How Power Leads to Corruption in Macbeth

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"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.

Power leading to corruption is more of a fact than an idea, in most cases when all is said and done the one with the power isn't who they said they'd be. Macbeth was once a Scottish nobleman whose greed for power became to overwhelming leading to his own demise. Shakespeare begins Macbeth, with the appearances of three witches. Each witch exclaims that Macbeth will be the thane of Glamis, the thane of Cawdor and afterwards he'll b...

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..., Macbeth becomes everyone’s enemy, he in convinced he is invincible which leads to his inevitable downfall and demise. Macbeth was a perfect example of how correct society is when it is said, "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it". It means not everyone does the right thing to get to where they are, people use and abuse one another for what they want. Although it may be deceiving no one cares as long as they get what they want. Power is literally what rules the world, corruption is what happens to the ones who gain to much power. In other words there is no getting around the statement power leads to corruption.

Works Cited

[Lord Acton Quote http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely.html

Shakespeare, Willaim, and Aaron Durband. Macbeth. Shakespeare Made Easy . Hauppagem, NY: Barron, 2004. Print.

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