Essay Comparing Kurtz And Macbeth

WITCH: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! SECOND WITCH: All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane Cawdor! THIRD WITCH: All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!" Macbeth doesn't know what to think,because to his knowledge, the Thane of Cawdor is still alive. MacBETH:

I must fall down or else o'erleap/ for in my way it lies" (1. 4.

These predictions are effective in attracting Macbeth's attention because they feed off his desire for what they promise. At this point in the play he is the newly

The manner in which he became Thane of Cawdor immediately following the 'weird sister's' predictions strikes him solely as a coincidence, but initiates his musings as to how it would feel to be King. Upon his return Lady Macbeth endeavors to show Macbeth the manner in which his dreams that he dismissed as impossibilities, could become realities. Lady Macbeth attempted to convince him of the righteousness of the act, luring him with images of being king. He answered, still clutching at his original morals:

When the witches do meet macbeth they start calling him thane of cawdor and king when at this point he’s only thane of glamis, after which two soldiers announce him thane of cawdor. This is when Macbeth realizes he could very well be king as well. The witches prediction of Macbeth were right, but was it good for Macbeth or for the witches? When Macbeth fears that he would be caught again he goes to the witches for some form of help.

     Joseph Conrad and William Shakespeare are not traditionally paired up for a critical analysis. However, the characters MacBeth and Kurtz in MacBeth and Heart of Darkness, respectively, prove to be worthy of comparison. MacBeth and Kurtz share many common characteristics: both have vaulting ambition that leads both to their success and their demise, a superiority complex, and both make similar sacrifices to achieve their goal. Despite their many similarities, MacBeth and Kurtz differ in many respects. The way the authors present each character varies greatly, and the way each interacts with his surroundings contrast a great deal. The circumstances that follow their actions also

Despite the manipulation from Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is the one who ultimately makes the decision to murder King Duncan in order to become king. When Macbeth is given the title of Thane of Cawdor and the witches’ prophecies come to him, the thoughts of murdering King Duncan to become King emerge in Macbeth’s mind. Macbeth has mixed-feelings about the prophecies and asks himself, “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? Present fears are less than horrible imaginings: my thought, whose murder yet is

In William Shakespeare's play, "Macbeth" a man named Macbeth, who holds the title Thane of Glamis, stumbled upon three witches. The three witches tell Macbeth " All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter!" (1.3.49-50) At first Macbeth just brushes it off as nonsense, but then shortly after Macbeth is given a new title which happens to be, Thane of Cawdor, which was the title the witches had called him. After hearing this it makes him jump head first in believing that what the witches had told him was a prophecy, and that he would soon become the next king of Scotland, (the country where Macbeth lives.) Macbeth then sends a letter to Lady Macbeth to tell her the news about the prophecy, which

”(Shakespeare 1.3.73-75). He recognizes the honor of such a prophecy and knows that to be king would give him a lot of power, but he doesn't believe that for him to become king is feasible. Macbeth even deemed that Thane of Cawdor is not even remotely possible, a more powerful position than he currently holds, let alone king. But, when Macbeth is titled Thane of Cawdor he fails to value the fact that he is granted a position higher than he had before and instead wants to become king out of his lust for power. Macbeth even admits to himself he has no reason to become king when he says, “'

After Macbeth meets the three witches he now has an ambition to become king and that motivates him to kill his king. Originally, Macbeth says, “We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honored me of late, and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, which would be worn now in their newest gloss, not cast aside so soon” (I.vii.32-35). Macbeth tries to listen to his morals and believes they should not kill the king because the king thinks fondly of Macbeth and his title as Thane of Cawdor is so new that he does not want to ruin it. After

