kelseys macbeth essay

Kelsey O’Connell

A block

3/17/09

Power Corrupts

In the drama Macbeth, Shakespeare tells the story of Macbeth who was once a good man and friend until he learns that his fate is to become king and rule. When he learns this he begins to murder anyone who could keep or take his power from him including the king, his best friend, and even children. The desire for power can corrupt even the best of us which Macbeth proves all through out the play.

“All hail Macbeth who will be king later on” (31.3.53) said the withes when they told Macbeth of his fate. When Macbeth heard this news thoughts rushed to his head of how this could be and why. Macbeth now knew that in the future, distant or near, he would have ultimate power, and in addition to already being the thane of Glamis, he would also become thane of Cawdor. Shortly after receiving his news Ross and Angus approach and tell them the king has decided to make him the thane of Cawdor. Macbeth now truly believed the witches prophecy, and was now wondering how soon it would be before he became king. It became his only objective and he was confident he would rule.

Macbeth told what his wife what he learned in the woods, and Lady Macbeth, loving the idea of becoming queen thought up a complex plan and was very instructive on how she wanted Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Duncan was coming over later on to spend the night to properly celebrate and congratulate Macbeth on becoming Thane of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth was going to get Duncan’s guards drunk and once they passed out Macbeth would kill the king and put the bloody daggers on his guards to frame them. When Macbeth started having second thoughts of killing the kind innocent king the anxious lady Macbeth told him, “I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck’d my nipple from its boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you have done to this. (1.7.61-64). This Translates to “I would kill my own son to become queen” This quote shows how dark and threatening she is and how badly Lady Macbeth desires power and to become queen.

Once the deed is done and Macbeth becomes king his next struggle is to stay king because people are becoming suspicious that he is the murderer, especially Malcolm and Macduff. When Macbeth learns this news, out of fear of having his power taken away, or his life, he orders that Macduff’s castle is taken over and everyone in it executed. “Seize upon fife; give to the edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line”(4.1.166-168) Macbeth has gone mad with power and is devoted to keeping it, even if it means killing an innocent mans friends, wife, and children, just to insure he stays king and that nothing gets in his way.

By listening to the witches prophecies and committing murderous acts it eventually lead to Macbeth’s downfall than death. Since the witches told him of all this power he became ambitious and did anything and everything to ensure he got that power and kept it. Macbeth was a decent, respectable man but by the end of the play he was dishonest, careless, and arrogant. The power made him and his wife devious and the struggle drove them mad.