Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” Many powerful people in society are unable to balance their morals with their power, struggling to maintain their integrity. The idea that power and control can have a negative effect on an individual is prominent in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Macbeth’s loyal and trustworthy facade fades, revealing an unpleasant reality. The people of Scotland believe that they will find safety and success in Macbeth as king, but once the power travels to Macbeth’s head, his true colors are display. The perspective of Macbeth quickly changes and Macduff becomes the avenging hero to save Scotland. Throughout Macbeth’s transition from …show more content…
After Duncan’s death, the people of Scotland and the son of Duncan come to the realization that Macduff has pure intentions to restore order in Scotland. The death of Duncan has distraught MacDuff, “ Tongue nor heart / cannot conceive nor name thee” (II.iii.67). This displays Macduff’s admiration for Scotland as he refers this this tragedy as a “destruction of a masterpiece”. As Scotland faces downfall under the reign of MacBeth, MacDuff prepares to fight for the sake of his country and for the rightful heir of the throne, Malcolm. MacDuff constantly remains loyal to his nation despite the ups and downs Scotland faces, willing to risk his life in order to save Scotland. In the eye’s of Scotland’s citizens, MacDuff is an avenging …show more content…
Macbeth taking advantage of this solemn time to take the throne counteracts on his prior “honorable, loyal, and brave” behavior. Due to Macbeth’s ruthless and selfish actions, he has caused great a disturbance and concern for well-being of Scotland. Contrary to Macbeth’s self-absorbed attitude, MacDuff has Scotland’s best interest at heart. MacDuff proves his allegiance to his nation by begging Malcolm to fight with him against Macbeth. MacDuff wholeheartedly believes Malcolm will be a better king and this is what King Duncan would want for his country. As MacDuff becomes a threat to MacBeth’s reign, MacBeth wants to kill Macduff, “And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder.” (IV.i.86-88). In order to protect his fate, MacBeth believes in killing anyone who challenges him. It becomes evident that the power hungry Macbeth has caused great sufferings and has destroyed the hierarchy in the kingdom. It becomes apparent that MacDuff is a better fit for the throne, his constant bravery, loyalty, determination surpasses the greedy and egotistical Macbeth’s ability to be king. This uncontrollable desire for power becomes Macbeth’s largest flaw, which results in his destruction of character, therefore making Macbeth a tragic
And Banquo’s son Fleance manages to escape from the attack. Next, Macduff refuses to accept Macbeth as king and flees to England to join Malcom. The witches tell him to beware of Macduff, which angers Macbeth and drives him to kill Macduff's family. The fear of losing the impending battle with England makes Macbeth begin doing anything that will give him an edge in the final battle.
Even though others question Macduff’s responsibility for his family’s murder, "Why in that rawness left you wife and child”, he ultimately left them out of love for both family and country. Macduff’s persistent desire to defeat Macbeth determines his loyalty to country, rather than to the tyrant Macbeth. From the beginning, Macduff has valued country over leader, so when Duncan is murdered, and Macbeth will be coronated, “Will you go to scone/No, cousin, I’ll to Fife” (2.4.35-36). Macduff doesn’t attend the coronation because he is suspicious of Macbeth and his possible involvement in Duncan’s
In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare has a strong theme of power. Macbeth is a king who is given three predictions from three witches, one of which is that he will become king. The one problem is he doesn’t know what he has to do in order to become king. His wife then decides that in order for him to become king, he must kill the current king. This one murder then leads to others in order to cover the original murder up. Once Macbeth becomes king, he doesn’t want anything to change, he wants to stay king until he dies. He then begins to kill again, but instead of killing to cover something, he is killing anyone who stands in his way of staying king. Macbeth’s fate is affected by the personality trait of bravery, his ability to be manipulated, and his determination.
