Corruption Of Absolute Power In Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'

Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches ' fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo 's / Burried; he cannot come out on 's grave" (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play.

Shakespeare’s bloody and tragic play Macbeth, written in the seventeenth century, portrays blind ambition, appearances can be deceiving and corruption of power. It follows the reasons behind Macbeth’s downfall. The play analyzes how other outside forces can easily change the path of ones desires and decisions. The witches’ intrusion, Lady Macbeth’s manipulation and Macbeth’s dark desires all interfere and manipulate Macbeth’s decisions. He goes from being praised as a noble soldier to a traitor and corrupt king. In the play, Macbeth commits many terrible crimes; however he is solely not responsible for all of them. The outside factors manipulate his decisions and are responsible for his downfall at the end.

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men,” quoting historian Lord Acton. Before reading the quote, I never noticed the relationship between power and corruption in the real world. I thought of power as a form of recognition for hard work, that in turn is a positive outcome. After putting some thought into it, I realized my mistake

Because of the corrupting influence of power, Macbeth does anything to accomplish what he believes means to be a man by killing King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family.

Macbeth views the King’s blood as “golden”, his description of the blood proves its importance to him. The King's blood is the most valuable thing to him. Macbeth’s clouded judgement portrays his immense greed and shows how far he will go for power. After obtaining unbelievable power, Macbeth still needs more. Paranoid, he eliminates all who might threaten his rule, including his best friend, Banquo. Not because he is an immediate threat, but rather because his children may one day claim the crown for themselves. Macbeth later comes to terms with his actions; yet, he does not falter or change course. He comments, “In blood/ Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er”

Macbeth’s heart initially hardens following his first murder, causing extreme anguish but also making him more at ease with performing such heinous crimes for personal benefit. With his newfound comfort, Macbeth goes on to kill again, after which he states “I am in blood stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, returning as tedious as go o’er” (III, iv, lines 135-137). This profound statement reveals Macbeth’s complete commitment to performing such malicious deeds, as he no longer feels remorse or shame. Macbeth’s heart becomes so hardened from his malevolent actions that he is no longer able to understand the consequences of violating basic moral principles, such as the taking of a human life. Macbeth believes that he is simply doing what he feels is necessary to protect himself and is unable to realize the extreme consequences of his actions. Macbeth is the quintessential example of a hard heart only growing harder: he has committed so many malicious actions that he is emotionally unable to feel compunction and permanently changed into a cold-hearted, vicious

The “seduction” of power can change an individual drastically. An individual in a position of power often believes that they are better than the others around them. The entitlement an individual feels after obtaining power can be costly. William Shakespeare portrays the “seduction” of power in Macbeth, through Macbeth’s ambition to attain more power. Macbeth acts as his own adversary shown through his paranoia and insecurity that ultimately, led him to be a corrupted individual because of his greediness to obtain more power.

8). An example of the back and forth routine with guilt is in the scene of the feast. He begins by pretending to wonder why Banquo is not there, then he proceeds to see Banquo’s ghost. It is described as having “gory locks”, which means that he is covered in blood (3.4.53). Bernad talks of the constant mindset changes by saying, “before his crime, [he] is fearless of blood and could "doubly redouble" strokes upon the foe "as if to memorize another Golgotha"; after his crime, the sight of blood on his hands unnerves him,” (par. 11). Instead of a steady decline, he goes mental, and does not act like the valiant Macbeth from the beginning. Likewise, another author believes that Macbeth has decided to resolve his problems by trying not to think about them anymore (Macbeth par. 2). Believing this will clear his conscience, he tells himself that the only way to the throne is to kill, regardless of innocence. In the article The Five Tragedies in Macbeth, it is explained that Macbeth has began to “seek solace in blood”, yet it “brings him no peace” (Bernad par. 13). He is desperately trying to suppress the guilt, but goes about it the wrong

