Universitatea VALAHIA din Târgoviște

Facultatea de Științe Politice, Litere și Comunicare

Departamentul de Litere

LUCRARE DE SEMINAR

Profesor coordonator: Student:

Lect.dr. Ioana Raicu Maria Roxana Giorgiana

Anul 1
 Macbeth’s obsession with power
Macbeth introduces us to the savage and superstitious world of medieval, feudal Scotland.
However, some of the themes that Shakespeare highlights are still relevant in the 21st
century.

There are many different types of powers, which a person may possess. Sometimes people
are born into families of such class status. Other will strive to improve their status and to
better their lives. To achieve such powers, one must manage to successfully challenge the
current ruling powers. This is especially true in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare's
where Macbeth kills the king to overtake the crown. The more power a person has, the more
corrupts they become, and the harder it is to maintain. "Power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely". Throughout the course of the play, the Three Witches
and Lady Macbeth are the people with the most influences over Macbeth's life; they drove
Macbeth into total corruption. Macbeth was a great hero when he returned from the
battlefield; only when absolute powers fogged his mind and the forces of evil corrupted
destiny. In the play, Macbeth commits regicide; the most heinous of all crimes in Elizabethan
times, in order to become king. However, during his rule, Macbeth demonstrates that he is
incapable of mastering the power and qualities of king hood. His drive for power and
maintaining that power is the source of his downfall. Macbeth's obsession with power fuels
him to his mental deterioration. He is not meant to have authority beyond Thane of Cawdor.
When Macbeth is king, he does not use his authority cautiously.

Macbeth was the central character of the play that was a good person, but his personality
gives a 180 degrees turn throughout the story. Evil is the worst thing on Earth. It affects
everyone. A very good example of the manifestation of the power of evil in the play is the
sudden breakdown of Macbeth's personality. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth appears
as a hero, he was brave and loyal to his king. Although Lady Macbeth was successful at
convincing Macbeth to murder Duncan, the Three Witches were the people who made it all
possible. The Three Witches hold the ultimate power. If the Three Witches had indeed not
informed Macbeth about what was to be, the story may have not turn out the same
outcome. Three witches encounter Macbeth and address him as Thane of Cawdor and as the
future king. They also tell his friend Banquo that he will not be king but his descendants will
rule. The witches disappear leaving Macbeth pleading for more information. In turn, if Lady
Macbeth had not been informed about the prophecies, she would have never expected
Macbeth to murder Duncan in a desperate attempt to fulfill the prophecies. Two messengers
from the king arrive and tell Macbeth that he was now Thane of Cawdor. That was the start
of the changing in the personality of Macbeth because he contemplates to himself on his
ambition to be a king, which had been strengthened by these events. Macbeth was afraid of
killing king Duncan, he was afraid of "the even handed justice" that says that if he kills the
king, another person may kill him; but ambition was greater than decency and he commits
the murder. Ambition can ruin a person's life and we can see it in this tragic play.
Many different people in Macbeth have power, and there are different ways to be powerful,
Usually, men are the ones who are outward and aggressive about it, and women are more
subdued. Lady Macbeth had a great deal of powers over Macbeth; powers that she
possesses are more of "manly" quality than Macbeth. Because of this, Macbeth was
ashamed of himself.

As a result of Macbeth's shame, he attempts to do everything in his power to prove his man
hood to Lady Macbeth. "When you durst do it, then you were a man,/ And, to be more than
what you were, you would/ Be so much more the man." (345). As a result of Lady Macbeth's
doubts and mocks, Macbeth finally murders Duncan in a final attempt to prove himself to
Lady Macbeth. On the other hand, the Three Witches not only gave Lady Macbeth the
opportunity to alter Macbeth into the tyrant which he now is the Three Witches also led
Macbeth to his downfall soon after Macbeth came into power. How the Three Witches
accomplished this, was they made Macbeth feel over-confident. In other words, the Three
Witches were able to bring Macbeth into power, but in contrast to this, they were also able
to take him out of it. The only way that they were able to take him out of it was by deceit.
While Macbeth was in this power, he had power over the common people's lives, even
though he used this power ruthlessly, "Send out moe horses, skirr the country round:/ Hang
those that talk of fear. Give me mine armor" (407). He had power over these common
people, even though it was only for a minuscule amount of time. What Shakespeare suggests
about power, is that the more power a person had, the more corrupt they become. That was
what Shakespeare attempted to communicate to the readers throughout the entire play.
Macbeth changed from a man with high morals and values, "We still have judgment here
that we but teach/ Bloody instructions, which being taught return/ To plague the inventor.
This even-handed justice" (343), to the merciless and over-confident murderer which he
was, "I will not be afraid of death and bane,/ Til Birnam forest come to Dunsinane." (407).

