Greed In Macbeth

“...it's true that some of the most terrible things in the works are done by people who think, genuinely think, that they're doing it for the best” (Terry Pratchett). In Shakespeare’s play, The Scottish Play, Macbeth is driven by selfish desires to take his fate into his own hands and go to extremes to obtain the title of King of Scotland. At the start of his pursuit for power his actions are planned and his first murder has real meaning behind it. Next, Macbeth targets the man who will father future kings. Finally, Macbeth becomes so paranoid and overcome with guilt that he has innocent women and children murdered. What starts as selfish ambition can quickly grow into an all consuming force, causing one to abandon one's honor, lose friends

Ambition and temptation both play a part in the cause of Macbeth’s wrongdoing, and ultimately, their downfall. It is probably his most fatal flaw. Macbeth himself knows that the dangers of being too ambitious as seen from the following: “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition

Throughout reading the play, Macbeth changes a lot from being a man of loyalty and honesty, to a man of whom is power hungry and greedy. This shows how the more power you receive the more power you want; which in many cases, such as this one leads to destruction. Many of the choices that Macbeth made were influenced by the power that he had, and this power began to take over him. This then lead to greed and destruction of not only others, but himself as well.

Lady Macbeth has some responsibility for the transition of Macbeth because when Macbeth was unsure if he should murder Duncan she said, “And to be more than what you were, you would, Be so much more the man… Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out” (1.7.50-51, 58-59). Lady Macbeth is pushing Macbeth so he would go through with his plans. Due to the support of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth now has a reason to carry out his plans. Lady Macbeth also is trying to get into Macbeth’s mind and trying to make him insecure so he would do as she suggested. Macbeth would be insecure because Lady Macbeth made a comment that he would not be a man if he did not kill Duncan. As the play continues Macbeth in his dagger speech says,

The one thing Macbeth was worried about was getting caught. If anyone ever found out that he killed the king or even about this plan, then he would be sentenced to death. Another thing that would make this even worse was that Lady Macbeth was wanting him to do it! Her own greed would also influence Macbeth’s decision immensely. Her decisions and her act would influence his mind so much that he would go and kill King Duncan.

His morals lead him to do the things he feels is right. His ambition leads him to do whatever it takes to get to where he wants to be the quickest way possible. This is shown right after he meets the witches and starts contemplating killing Duncan. He says, “My thoughts whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function Is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is, but that is not” (I, iii, 138-141). Macbeth is thinking if he should or should not kill Duncan to become king.

Macbeth starts his story on an affirmative note. However, after witches reveal his procephy, his ambitions begin to grow stronger, ““My thought, whose

Among all those who influenced him, Lady Macbeth was the only one to support him from by his side, killing all doubts of her husband that would prevent their success and potentially prevent Macbeth’s downfall. Before Duncan is killed, Macbeth was doubtful about his capabilities to murder someone he looks up to, proclaiming “We will proceed no further in this business:/… [These honours should] be worn now in their newest gloss,/ Not cast aside so soon” (1.7.33-37), he was not at all ready to undergo the plan. Shortly afterward, Lady Macbeth insults his manhood and successfully convinces Macbeth to forget his doubts. If Lady Macbeth was not present in the situation, Macbeth would have been left to become a nervous wreck, hurting his chances of safely getting through their plan and preventing his downfall from continuing. However, Lady Macbeth’s support comes in more forms than disparaging insults. During the banquet for Macbeth’s crowning, Macbeth worries about Banquo’s suspicions, feeling

“ I have no spur to prickly the sides of my intent, but only ambition, which o’erleaps itself, and falls on th’ other” (1.7.25-28). In Macbeth’s own words, he acknowledges that his ambitious nature will be his downfall. The ambition that drives Macbeth’s actions also settles Macbeth further onto his path to destruction. He is overcome by his inner greed, leaving little room for sane thought and consideration for ethics. This shapes Macbeth into someone who will be able to justify any means to achieve his ends, even to the extent of murdering his life-long friend in the name of ambition.

This goes to show how much of an influence a woman can have on her man. In the play, Macbeth wants to kill king Duncan, but starts to have second thoughts about it. He thinks of how Duncan has been such a dear friend to him and how he has never done him wrong. However, Lady Macbeth tells him he needs to stop that by joking about his manhood. She truly influences him and uses deception to make him kill the king.

Macbeth was a war hero that had served the king for many years faithfully and had receive many things at the hand of the king. For Macbeth to turn on the king was not something a loyal and faithful servant would just do, to a good king the story shows a darker side of Macbeth. A side that could not handle power, and when Macbeth would get power Macbeth would not use it well. After all in the time of this play women would not have exactly been of high static for example when Lady Macbeth was trying to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan “That made you break this enterprise to me? 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. Nor time nor place. Did then adhere, and yet you would make both they have made themselves, and that their fitness now.” For Lady Macbeth to tell Macbeth what to do. The way lady Macbeth would have made Macbeth as a man look quite weak and obviously Macbeth could have told her No. But Macbeth ambition blinded him from doing

Before Macbeth kills Duncan he felt nervous and very guilty. You can clearly see this in the part (in Act II, Scene 1) where he has the vision of the bloody dagger. This shows that he is uncertain about what he is about to do. “To prick the sides of my intent, but only, Vaulting ambition, which o 'erleaps itself, And falls on th ' other" (1.7.25-28). He notices that he has no motivation to go out and kill Duncan besides his ambition. Nothing is motivating him forward. In the rest of this scene, Lady Macbeth acts as this spark.

He procedes to tell lady Macbeth that he will not go through with their plan of murder, but she manipulates and insults him until he changes his mind. Unlike Lady Macbeth, he still feels that by doing this he is betraying his king and his god. Macbeth deciding to kill Duncan impacts the play in a very large way, if Lady Macbeth had not been such a strong female figure he would not have been persuaded into murdering the king. Our perceptions of Macbeth change with this decision, because from the start of the play we’ve been told that macbeth is a noble, and brave warrior who would fight for his king, an example of this is “All’s to weak for brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name - disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, which smok’d with bloody

He is easily swayed by the opinions of others and influenced by his wife. I think the author is really saying that people will go to great lengths just to be able to be superior over another. At first I thought that Macbeth would back out and decide killing the king was not the right thing to do but now I think that he has other intentions and just wants to please himself. I think that he feels as if he needs to do things to feel manly because his wife continuously tells him that if he backs out he will be less of a man and he cherishes his manhood. I feel like in the future acts of the book that Macbeth will make this a reoccurring theme. Lady Macbeth seems as if she is very masculine and challenging and loves to be in a place of power

The primary character of the play, Macbeth started turning into a ruthless tyrant after the witches prediction. He had begun fantasizing himself as king of Scotland and started to turn self-absorbed. No longer was he trying to keep the peace instead he wanted the throne that wasn’t rightfully his. Although he was strongly yearning for the throne, Lady Macbeth was the one that mostly motivated him the most. Her motivation speech stated the following “wouldst thou have that /which thou esteem'st the ornament of life/ and live a coward in thine own esteem, / letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,”/