Macbeth Greed

Macbeth was honored and looked highly upon by the soldiers he commanded. He was a brave fighter and trusted by everyone around him. When a soldier is telling the events of the battle he says to King Duncan “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name” (4). This showed how much his subordinates trust him on and off the battle field. After the battle Macbeth was promoted to Thane of Cawdor, on top of his current position, Thane of Glamis. King Duncan honored Macbeth for his courage on the battlefield. At this point in the play, Macbeth had no intentions on hurting or turning on his king.

With attention to the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth struggles with the morality of his actions. Before the murder takes place, Macbeth begins to believe that the murder will “be the be-all and the end-all” to his clear conscious and would risk him to eternal damnation (Act I, line 5). Yet, the murder would bring him power over Scotland and he “shalt be kind” as told by the Weird Sisters(Act 1, line 50). Macbeth goes off of his ambition to murder King Duncan. The internal struggle of choosing mortality over motives brought forth an intense shift of loyalty to betrayal. The murder caused for Macbeth to turn on Scotland and only care for his own selfish motives. The betrayal causes for the play to become horrific and have a double meaning. Macbeth must put on a face to hide his murder to become the king. The double meaning is how Macbeth looks like a hero to all of Scotland, but only the people on the inside know of his horrific actions. He had to murder to to get the position of King, but the

“...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

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.

Oftentimes, to further their lifestyles, people hide behind a fictitious version of themselves. Eventually, one finds their mind twisting and turning, detracted and dismembered, unable to bear the gravity and distress of their conflicting personas. Take, for example, the character Macbeth in the play Macbeth, who to remand power reveals his true unstable persona while continuing to maintain a virtuous one to the public which results in a tyrannical dominance of his instability. Because of Macbeth’s actions, Scotland is thrown into chaos when his unstable personality completely dominates him and leads to his demise at the hands of rebels affected by his greedy and indecent actions. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses light and darkness imagery to convey how Macbeth’s ambition and greed led to corruption, signifying the negative societal effects tyrants have because of their greed and ambition.

Greed and ambition are traits that everyone has. Depending on how much of that greed and ambition the person has will determine their outcome. Greed is the intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food and ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. Ambition can be seen as a good thing when used toward good goals. For example, a student being ambitious to get an A-plus on a test. Greed is intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food, therefore, when combined with ambition, it can lead toward evil personalities. Which is displayed in the play “Macbeth” in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, their desire to kill Duncan and become king and queen. However, their plan quickly unraveled and lead to Macbeth’s downfall. The person that was responsible for Macbeth’s downfall was Macbeth himself due to his inability to say “no” to Lady Macbeth and……...

In the very beginning of the play, the Thane of Cawdor betrayed King Duncan in the first battle. The “thane betrays king, breaking a bond that cements both society and the universe.” When the Thane of Cawdor betrayed the king in the battle, he broke a bond of trust that planted doubt in the king’s mind, whether if the king knew it or not. Macbeth, however, gained Duncan’s trust by fighting like a true warrior. But when Macbeth saw the opportunity to become king after the witches’ prophecy, he went right around and betrayed Duncan by killing him. “As Macbeth’s reputation of nobility and valor is established before his deed…” (127) so when he did fight in battle bravely, he was trusted completely, and no one would have suspected treason from him, even when Macbeth’s friend saw his loyalty waver when with the witches. Due to the betrayal from the Thane of Cawdor and the noble fighting from Macbeth, the king once again put his trust in the wrong person, which ultimately cost him his

He owned this title by never backing down from his enemy in honour to defend the king, even placing his life on the edge. Similarly, the honourable nature of Macbeth is also acknowledged under the title ‘Thane of Cawdor’ rewarded by King Duncan. In a way, he has earned the respect of the king after his heroic actions during the battle. Shakespeare explores this through Act 1 Scene 4 when King Duncan states ‘I have begun to plant thee and will labour to make thee full of growing’. It expresses that even a king of high authority places trust in Macbeth as his loyal subject.

Which lead to Macbeth's betrayal to Duncan. it was clear that Duncan had a weakness in trusting people even after being betrayed before. Duncan always tried to find the good in his men, even after Duncan was betrayed he did not see any reason to misdoubt anyone else including Macbeth, “No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death, and with his formal title greet Macbeth” (1.2, 74-75). This occurs after Duncan hears about Macdonwald, Duncan’s former Thane and how Macdonwald betrayed his country.

Many people would not even consider murdering someone to advance their own social standing, but Macbeth does and even murders is best friend just to protect is future as king. That is all because Macbeth loses his moral

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

Macbeth is first seen as one of King Duncan’s most loyal attributes. He is spoken of kindly by all and has a humble heart to compliment it. Because Macbeth fights to stay loyal to his King, he does not night fight seeking praise. However, King Duncan speaks high praises of Macbeth for he is “an absolute trust” (1:4:15).

Macbeth is believed recorded to serve King Duncan in Scotland.” Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches” (Shakespeare p. 326). Which lead them to believe that Macbeth is going to become king. Soon after Macbeth discovers that he has indeed been named” All hail, Macbeth hail thee, Thane of Cawdor!” (Shakespeare p. 327). Thane of Glamis, and to go on an be named King of Scotland. Macbeth discovering that he is named these

When Shakespeare first mentions Macbeth in the play, King Duncan of Scotland is being told how General Macbeth and General Banquo subdued Norwegian forces and arrested the Thane of Cawdor for treason. He seems to have a high moral standing and be a strong

From the beginning, King Duncan thinks of Macbeth as a hero as well as a faithful follower. Macbeth fights and kills the traitor, Macdonwald, and due to this heroic deed, the king offers Macbeth the title of the Thane of Cawdor. This is how Macbeth appears to the king, but shortly after Macbeth visits the three witches, his intentions change. At first, Macbeth is wary of the idea and cannot face the reality of killing the king. He states, “Stars, hide your fires” (1.4.50), which displays that Macbeth is fearful that others will find out about his plan. When Macbeth returns to his castle, he speaks to Lady Macbeth and becomes resolute with the plan to kill Duncan with her assistance. King Duncan, oblivious to Macbeth’s plan, intends to visit Macbeth’s castle. When Duncan arrives, he would never suspect Macbeth of any wrong doing and does not take any precautions to guard himself. This trust that Duncan holds towards Macbeth allows Macbeth to easily kill him. In this case, Duncan is deceived by Macbeth’s appearance and the perception he has of Macbeth. This murder develops the character trait of disloyalty in Macbeth. It demonstrates that although Macbeth appears and acts loyal and trustworthy to Dunkin at face value, he had deeper and inner motives that were downright