Examples Of Power Craze In Macbeth

It is in human nature that the more power one desires the more corrupt actions one must do to attain it. In Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, a Scottish noble's craving for power leads him to do terrible deeds that leads to his demise. Shakespeare shows that power corrupts by using Macbeth who corrupts under the thought of have power over others. Macbeth becomes corrupt under the thought of becoming king and gaining almost complete control over the people that he rules. Macbeth wants the power badly enough to do horrible deeds such as commit regicide. Lady Macbeth becomes very ambitious and allows herself to become seduced to the

In this world, one of the strongest human drives seems to be the desire for power. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Thane Macbeth seeks to gain power over Scotland. Through Macbeth’s search for power, he must choose between what is morally right or his inner motives. Macbeth gains power over others through the murders of King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s entire family along with his servants. After each murder, Macbeth becomes more confident in his search to gain power.

In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth by Shakespeare the corruption of power and unchecked ambition causes many characters to get themselves into trouble. Macbeth runs into the witches on his way home from war. The witches give both Macbeth and Banquo's prophecies about what their future will look like. This motivates Macbeth through power and greed which causes him to do things he would not normally do. Avarice also influences Macbeth and other characters to become corrupt throughout the play. The power Macbeth gains throughout the play changes his motives, and his ambition increases causing him to do irrational things.

It isn't true that power corrupts automatically. In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Macbeth rises to power. However he does this in a corrupt fashion, and when he achieves his power he must maintain it was by killing any that could take it from him. However, Malcom son of king Duncan, takes away Macbeths power but instead of killing others to keep his power Malcom rewards his companions. It is not power itself that corrupts, but the method that you use to achieve it.

No sane person goes on a killing spree, and it is greed for power that drives Macbeth to the murders of many. In the story, Macbeth begins as the Thane of Glamis. He is already a large contributor in battle and this leads him to success early on in the plot. However, he doesn’t realize that he wants more power until he is told prophecies by three witches, and his wife- Lady Macbeth manipulates him. In the prophecies, he is told that he will become Thane of Cawdor, and then King. Macbeth is named Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan after the battle in the beginning of the story, so part of the prophecy comes true right away. It is not until Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the prophecies through a letter, that Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan to obtain the throne. King Duncan is Macbeth’s first murder to begin his reign for power. He is now throned King, but his greed for power doesn’t stop there. Macbeth kills anyone who he feels threatens his title as King. He has loyal companion Banquo killed because he feels Banquo might know that he killed King Duncan-if Banquo told others, this would lead to the de-throning of Macbeth as king- taking away his power. Insanity in Macbeth truly shines through when he kills Banquo, because of their close relationship. Banquo was nothing but loyal to Macbeth throughout the story. As the plot thickens, the witches continue to tell prophecies to Macbeth. One of them being that he should fear Macduff. Macbeth then kills Macduff’s family as he fears Macduff will somehow dethrone him. As people who were once loyal to Macbeth betray him, Macbeth continues to strive for power as king, until he is defeated by Macduff. Ultimately, Macbeth begins the story as a noble, respected Thane, but his ambition and greed for power as King/staying King leads him to insanity full of murder and deception, until his death.

We see her as a suppressed female clawing to power through men. The most notable scene where Shakespeare conveys this is Act 1 Scene 5. He has Lady Macbeth say, “unsex me here”, demanding elimination of all womanly attributes. She also says, “take my milk for gall”. This demonstrates she does not want to be a nurturing, mother figure. Lady Macbeth thinks her femininity is useless and that she could accomplish more as a male. In the Elizabethan/Jacobean era, women were often subjugated – made to submit to and follow men, regarded as weak and in need of protection. Given no control, women were forced to stay home and bear children. Lady Macbeth yearns liberation from these stereotypes and ideal standards of her time. Her authority cravings lead her to tell Macbeth, “Leave all the rest to me” – seeking dominance. Her husband is essential to succeed so she can be interpreted as somewhat manipulating him into committing larger crimes – namely

Lady Macbeth rebelled against her gender norms because she was craving the power and was willing to do anything to get the power. Most women in that time period were very intimidated by power because they didn’t have very many rights. So the fact that she was so driven to be powerful says something about her character. Back then women didn’t expect power unless they were in the royal families so when Lady Macbeth heard from Macbeth that he was going to become king she was ready to go to extreme extents for that power and to be a royal family. She went to farther extents for power then most men do.

As you can imagine Lady Macbeth was a big shock to a seventeenth century contemporary audience, she was a world away from her era. During the seventeenth century woman were seen as the weaker and inferior sex, to delicate and fragile for this was a mans world, they were far from equal to men in fact you could say that they were the slaves of the seventeenth century. Their only responsibilities were to look after the house, the children, and to keep their husband happy. Now you can see why Lady Macbeth wanted to have power and responsibility so much though to be quaint she did rule with an iron fist over Macbeth.

