Explore the Ways Power Is Presented in 'Macbeth' and 'Animal Farm'

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Explore how the greed and desire for power leads to corruption and violence in ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Animal Farm’. The tragedy Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, has a prevailing theme of ambition and power. The play focusses on how the eponymous hero’s lust for power changes his own mind and how it affects the characters around him. The audience witnesses how Macbeth transitions from the brave and loyal soldier, to a corrupt tyrant who would murder his friends to secure his status as King of Scotland. The novella Animal Farm written by George Orwell shares this theme of a lust for power. A pig named Napoleon could be described as the Macbeth of this novella, starting off as a successful tactician, and then becoming a ruthless dictator. In the third scene of the first act of Macbeth the protagonist meets the Witches and hears the prophecy which states that he will become “thane of Cawdor” and “king hereafter”. Soon after the meeting, Macbeth is given the role of Thane of Cawdor, since the predecessor was executed for being a traitor; this gives some truth to the Witches prophecy, and makes it much easier to believe. Along with this, Lady Macbeth is also hasty to pursue the prophesised power, and manipulates Macbeth into committing the first deed. In animal Farm, it is Old Major’s ideals which spurs the animals into performing the uprising against Farmer Jones and forming the new idea of Animalism. Unlike the murder of Duncan, the animal’s revolt is a worthy cause, which benefits the whole community and not just a single individual. Both the Witches prophecy and Old Majors ideals planted the seed of ambition in Macbeth’s and Napoleon’s minds, unfortunately, those seeds quickly grow into tyranny. Macbeth begins his bloody chain of murders with the help of Lady Macbeth, working together to murder King Duncan. In fact, it was Lady Macbeth who manipulated Macbeth into killing

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