The Human Desire For Power In Macbeth

At first, he is described as a valiant hero of the land, bravely fighting for King Duncan, but his overreaching ambition causes him to do vile acts, completely overriding his conscience. Macbeth’s conscience, although present, is vastly underpowered compared to his ambition. We see Macbeth’s conscience in scenes where he had just committed an evil act under the influence of ambition. Most notably, after he kills Duncan he says, “What hands are here? Ha, they pluck out mine eyes.

Throughout the play, the temptation is what keeps us engage with Macbeth and his actions to fight it. Temptation leads to murder in which Macbeth does. Macbeth doesn’t just murder Duncan he also murders Banquo and Macduff’s family which is also led by temptation. Macbeth 's blinded by his actions and all he cares about is protecting his seat for the crown ignoring all life around him. Macbeth ignores that Duncan is a humble king and that he should protect him.

The play entails the main character, Macbeth, and his ruthless quest for power which was not only morally and ethically unjust but an example of power controlling ones mind. The play highlights his and Lady Macbeths intentions and motives, imprisoning their humanity, control their actions and cause impulsivity and greatly devastating endeavours to be carried out, greatly upsetting the natural order in turn disrupting the natural path the future would take. The play acts as a warning to all, with the aim of revealing how such a fatal flaw can ruin ones whole existence. Shakespeare illustrates the psychological damage that occurs in this play is evident, and is represented in a multitude of different ways through a variety of interactions between characters. An example of such an occurrence is how Lady

He also later finds out that he is a difficult man to murder, so it goes to his head and he believes he 's invincible. In Shakespeare 's Macbeth, the theme of blind ambition is developed through the motif of blood as seen in the assassination of King Duncan, the murder of Banquo, and the outcome of the second apparition. The assassination of Duncan was bloody and was the first act that was influenced by Macbeth’s blind ambition to be King. Macbeth at first tries to fight his ambition, he says, “First I am his kinsman and his subject,/Strong both against the deed: then, as his host,/Who should against his murderer shut the door,/Not bear the knife myself.”

From the beginning, Macbeth’s intentions are made clear to the reader; he wants power and authority. After hearing that he will become king, Macbeth’s mind immediately turns to the thought of murdering Duncan as demonstrated in his aside where he says, “... Why do I yield to that suggestion / Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / And make my seated heart knock at my ribs/ Against the use of nature?” (Shakespeare, Macbeth 1.4.134-37).

In the soliloquy performed in the awakening moments of his lust for power, Macbeth’s desire for “not light to see [his] black and deep desires” is revealed, as well as how his eyes will “wink at the hand; yet let that be,/ Which the eye fears when it is done to see” (I.IV.51-53). This is the moment that defines Macbeth’s decision to murder King Duncan, a plot he so fears to execute that he must conceal it from the light of day. Despite his brewing dread for his murderous plot, he is determined that he must eliminate Duncan in order to become the King of Scotland. The

Tragedies may all be different stories, but they all end in a similar way. Tragedies often have psychological implications that show what can lead to tragedy, be it fictional or non fictional. The story of Antigone centers around the fall of a prideful ruler who disobeys the gods, while Macbeth is about the fall of an ambitious hero influenced by evil. Creon is a more corrupt character than Macbeth because he is not affected by outside forces and the tragedy of the play is caused by him alone. The combination of Macbeth’s ambition and outside forces creates the tragedy in Macbeth, which is influenced by the supernatural much more than Antigone.

I.iv.55-58). This inadvertent dehumanization of others is just the first step in his wicked journey on which he finds himself murdering those he once looked up to for their title. The closer Macbeth gets to his goal, the more corrupted he becomes, and, even in power, he finds himself tormented by the thought of losing it. This intense ambition, coupled with Macbeth’s relatively normal disposition at the beginning of the play, works to characterize power as inherently corruptible and, ultimately, to be kept under close surveillance. Similarly, King Lear finds himself perverted by the power he once held- so much so that he cannot even recognize himself without it, exclaiming, “does any here know me?

The use of this motif emphasizes Macbeths deplorable need to be safely thus, as a tyrant would when murdering those who have cared for him. It also emphasizes character, corruption and

Due to the outside influence from the witches, he thinks that it is his destiny and that he must do everything to fulfil it; Lady Macbeth’s constant harassment pushed Macbeth to commit all evil. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.” Through his own ambitions, the ambition of his wife and the witches’ prophecies, Macbeth caused his own destruction and downfall. Ambition and power are something sought by many people, however, intentions of different people are

The quest for power in literature leas the character’s actions which in turn reveal and enhance the reason why the work was written. Shakespeare uses Macbeth and his quest for power in order to show that the desire for power leads to the fall of these tyrannical people. First, Macbeth’s quest for power shows how easily anyone can seek power which causes actions that one would normally not do. Macbeth was a nobleman who had met witches that told him he would become king which he believed meant that he had to kill the king.

Corrupt Soul The natural man thrives to be in control, whether it be of himself, animals, or other people. Power is an addiction and addicts look for scenarios to be in charge to trigger the same amount of dopamine release in their brain that gives them pleasure. Throughout the centuries there has been numerous power-hungry leaders that corrupted millions of people to satisfy their personal cravings. Adolfus Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945, is a great example of corrupting government to pleasure his personal addiction with power.

Macbeth was the greatest king that ever lived and that anyone could have asked for to run their kingdom, yeah right. Macbeth was this lunatic crazed man who kills everyone that he doesn't think is trust worthy. Macbeth is so power hungry that he doesn't even care if his wife just died because in the book he says “ It was going to happen sooner or later”, like wow thats how he honestly feels all because he is the King and can do whatever if he puts his faith into the witches, but seriously Macbeth is no where near the greatest king that ever lived, I wouldn't even have this man take care of my turtles.

Macbeth’s Thirst For Power “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Brainyquotes.com). British historian, Lord Acton explains that people with complete and absolute power over others always eventually abuse this power and it goes to their head. These words perfectly describe the way that the quest for power and ambition takes a toll on a person and can lead to tragedy such as in William Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Ambition is a powerful emotion in an individual's mind. It can benefit them or drastically hurt them. I have noticed in the play, “Macbeth” by WIlliam Shakespeare, that most of the important characters, especially Lady Macbeth, are very ambitious people. Once Lady Macbeth hears about the witches prophecies, her ambition takes over her conscience. She never thought twice about murdering the king: “yet I do fear thy nature; it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way,” (I.V.15-17) she wanted Macbeth to kill Duncan but feared he was too nice and too loyal to his king.