His infidelity breaks the trust between him and Duncan because of his immense betrayal to not only the King, but to the country of Scotland. He quickly becomes a man whom Duncan could no longer rely upon, for this reason, Duncan awards the title to a noble and courageous soldier, Macbeth. Dramatic irony is presented in this line because as Duncan is addressing the unfaithfulness of the old thane, it is followed by the entry of Macbeth to the scene, a man who later misuses his power to betray the King. To Duncan, Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, is appeared to be virtuous and courageous because of his heroic performance in the battle for defeating the opponent, Macdonwald. The King demonstrates his satisfaction towards Macbeth through a conversation with Banquo. He describes Macbeth as “full so valiant, And in his commendations [King Duncan is] fed; It is a banquet to [him]… It is a peerless kinsman.” (1.4.56-60). In this speech, King Duncan truly admires Macbeth’s valiancy and describes him as a man without equal. He congratulates Macbeth for his courage on the battlefield and as followed by the witches’ prophecies of Macbeth, “...All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor…” (1.3.50), he replaces and becomes the new Thane of Cawdor. This speech reveals the gullible nature of Duncan who once trusted the old thane and anew, believes the new thane will be loyal to the country. By all means, Duncan is clueless of

way / With such prophetic greeting. Speak, I charge you." (1.3.75-76). The way Macbeth demands for more information emphasizes his desire for power. Macbeth sees himself as king of Scotland, which in turn makes him speaks to the witches as if weaker than him. Thus, Macbeth's willingness to believe the witches about how he will be king is what encourages him to demand more information on his prophetic power. Also, due to Macbeths willingness to believe the prophecies he disregard's his loyalty to Duncan. After Macbeth is informed he will be thane of Cawdor he says in his aside, " My

     Once Macbeth possessed the power of being Thane of Cawdor he began to exhibit more greed. He has just been given such a huge responsibility and once he was given new power, he craved more; especially when he stumbled upon the witches. He liked the power that he had and wanted to gain more, no matter what he has to do to get it. Macbeth had an encounter with the three witches and they had told him that he will become the next king. Although the witches did say this it did not mean that it was certain, it was just a possibility. But when Macbeth realized the opportunity for power he knew he wanted to become the king. This passage was in part of the letter that Macbeth wrote to Lady Macbeth: “Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it came missives from the King, who all-hailed me ‘Thane of Cawdor,’ by which title, before, these Weird Sisters saluted me and referred me to the coming on of time with ‘Hail, king that shalt be’” (1.5.6-10). . It seems as if the power and greed now had full control over him, he is doing things that he wouldn’t do when he did not have all this power. This is the first time that we see this side of Macbeth, the side of him that is greedy for power and is willing to kill the king to do so. In the beginning of the play the thought of being Thane of Cawdor never even crossed his mind, and by no means being

From the start Macbeth and Kurtz exhibit selfish ambition which is what makes them susceptible to evil initially. This similarity connects the characters, the start to their road of destruction and tyranny starts with two selfish decisions made only to further themselves. Kurtz is drawn to Africa at first to make a difference, or at least it seems this way. But rather than him going on a “mission to civilize” (70), he goes on a mission to make as much money as he can. Not only that but he went from wanted to help the Africans, only later to say “exterminate all the brutes”. While doing so he sees more and more

Macbeth's feels that his destiny is to become King and rule with all the power that goes with kingship. The three witches on his way back to the kingdom, prophesied that he would rise to kingship. They said "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis" (I, 3, 48), and then as the thane of Cawdor "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor" (I, 3, 49). At this point in the play Macbeth had just become thane of Glamis, and the thane of Cawdor is still alive. Then, the witches greeted Macbeth as the King of Scotland saying "All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter" (I, 3, 50). This is the point in the tragedy where Macbeth starts to think as a villain. If the witches had never greeted him as King on Scotland, then he would probably never have contemplated killing Duncan in the first place. At first, he believes that he will need to kill King Duncan. Though at the end of Act 1, Scene 3, he thinks that perhaps he doesn't need to do anything to become the king saying "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.", showing he is a man of honor and morals. Then, Lady Macbeth hears of the prophecy in his letters and decides immediately for him that King Duncan must die, showing Macbeth's doubt. An