Is Macbeth A Good Role Model

“Twisted by the Dark Side, young Skywalker has become. The boy you trained, one he is… Consumed by Darth Vader” (Lucas 2005). Anakin Skywalker had the capacity to be one of the greatest Jedi knights to ever live, until the evil Chancellor Palpatine persuaded him to join the Sith. Drawn by a combination of his desire to protect Padmé Amidala, the girl he loves, and an overall hunger for power, Anakin was seduced by the infamous Dark Side. Macbeth is pulled in a similar direction by his own personal desires to become king and have influence over the people of Scotland, and his wife persuades him to act on this. In the end, like Anakin, Macbeth faces a tragic ending as a consequence of the means by which he achieved prosperity. In order to achieve long-lasting success, one must have a genuine desire to pursue a goal and must willingly choose to act upon this desire. Neither Macbeth nor Lady Macbeth encompasses both of these traits, and therefore, neither of them can be considered a positive role model for achieving success. Macbeth does not try to achieve his goal of becoming king until Lady Macbeth urges him, and Lady Macbeth does not take her own action at all. The two of them lack initiative without each other’s complementary actions. Therefore, the best way to achieve success is to not be like
Their contrasting approaches to King Duncan’s murder emphasize this. Lady Macbeth calls upon her deepest desires to aid her in the cause. She requests that “you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex [her] here/ And fill her… with cruelty” (1.5.47-50). On the other hand, she worries that Macbeth is “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way” (1.5.17-18). While Lady Macbeth realizes that she has no problem instigating an act such as Duncan’s murder, she acknowledges that her husband will not feel the same way and that she will have to persuade