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Hamlet theme of power and leadership
Power and ambition in hamlet
Power and ambition in hamlet
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The desire for power seems to be one of the strongest human drive and there are many ways which it is shown. Sometimes the need for power becomes overwhelming and can take over a person physically and mentally. A person’s judgement can easily be clouded due to the desire to be in control. Once one has the idea of gaining power and are willing to do anything for it, they start to change as a person. Knowing that you are powerful and in control, it can sometimes be beneficial or harmful. If a person is careful and wise, having power would be a good thing. They can use it to improve themselves or to help others with selfless acts. But in reality most people are selfish and are not as giving. They only do things that would benefit them, even if that means hurting someone else. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the struggle for power is presented throughout the play. The characters are so power crazed that it leads to their downfall. This play gives you the deep understanding on how wanting power so much that it can actually change you as a person or even kill you.
In the play Macbeth, the character Lady Macbeth shows a great deal of struggle to gain power. Just at the beginning of the play as she was being introduced, Shakespeare presents her as a character that is willing to do anything for power. Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband Macbeth saying that it was in his prophecy to become the next Thane of Cawdor. Without questioning her husband or the prophecy, she immediately jumps to a conclusion. To her, killing the current king Duncan would be the only way. But she had one fear in mind, Macbeth. “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness.” ( 1.5.13-14). Lady Macbeth knew tha...
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...alk and vigorously washes her hands. Lady Macbeth keeps imagining that Duncan’s blood is still smeared all over her hands. Not being able to live with her conscious, she kills herself. Lady Macbeth realizes that her desire for power in the end had its consequences. In the end, Lady Macbeth was still a female that had emotions and could not handle the guilt she had put upon herself. Thinking that ending her life would be the easiest thing to to end all of the pain.
The struggle for power made Lady Macbeth go insane. She did things that she would not have normally done. The desire for power changed her as a person, it made her cruel and heartless. Lady Macbeth only had one thing on her mind, which was power. Power can be a very dangerous temptation that will always have its consequences in the end. No matter how you get there, it will always be a messy battle.
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.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious, controlling and domineering. She is the one who encourages him to kill the king, she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself, which shows her determination and persistence."Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o’th milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way thou wouldst be great. Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (Act 1, scene 5). Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth’s sudden ambition and she tries to manipulate him into feeling guilty and unmanly for not following through with the murder, by using her husbands emotions, she manages to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan.
Lady Macbeth takes the role of the dominant partner in the beginning of the play, by acting as the real power behind the throne. For example, it is easily recognized that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are opposite in many ways (Scott 236). He is weak, indecisive, and takes on the traditional female role of the marriage; she is strong, decisive, and takes on the traditional male role. One place in the play where Macbeth’s character is shown is Act I, Scene 5, Lines 15-17. She says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promis’d : yet do I fear thy nature / Is too full o’ the milk of human kindness.” This is just after Lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth. It is also important to notice that when Macbeth’s first thoughts of killing Duncan appear, he is scared. After he commits the murder, Macbeth says, “To know my deed, ‘twere best not know myself ” ( 2. 2. 72 ). Knowing that he has committed such a vile act makes him uncomfortable. It will be difficult to act innocent and deal with his guilt.
no more. "Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time; for from
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
Macbeth is less than ecstatic. "Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear /
Since the witches’ prediction about him becoming Thane of Cawdor had already come true, Macbeth felt very little desire to chase after the throne. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, wanted her husband to pursue the rank by murdering King Duncan instead of waiting to receive it. The idea that a woman, who were considered inferior and powerless compared to men during shakespeare's time, would be the responsible for such violent conflict in the play was unusual. Because she was still unsure of her thoughts, Lady Macbeth prayed that her womanly features would be removed in order to gain more, at the time, manly qualities; such as violence and ambition. “...unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the top-full of direst cruelty.” (Act I, Scene V) This decision was not an easy one, for it meant that Lady Macbeth would no longer be able to give birth to any children, thus resulting in the end of their blood line. In the spur of the moment, Lady Macbeth trusted that her decision was the best, even though she was completely blinded by her desire. She was willing to change her gentle, womanly features for those of a man’s. Once her ambition began to grow, it affected Lady Macbeth’s morals, because it allowed her believe that killing King Duncan was acceptable, since it would fulfill the witches’ prophecy. Her amount of ambition caused Lady Macbeth to not only have a troublesome introspection of her identity, but also let her conceive a heinous crime against her
What drove him to become a power hungry tyrant was his wife. She put ideas in his head that changed him. A day before Macbeth would not speak of the idea of killing the king and now he was considering it. By killing the Duncan, gaining the title and king, and not being caught, Macbeth was given an enormous boost. He now felt invincible and let power finally get to him and corrupt him. With this new amount of power, Macbeth was not willing to let it slip away. To protect his power, he did whatever was necessary. Macbeth cowardly had Banquo killed, going against everything he ever believed in. Killing Banquo was not enough for Macbeth. Shakespeare shows to the audience how power can make a person go higher in the world but at the same time make them more vulnerable. Macbeth was now vulnerable, to solve this he sent the murderers to kill Macduff.
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.
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 is a brave general who fights for his country Scotland, defeating the King of Norway. He is loyal to his king Duncan, but Macbeth has ambition to take over the kingdom for himself. He has lots of doubts of if he is doing the right thing, but still murders Duncan and then Banquo who is another general who fought with Macbeth. These murders and guilt about his treason are leading Macbeth to become insane. This essay shows that although Macbeth’s strong desire for power is influenced by the three witches in the play and also the planning and ambition of his wife Lady Macbeth, in the end he is responsible for his self-destruction.
To become powerful, is to become corrupt, and The Tragedy of Macbeth is a prime example. In William Shakespeare's tragic tale, a young nobleman 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.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s desire and ambition lead to her eventual downfall. When Lady Macbeth hears of Macbeth’s prophecy, she dreams of the glory and high-standing that awaits being queen. She cannot withhold her ambitions, and she is willing to manipulate fate to bring about Macbeth’s prophecy. She invokes evil spirits to be filled from head to toe with cruelty to do the evil actions necessary to make Macbeth king and to remove all remorse and pity for her action from her heart.
Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition, helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches, is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
...e is an authoritative figure who thrives on her ability to rule her husband's life, and watching Macbeth gain independence at her expense eats her up inside and causes her to lose her sanity. She sees the tables of power being turned, and she begins to see herself in the position her husband formerly held, that of a weak, submissive individual. She can not allow herself to live her life that way, and, as it is explained in the last speech of the play, ". . . [Macbeth's] fiendlike queen,/Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands/ Took off her life. . ."(5.8.69-71). Lady Macbeth saw death as the only way she could escape a life of passiveness and weakness which she believed was inevitable once she lost control of Macbeth's actions.