At this point, Shakespeare has provided sufficient evidence to prove that Macbeth is mentally troubled. His death and his mental deterioration are inevitable. He is haunted by the deeds he has done and the witches’ prophecies. Macbeth claims that life is utterly meaningless when he says, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ And then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing.” (5.5 27-31). He no longer has the will to live with knowledge of what he has done. The witches, however, have revealed that he cannot be killed by “one of woman born.” Upon hearing this, Macbeth believes himself to be invincible. During the battle of Dunsinane, he fights recklessly against his foes, under the impression that none can harm him. Macduff then enters the scene. He reveals that he was not of woman born but “from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped” and therefore has the ability to kill Macbeth (5.8 19-20). Afraid for his life, Macbeth remains persistent and declares that he will not surrender. In the end, Macbeth is slain and Malcolm becomes King of Scotland. Ultimately, Macbeth’s mental deterioration led to his downfall and imminent death. Before Macduff slew him, Macbeth was almost wishing for death. He was overwhelmed with guilt, regret, ambition, power, paranoia, and the blood on his hands.
Conflict of forces is reflected in the character of Macduff. Duncan’s murder is discovered by his loyal supporter Macduff. It is the intensity of his devotion to the king that brings him to the castle just at the time of the murder and makes him the first to see the dead body, "The Lord’s anointed temple" (Act II, Scene3, 67) as he calls it. Had Macduff’s loyalty been supported by corresponding strength he could have come in time to save Duncan. But as Duncan displays goodness and virtue without sufficient power to maintain his rule, Macduff’s capacity for pure loyalty is not combined with the strength required to express it. When soon afterwards he goes to England in support of Duncan’s son Malcolm, his wife and children are left to be murdered by Macbeth. His personality lacks the energy to sustain both the commitments of his loyal heart. In expressing his loyalty to the dead king he ignores his equally great commitment to protect his family.
Some people are just meant to be heroes. In this wonderful play by Shakespeare Macduff is a good choice and born to be a hero. Throughout Macbeth there are several examples of Macduffs heroism and bravery. Macduff is a loving, caring man of action, Thane of Fife and a Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth's kingship. When he leaves his loving family to flee to England to join Malcolm, Macbeth has Macduff's wife and children murdered. At the end of the play, Macduff (who was born through a caesarian section) kills Macbeth bringing prosperity back to Scotland, and proving the truth in the witches prophecy that "no man of woman born" can harm Macbeth and his true heroism.
Macduff and Malcolm turn against Macbeth because they recognize his evil behavior and believe they can bring Scotland to a peaceful state. Actions driven by the thoughts and feelings lead to the deaths of Duncan, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth. In Macbeth, characters’ downfalls are caused by actions they take based on the security, hope, and overconfidence their perceptions of the world give
He is the "sovereign flower" and will drown "the weeds" (Macbeth). Macbeth's castle is attacked, and he challenges Macduff to a fight. Even after he learns that Macduff had a Caesarean birth (and therefore he is able to kill Macbeth), he keeps fighting to his death, showing a small part of his old, brave and gallant self before he became. Duncan's murderer before he broke the Natural Order. Macbeth was "a gentleman on whom [Duncan] built an absolute trust."
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play centred around opposing forces trying to gain power in the succession for the throne of Scotland. Macbeth, in the beginning, is known to be a noble and strong willed man, who is ready to fight for his country. However, one may see that Macbeth has a darker side to him, he is power hungry and blood thirsty, and will not stop until he has secured his spot as King of Scotland. Though Macbeth may be a tyrant, he is very nave, gullible, and vulnerable.
"Power poisons every man who covets it for himself" (Chute 126). In the Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, the character, Macbeth, kills the respected King Duncan in his quest for power. However, during his rule, Macbeth demonstrates that he is incapable of mastering the power and responsibilities of being a king. His drive for power and maintaining his power is the source of his downfall. Macbeth is not meant to have authority beyond Thane of Cawdor. When Macbeth is king, he does not use his authority judiciously.
