Power Ambition and Honor
John Armour
Hindman 4th
5/13/10
Power Ambition and Honor
The fact is power corrupts, unless one knows how to use it. Everyone has ambition; it is the desire for achievement and the willingness to strive for its attainment. (1) Ambition can give us great things; strength, admiration and respect, but ambition as well as power has the ability to corrupt. Finally, honor, a title given to people who have completed a noble act. But some honorable, powerful and ambitious people go too far and forget about their morals, overrun with self desire. William Shakespeare was a famous playwright who wrote twelve tragedies in his time, two of which are very similar, Julius Caesar and Macbeth. Julius Caesar, a noble, honorable, and trusted man named Brutus, who killed his friend and soon to be emperor, Julius Caesar. Macbeth is also a play about a noble and trusted man named Macbeth, who through his strong ambition for power led him to murder his king and dear friend, Duncan. Both of these leading characters have many similarities as well as differences. The main similarities between Macbeth and Brutus are there power and honor, and their main difference is their ambition.
Both Macbeth and Brutus became very powerful men throughout both plays. Macbeth through the murder of King Duncan, leading to his kingship and Brutus through the murder of Julius Caesar. Even though both character didn’t strive for power they both received it. Brutus’s power is shown by Brutus and Cassius’s disagreement on whether or not to kill Mark Anthony. This is because Cassius quickly backed down when Brutus told him no. In Macbeth power is shown in many ways throughout the play, as his reputation of being a great warrior is only ensured by his talk with the witches as they tell him “for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (Macbeth, Act 4, scene 1). This along with him becoming king gives him a since of ultimate power. Showing both characters as similar because they are powerful.
The honor
Hindman 4th
5/13/10
Power Ambition and Honor
The fact is power corrupts, unless one knows how to use it. Everyone has ambition; it is the desire for achievement and the willingness to strive for its attainment. (1) Ambition can give us great things; strength, admiration and respect, but ambition as well as power has the ability to corrupt. Finally, honor, a title given to people who have completed a noble act. But some honorable, powerful and ambitious people go too far and forget about their morals, overrun with self desire. William Shakespeare was a famous playwright who wrote twelve tragedies in his time, two of which are very similar, Julius Caesar and Macbeth. Julius Caesar, a noble, honorable, and trusted man named Brutus, who killed his friend and soon to be emperor, Julius Caesar. Macbeth is also a play about a noble and trusted man named Macbeth, who through his strong ambition for power led him to murder his king and dear friend, Duncan. Both of these leading characters have many similarities as well as differences. The main similarities between Macbeth and Brutus are there power and honor, and their main difference is their ambition.
Both Macbeth and Brutus became very powerful men throughout both plays. Macbeth through the murder of King Duncan, leading to his kingship and Brutus through the murder of Julius Caesar. Even though both character didn’t strive for power they both received it. Brutus’s power is shown by Brutus and Cassius’s disagreement on whether or not to kill Mark Anthony. This is because Cassius quickly backed down when Brutus told him no. In Macbeth power is shown in many ways throughout the play, as his reputation of being a great warrior is only ensured by his talk with the witches as they tell him “for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (Macbeth, Act 4, scene 1). This along with him becoming king gives him a since of ultimate power. Showing both characters as similar because they are powerful.
The honor
Cited: (1)"Ambition." Http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ambition. Web. (2)Long, Michael. Macbeth. Boston: Twayne, 1989. Print. (3)Shakespear, William. Julius Caesar. New York: Twayne, 1992. Print.