Macbeth Theme Essay

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In the book, “The Riverside Shakespeare”, it says, “Macbeth is the last of the four ‘great tragedies’, and perhaps the darkest.” Macbeth, a complex and intense play written by William Shakespeare, is a story about a Scottish General who receives a prophecy from three manipulative witches that he will one day become king of Scotland. Macbeth believes the witches, and in a rage to achieve the throne, he goes on a mad and murderous mission to become king. The main theme of this poem is how power has a great ability to lead to evil. The hunger for power is brought out in this play by the horrible things the characters resort to, such as betrayal, deception, and murder. In this story, betrayal plays a very big role. People betray others in order to get the things that they want. Lady Macbeth desires the kingship for Macbeth just as strongly, if not stronger, as he does. She tries to persuade Macbeth into thinking that he should kill the king. Macbeth agrees, and betrays the king’s trust by plotting his murder. He and Lady Macbeth plan to blame the murder on the king’s two chamberlains. Another act of betrayal is when Macbeth hires a group of murderers to kill Banquo, Macbeth’s friend, and Banquo’s son. Macbeth was trusted by both the king and Banquo. However, the need and urge for power overcame his senses and he was disloyal to both of them. Deception and dishonesty are a big role in this play also. Without deception, there would be no betrayal. Macbeth is deceptive whenever he pretends to be a trustworthy person to the king, the king’s son, and also Banquo. However, all the while he is greedily planning their deaths. Also, the witches fool Macbeth into actually thinking he will become king, when in reality he will only kill others and die fighting for the throne. Deception, dishonesty, and betrayal can lead to many things, especially if they are done out of greed for

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