For example, because he felt threatened by Macduff, he chose to kill his entire family. This caused Macduff to be filled with many emotions. He felt upset at the loss of his family but also angry knowing Macbeth's true personality. He even told Malcolm out of anger, "Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself. Within my sword’s length set him; if he ’scape, Heaven forgive him too." Macduff explained to Malcolm that he would avenge his family's death by fighting Macbeth. After the fight between the two, MacDuff returned exclaiming "Hail king! For so thou art. Behold where stands The usurper’s cursèd head. The time is free. I see thee compassed with thy kingdom’s pearl, That speak my salutation in their minds, Whose voices I desire aloud with mine. Hail, King of Scotland!" Macbeth was killed by Macduff, and his position as king, which he had worked so hard to obtain was given up to Malcolm. Macbeth lost his position only because he chose to deceive the public. Had Macbeth actually been a good king, and not deceived the public with a false image, he would still be alive, and have
When Malcolm spoke about how he would be far worse than Macbeth, MacDuff assures Malcolm that he will never be, and that anything he would ever want is at his fingertips. Malcolm says, “It is myself I mean, in whom I know All the particulars of vice so grafted, that, when they shall be opened, black Macbeth Will seem as pure as now, and the poor state esteem him as a lamb, being compared with my confineless harms” (iv.iii). Macduff responds with, “Not in the legions of horrid hell can come a devil more damned In evils to top Macbeth” (iv.iii). This shows his obvious allegiance Malcolm, and his willingness to aid Malcolm in his reign. Since Macbeth was king back in Scotland, Macduff could have gathered an army himself and gone back to Scotland alone to acquire the crown. However instead of doing so, Macduff stands by Malcolm for the well being of their country and to keep the natural order of who should be king. He attempts to illustrate that Malcolm would make a better king, but he doesn't feign acceptance of his cruel ways either. When Malcolm asks Macduff, “If such a one be fit to govern, speak. I am as I have spoken” (iv.iii). Macduff masks no emotion with his response, and makes clear that he doesn't see Malcolm as fit to rule according to his statements. He says, “Fit to govern?/No, not to live“ (iv.iii). However, Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty with his promises of being a bad king
By this point, he has alienated all of his friends and acquaintances, and people have grown suspicious of him. When Macbeth is informed of his wife’s death, he seems numb, despite the great amount of love there was between them. In the scene, he states, “She should have died hereafter;/There would have been a time for such a word… Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player…It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing.” (16-28). In this moment, the audience becomes aware of just how much Macbeth’s loss of power has undone him, and how much power has truly taken him over the edge. Macbeth reaches his all time low in his battle with Macduff, when he says “…damned be him that first cries ‘Hold, enough!’” (34). Though Macbeth is aware that Macduff is not one of woman born, and thus fits the criteria to be Macbeth’s killer, Macbeth remains confident. All chance of Macbeth recovering and losing pride is gone, and the ultimate effects of hubris are revealed. Both Greek and Christian hubris are in this final act. Greek hubris his resulted in Macbeth’s doom, whereas Christian hubris leaves a note of hope when Malcolm, who exhibits many of the characteristics that define a good king, takes over the
Power can transform even the most loyal of men. In Shakespeare’s gloomy and morbid Macbeth, nothing is as it seems. Even the most loyal characters are duplicitous in their nature, exemplified by Macbeth. The greatest Scottish warrior becomes power hungry in his quest to re-kindle his relationship with his wife, Lady Macbeth, and is thrown over the edge when he is not appointed the Prince of Cumberland, an honor he feels he deserves. This same hunger for power ultimately destroys Macbeth, leading him to betray all those he loves, including king Duncan, his friend Banquo, and his wife.
Humans are always fascinated by power. Sadly, they do not realize the danger of it until it is too late. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare's underscores how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both consumed by power. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth dominates Macbeth, manipulating him to kill Duncan. After the death of Duncan, Macbeth becomes ambitious, and hires murderers to kill Banquo without notifying Lady Macbeth. Even though he is a decorated soldier, when Macbeth rises to power, he becomes ruthless. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth becomes weak, and insane. Shakespeare illustrates how Macbeth’s obsession with power undermines his moral judgement, leads to his mental deterioration, and ultimately results in his death.