How Does Power Affect The Lives Of Macbeth And Dr. Faustus?

It is obvious that Macbeth has ambition, as most people who are in power do. In fact, ambition is often a necessary quality of people in such high standing as Macbeth is. However, Macbeth’s ambition does not just drive him to do great things. It in fact controls him

The distinction of Macbeth from Othello, Hamlet and King Lear lies in the fact that Macbeth gives one scope to study a man within a political set-up. Our interest increases also in the matter of issues how a survivor of his citizen turns to be the destroyer of his citizen. It is also noted that the leaders (Here Macbeth and Banquo should be remembered) of the state get exposed with the provocation of temptation for the permanent royalty of the state. But some one is tempted and other remains reluctant as they believe in the honest way of governing the citizen of the state.

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.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth was and remains a literary masterpiece that tells the story of corrupted power, the fall of a kingdom, and the destruction of countless innocent lives. This theme is not specific to Shakespeare’s play, however; it is perhaps one of the most common seen throughout the course of literary and real-life history. Two of the best examples of abused power are seen through Adolf Hitler and Macbeth - their rise to power, complete control of a country, and destructive rule mirror each other nearly exactly, and ruined the lives of countless families. Although one is fiction and the other real, both men left a horrendous legacy that will never be forgotten.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play.

‘Macbeth’ is a play in which a Lord and his Lady come into supreme power through acts of injustice and despicable inhumanities. In the play Macbeth there is no main focal theme that overrules the others; the play however has several underlying themes, namely there are important themes i.e. good and evil (like ying and yang), greed and power, guilt and conscience, fear, ambition – this leads to the murder of other people illustrating to the reader that even the most sane of people can result to character diminishing methods to get what they want. These particular themes are the most prominent and when closely looked at, it can help to understand characters and meanings behind the play. The theme of ambition is very important in this play,

Individuals continually deal with general events that affect their personalities. This can either strengthen an individual’s character or lead to one’s demise. William Shakespeare acknowledges these human experiences in The Tragedy of Macbeth with his focus on the protagonist, Macbeth. Fixating his focus on Macbeth, Shakespeare thoroughly portrays the protagonist as a frail human, easily influenced by his environment and personal relationships. Although Macbeth’s decisions determine his plight, he finds himself transgressing when he believes his prophesized throne is in danger. By eliminating what he perceives as threats, he sacrifices his honor, his friendship with Banquo, his wife, and his sanity, resulting in a personality change.

In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he stats that it is better to be feared than loved, but that one should avoid being despised and hated. With these concepts at hand we can compare these philosophies to one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays Macbeth. This play can be analyzed through two important characters Macbeth and Duncan. They both have their own tragic flaws and how they came to power. But Macbeth had gained his title illegitimately.

In The Tragedy of Macbeth, the most prevailing theme is the shift in power in the relationships of the central character. The main character of the play, Macbeth, experiences a shift in control of his relationships as he gains more power.

There are variety of themes in this play, but is more focused on power; the definitive act and the intention to gain it. In Shakespeare’s time, the “Divine Right of Kings” was the idea that the power of kings came directly from God. Initially in Macbeth, the power is natural, then it became strategically towards the play. Macbeth went against the very law of nature and God by killing Duncan, his king; however he was killed in return. The play portrays a sense of conformity in regards to killing Macbeth as he is a tyrant—but who gets to decide what “tyranny” is?

The great interest of this drama is most skilfully made to depend upon the conflicting emotions of sympathy with a man struggling under fearful temptation; horror excited by treachery and foul murder; awful amazement at the visible grasp of the Spirit of Evil upon the human soul; and of satisfied justice at the hell of remorse into which he is plunged. In this respect there is an obvious parallelism between Macbeth and Faust; since in both the hero-criminal of the piece is not responsible as a free agent, so far as he is but the mortal instrument of the fiend in deeds of evil.”

The themes of ambition, insecurity and the power of the ego are prevalent not just in current society, but also in Scotland during the period in which this play is set. Macbeth’s own interpretation of these emotions, provoked since the first encounter with the witches, is what makes him commit ruthless and immoral actions. The supernatural provokes

The witches are merely a guide for Macbeth’s actions. They can predict and suggest but cannot control. “If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir” (Act I, scene iii). Macbeth blames the supernatural for his actions where he allows the predictions of the witches to motivate and manipulate

Macbeth’s good nature is increasingly defeated by one of his major flaws-ambition. His ambition and desire to become king leads

During Macbeth's never-ending ambitious strive for power in Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, he makes his own Faustian Bargain similar to Dr. Faustus'. The theme of ambition dominates both their stories. Even though he does not directly deal with the devil as Faustus does, the consequence of his bargain is greater. Not only does he loose his life, but his wife and everything he had risked for.