Power Revealed In Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'

When Macbeth first learns of his prophecy of becoming King of Scotland, he sends a letter to Lady Macbeth, who immediately thinks of the quickest way to get Macbeth onto the throne. She calls on the dark spirits to help her plan the murder of King Duncan and hopes that the darkness can be in her. She wishes so that she may be able to commit the murder with her husband and be free of the guilt afterwards. Lady Macbeth never doubts these murderous thoughts, showing that she is ambitious and power-hungry. She is also characterized as clever when she persuades Macbeth into committing the murder when he is unsure of doing the deed. Her strong-willed mind is also shown when she takes the daggers from Macbeth, who is too shaken up by what he had done, and she puts them back in Duncan’s chambers. After the murder, Lady Macbeth seems the least guilty of the two, and she can feel as if nothing has happened. Her character starts to change, however, when she feels unhappy in her position as queen. She starts to feel the regrets of killing King Duncan, and she begins to doubt herself. Lady Macbeth soon feels so guilty that she sleepwalks, talking in her sleep about her and her husband’s horrible deeds. This takes away from her powerful characterization in the beginning. Lady Macbeth goes from being a ruthless, dark woman to a guilt-burdened sleepwalker with little

Seeking power is exhilarating but it can be someone’s undoing. The hunt for power can oftentimes lead to different external and internal consequences, which can also depend on the person or environment. Shakespeare’s Macbeth focuses on a character who eventually becomes obsessed with the pursuit of power, and trying to control the power that he already has. His power affects him and everyone around him. This act of trying to collect as much power as possible will ruin him, ultimately being his downfall. The real life example of Vladimir Putin showcases that he and people around him have also suffered the the consequences evident in Macbeth. Many times, the pursuit of power will lead to psychological impacts such as feeling fear and guilt which can show on the outside as delusion and insanity.

Power has the ability to manipulate and control whatever one desires; to do what one pleases to do without answering to authority. The power that corrupts the characters plays an extensive role throughout Shakespeare 's play. In Williams Shakespeare 's tragedy of Macbeth, a scottish noble craving for power leads to him to commit terrible actions that creates conflict between him and society. Shakespeare demonstrates Macbeth abuses power by using it negatively against other people. Lady Macbeth has a strong desire for her husband being in power which allows herself to make unsubstantial decisions. Lady Macbeth then uses manipulation against Macbeth in order to get Macbeth to be king. Macbeth also doesn 't realize how dangerous power is and how evil it can be, Macbeth takes power for granted and decides to kill anyone who gets in the way. He relies acting on impulse until he 's blinded by evil, he can’t think for himself. When people allow the dominance of desiring a power to control their actions, there will be consequences.

One of the many timeless plays by William Shakespeare is Macbeth, a tragedy written in 1606, shortly after the attempted treasonous assassination of James 1, the current King of England at the time. James 1 was disliked due to his strive to unite England, and the place in which Shakespeare’s work took place, Scotland. Enkindled by these recent events, Macbeth, the protagonist, experiences power struggles in his relationships with other characters, which prove to be crucial to the outcome of the play. It is his relationships with Banquo, a fellow soldier; the Apparitions produced by the Witches, and Macduff, the Thane of Fife, that most significantly portray his internal strife.

As defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, power is the “possession of control, authority, or influence over others”. Power is frankly quite powerful when held in the hands of one person. It can cause a divide amongst families, countries, or even society for that matter. What really lies behind the true meaning of power is how it affects people, either negatively or positively. This ultimately causes people to feel differently depending on what is put into place by the one who holds the authority. Power can always be corrupt in many types of ways, but it can be more harmful to some than others and therefore does not affect everyone equally.

Throughout the play, lady macbeth is shown as an evil, despicable and cunning woman; with great power unlike the woman of her time in the 17th century. her power is shown over macbeth and how she is able to design his decisions to fit perfectly with her blood thrust plan to kill the king of scotland in order to gain supreme power. At the beginning of the play lady macbeth is shown reading a letter from her husband. lady macbeth immediately understands what the letter is as it conveys her partners emotional turmoil.

