Because of this, he decides he must kill Banquo, so that there will be no heir. “Macbeth plots the murder of Banquo, out of jealousy and insecurity.” (Hompi 1) This is obviously an absurd idea, and prior to Macbeth’s murder of King Duncan he never would have considered it as a solution. Shakespeare uses this to show how power corrupts even the best of people. It is obvious that this is still a problem in society today, as people start off with good intentions but slowly get sidetracked. Before long, their objectives have changed completely.
Graphic Organizer | Introduction | What is your opinion on the topic posed? What other thoughts will you include in the opening of your opinion piece?I definitely think that the allure of power leads people to behave in poor and unethical ways. When power gets to people’s heads, they go crazy. Macbeth, the speaker in the Second Coming states that only powerful people are happy and dictatorships. | Body paragraphs (one paragraph per reason) | Three reasons why you feel that way and real-world examples or quotations for the text you will use as support: Reason 1: When Macbeth found out he had a chance at being king, he didn’t want to let anyone in his way.
B.L.M.H.S Jordan Nanton Period B 5/27/12 Macbeth Essay : Ambition Ambition can be defined as a desire for some type of achievement such as power , money, or fame , still too much ambition can be a bad thing. Too much ambition in a person can lead to horrible decesion making and eventually there downfall. In the tragic play of Macbeth this theory is evident as Macbeth the protaganist in the play becomes to ambitious which eventually leads to his death. In this paper I will explain to how Macbeth’s ambition directly leads to his downfall. Macbeth started the play as a brave and honourable warrior , which led King Duncan to promote Macbeth from Thane of Glamis to Thane of Cawdor.
Hamlet is probably thinking about how he would be king when the king already lives. He probably knows there is going to be a murder. 3. If I were directing the play, I would have made Macbeth act like he is saddened by the fact that he will be king after somebody got murdered and then be horrified realising he would be the killer and then happy because he would be king then morose again because it would be on his conscience. 4.
For example, in the poem “Ozymandias”, the king/ruler probably became too concerned with his power and he forgot about the prior goals he set. This most likely led to the destruction of his “works”. Macbeth somewhat demonstrates the same qualities as the ruler in the poem. Macbeth becomes too overly concerned with power and he forgets why exactly he is taking these actions. An example of this is his lack of any legitimate reasons for killing King Duncan and obtaining the throne except for his own ambition and greed to become king.
However, just recently, Macbeth has been awarded the title of thane of Cawdor by the king. Although happy with the new title and new power, Macbeth still thirsts for the powers held by the king. When Malcolm receives the title of Prince of Cumberland, the next step to being king, Macbeth is enveloped in a rage and takes for granted his own new title. Eyes green with envy, Macbeth tell himself, "Stars, hid your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires" (1.5.-.). Macbeth knows that he can not allow Duncan to see his ambition for the power of the throne, or Duncan will find a way to hinder him from doing so.
Macbeth’s ambitious nature was the catalyst for the deaths of many characters, including his own. At first, in order to gain absolute power, Macbeth performed regicide to become King and receive the top position on the ‘Great Chain of Being.’ However, it was found that he was afterwards plagued with insecurity, as he claimed, ‘To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus.’ Macbeth would be unsatisfied until he had absolute security over his power. As Macbeth’s insecurity and fear of losing power grew, the degree of his violence amplified. It drove him to the murder of his own friend, Banquo, the murder of the Macduff family, which involved innocent women and children, and in the end, another civil war. In addition, Macbeth’s naivety was also responsible for the tragedies, and his own downfall.
In order to protect his country from this terrible occurrence, Brutus decides to murder Caesar. He acknowledges that "If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. "(Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 21-24) Brutus, as stated in the play, is a very honorable man, and he has put some good reasoning and thinking behind his plans. Macbeth, on the other hand, was more unpredictable than Brutus and even reluctant at some times. He did not want to take action, and was too “people loving” to make a move on King Duncan.
However, Claudius had a chance to make a choice, but since his desires for power and treasures were so overwhelming, he chose the murderous path. Knight states "Claudius cannot be blamed for his actions/ they are [rather] forced on him," (Knight, 6-7) and he argues that Claudius's murderous actions and plot of killing were backed up by self-defense to protect from Hamlet from taking away his throne and love of his life. Knight argued that his human sins of greed and envy foreshadowed his rightful judgment which leads him into these behaviors of wanting everything for himself. Furthermore, Knight claims that Hamlet is "inhuman, whose consciousness is centered on death/ As King of Denmark he would have a thousand times more dangerous than Claudius" (Knight, 9-10) because of the impact of finding out the truth
However, Macbeth is not only scared of being king, there is also an additional consequence that Macbeth becoming King entails something, most likely to be bad, happening to King Duncan, a very loyal friend to Macbeth. For Macbeth to become king, Malcolm and Donaldbain would also have to die. Based on these factors, it is not surprising that Macbeth’s character is skeptical towards the witches and their predictions. Secondly, shortly following this, the witches’ first prophecy comes true and Macbeth becomes