Signs Of Corruption In Macbeth

In Macbeth, Shakespeare explores the theme of moral decay produced by the temptation of power. When Macbeth hears the witches’ prophecy (1.3.45) he does not understand how he can become King of Scotland; the only way to attain the crown would be through committing the grave and unjustifiable sin of regicide. Despite this, Macbeth ignores his conscience (1.7.80) and when presented with the opportunity, aided by Lady Macbeth, he murders Duncan (2.1.62). Although he immediately regrets his actions and is filled with compunction (2.2.55, 2.2.63-65), Macbeth decides that there is no going back and “things bad begun make themselves strong by ill.” (3.2.55) Macbeth’s allows his inherent lust for power to completely outweigh his moral conscience.

Lady Macbeth’s tyranny actions show the corruption that comes with her desperate need for power. William Shakespeare shows examples throughout the play of how Lady Macbeth shows dominance over Macbeth and the corruption that comes with the dominance. Early in the play, Lady Macbeth exclaims, “Glamis 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 not without ambition, but without/ The illness should attend it” (1.5.15-20). Lady Macbeth proves to be far more powerful to Macbeth. In a famous soliloquy from the play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth dramatically begs: “He brings great news, The raven himself/ is hoarse/

But, later on in the play we learn by the witched that Banquo's descendants will become King and that they will prosper. It says “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”, when Macbeth learns about this and hears about it he is scared and then eventually considers Banquo as a threat to him to become King. So Macbeth has to come up with a solution to this and eventually comes up with the solution that he must murder Banquo and his son Fleance. He gets two murders to go out and murder Banquo and his son while they are walking so that his promise of becoming king will not be in jeopardy. This is an ironic act of betrayal because Macbeth and Banquo have been friends for a long time and have done everything together. Banquo was not just his friend he was also the co-commander of the army and had some power in Scotland.

With Lady Macbeth and Macbeth completing the murder, the people of Scottland need a new king and with the kings sons gone there was only one other person. Macbeth was finally king and had gotten the power he wanted. Corruption of power doesn’t stop once you have done what was needed to get there. Once someone is corrupted they will most likely always be that way. For Macbeth he was corrupt of power till the day he died. As the play goes on, Macbeth does not stop after he acheived the title as king, he began to start killing the people who posed a threat towards him losing the crown. For example, in act 3 it says, “ And with him- To leave no rubs nor botches in the work- Fleance, his son, that keeps him company, Whose absence is no less material to me Than is his father’s, must embrace the fate Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart. I’ll come to you anon” (3.1.138-144). Macbeth knows that the prophecies the witches told him said that Banquos sons will become king and Macbeth feels threatened. Macbeth sends murders to kill Banquo and his son so they won’t be on the way. Power that corrupts even the nicest people, can change them into something ruthless and can make you kill some of the people you are closest too. Being corrupt with power wil also bring alomg guilt and behavioral changes. For

Macbeth fears Banquo’s descendents will take his kingship. He thinks that Banquo should be murdered to stop it from happening, “And though I could / With barefaced power sweep him from my sight / And bid my will avouch it” (3.1.134-136). In the quote, Macbeth is says that he would kill Banquo and offer his desire for Banquo’s death as sufficient justification for killing him (Shakespeare 88). Macbeth does not murder Banquo but cons murderers into committing the violence. Macbeth is not thinking clearly though because he would know that violence only breeds more violence. The murderers kill Banquo and further continue the

He does things that he would never have thought of doing, such as killing Banquo and trying to kill Banquo’s son. And some other things that Macbeth is now doing are affecting all of Scotland, including Malcolm, King Duncan’s older son, and Macduff, a scottish noble that could replace Macbeth as king. When Malcolm is talking to Macduff he suggests that “I am not treacherous. But Macbeth is.” (4.3.21-22), they are talking about how corrupt Macbeth has become due to too much power. Then shortly after, Macbeth goes on a rampage and starts to kill scottish nobles and their family’s so that he can stay king and have his descendants become king after him. One of the family’s that he kills is Macduff’s. Then out of hatred and grief for his family Macduff meets Macbeth at Macbeth’s castle to kill him. Since Macbeth has gained this power as king, the effects of it make him do things that he wouldn’t normally do which leads to him having the feeling of self hatred, “With blood of thine already” (5.8.6) as he says to Macduff after he had killed his family. The effect of too much power leads Macbeth to do things that he wouldn’t have done and away from demonstrating what it means to be a

