Macbeth holds the most power to influence the actions of others because he had power over everyone. Of course, everyone in the play had some sort of power, but Macbeth held the highest. Not only his power of being a king, but he held others as well. In forms of manipulation, especially. Which leads everything to a bad ending, for the same reason, power.
As desperate as Macbeth was due to the prophecy the witches have told him of becoming king, he leads onto doing anything he can in his hands. Most importantly, not for the benefit of the people, but for his own benefit. He had other people killing people that were “threats” for him to remain on the throne, so that’s one of the major powers he had. As he says in this line, “Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world Hath so incensed that I am reckless what I do spite the worlds” (108-110, Act 1, Scene 3). He pretty much is saying that the world sees him innocent, but don’t realize the big wreck that he is, nor would it be good if they’d known. Which shows his creativity/power for not feeling guilty? As he says, “So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune, that I would set my life on any chance, to mend it or be rid on’t” (112-114, Act 3, Scene 2). This line
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Of course, being king is the greatest power he yet has in his hands, because everyone has to do as he wishes without a doubt. It doesn’t matter what it is they always have to do as the king says, the reply must always be around, “Aye, my good Lord” (19, Act 3 Scene 1). “To the crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done” (149, Act 5, Scene 1). As he states here, his head is full of thoughts, but what is done is done, he still has the crown. And no one will take that from him until his death. Out of all these powers he doesn’t realize that there’s a few others that have power over him. That makes him act the way he does, that make him do the things he does. As starters the three
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.
Great power is required to control the fate of a man. There is only one source as strong as needed to cause Macbeth’s ultimate death. Now, who may hold this power in deciding Macbeth’s destiny? Both Lady Macbeth and the Weïrd Sisters play their own parts in Macbeth’s journey into madness but they alone are not responsible for his fate. Macbeth himself is the one who is in the most control.
The drastic measures for the attainment of power are necessary for any upcoming ruler to obtain what they desire. Macbeth had the right ambitions and aspirations when stepping up to rule Scotland, but unfortunately the increase in power increased his greed and paranoia which also painted a larger target upon his back. The people did not appreciate the means of how he obtained his power and especially did not appreciate the ways he kept and defended it. No evidence in the play exists to say Macbeth ruled as a tyrant one could speculate he was an excellent ruler like many that came before him but that would be a large speculation to make. Under the circumstances, Macbeth had great potential, but became corrupted and sank due to his greed, desires, and the opinion of his
“In the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding on the back of the tiger ended up inside.”
The Problem of Power in Macbeth "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.
Macbeth’s blind ambition leads him to surrender to his dark desires that taunt him throughout the play. Macbeth is frequently tempted to result to the wrongful methods that seem to roam inside of him. In the beginning however Macbeth tends to ignore these desires and depends on chance. He declares “if chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare, act 1, scene 3, 143-144). This declaration by Macbeth shows his initial stand, which is reliant on fate and sin free. Yet as Macbeth’s character develops throughout the play, he moves farther from his dependence on chance and closer to his darker desires. Eventually his blind ambition to become king overp...
instill in him the need to be King. Still, desire is not enough for Macbeth and he is thus driven "to seek certainty as his one objective. He wants certainty from the witches . . . at whatever cost" (Campbell 228). Macbeth, however, is not completely lost yet; honour and justice remain in him, and although it takes him some time to fully consider the consequences of the witches' words on him, he rejects his horrible thoughts of murder and postpones all action: "If chance will have me king, why,chance may crown me, / Without my stir" (I. iii.143-144). For the time being, Macbeth's true essence is in control, that of loyalty and honour.
When Macbeth becomes king he controls almost everyone, from servants to assassins. He even attempts to order the three witches to do his bidding. However, Macbeth’s actions and demeanor later in the play are the result of Lady Macbeth, who holds sway over her husband. It is she who at first coaxes and controls Macbeth, resulting in the change in his personality. The supernatural, in particular the three witches, exert control over both Macbeth and his lady. In fact, it is their influences that initiate the sequence of events, and are therefore an integral part of the play.
It is in human nature that the more power one desires the more corrupt actions one must do to attain it. In Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, a Scottish noble's craving for power leads him to do terrible deeds that leads to his demise. Shakespeare shows that power corrupts by using Macbeth who corrupts under the thought of have power over others. Macbeth becomes corrupt under the thought of becoming king and gaining almost complete control over the people that he rules. Macbeth wants the power badly enough to do horrible deeds such as commit regicide. Lady Macbeth becomes very ambitious and allows herself to become seduced to the idea of becoming Queen. Her ruthlessness urges Macbeth to commit regicide by questioning his love for her and his own manhood.
