Preview

What Is The Theme Of Power In Macbeth

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
373 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is The Theme Of Power In Macbeth
Claim: When one unjustly possess power, they become corrupt.

Macbeth: The theme of power is substantially seen through the character of Macbeth. This is shown when Lady Macbeth demands Macbeth to kill King Duncan after hearing the prophecies of the three witches, stating that Macbeth will become king. Macbeth initially did not want to commit this crime ultimately because Duncan was his king, as well as his guest in whom he shall protect. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was portrayed as a coward in the eyes of his wife, Lady Macbeth, for denying her request. However, Macbeth subsequently builds up power and courage to make his decision, “I am settled, and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and mock the time with

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Macbeth the protagonist of the play is Scottish in the king's army who later becomes king. Shakespeare characterizes Macbeth at first as humble, brave and loyal soldier however, later on in the play Macbeth gets tempted by outside forces such as the scottish witches and his wife Lady Macbeth and get corrupted. In the play the third witches state “Thou shalt get kings,though thou be none:So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo”(I,iii,60). In other words the witches are telling Macbeth their prophecy that macbeth would be king to mess with Macbeth’s head. After the witches play with Macbeth’s head he starts falling apart. Many of the audience would agree that Macbeth is really malicious, envious and reckless and is not fit to be a good leader. Equally…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unlike Macbeth, the knowledge of the prediction, makes Lady Macbeth confident in her husbands future, and her desire for the throne strengthens and so does her impatiences. She believed her husband’s nature was ‘too full o' th' milk of human kindness’ to assassinate his own monarch and interpreted it, is a weakness. The controlling, Lady Macbeth manipulated Macbeth into submission by stating ‘When you durst do it, then you are a man’ to emasculate his character. Without Lady Macbeth’s persuasive ability, Macbeth would have never undertaken the unlawful murder of King Duncan and the unethical rise to the crown. Lady Macbeth was unable to control Macbeth, as he continued the heinous crimes of ‘Murder most foul’ throughout his rule. Lady Macbeth realises that her ‘desire was got without content’ as the consequences of their murderous actions, where met with remorse and insanity. Overwhelmed with guilt, the audience is able to witness Lady Macbeth fade in to the background, as Macbeth’s overshadowing, corrupt rule, grows. Through his wife’s ambition, greed and manipulation Macbeth’s morals are destroyed and his downfall as a person and a monarch becomes…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Macbeth is a very power greedy person. It is not necessarily his own doing that he is such a ruthless person. It all started (Macbeth being power greedy) with the Three Witches predictions: "All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of/ Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter." (1.3.50-54)<br><br>As soon as Macbeth learned of his future, he began to scheme on just exactly how he would fulfill these prophecies. That is when he decided that he would have to murder Duncan to fulfill the last prophecy. But that is when he had a change or heart. <br><br>The only problem with Macbeth deciding not to murder Duncan, is that all of a sudden Lady Macbeth became the power greedy one. This is when Lady Macbeth's scheming began. Although Macbeth had changed his mind and basically refused to murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth was able to eventually convince him to carry through with the plan. <br><br>Even though Macbeth was the one who executed the plan, Lady Macbeth was the mastermind behind the scheme. Her greed for power was the one major factor that possessed her to convince Macbeth of the plan and carry through with it. Macbeth murdered Duncan at Iverness, and became hysterical after doing so. As a result of Malcolm and Donalbain's suspicions resulting in their departure to England and Ireland Macbeth became king: this was the ultimate power that he and Lady Macbeth had as their goal (well, actually it was more of Lady Macbeth's goal), and now he eventually had received it. Nothing was going to take away this ultimate power from Macbeth, and he would do anything to keep it. Macbeth's ruthlessness results in him ordering three murderers to murder his best friend, Banquo. The power of being king has taken over Macbeth's life, and he is a victim of his own greed for power. He is a tyrant. Not only does Macbeth murder Banquo (not directly, of course), he also murders (actually he has people murder) Macbuffs family.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aspects of power are deeply explored within Macbeth via the characters, and the allegorical meaning of the play. Shakespeare uses linguistic devices well, such as dramatic irony and symbolism to give the text more meaning and to give deeper thoughts into these aspects of power shown.…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth filled with morality and respect, is very loyal to king Duncan. When Macbeth is first introduced, his bravery on the battlefield leads Duncan into crowning him with the formal tittle of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth could not imagine committing treason of any kind because of his profound regard for the king. The encounter and the prophecies of the three witches triggered Macbeth’s ambitious nature. They appear to him with visions into his future saying, “ All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.52) From this point on, Macbeth begins to think about his desire to be king,…