Lady Macbeth is more power hungry and ambitious then Macbeth is. She, through ambition she gives the finial push to Macbeth to kill Duncan the king of Scotland. Her power however, is not driven by the sisters, hers is greed. She wants to be Queen, she wants the power of being Queen. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeths ambition is tragic flaw. Her ambition drives her to her to go crazy which ultimately drives her to her death. There is an instance where she is sleep walking, eyes open. She goes to her vanity and sits down, she looks at her hands a sees blood. Then she sticks her hand in the water bowl and attempts to wash them. When she pulls them back out the blood did not wash away. Only she can see the blood her maid and doctor see this happening and they just think that she is going crazy. This is only the beginning of her insaneness. Just before her death she vilely reads a letter that Macbeth sent to her, telling her that he was to be King some how. It is her guilt that kills her.

“Nearly all men can stand the power of adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power” (Abraham Lincoln). Someone can come off as a good person until they are given power. When someone has power, they may abuse it or treat others unfairly. Giving someone power and seeing how they act can show their true character. Macbeth is the most responsible for the events that occur in the play because he misconstrued the witches prophecies and was overcome by greed.

The Puppet Master And The Puppets Power is a theme used by Shakespeare throughout the play Macbeth. The plot involves Macbeth trying to gain more power. Lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan so that he will become king. Macbeth is also persuaded to kill anyone who threatens his chances of being king, including Banquo. Power is used by certain characters in the play to influence others.

Although Macbeth wanted power, it cost him a broken relationship between his friends. In the beginning of the story, Macbeth was seen as a noble, who received praise from the people of Cawdor and Scotland as well as his friends, Banquo and Duncan thus receiving the title of “Thane”. Even though Macbeth got power; that did not stop him as his lust for power grew into an ambition, resulting in the death of his companion, Duncan. According to Macbeth, at the start of the story he questions on whether he should murder Duncan for the crown, yet he states “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare 25), suggesting that there are other routes of getting power because in his prediction it states that

In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the speaker illustrates how Macbeth’s power consumes him, leading to profound changes in his personality and mindset. Initially Macbeth is depicted as innocent and noble, but his power to king corrupts him. After killing Duncan and Macbeth becoming king, he lets his power get the best of him. Macbeth orders the murder of his close friend Banquo, illustrating how his power causes him to lack morality. Before his rise to power, Macbeth would never have considered such betrayal and gory.

In Macbeth, Shakespeare’s play, power is established through the use of characters’ words and actions. Every character uses time as either his or her motivation or as an abuse towards their fate. Lady Macbeth uses time as her motivation to mislead other characters into believing that she is innocent and has a hopeless future ahead of her. Banquo believes that time revolves around itself, and that he should just go along with what comes his way. Macbeth is a controller of time and feels that he has the capability of being able to stop it if ever needed.

Throughout reading the play, Macbeth changes a lot from being a man of loyalty and honesty, to a man of whom is power hungry and greedy. This shows how the more power you receive the more power you want; which in many cases, such as this one leads to destruction. Many of the choices that Macbeth made were influenced by the power that he had, and this power began to take over him. This then lead to greed and destruction of not only others, but himself as well.

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main character’s goal is to become the king. Macbeth seeks to gain as much power as he possibly can and this ultimately leads to his demise. He hears the prophecy of the witches and becomes so obsessed with fulfilling the prophecy because it states that he will eventually become king. Having this information, Macbeth goes out of his way to force the prophecy to come true. He becomes so power hungry that he tries to force fate leaving him with an undeniable guilt for his actions, the loss of love from the people who once loved him, and a harsh death in the end.

In perhaps the most pivotal scene in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s motives are truly revealed in her manipulation of Macbeth to show how humans have a desire for power and once they get a taste of it, they will go through any lengths to have it, no matter the effect on others. Her lust for power is showcased through how she persuades Macbeth by insulting his masculinity and using emotive language to counter his logical reasoning. This section of the play illustrates the tipping point of each character’s morality with Macbeth having second thoughts about the planned murder and Lady Macbeth diving straight in.