Abuse Of Power In Macbeth

Macbeth

The tragedy of Macbeth has existed for over 500 years, yet the themes and ideas are still relevant to modern day society.

The overall theme of which should be noted in this play is; extreme power is devastating to those concerned. What is observed throughout the tragedy is that Macbeth faces an array of problems stemming from the gain of power getting to his head. Starting from the moment he encounters the three witches who give him and Banquo predictions of the future, it fuels the fire of ambition for power through violence. The thought of power provoked Macbeth to kill King Duncan, Banquo and Macduff’s family. This all consequently made himself and his wife go crazy.

Macbeth killed the King listening to the witches’ prophecies and following Lady Macbeth’s suggestions. The idea of control from a high position such as King. As well as advancement from a mere nobleman enlightened his senses. As a consequence of murdering his own King, from someone who was initially perceived as a good person it drove him and his wife anxious. A psychological toll and feeling of regret was left on the couple after concluding that murdering the King would be a good idea. Although this

was the only beginning of a devastating domino effect for power.

Macbeth murdered his good friend Banquo as a second act of craze for power, after thinking that he was free of all threats as he was now pronounced King. He realised that Banquo had knowledge of the prophecies and how he sought out to murder the King for the title. To resolve this, Macbeth hired three people to murder Banquo and his son Fleance. Banquo ultimately died as a result of Macbeth’s tactics but Fleance managed to escape. Macbeth’s crazy thoughts began to build up after knowing that he was responsible for another murder yet again. Despite already murdering two people, Macbeth continued to eliminate threats.

As the third act of devastating power, Macbeth plotted to kill another risk to his title. This time being Macduff. Fundamentally, Macduff’s family was murdered instead. When news got out that Macbeth was to blame, Macduff wanted Macbeth dead. He gathered with the Malcom, the son of the original King Duncan and planned to kill Macbeth. The fact that Macbeth murdered a family for the sake of power strongly suggests how desperate and disturbed he had become. It is evident that the violence that Macbeth had caused was because of power. Macbeth was not the only one suffering mentally, but his wife also faced the repercussions of his actions.

Lady Macbeth pressured Macbeth to kill the King. With the thought of power of a King in mind for her husband, she encouraged her husband to murder Duncan for these benefits. As a result of this, Lady Macbeth was unable to face the bloodshed conscious of guilt of being involved in the murder of the King. Alongside this, through witnessing the changes of her husband to a murderous monster, Lady Macbeth was terrified. The thoughts of all the immoral acts turned Lady Macbeth insane and dead of an apparent suicide. Lady Macbeth was not the only one of the couple to have died, Macbeth also faced a similar fate.

Macbeth turned from a bright solider to someone with power stuck their head.

Abusing that same power to kill any threats to keep the power, it shows how hungry for authority and greedy he was. It is notable that Macbeth was paranoid of losing that new gain control, thus causing him to eliminate all risks to his throne. He was easily influenced by the predictions of the witches from the beginning, and also disciplined to listen to his wife of dominating characteristics. It can be concluded that Macbeth was just an innocent being with aspirations of advancements, although when opportunity arose to take the position of an ultimate title, all would be worth fighting for. From there, it would be difficult to cease the abuse of authority and it was left continued until Macbeth could run no

more.
For that reason, Macbeth died in the end.

All of these acts that Macbeth faced relate to the contemporary society. It is an example of how people often abuse their power to stay on top. For instance, North Korea evidently has a corrupt leadership. North Korea is currently run by Kim Jong-Un, who is believed to be a “God” by civilians. Kim Jong-Un holds threatening power and he too executes and resorts to violence in order to keep his place like Macbeth. Defence minister, Hyon Yong-Chol was executed inhumanely on April 20th 2015 for talking back at North Korea’s leader. The fact that Hyon Yong-Chol had the guts to argue back at North Korea’s leader could have provoked realisations within the civilians. Due to the fact that the people of North Korea have been taught fictional truths, they may begin to doubt their leader and thus cause an uproar and Kim Jong-Un being kicked off the throne. The leader of North Korea may have felt threatened and disrespected and therefor decided to get rid of the defence minister by executing him. This is similar to the event of when Macbeth killed Banquo, he killed him to keep truth away so that the King’s people would not disregard him as a King anymore.