Man of Greed and Power: The Tragedy of Macbeth

Macbeth involves 3 witches who make prophecies for Macbeth about taking the throne. Ambition and desire drive Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Later Banquo is killed due to Macbeth?s greed for the throne and jealousy of it being taken away and Lady Macbeth appears to go mad and die. Macbeth is then defeated. These themes of murder, ambition, greed and desire appear throughout the play among others. These themes are factors towards the portrayal of Lady Macbeth and contribute to changes that take place in her character and also how the audience responds to this.

Macbeth revealed his thoughts and feelings about murdering Duncan to Lady Macbeth. He wanted to back out of the plan because he was already loved by the king and by others, so he does not want to spoil the feeling of being appreciated by so many. Even after this thorough explanation of why he did not want to proceed with the killing of Duncan, Lady Macbeth still made him do it, as she had her mind set on the king’s assassination. After the murder, Macbeth was traumatized by what he did, and he forgot to plant the daggers on the guards. Lady Macbeth told him to go back, but he did not as he is afraid to look back on what he has done. Lady Macbeth then grabs the daggers to plant it on the guards herself but mocks him before she leaves saying “’tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil” (II.ii. 57-58), which means she thinks he is a child. The constant mockery of Macbeth shows how Lady Macbeth does not care about Macbeth’s feelings.

He realizes that if he want to start his own dynasty, then he will have to have control of all the variables. Then Macbeth began to think, “For Banquo’s issues have I filed my mind;/ For them the gracious Duncan I have murdered” (Shakespeare 85). He realizes that he has set himself up to fail. He is cleared a path to the crown for Banquo’s kin. Macbeth goes on to state, “He chid the sisters/ When first they put the name of king upon me” (Shakespeare 85). This give the readers the thought that Banquo is jealous of the king. Macbeth, not wanting to risk his crown, calls for some outside murderers. As I stated earlier, Macbeth knew he must get rid of Banquo and his sons. He succeeds in having Banquo killed, but Banquo’s son, Fleance (the one person Macbeth needed to kill), escapes.

After he had attained his destiny, Macbeth felt that Banquo would become a serious threat. He did not like the fact that Banquo was destined to be a father to a whole line of kings. "Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared...If `t be so, for Banquo's issue have I filed my mind; for them the gracious Duncan have I murdered..."(85). The path Macbeth chooses to take in order to stay at the throne was to have Banquo killed. But, Macbeth was never destined to kill anyone. Killing Duncan, Banquo and Macduff's whole household were all his decisions to attain his destiny.

After hearing the prophecy that he will become king, Macbeth resolves to leave his future up to fate proving his pride and prestige are very important to him. Once he is told of Malcolm being named successor to the throne, Macbeth decides that if he is going to reach his goal he cannot leave it up to luck. Again Macbeth’s resolve to murder Duncan wavers when he leaves the grand banquet to assess his situation and decide whether he wants to proceed. His arguments include wishing to keep his honor and not kill Duncan for Duncan is there ‘in double trust’. Thus, Macbeth is shown to be clinging to his honor. Finally, Macbeth must stand his ground one last time against his wife who uses tact to emasculate Macbeth. In his final attempt to stop the whole ordeal before it can start Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he does not want to ‘cast aside’ the honor he has just recently received. Unfortunately, Lady Macbeth will have none of what her husband is saying and so convinces Macbeth to follow through with his plan of murdering King Duncan. Hence, the audience is given the first example of how powerful selfish motives are and how quickly they can spread to others along with cause them to perform unthinkable

Macbeth’s lust for power would lay the foundation for his own self destruction. Macbeth’s encounter with witches was the start of this bane. If it were not for the three witches Macbeth met in the woods, then he would have never known that he was suppose to be king in the first place. These witches were one of the three reasons Macbeth would be known for his infamous and abominable reign. His own wife, Lady Macbeth, would be another reason they were both so detested; Lady Macbeth was the reason Macbeth even saw in the first place that he truly wanted to be king. When Lady Macbeth finds out that Macbeth is destined to be king, she is determined to make this happen as soon as possible. She convinces Macbeth that if he were to murder the current King Duncan, he would be king and she would be queen immediately. Finally, the capital reason that Macbeth would follow the path of evil, his own self. Before the witches even gave Macbeth his prophecy to become king, he was

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.

