Power was not the Soul Reason for Macbeth's Destruction
William Shakespeare's iconic play, Macbeth is arguably one of his most recognised and appreciated Pieces of work that he wrote. Throughout the play, multiple key themes were demonstrated, in particular ambition and power. The method in which these two themes were demonstrated irrefutably represents the socio-cultural views of the Elizabethan era. Ambition and power were two themes that together may have been thought of as the reasons that led to Macbeth’s downfall, however they weren't. Macbeth most certainly had a need and want for leadership and power, his ambition was ruthless and strong and the world inevitably returned such harshness but he never really acquired the power that Duncan
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Macbeth commences the play as a strong and loyal soldier, holding witness to the embodiment of loyalty in the direction of the king from all the man that fought in the war in his name. Faithfulness and respect towards but a singular man is the only thing that Macbeth had to present, he thought that “the rest is labour which is not us’d for Duncan”. This was his convincing belief, until the witches grant him with the prospect to receive kingship. Lady Macbeth crafted herself the influence of this ambition by validating it; Shakespeare used her to explain Macbeth’s deep need to be on the thrown “wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win” (1.5.21-22). In her opinion, Macbeth is somewhat of a coward, as he has the voice inside him that conveys him what he is required to do if he is to be the king of Scotland, however he is anxious to act on it. When he preceded acting on this ambition by murdering Duncan and destroying his family, he planted the seeds of his own ruin. He provoked the distrust of Malcolm, who was indeed the man the man that lead the army which suppressed Macbeth’s grip to the throne. Ambition was one of the aiding factors, which caused Macbeth’s
Ambition is what motivates people to achieve a certain thing in their life. However, many fail if their ambition is too big and unreasonable. This is definitely the case for Macbeth in the William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth's ambitious causes him to disregard his loyalty to Duncan. Moreover, Macbeths desires lead him to be immoral, going to extremes in order to achieve success. Ultimately, Macbeths deep aspirations for power demonstrates being over ambitious will end in disaster. Therefore, in the play Macbeth, Macbeths ambition leads him to corrupt his morality, resulting in his downfall
"I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked." (Act 5, Scene 3). Phrases as forceful as Macbeth's quote are not common day language, in fact, it is used except in times of intense emotion. Although the diction of Macbeth's words are from the Elizabethan Age, it's message rings true and clear. Macbeth clearly will oppose anything standing in the way of his passion. Critics often debate over the what tragic flaw of Macbeth lead to his downfall. Was it ambition or Lady Macbeth's influence? Hardly so. It was an obsession of power that Macbeth desired so much that led to his compulsive fixation and preoccupation of obtaining his desire by any and all means necessary. Thus, he inevitably
Macbeth is the main character in this Play, he is at the beginning a guy who seems emotionless and cold. He wants to be king and to have the ultimate power, he wants his wife to be happy and proud of him.To achieve all his goals he tries everything to become a friend of the king, duncan, and is really nice to him even thought he just has the ultimate power in his mind. After a while Macbeth is getting tired of always being nice and faking everything so his wife is trying to persuade him to keep doing everything to be king. Macbeth is getting help from three witches who set them all the thoughts about being king in his mind, with his wife many people want to convince him to kill duncan, so Macbeth is under a lot of pressure. At the end of the play when macbeth killed duncan and reached his goal to be king,he is really confident and full of himself what makes him think he can get anything and win everything, but when he fights against Mcduff his head got cut off and he dies.
Lady Macbeth appears evil, but this is proof of her devotion and drive to assist Macbeth rise to the throne. Macbeth is doubtful about their plan to kill King Duncan; however, Lady Macbeth bombards him with comments that question his courage. She goes as far as telling him his love his worth nothing if he refuses, which proves her to be dominant and controlling using his own weakness against him. His love for her. The fact that she belittles his confidence, insults his abilities, and questions his manhood & ambitions showing how manipulative she can be, but also wise because it worked in her favour. She said to him “Screw your courage to the sticking place” (1.7.60). Because Lady Macbeth manages to drive Macbeth to Duncan’s death, this shows viewers that Lady Macbeths own ambition is the real driving force behind most of Macbeth’s actions, because of his strong dedicated love for her.
At the start of the play, Lady Macbeth was “in control” of Macbeth. He listened to her and done everything Lady Macbeth told him to do to prove of himself to her. Although Macbeth was then the King of Scotland, he was not always the king. The way he actually became king was because of Lady Macbeth. She came up with an evil plan to murder the original king was named Duncan. Macbeth was against this plan at first: “We will not proceed no further in this business” (1.7.31). Then, after Lady Macbeth used her controlling ways, he changed his mind. Lady Macbeth questioned Macbeth’s manhood (1.7.35-44). Macbeth felt as
In this world, one of the strongest human drives seems to be the desire for power. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Thane Macbeth seeks to gain power over Scotland. Through Macbeth’s search for power, he must choose between what is morally right or his inner motives. Macbeth gains power over others through the murders of King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s entire family along with his servants. After each murder, Macbeth becomes more confident in his search to gain power.
