Newton, Israel
27 March, 2018
English II, Seventh Period
Power Corrupts
“Power doesn’t corrupt. Fear corrupts… perhaps the fear of a loss of power.” – John Steinbeck. In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth one of the most prominent themes is the corrupting force of power. For example in act one of Macbeth the witches use their powers to predict that Macbeth will be king, in which tempts him to go insane and be consumed with negative ambition of power. Another instance- of corruption of power is when, in act four, Macbeth gets Macduff’s family murdered because he is consumed with power and will do anything to keep the crown. The last instance of power consuming an individual is during act five, where Macbeth gets killed by Macduff and therefore loses his power and is no longer king. Macbeth’s ambition to be king is progressively increases as the play goes on.
Furthermore, at the start of the play Macbeth is a well respected soldier and soon after is tempted by ambition of becoming king. One of the first examples in Macbeth that is used for the corruption of power is when the witches tell Macbeth that he will become king. This makes Macbeth automatically think of the king getting murdered or that Duncan is in the way of him and the throne. “ All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!”(1.3.53;70-71), this reveals to Macbeth that he will soon be king. In correlation to how Macbeth is corrupted with power, he
starts to be consumed with negative ambition and strives to be king and would do anything to fulfill the “prophecy”. Even if that means he has to kill the king, which Macbeth is a loyal subject to Duncan in the beginning of the play which is explained when Macbeth tells the king, “the service and the loyalty I owe / in doing it pays itself” (1.4.25-26). Which implies that its Macbeth’s duty to please Duncan and in doing that he is rewarded by pleasing duncan. In addition Macbeth and duncan are kin. When Duncan greets Macbeth, he calls him, “worthiest cousin” which confirms that they are indeed family. Macbeth then changes his perspective of Duncan and looks at Duncan like a barrier in between him and being king which is an additional point of Macbeth being consumed with power. It is also an observation of Macbeth’s personality change throughout the play.
In addition coupled with acts one and two, act three’s theme and/ or central idea is the corruption of power. Act three is where, in the play, the climax occurs . Subsequently this act is the middle point of the play and has some of the most fundamental parts pertaining to the theme. One of the first acts of power is when Macbeth decides to get assassins to murder Banquo. This shows that shows how Macbeth is afraid of the thought of losing his power and how he will go to any lengths to keep his spot on the throne. The murderers go to kill Banquo and almost successfully do but his son, Fleance escapes. This enrages Macbeth and then after hearing of the escape he is surrounded by his peers and sees the ghost of Banquo. In which lady Macbeth plays off as a “vision”. He then goes on to say, “I am in blood / Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.135–137). Which means he has already went too far to go back and expresses his thirst for power and how he will go to any lengths to keep his spot on the throne.
In the same fashion of the first, second and third act, the fourth and fifth act of Macbeth, ambition/ corruption of power is prevalent if not more so. Macbeth’s personality change dramatically throughout these acts due to ambition. One of the main demonstrations of ambition in the fourth act is when Macbeth is informed by the witches, in their apparitions that they summoned, that he should be wary of Macduff, “”beware Macduff, beware the Thane of Fife” (4.1.81–82), Macbeth is already aware that Macduff could and/ or is a threat. He is also informed that, in the second apparition, he will no one that is born from a women could hurt him, “The power of man, for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth” (4.1.91–92), this makes Macbeth fear for his position as king. Then after, he is informed that Macduff fled to England to try to assemble an army against him, which leads Macbeth to order murderers to kill Macduff’s wife and children(including one unborn child) and capture his castle, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, / Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls”(4.1.156-159), this exposes Macbeth’s fear of losing the power and that he will go to any lengths to prevent his spot on the throne being taken. The final appearance of corruption of power is Macbeth’s loss of power in the final act, act five, Macbeth ultimately gets killed by Macduff which depicts the loss of power and the resolution of the play.
In conclusion William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth has multiple themes but one of the most outstanding themes is the idea that power corrupts. As a character Macbeth changed progressively over the course of the play. His personality went from a loyal subject to a ruthless tyrant throughout five acts. This is identified because of his ambition to become king and he will
do anything to get it. This is first depicted when Macbeth has thoughts of killing Duncan and is regretful with following through with it “Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office”(1.7.15-18). Macbeth is also scared about dealing with the repercussions of killing Duncan, Macbeth states, “Might be the be-all and the end-all here”(1.7.5) in which he means that in the event that he were to get caught he would be killed. Then after, he starts to be more open to the thought of murder and is heavily consumed with ambition, Macbeth conveys this when he say’s, “Time, thou anticipat’st my dread exploits.”(4.1.150). All things considered Macbeth, throughout the play, progressively becomes consumed with power. His ambition and/ or strive to become king and stay king takes over his life and ultimately takes his life.