Macbeth
... Macbeth, not unlike anyone else wanted power; power at the expense of anything. This was his downfall. His own greed was what led to his demise. Macbeth became blinded by his desire to be king and have ultimate rule. He became weak minded and readily did what others told him to do. He was easily manipulated. It is easy to put the blame on Macbeth’s fate on other people that may have influenced his thinking and his own ambitions. The influence of his wife, Lady Macbeth, did contribute to the degeneration of his character. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is a good wife. But it is she who provides the scheme that leads to King Duncan’s assassination. It was Lady Macbeth who first introduced the concept of murder to Macbeth. In Act I, scene 7 she says to him: “What beast was’t, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? 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. (48-52) By saying this she manipulates him and persuades his judgment. She agitates Macbeth by saying he is not a man if he does not do what he says he is going to do by murdering the king. This angers Macbeth and enables him to follow Lady Macbeth which makes it easier for him to kill the king. Although she may have been the one to initiate Macbeth into evil ways, he still chose to murder his king. The weird sisters were also influences on Macbeth. Although it was his own actions that lead to his downfall, he perhaps would not have done them if the witches had not told him that he would be king. In Act 1, scene 3, the witches tell Macbeth that he is thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and that he “shalt be king hereafter.” Immediately after hearing the witches’ prophecies that he will become King, Macbeth thinks that he must take matters into his own hands and kill the current king. Although Macbeth at one time was a noble and virtuous character, his actions show that he has become weak. The actions of someone become even more significant than their past accomplishments. Macbeth is thrust a large amount of power in a very little time. He was tempted by witches to abuse his power. He became overly ambitious. Both the witches and Lady Macbeth pressure him to make evil decisions. Most often murder and deception are considered evil and horrible. Yet at times one can overlook these because of the motives held by the character. It is not difficult to understand Macbeth’s decisions to act upon his ambitions to gain power. We know his actions are wrong and that he has only selfish intentions. Due to his self-seeking ways he abuses what power he already had and commits multiple acts of disloyalty, instead of being responsible. This causes mental turmoil in both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is found sleepwalking saying things such as, “Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes in Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (Act V, scene 1) This quote is evidence that selfish motives leave a guilty conscience that cannot be looked over or forgiven. Power is known to affect the outcome of the characters that receive it. When characters with power use their influence for good they can gain many loving followers. In...