Similarities Between The Scarlet Pimpernel And Ozymandias

All humans crave one thing: Power. Power is directly defined as “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.” This theme is shown throughout the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. However, there are different forms of power. Different forms of power can be seen throughout the book, and even in many short stories and poems. These different forms of power can be either good or bad, depending on how the power is used. Power can come from fear, wealth, or leadership and trust.

Corrupting power has been showcased through many stories like Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Throughout Macbeth, the desire for absolute power is the main drive for the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They are consumed with a great craving for ultimate rule, and are willing to achieve it by whatever means necessary. Power had corrupted the thoughts, actions and behaviors of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. As a result of their greed, selfishness and longing for supremacy, they were unable to escape the tragic fate at the end of the play that was a result of their own doing.

“All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” is a quote from Lord John Dalberg-Acton, explaining that any amount of power can corrupt the mind, but absolute power will take over. This is represented throughout history: in politics, monarchies and times like the french revolution. Many writers have used this theme in their works. One work that includes this theme is William Shakespeare's Macbeth. The play Macbeth follows Macbeth, a brave warrior as he gains power from his deeds both good and bad. By killing the Duncan, the former king, Macbeth rises to power and takes control of his country. With every bit of power that the Macbeth’s gain, they become more and more corrupt.

     Personal power has the ability to be essential to greatness, and at the same time is able to destroy a person’s nature. In the drama Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth, becomes corrupt through power that he gains. The play shows that even someone who starts out like Macbeth and does not crave power, will do terrible things to gain authority and power.

Often time power can be understood as control of material resources and wealth, control of politics and the institutions that make up society (Hutchison,2015). It is important to recognize and identify the core concepts of power or lack of power with individuals in society. The conflict theory allows examination within the text of those who hold power and lack power. The end result of power to hold dominance over another person, group, or society. As a result of the control and power is causes those who lack power to be devalued or alienated from a setting or even society (Hutchinson, 2015).

Power as a corrupting force has been present from the beginning of time and is often revealed in many works of literature. In the novel Frankenstein by Marry Shelly and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, corruption of power is well brought forth in the characters in both texts. In both stories, characters reveal power as a corrupting force through their thirst of knowledge. Characters also reveal power as a corrupting force through character change. In addition, the character’s action justify how corrupted they really are. Therefore, power corrupts the individuals because of character’s extreme ambition which leads to

Power gives people the ability to control and influence. It is held and used in many ways, significant and insignificant, for justice, mercy or desire. Because of its ability to give people what they want, power tempts people into doing the unthinkable in order to acquire it. Power itself is uncorrupted, only tainted and weaponised by those who hold it. In Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ and Suzanne Collins’ ‘Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part Two, manipulation and suggestion are shown to corrupt power and contribute to its use in the name of evil. Through a comparison of literary devices in ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Mockingjay Part Two’, humanity’s corruption of power will be explored and unveiled

Power is the ability to act on your own accord without any consequences to your own well-being. Additionally, it is the ability to influence the actions of the people around you in a way that benefits you. The influence that power grants is one that allows a person to take control of their life, and because of this, obtaining and holding power has been a basic desire of all humans since the beginning of civilization. Power and its influence are clear components of the novel The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. In the novel, we find multiple powers that constantly affect the actions of the story’s characters. Some examples of these powers are the power of lust, the power of the people, the power of the law, and the power of the media. Out of these powers, the power of the media is easily the most influential power in The Bonfire of the Vanities because of its ability to influence people’s decisions, which is especially evident in Sherman McCoy’s trial, its ability to influence the opinions of large masses of people, and its ability to expose something to a much bigger audience.

In Fiction as well as reality, humans tend to be power hungry. They are willing to do anything in order to achieve dominance over others. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses the struggle to achieve dominance over others to convey the need for humans to have power, and how it changes people.

Alice Walker, an American novelist, once stated that “the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” In current society, power is everywhere, and everyone has at least has some control, no matter how ineffective they might feel. In the novella “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, the concept of power is represented on a ranch in the 1930’s. On the ranch, there is a group of outsiders- people who do not fit in- that consists of Crooks, a black stable buck, Curley’s wife, who is married to the powerful Curley, Lennie, a worker with a mental disability, and Candy, and old swamper. These outsiders are isolated and feel powerless compared to the rest of society. However, within this group of outsiders, power structures still exist and everyone has power in one way or another. Steinbeck, through the story of Crooks and Curley’s wife, teaches that no matter how powerless someone seems, they may still wield power over others.

The relevance of these example is that when power does get in to the hands of the broken it can put everything on the line. As we see in the song Viva La Vida, power is in the hands of a king; in The Count of Monte Cristo the person with the power is trying to seek vengeance on the ones who wronged

The author in The Scarlet Pimpernel and Ozymandias describes the effects of misuse of power using personification to show its results in powerlessness and failure. Ozymandias

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

Everyone wants to be able to rule the world. Everyone wants to be able to do anything they want and control as much as they can to make their life better, but many people don’t see the bad side of power. Power can turn good people bad. Two great examples of this are in the novel, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. In The Count of Monte Cristo, a young French sailor named Edmond Dantes gets falsely imprisoned for treason against the king. He gets put in a high security prison called the Chateau d’If off the coast of France. He meets another prisoner named Abbe Faria who helps Edmond find out why he was imprisoned and who did him wrong. Edmond makes a vow to get revenge on those who

Another story I examined from the same author, The Overcoat, is about a plain man that has an old overcoat. He saves up for a long time so he can buy a new one, and the night after he gets it, he gets drunk at a party and the overcoat is stolen from him on the way home. He then becomes a ghost that haunts and subsequently steals an overcoat from an “important man” that he feels is responsible. The Overcoat tells the story of a man that worked hard and used his overcoat as a symbol of power, but it gets taken from him and he is left with nothing at all. Both of these stories show both the rise and fall of power and how even after all of the events have taken place, the characters still end up in relatively the same as they were before in regard to power. In these two short stories by Nikolai Gogol, I will attempt to explain the similarities and differences between the trends of power and eventual equilibrium of power they both