In lady Macbeth’s argument she holds a seductive and demanding tone. She believes in Macbeth’s ambition and wants him to kill the King once and for all. Lady Macbeth begins to attack Macbeth’s character and provokes him to kill King Duncan by saying, “What beast was ’t, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man,” (Lady Macbeth,1.7,47-51) Through this quote it’s easy to see that Lady Macbeth is aware of Macbeth’s vulnerability so she attacks his manhood making him feel less of a man for going back on his word. In order to put her plans in action she uses a heavy pathos appeal in the following lines, “From this time Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor As thou art in desire… ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” (Lady Macbeth,1.7,39-44) Through this quote Lady Macbeth makes Macbeth feel sympathetic and cowardice for not following his desires, she uses their love and how she will view him to lure him into the plan even more. While Macbeth may still be weary Lady Macbeth uses an ethos appeal by establishing her authority on the topic of killing King Duncan, “We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we’ll
Selfish desires and ambitions can have great sovereignty over one's actions as their thirst for power only grows. In the play, a loyal, honourable hero transforms into an evil murderer which is driven by his greed and ambition. Macbeth is portrayed as a brave, loyal and courageous nobleman who is incapable of committing evil deeds. Nevertheless, this changes when the witches prophecies are introduced which causes macbeth to think about his aspirations for power and his nobility ranking. He betrays king Duncan when he kills him and obtains the Scottish throne for himself. An example of his loyalty in the beginning of the play in the place when king Duncan thanks Macbeth for his bravery and victory in the battle; Macbeth responds and says, “The service and loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself. Your Highness’ part is to receive our duties, and our duties are to your throne and state children and servants. Which do what they should, by doing everything safe toward your love and honour” (I, iv, 25-30). Macbeth is pleading a great deal of loyalty by expressing that serving him is its own reward and
Macbeth changes from being loyal and brave to an assassin executing a traitorous plan to slay the current king due to supernatural propositions that he would be king himself. Macbeth is respected as a man worthy of recognition by other characters as evident in act one scene two. In this scene, the Captain states: “For brave Macbeth (1. 2. 18). Macbeth is being applauded for his valor and loyalty to Scotland and the king. This first impression is hastily juxtaposed after hearing the prophecy of the witches
Just as the character spectrum flows from hero to villain, Macbeth also gradually makes his way down the line. In the very beginning of the play (before making his appearance), Macbeth’s fellow Scots and lords praise him for his loyalty and noble deeds. Here, it is made clear that the public initially views him as a heroic figure who is loyal to Scotland; “for brave Macbeth, (well he deserves that name)”(9) Admittedly, Macbeth does unseam a man “from the nave to th’ chops”(9), however this is considered an act of valor in the service of his country and his king. However, Macbeth’s loyalties soon become questionable, as he plots to and then commits the murder of his honored king, Duncan. At this point, the audience
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
In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare I found at the beginning the character Macbeth was a portrayed as a noble, honest and brave man. As said by the captain in the second scene, ‘For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that title’ (I.2.16). This gives the audience an indication that Macbeth was highly respected by the king’s men and the king himself. His desire for power grew throughout the play from when he had his first encounter with the witches.
Lady Macbeth- the malicious mastermind, and the second driving force behind the murders done by Macbeth, had believed that by portraying a man’s ways, she would attain power-for her and her husband, and gain whatever they needed without remorse or sorrow. Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to frame two guards by getting them intoxicated and even prepares the murder scene for Macbeth to take King Duncan's life. Macbeth even questions his loyalty and righteousness in this moment by saying, “But in these cases, we still have judgment here…bloody instructions…return to plague the inventor” and . . .” He is here in double trust; first as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then as his host” (I.VII.7-14). This just
“O worthiest cousin, the sin of my gratitude even now was heavy on me!”(I. i. 347) the king cannot repay him for what he has done for their kingdom. Macbeth is a highly respected warrior because he is loyal, trusted, and honest man. Macbeth is a vulnerable man; he is weak. Letting other people make decisions for him, he becomes more incapable of resisting how people will view him as a “loyal” soldier since he cannot follow through. In the film Macbeth the setting is right in the middle of war. Macbeth has held the enemy facing him, but he hesitates and looks at his soldiers for the okay to kill the enemy. With that being said, he is seriously self conscious and lets others makes the decisions for him. Before he is going to kill King
Having a lust for power can cause a loss in many things. It’s as if you’re in a win-lose situation. In this case, the play Macbeth written by Shakespeare has scholars sayings, “The lust for power by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth led to a loss of humanity.” With that said, I totally agree with their view. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth went out of their way to even killing King Duncan and burdening the murder on his guardsmen. Even though that’s a common human act, you just don’t do something like that. It’s just so wrong. The acts of both these people are very evil and violent, in which causes Macbeth to move from one act of endangerment to another just to protect himself from a great disaster which I likely