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''Macbet'' by William Shakespeare

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In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth, is a thane of Glamis, and he becomes the thane of Cawdor by King Duncan. Later, Macbeth becomes the king of Scotland by committing a murder due to his evil desire for advancement and success. From the beginning till the end, Macbeth commits many evil deeds together with his wife, Lady Macbeth. Furthermore, Macbeth was not evil by nature. He was overwhelmed with greed and envy, which made him commit his awful crimes.
Before Macbeth stepped on the path of evil, he had doubts. Lady Macbeth said, “You are too full of the milk of human kindness to strike aggressively at your first opportunity” (Shakespeare 1.5.15-16). However, Macbeth gradually turns into an evil person due to his character traits. Furthermore, he realizes that what he has done is terrible, and this causes him to suffer from pangs of remorse after his desires have been fulfilled. In the play, the struggles are presented in the form of soliloquies, and they evoke empathy in the reader.

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In the play, Macbeth’s most significant weaknesses are his ambitious character and the fact that he is easily influenced. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth has good intensions and seems loyal, courageous, and full of honor. Furthermore, Macbeth is recognized and respected for his courage and bravery while fighting against the enemy. In addition, Macbeth’s accomplishment secures him a position as the Thane of Cawdor. Unknown to him, this is the starting point of when Macbeth’s ambitious nature transforms into a great drawback. It makes him obsessed with getting King Duncan’s throne. While it is not in his character to commit crime, his unquenchable thirst for power and desire to become the king of Scotland influence him. Furthermore, Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, makes him strive for more power. Macbeth’s evil desires began when he learned that Malcolm would become the prince of Cumberland.

Another weakness of Macbeth is that he is easily influenced by other people; he cannot stand for his personal beliefs and morals. For instance, when he is hesitating to murder Duncan, his wife pushes him and even uses mockery in making him go ahead with the crime. On top of that, Macbeth has evil desires to murder innocent people just to advance to the throne. He saw that the only way he could become the king was through unconventional means, with the help of evil forces that would assist him in accomplishing his desires.

According to Nietzsche, “The fundamental creative force that motivates all creation is the will to power. We all seek not happiness but to affirm ourselves, to flourish and dominate” (Nietzsche). This refers to Macbeth’s evil desires to advance to the throne and become the king of Scotland. Furthermore, this is why Macbeth had the evil desire to murder anyone who would interfere with him advancing to the throne.

Moreover, Macbeth thinks he can commit injustice without getting caught or being punished, and his evil desires make him feel even more self-assured. Eventually, he starts hallucinating. Rand said, “It was against man’s mind that all their schemes and systems were intended to despoil and destroy. Now choose to perish or to learn that the anti-mind is the anti-life” (Rand 139). The most selfish of all things is the independent mind that recognizes no authority higher than its own and no value higher than its judgment of truth. In this case, Macbeth followed his evil and selfish desire to murder King Duncan, his servants, Banquo, Fleance, and Macduff’s family to advance to the throne. Macbeth’s evil desires have a strong hold on him because he slaughters Macduff’s family, which has no instrumental value. Only an evil man such as Macbeth could cross that line of sanity. Macbeth relentlessly exercises his will over others as an example of his determination, spirit, and strength of character.

“To demonstrate and acquire his power and influence is his inherent motivation to act, even if his actions essentially seem unselfishly provoked” (Nietzsche). Macbeth strives to forcibly impose his will on others, as the primal drive in his nature compels him to do so.

Throughout the play, Macbeth shows many signs of his evil nature. Furthermore, the evil of Macbeth is so powerful that ultimately it destroys him in the end. This happens because the human soul cannot handle such evil, and it destroys one’s soul completely. Macbeth had power and he was corrupted by it, which led to his fall. He was also encouraged by his own ambitions and his wife’s ruthlessness.

In conclusion, Macbeth’s evil desires caused him to commit horrible and malicious deeds. In addition, he strived for power so much that he was ready to go to any extent to achieve it. Macbeth’s evil desires caused him to murder, frame, and destroy people. Although Macbeth started out as a brave, loyal, and respected thane of Glamis, his life ended tragically. Despite Macbeth’s remorse, he does not show it in action by undoing the wrongs. His fear of the law pushes him to make more wrong choices. For instance, Macbeth blames his grooms and executes them before they can prove their innocence; he also kills innocent family members of Macduff. Lastly, at the end of the play, Macbeth continues to fight with Macduff because he believes he should fight until the end. Macbeth’s life began with respect and honor and ended with an evil desire to gain the throne no matter what.

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