Macbeth went to all lengths to maintain his power. Macbeth decided that Banquo, his comrade in battle and his best friend had to be killed. Macbeth stated in his soliloquy, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature/Reigns that which would be feared” (3.1.53-55). Macbeth abused the power he had because of his paranoia that others were after his position of power. Macbeth showed that he was willing to do anything even killing Banquo, whose intentions were to have Macbeth’s best interest. Macbeth saw Banquo as a threat because of the prophecy that his son’s will become king. Macbeth acted on his feelings instantly about Banquo and didn’t think it through clearly. Macbeth let his paranoia of losing his powers to get the best of him because he killed someone who was close to him and wanted what was best for him.

Macbeth was widely seen and treated as a man of virtue, valiance, and nobility. However, now at a position of such high standing, he starts to act like Lady Macbeth. Like his wife, Macbeth began to hold a very single-minded train of thought and manipulated others to his benefit. For a secure spot on his throne, Macbeth resorted to planning the murder of Banquo, for “He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor / To act in safety. There is none but he /

In the story of Macbeth the main character Macbeth becomes very corrupt. In the beginning part of the book Macbeth starts to become corrupt when he isted by three witches that tell him that he will become king(Shakespeare, Act 1, Scene 3, Line 51). Even tho Macbeth could of been a man that was respected and even kind he was very easily corrupted to think that he would become king. In this book Macbeth’s first victim will be the one and only King Duncan himself. When he kills him he uses a knife in the dark of night and stabs kim very brutally and then leaves the knife there, but his wife comes back to get it and hide it.

“When brains were out, the man would die,/ And there an end. But now they rise again”(3/4/95-96). Macbeth is consumed by his fear. When he sees Banquo’s ghost, he has already lost all sense of reason. Such a huge change in such a short time clearly shows the main reason that causes Macbeth’s downfall to the audience, in such a mental condition, he seems like another person rather than the one who was intentionally to kill Banquo because of his

Macbeth corrupts the power of rule and becomes self centered and greedy. The corruption of power creates self centeredness and revenge. Early in the play, Macbeth emerges as the definition of what it means to be a man, Macbeth takes his time so everything will be one right and no one will question him when he takes throne. Fortunately, Macbeth’s decision to rethink the plan of Duncan's murder enables him to change his plan so he can kill Duncan and will have it be “done quickly”.

Macbeth’s sense of self seems to diminish as he comes to reality with what he has done and who he has hurt. This leads to him to not being able to sleep because he has “murdered and therefore/Cawdor/Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more” (2.2.55-57). By him not sleeping it shows that he is going crazy, and is not ok with what has happened. Losing his sense of self is also slowly killing his mental state. His conscience is guilty which makes him think less of himself. When Banquo’s ghost appears it makes Macbeth feel as if he were dead. Wanting Banquo to “Take any shape but that,” because he wants him to “be alive again/And dare [him] to the desert with thy sword” (3.4.124-126). When Macbeth’s fears are confirmed about the line of kings all in the image of Banquo his future is shaken. Once being trusted friends this also helps to twist his mental state; and not for the good. Also by him not being stable Macbeth starts hallucinating and feels tempted to grasp what he sees and use it. These visions are a

In the Shakespearean play, MacBeth, the readers are introduced to the story of Macbeth and his advancement from military soldier to king of Scotland. Correspondingly, the path he undertook to obtain that kind of position. Although, while that may be the premise of the story the underlying message is clear as day. The underlying message of that play is that power does indeed result in corruption. To begin, in the beginning of the play, we are introduced to Macbeth as a military soldier under King Duncan.

Corruption is evident through stories, historical events and it is seen throughout the modern world. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines corruption as dishonest or illegal behavior, especially by powerful people. Corruption is usually is driven by the motive for human desires such as wealth and power. There are many forms of corruption.

After killing King Duncan , Macbeth is starting to realize what it is that he has done, and becomes suspicious and paranoid of everyone around him by puting spy's in every castle and killing those who are any treat to him what so ever. Banquo is the only other person who knows of the meeting with the witches and he would assume that it was Macbeth who killed the King. The witches also said that Banquo would beget kings but he himself would never be king after Macbeth, and so Macbeth decides that Banquo is a threat to him. To get rid of the treat with banquo he decides to kill him and his son Fleance.