Napoleon's Abuse Of Power In Macbeth

    In the third scene of the first act, Banquo** asks, "...have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?" in response to the witches' prophecies.  Banquo is partly right in the assumption that Macbeth's mind is not pure.  When Macbeth says "The Prince of Cumberland!  That is a step/ On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap" (Act 1, Scene 4, 48-49), we see that Macbeth may have already the idea of killing Duncan.  Macbeth's ultimate goal is to become king; he does this with a certain amount of ease, but the process somehow awakens his tragic flaw, the ruthlessness with which he destroys his own reign.  After he kills the dead king's servents, his targets are Banquo and Fleance, who have heard or are involved in the third prophecy.  Macbeth sends the three murderers who stab the famous dying words out of Banquo's mouth: "Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! (Act 3, Scene 3, 17).  Macbeth must crush dissent  he kills Macduff's wife and children.  Macbeth's reign of non-stop killing erodes Scotland's confidence in him and he has no chance

His desire to stay in power overcomes him as he realizes that Banquo’s son may take his place. Shakespeare reveals Macbeth’s feelings about his best friend after becoming king in another soliloquy: “To be thus is nothing; but to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be fear’d…” (3.1.48-51). Macbeth’s fears of Banquo are expressed, and it all started because he heard that prophecy about Banquo. Macbeth does not see much point in becoming king if he in not “safely thus”. In order to preserve his power, he feels the need to sacrifice other people’s lives. The murderous path he has chosen will only lead him to death, as people will find out and kill him for it, contributing to the theme that death is inevitable. In conclusion, Macbeth’s desire to stay in power is what made him choose to take another life; however, if it was not for the witches, he would not have felt a need to carry out any of the deeds he has done.

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.

3. 157-159) Macbeth’s arrogance is made apparent with the immediacy of his thoughts of becoming king and it is clear that the supernatural has given him arrogant ambition as Macbeth is already beginning to think of how he will be crowned king. Macbeth eventually decides he will show his “Black and deep desires” (1. 4. 58) and murder Duncan, the current king of Scotland. This is a shift from Macbeth showing loyalty to Scotland and the king as he now has arrogantly, for the benefit of himself becoming king, murdered Duncan, the king of Scotland. Duncan was greatly admired and respected by the population of Scotland. Macbeth himself describes Duncan as “meek” (1. 7. 17) and being “so clear in his great office” (1. 7. 18). When Macduff first realizes the death of Duncan, he describes the scene as: “O horror, horror, horror!” (2. 3. 73) Macbeth acknowledges that the reaction to Duncan’s death would be mournful before murdering him: “Pity… / Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, / That tears shall drown the wind” (1.7. 21-25). However, Macbeth’s only goal is to become king, not to please the population of Scotland who admires their king greatly and sees him as a righteous person. After tempting Macbeth with the idea of becoming king, the supernatural gives Macbeth arrogant ambition, forcing him to contrast his loyal and courageous personality, which motivates him to kill Duncan.

First, it is Macbeth’s thirst for power, coupled with Lady Macbeth’s manipulation of him, that drive the murder of KIng Duncan. As Banquo becomes suspicious and as Macbeth becomes increasingly troubled by the witches’ proclamation that Banquo will be the father of kings, Macbeth convinces himself that Banquo must be killed, proclaiming “For Banquo’s issue I have filed my mind [...] the seeds of Banquo kings (III.i.70-75).” Macbeth is paranoid of losing his new-found power to Banquo. This fear is so stout that it drives him to solicit the murder of his most loyal friend. As his morality devolves further, Macbeth senses disloyalty from Macduff, and he resolves to murder MacDuff’s entire family. In Act IV, Macbeth says, “But yet I'll make assurance double sure,/ And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live; (IV.i.94-95).” Even though the prophecy seems to assuage Macbeth’s fears of losing power, he still plans to kill MacDuff, supporting his further descent into corruption and evil- all driven by his thirst for

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

The choices that Macbeth makes during his pursuit for power ultimately result in his descent into madness. This all begins when he meets the witches at the beginning of the play. “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.51-53). By choosing to believe what the witches preach, Macbeth takes destiny into his own hands. Every decision he makes from this point on is so that he can take over the kingship and retain this position. The witches drive Macbeth into creating his own destiny by planting the idea that he is going to be the king into his head. Once he gets it in his head that he is going to be the king, he will stop at nothing to make it happen. After Macbeth has killed King Duncan and become the king, he still has the threat of Banquo’s line of kings looming around him. Even though Banquo is one of Macbeth’s friends he decides Banquo needs to be killed. Macbeth is so controlling of his own destiny that he doesn’t want to leave anything up to chance. He won’t leave his fate in the hands of anyone else. He decides that he is going to kill people in order to solidify his kingship. “So is he mine (enemy), and in such bloody distance that every minute of his being thrusts against my near’st of life.” (3.1.132-234).

Macbeth’s ambitious ways takes over his whole inner self throughout his time of first wanting to be king. Macbeth was thought to be a great leader and war hero before he was king. Macbeth was hatched an idea by three suspicious witches in whom he had never come in contact with before. They told him that he would one day become King of Scotland. After the witches disappeared, he got to think a lot about what they told him and pondered the words they spoke. Macbeth sends a letter to his wife about his feelings of what he had heard. When Macbeth returned back to his castle his wife wanted to lead him down a dark path and feed his ambition. Macbeth decides he wants to go after the crown after consulting his wife. "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, and falls on th'other...." (Act I, scene vii) This shows that Macbeth’s only reason to kill Duncan is for his ambition. Macbeth ends up killing Duncan. The way Macbeth killed Duncan made it a great crime scene. Macbeth still

After the three witches tell Macbeth of his fate, he becomes greedy for the crown and will do whatever it takes to become king as soon as he can. In the play, after hearing his fate, Macbeth says, “I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/ And falls on the other”(1.7.25-28). In this quote Macbeth realizes that he is being too greedy by thinking that he should kill King Duncan just so he can become king. By being overly greedy, the thought of being king drove Macbeth to kill King Duncan. When there is greed people make bad decisions and they end up in bad situations.