Macbeth chooses the wrong path to accomplish his ambition. Killing Duncan is wrong and he knows it but can’t help himself. An example for dominance of power in addition to Macbeth can be presented in Brian De Palma’s movie Scarface. Al Pacino as Tony Montana creates excessive wealth from distributing cocaine because he thrives for power. As the movie progresses, the drugs make him crazy and he kills more and more people who die in violence followed by the main character. Similarly, Macbeth’s ambition for power becomes his weakness which finally brings tragedy to his character. He is a tragic hero because he can’t seem to help himself even though in the beginning he was good and was a hero in Scotland. Similarly to Dr. Mathur, Faith Nostbakken argues that “The witches do not completely determine Macbeth’s actions. If they did, Macbeth would simply be a victim rather than a tragic figure who suffers the consequences of his own choices. As he wades deeper and deeper into his own darkness, pulling the kingdom down with him, the weird sisters spur Macbeth to his own corruption…In the service of evil rather than good, they equivocate in their prophecies, encouraging destructive behavior.” (Understanding Macbeth
Shakespeare uses the title character of Macbeth to effectively develop the theme of guilt and conscience in his play. Several times in the play we see Macbeth’s character crumbling as a result of a guilty conscience. At the beginning of the play he meets the witches with Banquo, and this prompts the first step toward killing the King. This helps in developing the theme because we get the idea that Macbeth does not trust the witches, nor does he fully believe them. Unfortunately his ambitious nature gets the better of him and causes him to listen carefully to how he might acquire his kingship. Macbeth feels guilty that he is thinking about killing the King because he’s basing his entire thought upon belief in the ‘evil creatures’. We see this when Macbeth has a soliloquy in which he says, “Cannot be ill, cannot be good” and also asks himself why the thought of becoming King makes his “seated heart” knock against his ribs.
"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it" [Lord Acton, British Historian]. It is human nature that the more power one desires the more corrupt actions they have to commit to attain power. Power is the ability to have control over people and/or things. People who are powerful can and in most cases will create an illusion of anything they want you to see about them. This illusion can make people blind to their true intentions. For instance police officers are looked at as good, we looked to them for our safety because they are here to "protect" us. Yet there are many reports of police brutality on innocent citizens. Even if a crime were to be committed there is no need for police to use violence of any sort unless action was taken on them. If no attempt of action was taken on an officer then the officer is abusing its power. Leading people to believe that police officers are corrupt meaning dishonorable, immoral, or not pure. In which case this idea of power leading to corruption is not only true but happens to those least expected to. In William Shakespeares' tragedy, Macbeth, the character Macbeth gains power by killing people and lying, he kills king Duncan out of greed, he kills his "best friends" Banquo out of fear, and then fails to realize that he is not invincible.
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is seen as a brave general of Duncan’s army because he had triumphed with victory over the traitor Macdonwald. A Soldier, who has fought alongside with Macbeth states “For brave Macbeth –well he deserves that name --/ Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel” (1.2.17-18.) The soldier’s message makes the reader develop a positive first impression for Macbeth, since his bravery is being praised. Later, when Macbeth first encounters the three witches with Banquo, he is told that he will be King of Scotland after the third witch says “All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter” (1.3.53.) Macbeth believes the witches and says to himself aside “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical/.../ If chance will have me king, why, change may crown me.”(1.3.149-155.) He immediately thinks of killing Duncan to become king, his impression of a brave general completely change. This shows that although Macbeth has the power to bring justice and proper order while fighting for Duncan’s army, he chooses not to and instead uses his power for injustice and he own needs.
In Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, Shakespeare creates the ruthless character Macbeth, who is willing to go beyond any measure in order to attain the power of being king, including murder, deceit, betrayal and overpowering the chain of being. Macbeth was first tempted by the idea of kingship when three witches presented him with their portent of Macbeth becoming the next King of Scotland. Ebullient, Macbeth, immediately informed his wife of the news and they both pondered the thought of having the power to rule all of Scotland. Lady Macbeth, a power seeker herself, promptly schemed a plan to kill King Duncan in order for her and her husband to rule, displaying her ready ambition for power. Macbeth’s thirst for power ate away at his conscience
To become powerful, is to become corrupt and The Tragedy of Macbeth is a prime example. In William Shakespeare's tragic tale, a young noblemen soon becomes corrupt when he is given the opportunity to become king. His need for power and safety drives him to corruption, ultimately killing off anyone who stands in his path: innocent or not. Throughout the play, many characters portray the impact power has on a relationship: Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, Banquo and Macbeth, Macduff and Macbeth and many more. While all these characters were affected by power in the play, Banquo and Macbeth's relationship best demonstrates the effect of power. By examining the effect that power can have on relationships in The Tragedy of Macbeth, it is clear that Banquo and Macbeth's relationship represent best what the impact of power on friendship can be like. This ultimately illustrates that the need for power can drive people to take extreme measures in capturing that power.