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.

Siddhartha/kelseyoconnell

Kelsey O’Connell
1/13/09
A
Siddhartha
Siddhartha and I got up early in the morning and stuffed all the last bit of our luggage into my already over packed Mazda tribute. We didn’t have that much clothes but we had packed camping gear because on our four day vacation we planned on spending the last night on the beach. We were heading to Cape Cod Massachusetts so he could stay at one of my favorite vacation spots and have a relaxing, peaceful time. We left around seven am and arrived around eleven am. When we got there we had breakfast at a restaurant in province town and checked into our hotel that’s about 100 steps from the ocean and province town harbor. It was nice out our first day so we decided to drive to race point beach and walk the rest of the way to the very tip of Cape Cod. Once we got to the tip we sat down with our feet right at the water line for around twenty minutes. I asked him what he thought of it and he said it was different than the oceans he’s used to. It was darker, and colder. After we were through we hiked back to the car and drove back to the hotel. It was a long day and we were tired so we decided to just hangout by the hotel and maybe swim in the pool a little later.
The next day was a little dark and wind out and it was only around seventy five degrees so we got our sweatshirts and went to Cape Cod national seashore. We slept in late and got there around one. It was really nice there was lots of marshes and different trails we could walk on and since it wasn’t the brightest day so we only saw a couple other people jogging so it was quiet and it was a nice walk. “Ive never seen anyhitng like it”. He would feel and touch any strange looking plants or bushes as well. Siddhartha told me this had been his favorite part of our trip so far and he liked that it wasn’t really nice out; he said he liked the serenity of it. By the time we left it was three thirty and we arrived back at our hotel around four thirty. Once we got back we went for dinner at the lobster pot and walked around on Commercial Street so he could see what it was like at night with all the people walking around. He ended up talking to one man that was playing a guitar for quite some time. He told him how he’s never been here and he came from India so he could experience America himself he said he really enjoyed it but it was a lot to take in coming from a more dull life to this. After they were done talking we headed back to the hotel and went to bed.
Today was our last day at the hotel so we had to get up around ten because check out time was eleven. We left province town and headed to Wellfleet to spend the day there and visit beaches there. We also had to find the beaches that allowed people to camp out. We didn’t find one we decided on until around six thirty so we set our things up and hung out on the beach for a while. We met some other people that were down there who said they were having a campfire at night so we decided to go for a little while. After that it was late so we walked back to our tents, Siddhartha wasn’t as tired as I was and said he wanted to walk around the beach a little more because he’s never been here. “would you like to come?” he asked but I told him to I was exhausted and it was already really late and it was a lot more exciting for him than for me so I went to bed. When we got up the next day we packed all our things up and went back to South Hadley. We’ll stay there for a week and than venture off to our next vacation, this one a little more exciting.

We waited anxiously that night. Siddhartha asked a lot of questions about what was where we are going. “I don’t understand what a rollercoaster is” I told him “I can’t explain to you, you’ll see what I’m talking about tomorrow”. He seemed nervous like he didn’t know what to expect but he was very excited. Early in the morning we were getting up, going out for breakfast and than going to Six Flags New England. As we pulled in he stared in awe at the enormous roller coasters to his left, he pointed to superman and said he wanted to go on it. I’m not a big fan of roller coasters but I sucked it up. We found our parking spot and walked toward the enormous park. Once we got in staff members took a picture of us and we walked around for a bit I told him he could choose the first ride but he insisted I did. I choose Blizzard River because it was a hot day and it was a fun ride. He said he loved it but he wanted to try a rollercoaster now and we decided to start off with batman. Batman is my favorite rollercoaster but he seemed shaken up once we got off and said he didn’t want to go on roller coasters for a little while so we went to the water park.
It was getting hotter and it was around one o’clock so the water park would be the perfect way to cool off. We did most of the slides and rides but his favorite was the water rollercoaster, we went on it four times in a row! We were getting a little tired but he said he needed to try the superman or he’d regret it later. “this rides not going to kill me and I may never have this chance again” I agreed but I dreaded going on it. We only had to wait in line for half an hour. As we got cranked up slowly to our 221 foot drop I shrunk down in my seat and closed my eyes, and when I peeked over at Siddhartha he was doing the exact same thing. Once we got past the firs drop we were both fine and enjoyed the rest of the line, when we got off he said he is glad he did it but he’d prefer not to again. I agreed and we walked away and headed to my car. When we got home it was late and we were beat so we passed out from a long fun day.
The next morning I drove Siddhartha to the airport and waited with him for a little while. He thanked me for everything I had done for him and said that he had had a great time and enjoyed both our vacations. He explained how he had liked how peaceful Cape Cod was and how the oceans were at night, but he had never had so much fun when we went t o six flags. He really liked America, the people, and the attractions but he didn’t know if he could live her full time. There was a lot to take in and he’d rather live in India where he could do his own thing, but he’d love to continue visiting America once in a while because it was a nice break from his normal lifestyle. I told him next time he was here I would be more than happy to show him other things we do in America and with that we said our goodbyes and I got in my car and headed back to South Hadley.