Macbeth becomes dangerously ambitious to be crowned king and keep that, rather than having a son of Banquo take it away from him. The first action that he executed to reach his goal was the killing of King Duncan. Even though this may not be directly connected to the overall conviction of Banquo’s murder, it was the source of an evil chain reaction. For example, Macbeth states that he killed Duncan’s guard in the name of love and passion for the king (2.3.116). This can be reasonably inferred to be a lie as an attempt to cover up the initial lie concerning King Duncan’s murder.

Macbeth had little to any control throughout the play until it came to the murder of Duncan and deciding whether to kill Banquo, and Macduff. Shakespeare depicts, “ If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, without a stir”(1.3). Macbeth, after The Weird Sisters prophesied, became lustful for power and let his innermost desires take hold. They manifested into Macbeth believing the prophecies were true, began to battle the idea of killing Duncan. Shakespeare describes, “ Stars hide your fires; let not see my black and deep desires…”(1.4). Macbeth having control over his innermost thoughts, didn’t want to follow through with the murder of Duncan but his lust for power became more evident as he and Lady Macbeth talked. Shakespeare

The character Macbeth displays through his actions that ambition brings out the worst in him. After the Witches tell Macbeth that he will be king, Lady Macbeth tries to persuade him into killing King Duncan. Macbeth contemplates whether or not he should kill Duncan. Macbeth has always been loyal to his king, but he starts to question what his decision should be when he says “That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/ And falls on th' other”(1.7.25-28). Macbeth's “Vaulting ambition” is getting the best of him. In any other case he would not even consider killing Duncan, but as his need for power rises, he starts to think that he must kill the King. Although Macbeth starts off as not having much ambition, later in the play it completely takes control of him. After Macbeth commits a few murders he starts to lose his sanity. He starts to question whether or not he is making the right decision. He thinks to himself “ I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o'er./Strange things I have in head, that will to hand,/Which must be acted ere they may be scanned” (3.4.142-146). Macbeth is now “Stepped in so far” with his ambition. He thinks there is no way out and that he must go through with his plans. Although Macbeth starts off as innocent, he lets his ambition get the best of him, which results in him making some questionable choices.

One theme we can see throughout Macbeth is that Ambition can be the downfall to even the mightiest of people. In Act One, Scene Four; Macbeth is named Thane of Cawdor, meanwhile King Duncan announces that his eldest son Malcom shall be named Prince of Cumberland and the heir to his throne. After hearing this news, Macbeth says aside “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, for in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done to see.” From this we can see that Macbeth truly wants to be King. Macbeth is willing to do whatever it takes to become the next King of Scotland. Later in Act One, Scene Five; Macbeth sends a messenger to deliver the news of his promotion to his wife Lady Macbeth. When hearing of Malcolm becoming Prince of Cumberland and heir of Scotland, Lady Macbeth’s true feelings come out. Lady Macbeth says “Glames thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, art now without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.” Lady Macbeth wants Duncan dead, so Macbeth can become King, but she believes that Macbeth is too honorable to complete the deed without her convincing him. We can see this come to light as the play progresses, Macbeth’s manhood is challenged and he completes the evil act. This ambition does not stop in Act One, but it continues for the rest of the play which leads to both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s demise.

Lady Macbeth brings out Macbeth’s tragic flaw when she proposes the idea of killing King Duncan and he states, “I have no spur . . . but only vaulting ambition” (1.7.25-27). Once King Duncan has been murdered, this flaw is revealed because his actions reflect on his ambition to stay king. Macbeth begins by planning on killing Banquo and his son because the witches told Banquo “thou shalt get kings, thought thou be none” (1.3.68). Macbeth must kill Banquo and his son, so no one will have the opportunity to take the crown away from him. When Macbeth sends murderers to kill them, Fleance can get away while Banquo is brutally attacked; however, luckily for Macbeth, Fleance is never heard from again. When Macbeth goes to visit the witches again and the first apparition tells him to “beware Macduff” (4.1.71-72), he then realizes he must eliminate any other obstacle that could potentially keep him from staying king. He says he will “give to th’edge o’th’sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls” (4.1.150-151) just to ensure his throne. By doing these horrible deeds, Macbeth proves he is willing to go above and beyond to remain king until his

That is a major contributing factor to his mental deterioration. The development of the play which Macbeth has a tendency to make choices out of his yearning for control. An example of his greed is when the three witches prophesize that he will become Thane of Cawdor, and later become king of Scotland. When the prophecy came true, he becomes power-driven by greed and murders Duncan so that he could become the king of Scotland. A letter was sent to Lady Macbeth, in which Macbeth states that “Hail, king that shalt be! This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness; that thou mightiest not lose the dues of rejoicing” (Shakespeare 1.5 Ln.9). In this quote he indications to his wife lady Macbeth that his initial plans for him is to become king. This is a clear sign of his greediness. Killing the king shows to be an unhealthy choice when his blame leads him to grieve from lack of sleep and illusions. A further example of Macbeth’s visionless desire is when the three witches state that Banquo’s son, Fleance will become the new king of Scotland. Macbeth being the obsessed person that he