'Macbeth', by William Shakespeare, is a well-written play about a man who struggles between what he wants and what is morally right. Throughout the story Macbeth develops certain characteristics that end up having consequences for themselves in the end. The story itself holds many different themes. The main theme of 'Macbeth' is that power is the root of all evil.
Power can cause a person to lust after many things- most likely, evil things. After hearing about his prophecy, he says, " I am thane of Cawdor. If it's good, why am I thinking ghastly thoughts that make my hair stand on end and my heart thump unnaturally?/Just thinking about murder is enough to rattle my nerves and paralyze me." (1.3.135-140.) He so badly wanted to become king that he started speaking to himself about his horrid thoughts. He also told his wife, Lady Macbeth, about his prophecy. When she heard, she started getting all power-hungry as well. "Make me remorseless, so that no urging of conscience can alter my foul plans, nor stand in the way of what must be done." (1.5.3-5). Lady Macbeth began speaking to herself about what she'd do to gain more power. As you can see, power causes a person to lust after many things.
Power can also cause a person to act inhumane. After hearing his prophecy Macbeth planned to murder King Duncan to fulfill the prophecy. "The bell is my invitation. Do not hear it, Duncan! It's a bell that summons you to heaven- or to hell!" (2.1.60-61). He killed his king because he so badly wanted to have power. However, after the murder he started to regret it. He couldn't even finish up the deed, so his wife says, "Give me the daggers!/Only children fear a picture, even of the devil. If he's still bleeding, I'll smear the faces of the servants so it will look as if they did it." (2.2.53-57). She was going to blame the murder on Duncan's servants. She was willing to finish off the deed all for the power. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were so power-hungry that they had to murder to get what they want.
Now because power can cause a person to be lustful and act inhumane, they begin to do things that they start to regret later on. Power causes a person to be regretful. Lady Macbeth started to regret forcing Macbeth to kill the king. She starts going insane; talking to herself, hallucinating, talking in her sleep, etc. She starts to say aloud all the horrible actions that she did. "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. Don't look so pale. I tell you yet again: Banquo is buried. He can't rise from the grave."(5.1.54-56.) She starts to go crazy until one day Seton announces, "The queen, my Lord, is dead." (5.5.17.) She got so fed up in all her guilt that she ended up committing suicide. Because of all that power that she had in the beginning, she ended up regretting a lot of the actions she took.
In the story 'Macbeth', Shakespeare really portrays all the different themes and lessons that the story holds. The biggest theme is that the pursuit of power is the root of all evil. Power causes a person to become lustful. They start to crave things that they can't have. But because they want it so badly, they start to do horrible actions to get it. Power can cause a person to act inhumane. In Lady Macbeth's case, she so badly wanted power that she was willing to murder a person for it. And then when she realized what she's done, she starts to feel guilty. Power causes a person to be regretful. The pursuit of power is the root of all evil.
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