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bill Bradley says, “Ambition is the path to success.” Ambition is the strong desire to achieve something. It can have a positive or negative effect on one. In Macbeth, Macbeth suffers from ambition, and it is his tragic flaw. Macbeth has a passion to become king and have power. He uses the ambition throughout the play which contribute to many murders. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth uses ambition to kill the king, murder Banquo's’ sons, and kill Macduff’s family.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth three witches prophesied that Macbeth would be king. Doing what anyone else would do, he told his wife and she brewed up this plan to murder the king. The king would be staying at the Macbeth’s castle, Inverness for a party. At first Macbeth was against the plan but Lady Macbeth was not backing down and talked him into it. “Macbeth talks himself into a kind of thoughtful stupor as he tries to work out the situation for himself. In the following scene, Lady Macbeth will emerge and drive the hesitant Macbeth to act; she is the will propelling his achievements. Once Lady Macbeth hears of the witches’ prophecy, Duncan’s life is doomed.”( Shakespeare A 1, 1–4) Her plan was well thought out and she could not wait. He patience overpowered her excitement though as she waited for him to fall fast asleep. Soon after he was asleep she had drugged the guards and Shoved Macbeth in towards the kings resting area. Macbeth was…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth needed to kill King Duncan in order to get closer to his goal of becoming King but was scared. Macbeth states, “[I]f th’ assassination/ Could trammel up the consequence and catch,/ With his surcease, success; that but this blow/ Might be the be-all and the end-all here,/ But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,/ We’d jump the life to come.” (1.7.2-7). Macbeth is weak and does not have the courage to commit murder. He fears all the consequences and problems that will arise if the King is murdered. A man that is weak and lacks courage shows a feminine quality according to the stereotypical gender roles. Furthermore, Macbeth feels guilty after killing King Duncan in his sleep. He states, “ Methought I heard a voice cry 'sleep no more!/ Macbeth does murder sleep', the innocent sleep,/ Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care,/ The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,/ Balm of hurt minds,” (2.2.35-39). Macbeth kills King Duncan and he starts to hear voices in his head because of the guilt. Macbeth experiences a shock of hearing these voices as he realizes what he has done. Not to mention, he is weak and cannot control his actions after the murder as he fails to hide the evidence, the dagger. The stereotypical gender roles subvert as weakness is seen as a feminine quality. Then, Macbeth kills the family of Macduff by planning murders using his power. He states, “To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done:/ The castle of Macduff I will surprise/ Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’th’ sword/ His wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls/ That trace him in his line.” (4.1.149-153). Macbeth feels powerful and wants to take desperate actions. He uses his power as he wants to attack the castle of Macduff. The plan also includes murdering the family of Macduff. Macbeth gets the family killed and is showing signs of power during…

    • 1393 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Motif Of Power In Macbeth

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many people want to obtain power to satisfy their needs. Once the individual gains the power, they continue to strive to gain more without acknowledging the consequences until later. In William Shakespeare's Elizabethan tragedy Macbeth, the corruptive quality of power influences the individual to go against their nature in order to obtain power by any means necessary. Shakespeare utilizes the motif of blood to show that the steps taken to obtain power will not always yield favorable results and the consequences will stay with the individual.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Theme Of Power In Macbeth