With the aid of free will, Macbeth has made negative choices that have permanently altered his life’s course. In this scene, Macbeth’s banquet is beginning when he is pulled aside by one of the murderers. The murderer informs him that Banquo has died and Fleance has escaped. Unsettled by this, Macbeth returns to the banquet only to catch sight of Banquo’s ghost in his seat. Macbeth essentially has a mental breakdown and Lady Macbeth promptly dismisses the guests. In a reaction to the preceding events, Macbeth says, “For mine own good, / all causes shall give way. I am in blood / stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / returning were as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.167-170). In essence, Macbeth has caused so much bloodshed that he cannot turn back. Returning to his good ways would be just as difficult as to continue killing. He may feel regret about his actions but from now on, Macbeth will only tend to his own needs, or his own good. This is a very willful reasoning. Free will plays such a role in Macbeth’s life that his choices have a large

Lord Acton once said, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Examples of power going corrupt can be found everywhere, from book to television shows to real life. In his article, “How Power Corrupts,” Ronald Riggo explains that there are two types of power, socialized and personalized. He further elaborates that a balance of both is healthy for a ruler to have, but it becomes a problem when personalized power overwhelms social power. Personalized power is defined as power that is used for one's personal gain.

the current king and with whom he has a good relationship. Later in the play he sends murders to kill Banquo, his best friend. Throughout the tragedy Macbeth also sends people to slaughter anyone that he suspects to know about his treachery. Macbeth does all of this so he can stay king and therefore stay in power. Macbeth’s ambition leads him down a dark path filled with murder, betrayal, and deception. Furthermore, Macbeth’s guilt affects the play and Macbeth's transformation into a tragic hero (Shakespeare).

Shakespeare’s characterization of Macbeth and his consequences reveals his warning about ambitions and its downfalls. Macbeth begins as a noble man who’s ambition ruins him and his true self, leading to his inevitable death. In Act I, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as an accomplished man whose lust for more is fueled by his wife’s ambitions. At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth commonly challenges his masculinity to drive his ambition to kill King Duncan and acclaim the throne of Scotland: “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art desire?” (P. 29). Conversely, by Act III, Macbeth’s ambition is self-driven because of the prophecy making him loses his sense of morality, and become corrupt. One such action is the murder of Banquo, Macbeth’s “noble partner” (P. 17): “Who wear our health but sickly in his life, which his death were prefect” (P. 56). Banquo’s murder serves as the beginning of Macbeth’s crumbling edifice, as for each murder he commits, he falls deeper into the world of deception.

He hired three murderers to assassinate Banquo and Fleance in Act 3.4, which resulted into a Banquo-only death. The scenes following Act 3.3 signaled Macbeth’s turning point of mental state, where Macbeth began to experience ghost hallucinations of Banquo in front of his attendants for the night. When discussing his mental malfunctions to Lady Macbeth, he revealed to her that, “My own safety is the only important thing now. // I have walked so far into this river of blood that even if I // stopped now, it would be as hard to go back to being // good as it is to keep killing people. I have some // schemes in my head that I’m planning to put into action” (Crowther 3.4.141-45). Through these exact lines, Macbeth has no revelation of ever turning back from the road he has taken. His statement shows regret and indicates the final true emotion that he has before converting from a heroic personality to an anti-heroic personality. In the next two acts, his bloodlust and hallucination trauma drive his actions until his eventual death. He became used to all of these evil components and let his good self be consumed in the treachery and evil

Right after Macbeth kills the king, he says "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas in incarnadine, Making the green one red.” This exemplifies his guiltiness, as he fears his bloody hands will stain the whole ocean red. Later, after he has killed his dear friend Banquo, he thinks “All causes shall give way: I am in blood Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er:” He feels that he has shed so much blood that it would be as easy to become completely evil, and the regret inherent in his statement shows that he wishes he was not stepp'd in blood. Right after this, he hallucinates the ghost of banquo, and says to him “But get thee back; my soul is too much charged With blood of thine already.” Since he says his soul is too charged with Banquo's blood, it is obvious he regrets killing him. Ultimately, the imagery around blood provides three further examples of Macbeth's growing