idea of the thirst for political and social power during the 17th century (Colonial Period). William Shakespeare’s intent of Macbeth is to exaggerate the damaging physical and psychological effects of political and social ambition on those who pursue power for the sake of it. In doing so the theme of power is represented through my relationships with other characters in the novel throughout the novel.
Power can not only bring ambitious people honors, but also make them lose everything. In the play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, it demonstrates that the immoral power influences the life of Macbeth dramatically. Macbeth’s abuse of power destroys his relationship with his cousin, friend, and wife, which shows that Macbeth’s wild ambition causes him to be isolated. Macbeth’s abuse of power destroys his relationship with his cousin, Duncan.
She states: “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 the illness should attend it” (1.5. 15-20). When she says “full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” she is referring to how she believes that he is too nice to commit a murder. The word “milk” implies that he would be more likely to be able to breastfeed and nurture someone than she would. By saying “to catch the nearest way”, Lady Macbeth hasn’t a doubt that Macbeth longs to be king, but to her standards, he won’t be ambitious enough in achieving the goal.
As humans, the desire to want control or influence is natural. However, some people may go to greater extremes than others to obtain this power. For instance, in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth was characterized as a good man, well renowned for winning a battle. His wife, on the contrary, Lady Macbeth, has a strong urge to obtain power and she is willing to do anything to acquire it. She implemented the thought of destroying everyone who stood in the way along the path to reach royalty in Macbeth’s mind by making him feel like he as though he is less of a man if he decided not to.
The questioning of Macbeth’s masculinity would have been considered a great insult at the time. Therefore this derision can be considered coercion into violence by Lady Macbeth to motivate Macbeth to maintain his reputation and not the actions of a truly evil