In conclusion, the Three Witches and Lady Macbeth were the people with the most power
over Macbeth's life. This was especially true for the Three Witches. The more power that
Macbeth came into, the more corrupt he became. Power was the best thing that a person,
with the characteristics of Macbeth, can have; but since everything that goes up has to come
down. After he kills Banquo, he starts seeing Banquo's ghost and went insane. Macbeth's
personality changes dramatically, from being a loyal and brave man into a powerful king and
then at last an insane person. At the end of the play he suffers by the comprehension that
his life could have been entirely different. Macbeth was not a monster, but he cannot accept
his evil coldly, he suffers for it. Macbeth started his rises toward power by committing
serious murders, killing the king, which set off the chain reaction of the even handed justice
that came back to them. Power, like a disease, pollutes whatever it touches is a true
statement that demonstrates the cruel human nature and was displayed throughout many
works of literature. Power was the root of all evil. Power, like a disease, pollutes whatever it
touches. In other words, many characters in literature become corrupted because of their
quest for power.
I fully agree with Shelley that power pollutes everything that it touches because having too
much power concentrated in the hands of one person leads to dictatorship and its bad
consequences. Power is the root of all evil. Before he desired the power of being king,
Macbeth was a respected noble called a "valiant cousin!" and a "worthy gentleman (330). He
was labeled, "brave Macbeth" (329) for his actions in battle. Once Macbeth became king, he
became overpowered with keeping his authority. Macbeth realized that he was being used
just so that Banquo's sons can inherit the throne.

Macbeth, consumed by these feelings, convinces a pair of men to kill Banquo and his son
Fleance. By having Banquo and Fleance murdered, Macbeth believes that it will prevent
Banquo's sons from becoming king; basically, an attempt to overthrow fate and the
prophecies. Macbeth, as well, hires the murderers to kill Macduff's family. Which
demonstrates Macbeth's obsession, indicating that Macbeth values his power and absolute
control over his friends. Macbeth's obsession with domination causes him to feel guilty and
lose his sanity; as a result he did not show the qualities needed to be a stable King. As
Macbeth's mental health deteriorates, he develops un-kingly qualities such as
overconfidence, paranoia and loss of reasoning, as a mechanism to regain control and
power. He was ready to destroy the entire universe with himself. His egotism was all he had
left. Macbeth insists on keeping the power until the end. Macbeth was not meant to have
the power beyond Thane of Cawdor. He did not hold the correct bloodline. In Macbeth's
time the title of king was inherited, not taken by force. People were loyal to the king because
he was regarded as closest to god. Macbeth became a king unnaturally, his power was not
authentic, and the real king was Malcom. The end of the play restores order restored when
Macbeth loses his power and Malcom becomes king. He abuses his power and rules by an
iron fist. Macbeth was unable to control the power and responsibilities of being king. His
drive for power and maintaining his power was the reason for his downfall. Due to his
fixation with domination, Macbeth loses his sanity and gains destructive qualities. He was
once a good man and a brave soldier, but because the influences from the three witches and
his wife he was bound for ill faith; added to this list is his short-sited view for absolute
powers. He was corrupted by evil despite his triumph fight the influences.
 Bibliography
 https://prezi.com/vcifpakjglhs/power-in-macbeth/
 https://www.bartleby.com/essay/powmac-Macbeths-Obsession-with-Power-
P3CJGV5YVC
 https://www.academia.edu/11073841/How_is_the_theme_of_obsession_presented
_in_Shakespeares_Macbeth_and_Brownings_Porphyrias_lover