Power is something one can find in all aspects of life. Whether in a relationship between two people or over an entire country, many people hold power in their lives. What is done with that power is up to the person who holds it and can be a strong reflection of their character. Too many people in positions of power become so wrapped up in wanting total control, that they lose sight of what is right and wrong. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, power is demonstrated many ways through many different characters. Power and ambition greatly affects the choices people make everyday.

As much as she tries, Lady Macbeth is still human with powerful qualities, which can be perceived as good and bad. However, even though she has powerful qualities, she does not have power over Macbeth. Before killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth wanted the “spirits that tend on mortal thoughts” to “unsex” her, which can be perceived as the gender supremacy roles that Shakespeare plays on. By doing so, she can feel more powerful, as men were thought to be the dominant gender in that era. She was the one initially wanted to commit a horrible deed to become queen, but does not have the strength to do it because if “had he not resembled [her] father as [Duncan] slept, [she would’ve] done’t.” Macbeth ends up killing Duncan and retains his manliness and proves his gender dominance as well. Lady Macbeth only believed that “when [Macbeth] durst do it, then [he] were a man.” Her belittling was not good for their relationship and Lady Macbeth doesn’t end up knowing what Macbeth has been doing and planning. She even takes her own life just before Macbeth is slain by Macduff and was not around to help or control the position that Macbeth had got himself stuck in. If Lady Macbeth doesn’t know what Macbeth is up to, there is no way she could be the main dominant

The women in Macbeth, namely Lady Macbeth, contradict these expectations through their commanding, and ambitious tones. During that second half of act one Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the ruling figure in the house. Instead of being a grateful and fulfilling housewife she instead pushes and commands Macbeth to commit assassination. She berates him when he falters and asked if he would rather, “live like a coward in thine own esteem.” (Shakespeare)

Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, begins with the protagonist, Macbeth, being faced with a supernatural prophecy. The temptation of power further corrupts Macbeth as the play progresses, until his murders catch up to him. Despite the time in which a man lives, he is surrounded by opportunity and the constant battle between the loss and acquisition of power. For those deep in search for power often experience the blurring of the lines between right and wrong. In the 17th century, gender roles were strict and unmoving. Men symbolized the power and strength, while the women represented the caring and submissive traits of human nature. Shakespeare utilizes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s marriage to further toy with the audience’s minds and inverts the gender roles.Throughout the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s marriage demonstrates inverted gender roles; but as Lady Macbeth utilizes her influence over Macbeth, her driven attitude leads him down the path of corruption.

In Macbeth, one of the most tragic and well known plays, William Shakespeare changes women’s part in society. During this time period, women are known to be both mentally and physically weaker than men. Women are called to be only housewives. Shakespeare reflected the image of women in society by giving the men bigger leads in his plays. Only in a few of Shakespeare's plays did he give women strong leading roles. Macbeth is one of the few plays where women play a more powerful role than the men. In Macbeth, he gives the women unusual traits like manipulation and betrayal. In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, women like Lady Macbeth , the trio witches, and Lady Macduff portray non-feminine traits.

Lust for power is one of the most unfavourable and destructive qualities. It is this quality in Shakespeare’s Macbeth that destroys the lives of many innocent people and morphs Scotland into a corrupt and chaotic country. However, this lust is not present in every soul – Macduff, Thane of Fife, has a soul that does not lust for power. His soul is full of motivation, motivation to bring peace and order back to his lovely Scotland. However, Macduff “[loses] [any] hope” (IV.III.30) to overthrow Macbeth’s immoral reign, because there is no one, in Scotland, with the power to overthrow the king. Though this does not stop him; “[he] [flees] the land” (IV.II.1) to England, “[leaving] [behind] his wife … [and] babes” (IV.II.8), in hopes of finding someone full of verity, courage, and love to help him seize back Scotland.

Generally, Macbeth is thought of as Shakespeare’s most feminist play. With a supposedly powerful female character and an inversion of gender roles, it is easy to see how this idea came into being. However, it is totally wrong. Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a play about an ambitious nobleman who would go to any measure to become king and retain that position after receiving a prophecy from three witches. At first, he is unwilling to resort to violence to become king but his wife, Lady Macbeth, manipulates him into doing so. Once the first murder is complete, he has found a thirst for killing and continues to kill various people until he is eventually killed and the rightful king takes his place. The claims of this being a feminist play stem from Lady Macbeth’s character and her relationship with Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is violent and evil, while Macbeth is originally too kind, showing a gender role reversal. Even so, there are many problematic aspects of Macbeth that completely negate the few progressive components in Shakespeare’s writing. Macbeth is a misogynist play because it promotes strict gender roles, gender non-conforming women are demonized and seen as responsible for men’s problems, and by the second half of the play, any innovative gender role reversals are themselves reversed.