Ambition and greed have always been defined as the deep intense and selfish desire in the person's mind. Throughout the history and myth that have been written, we can see the downfall of greats just base on that greed of wanting for the power and wealth. In a Greek Mythology "Helen of Sparta" there is a beauty women named Helen of Troy. In the myth she is the daughter of the Greek god Zeus and Leda. She was the most beautiful women in the world. Who married to King Menelaus of Sparta, but eloped with the Prince Paris of Troy, because that she is resulting the Trojan War which white out the empire. Her beauty cause the fight between the men and led the empire to fall, but what is truly cause of the fall? Was it the greed or ambition of wanting? Was it her beauty? Her voice of word? Or is it something else? In the Shakespeare's play Macbeth, we can see the true reasons of Macbeth’s downfall, it was not only because of his ambition, but also because his wife Lady Macbeth’s words and evil plan to get the him the power of crown. Which shows that Lady Macbeth is most responsible for the Macbeth’s downfall because the she used her influence and ambition to gain power, that which eventually led to the Macbeth’s downfall, but many other people have argued that she is not the only one who can be blame for the downfall. It was Macbeth who chose to take that action to kill King Duncan. In fact of that, her continued judgement of his manly character forced him to take action to kill

But how can he become a new king? She gives him an idea to kill the king, but Macbeth doesn’t want to do that. Then Lady Macbeth uses a smart way to suit her purpose, “Lady Macbeth's portrayal begins with the powerful elements of her ambitious and successful plotting of Duncan's demise, effective rhetorical manipulation of her husband to "be a man" and take action, and her position-potentially--as Macbeth's equal in their relationship, his desired "dear partner of greatness"” (Thomas). She knows if she questions Macbeth with to be a man and let him to do something to provide he is a man, Macbeth would kill the king Duncan as she wants. After Macbeth killed Duncan , he might become the new king. He enjoys the power as a new leader and this extends his ambition. He has to kill more people so that he can make sure there is no one can be the new king. The three witches also said before that Banquo’s generation with kingdom, so first Macbeth decides to kill Banquo and his son. When king Duncan has been killed, Macbeth is the one who is stimulated by Lady Macbeth. But when Macbeth wants to kill Banquo

(III: i: 58-74) After becoming king, Macbeth starts to think about what the witches said to Banquo and he starts to fear that something might happen to him. By believing so, Macbeth feels that it is necessary to kill Banquo in order to keep the throne. He even states that he fears Banquo and that if his children became kings, everything he did would have been a waste. By killing Banquo, Macbeth then faces the consequences for his actions and starts to suffer due to that. After going out with his plan to kill Banquo, Macbeth then starts to hallucinate.

In the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, Macbeth a man of great courage and loyalty, has his whole humanity questioned after three beings deceptious prophecies leads him to abandon his original characteristics. Macbeth’s well-being changes due to the manipulation and persuasion of his scheming wife Lady Macbeth, who drives him to his murderous ways and insane paranoia that he’ll lose his throne. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s intentions were made clear by selfish motives and bloody massacres, which suggests ambitious tendencies to obtain all power by speaking for oneself and overlooking others, leads to untrustworthy leaders full of greed and corruption. When someone comes into a position of power, the definition of control becomes a new

Instead, he decided that he must take action and go through the obstacles on his own. Macbeth proceeds to murder the king Duncan to allow his fate to be king to approach to him faster and take place. An additional example from the second scenario, is when Macbeth arranges the murder for Banquo and his son Fleance. Macbeth says, “They hailed him father to a line of kings”. (3.1.62).The witches basically told Banquo that his sons will become kings after Macbeth. He also says, “Put rancors in the vessel of my peace. Only for them: and mine eternal jewel. Given to the common enemy of man, to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings!” (3.1.70-74). Macbeth is furious because he assumes that he became king just for the sake of Banquo’s sons, that him becoming king is just for nothing. So, Macbeth decides to deal with Banquo and Fleance by killing them both so the fate of Banquo’s sons becoming kings will be false and Macbeth would remain king for a long

Before Macbeth kills Duncan, he is very nervous and already feels guilty about the crime he is going to commit. After he actually kills Duncan he feels even more guilty. Later on after prophesying that Macbeth will “ finally” become king, the three witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his next generation will be. “Here’s our most important guest”, Macbeth indicates to his wife as Banquo enters in Act 3 scene 1.Now, Macbeth in his avidity for power sees Banquo as a threat and has him killed by two murders .Banquo

In William Shakespeare's tragic play, "Macbeth", there is blood, power and greed; all of which can be read with literal and metaphorical interpretations. They intertwine at different points in the story and have different effects on each of the characters including: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Malcom, and Macduff. These three ideas create a cycle throughout the story, particularly for Macbeth, as greed leading to the spilling of blood, which can give someone power is ultimately his demise.

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