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Macbeth, a dark and gruesome tragic play written by William Shakespeare primarily discusses the concept of greed for more authority. Emasculation and the Great Chain of Being are some core components of this play that are discussed through gothic poetry. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the main characters in the play. Through Macbeth’s catalyst, his wife, he found the strength to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth was his agent in many of the scenes in the play. Their compatible pairing lead to many “successes”, but also to their own deaths. Shakespeare brilliantly uses garment metaphors throughout the play as well as the innocent flower and crafty serpent motif to express Macbeth’s mindset and tragedy.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Act 1 Scene 5 Macbeth

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ambition in Macbeth, through the witches’ prophecy leads to his eventual rise to the throne. It is important to see how Macbeth’s aspirations were driven by the witches’ prophecy as in the previous scenes he was depicted as a brave and loyal general who proved his deserved respect and loyalty to King Duncan time and again; and later he went to take the throne through the murder of King Duncan which eventually led to his demise. Macbeth writes in his letter that the witches me him ‘ in the day of success’, which shows that Macbeth was already on a high after winning a battle and proving his loyalty to Kind Duncan. However, his conviction that they had ‘more in them than mortal knowledge’ shows that the fire of ambition has already been ignited in him. The mere fact that he wants to believe and wants to make Lady Macbeth believe in the witches’ prophecy shows that he has started dreaming of becoming the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth writes that he ‘burned in desire’ to fulfill his curiosity by asking them questions. This desire is not just the desire he had to ask question to the witches but also to…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Power In Macbeth

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Frank Herbert once said, "Power attracts the corruptible. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptible.” In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the title character seizes “absolute power”, making him “absolutely corruptible”, which ultimately led him to his eventual death. In the play, Macbeth, the title character, seizes absolute power over his people when he brutally kills the real king to be crowned the new king of Scotland. Achieving power in this way allows him to be consumed by guilt and fear at first, which then develops into violence and the demise of both him, his wife, and ultimately his reign. Through examining the consequences that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth face after trying to achieve power, it is clear that wrongly seizing power…

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth was a noble and loyal man, who would never harm his King. If it wasn't for the influences of the witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth, he would have lived happily as Thane of Cawdor, an honorable title in itself. The downfall of Macbeth was ignited by the actions by those around him, mainly, and eventually, his ambitions took over. Macbeth never had the intention of killing his king, but was ultimately persuaded that it was the correct thing to do. With his wife’s cajoling, and the three witches’ foretelling of his future Macbeth, will stop at nothing to gain position as King of Scotland.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After Duncan’s death, Lady Macbeth explains how grieving over Duncan’s death is abominable: “Who would dare take it otherwise since we/shall grieve and lament his death so loudly” (Shakespeare 1.7 79-80). The tragic hero and Lady Macbeth shall keep the murder a secret. The murderer shall remain anonymous. Lady Macbeth believes her feelings shall stay casual: “Look frank and innocent. To show your feelings/is dangerous. Leave everything else to me” (Shakespeare 1.5 70-72). Lady Macbeth demands Macbeth to remain calm while she plots a plan to obtain power. Through her unspoken actions, Lady Macbeth wants to maintain power. Writer and publisher, Amanda Rooks, expresses how Lady Macbeth was blamed for Macbeth’s “violent, reckless behavior” (Rooks 5). Macbeth presumes Lady Macbeth has an addiction to violence, and power. Mary Ives Thompson and Francesco Ancona explain Macbeth’s resentful marriage, “Think of Macbeth’s marriage to that ‘fiendlike’ queen of his. She is one who turns his noble and valiant conquests on the fields of war into ‘butchery’ in the eyes of his former friends and countrymen”(1). The marriage of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is becoming corrupted. Through Lady Macbeth’s actions, it is evident that she is power…

    • 1123 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth want to be strong, independent, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. She want to achieve power by acceptance of traditionally masculine qualities. She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. At one point, she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself. The relationship between gender and power is key to Lady Macbeth’s character. She is a masculine soul inhabiting a female body, which seems to link masculinity to ambition and violence. According to Caroline Cakebread “… femininity is not an attribute to be equated with power and , in the murder of Duncan, feminine attributes lead to virtual erasure in terms of power politics. “ . Lady Macbeth is a crafty woman, power is for her manipulation to further her supposedly male ambitions. She manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his objections. Her remarkable strength of will persists through…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays