Macbeth Greed Research Paper

Macbeth's destiny and his lust for power, confirmed by the Three Witches and Lady Macbeth, leads to destruction. Every act that Macbeth commits effects the kingdom as a whole. Macbeth's indecisiveness and his understanding of success cause this destruction. This lust for power leads Macbeth, as it would all men, to an evil that exist in everyone. It is his destiny to fail.

The Play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is shaped by supernatural forces with the use of the weird witches, the apparition of the ghost, and the floating dagger. These forces lead Macbeth to act in the way he did and add suspense to the play. The play opens with the three witches, and later on Macbeth and Banquo encounter them. They prophesized that Macbeth will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor, and then become King of Scotland. In addition to that, Banquo was told that his sons shall be kings, but never himself. Macbeth was skeptical about the prophesies, but until some of King Duncan’s men came to inform Macbeth that that he was to be named Thane of Cawdor due to the betrayal of the previous and condemned to death. Then Lady Macbeth

To begin, when Macbeth is given the prophecy that he is going to be king he is confused, so he sends a letter home to Lady Macbeth. Macbeth tells her that he received a prophecy that said he will be king. Upon receiving the news immediately Lady Macbeth begins to plan King Duncan’s death: Soon after their servant comes into Lady Macbeth's chamber to announce that the king is coming to visit. After the servant leaves, Lady Macbeth continues to plan “The croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements” (1.5.30 Shakespeare). Lady Macbeth seems to be reveling planning the death of King Duncan and is foreshadowing the rest of the play. With the news of the king coming to visit and Macbeth’s future as king, Lady Macbeth is overwhelmed by the thought of power she could gain. These thoughts, and ideas are the beginning of her corruption and descent into darkness.

Macbeth, from Shakespeare’s world renowned Macbeth, serves as an example as the type of person who has their sight set on power and control and is willing to let their unchecked ambition get ahead of them. Macbeth had such a strong desire for power that he was even willing to commit the evil act of murdering King Duncan. Macbeth has chosen the path of evil, which for Macbeth this includes murdering loyal friends, scheming with apparitions and witches, and even murdering sleep, but now there is no turning back.

In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth, chases after power by going after the king position in Scotland. In the play, Macbeth changes from basically not worrying about whether or not he will be king, to going after the king so that Macbeth will rule the kingdom. At the very beginning, Macbeth encounters the evil witches and the witches greet Macbeth as the Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King hereafter. The funny part about this is that Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis but, not the Thane of Cawdor because the current Thane of Cawdor is still living, and Macbeth certainly is not the king of Scotland because King Duncan is king. The things the witches say to Macbeth gets into his head and this is where the desire for power originates. Macbeth decides to kill the current King and Macbeth continues to murder people. Macbeth hires goons to kill Banquo and Banquo’s son, Fleance, because the evil witches hint that Banquo will not be king but, Banquo will heir kings. Macbeth is a character that struggles to free himself from chasing after power due to him wanting to rule the kingdom and Macbeth will do whatever possible to keep the throne. Macbeth performs multiple murders just to keep his throne from falling into somebody else’s hand.

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.

In the beginning of the play, the three witches tell Macbeth that he is destined to become King of Scotland. With this information, he wasn't sure what to do. However, once he told this prophecy to his wife, Lady

William Shakespeare wrote in his play Macbeth, "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.” In many ways throughout this play, Shakespeare was giving the warning of ambition to the audience. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth was a simple man. Respectful and obedient to his King, Macbeth wanted nothing but to please. When three witches came to him and his good friend, Banquo, and told them their destinies, this began something ghastly. Mysteriously, they informed Macbeth he was to be king. This sparks something in Macbeth that is dangerous and eventually leads to his demise, ambition. Wickedly, Macbeth and his wife plan to murder the king during the night so that Macbeth may be crowned sooner. The driving force of this accord

In the beginning of the play when Macbeth first finds out that he's been promoted to Thane of Cawdor. After Macbeth has been told his prophecy he returns to camp and is then greeted in the morning by news of him becoming the new Thane of Cawdor. “The Thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me in borrowed robes”(1,3,108-109) this depicts how at one point Macbeth was loyal to the king, Duncan, but once he was given the new title he became thoughtful of his new power and soon realizes that he wants more of it. Another interesting example of this is when duncan names his oldest son, Malcolm, the Prince of Cumberland which is the next in line to the throne. “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which i must fall down, or else o'erleap, for in my way it lies.”(1,5,48-50) This indicates that Macbeth has already came up with plans of becoming king and killing Duncan, the only thing in his way now is his son Malcolm. Now that Macbeth has a taste of more power he is fueled by greed and wants only one thing, to be king, he no longer has loyalty towards

Finally in Act five these last moments with Lady Macbeth and Macbeth show the cycle of how greed annihilates the human mind for power. This act is the ruin of the Macbeths, because both of them die from their own fault, “Behold, where stands the usurper’s cursed head,” (5.7) Macbeth he shows how greed is the power for him to go on fighting with Macduff. He will not surrender due to the power he still wants even though he has lost everything. For Lady Macbeth, she is filled up with greed during the day, but with guilt at night sleep walking.

In the beginning of the play, the witches make three prophecies. First, that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor. The second part of the prophecy is that Macbeth will become King. The third prophecy being that Banquo will be father to future kings. When Macbeth first hears the prophecy, Duncan holds the position as king. King duncan is also a very loved king by his people. Macbeth and Duncan even have a good relationship. Macbeth is Duncan’s greatest war hero and because of Macbeth’s great success in battle, Duncan rewards him by promoting him to the position of Thane of Cawdor. With this promotion, Macbeth realizes that the witches first prophecy was true. With this realization, Macbeth’s head begins to fill with thoughts of killing King Duncan to speed up the process so that he can become king. When he tells his wife of the prophecies and his promotion, she becomes extremely

Upon receiving the prophecy, Macbeth is left to wonder how he will become king. He wonders if it is through regicide or fate by which he becomes the king. Macbeth goes through a constant battle with his conscience as he considers murdering the king for the throne. Despite his obvious hesitance, Macbeth’s ambition to monopolize the throne takes away his ability to think rationally and thus, he commits regicide. Macbeth fears that his crime will see the light of day and adding to his fear is his guilt slowly eating him away.

Ambition is a central theme in Macbeth, as well as in life. It can be found everyday, not just in the tales of medieval nobles committing regicide for a status upgrade. Shakespeare quite accurately explores the danger of unchecked ambition. It’s a cautionary tale for everyone. “Can I forgive myself if I cheat my colleague out of that promotion for myself?”

Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth demonstrates what can happen when one pursues power at the expense of everything else.   The main character, Macbeth begins the play as a strong character that is greatly admired, however as the play progresses, Macbeth's personality and actions become more and more deceitful. Macbeth’s deceit eventually leads to his destruction.

The rise of an individual and the gain of power can often be intoxicating. This control placed in the hands of one can often ignite thoughts and actions of greed found deep inside. This can often be seen in the history of civilization as countless leaders have neglected the good of their people to fuel their own selfish desires. Lord Acton once expressed, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This is embodied in the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare as numerous characters abuse power to manipulate and destroy the lives of many. Though the examination of, Lady Macbeth, the three witches and Macbeth, it becomes apparent how the gain and loss of