Quotes On Greed In Macbeth

They say greed is the root of all evil. This is especially shown in Macbeth, the desire of power becomes an apparent symbol throughout the play. How does a man loyal to the king turn so easily from the slight temptation of the crown. After the murder of Duncan Macbeth is seen picturing an imaginary dagger, “Is this a dagger which I see before me,/ The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.” (2.1.33-34 Macbeth) Macbeth isn’t even seen remorseful for the cruel deed he just commits; to a man who he swore an oath of loyalty to. Macbeth shows signs of greed and gluttony as the infatuation of power settles in him throughout the plot.

She thinks Macbeth is a coward, she feels Macbeth can’t do anything just like a baby. “Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures. ‘Tis the eye of childhood That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, For it must seem their guilt”(2.2 line 52-57). Lady Macbeth just wants power, she doesn’t care about killing other people at all, she’s cold-hearted and crazy, she would do anything to get power. However, after she feels like she’ll lose all of her power, she goes crazy. ”Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (5.1 line 49-50). When she thinks about losing her power, she went crazy, she’s afraid of losing her power and afraid of what would happen to her, she made her own

No sane person goes on a killing spree, and it is greed for power that drives Macbeth to the murders of many. In the story, Macbeth begins as the Thane of Glamis. He is already a large contributor in battle and this leads him to success early on in the plot. However, he doesn’t realize that he wants more power until he is told prophecies by three witches, and his wife- Lady Macbeth manipulates him. In the prophecies, he is told that he will become Thane of Cawdor, and then King. Macbeth is named Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan after the battle in the beginning of the story, so part of the prophecy comes true right away. It is not until Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the prophecies through a letter, that Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan to obtain the throne. King Duncan is Macbeth’s first murder to begin his reign for power. He is now throned King, but his greed for power doesn’t stop there. Macbeth kills anyone who he feels threatens his title as King. He has loyal companion Banquo killed because he feels Banquo might know that he killed King Duncan-if Banquo told others, this would lead to the de-throning of Macbeth as king- taking away his power. Insanity in Macbeth truly shines through when he kills Banquo, because of their close relationship. Banquo was nothing but loyal to Macbeth throughout the story. As the plot thickens, the witches continue to tell prophecies to Macbeth. One of them being that he should fear Macduff. Macbeth then kills Macduff’s family as he fears Macduff will somehow dethrone him. As people who were once loyal to Macbeth betray him, Macbeth continues to strive for power as king, until he is defeated by Macduff. Ultimately, Macbeth begins the story as a noble, respected Thane, but his ambition and greed for power as King/staying King leads him to insanity full of murder and deception, until his death.

Macbeth's ambition represents a universal human pursuit of power because they will do anything to an extent to obtain power. When people desire something, they will find ways to get it and if power is their desire they will do anything to obtain it even if it’s good or not, and they will not think about the consequences of their action. In Macbeth, he didn't think about the consequence of killing the king until he had done it and he started to become paranoid by hearing things and this represents death and decay because he is haunted for what he did which is killing the king to obtain power. "Whence is that knocking? How is 't with me when every noise appals me? What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes." (Act II, Scene II) this quote explains that Macbeth is becoming more paranoid by hearing things that only he can hear after of what he had done to obtain power. People will forget about their conscience and morality if their whole mind is completely covered with their ambition and they can do things

He does things that he would never have thought of doing, such as killing Banquo and trying to kill Banquo’s son. And some other things that Macbeth is now doing are affecting all of Scotland, including Malcolm, King Duncan’s older son, and Macduff, a scottish noble that could replace Macbeth as king. When Malcolm is talking to Macduff he suggests that “I am not treacherous. But Macbeth is.” (4.3.21-22), they are talking about how corrupt Macbeth has become due to too much power. Then shortly after, Macbeth goes on a rampage and starts to kill scottish nobles and their family’s so that he can stay king and have his descendants become king after him. One of the family’s that he kills is Macduff’s. Then out of hatred and grief for his family Macduff meets Macbeth at Macbeth’s castle to kill him. Since Macbeth has gained this power as king, the effects of it make him do things that he wouldn’t normally do which leads to him having the feeling of self hatred, “With blood of thine already” (5.8.6) as he says to Macduff after he had killed his family. The effect of too much power leads Macbeth to do things that he wouldn’t have done and away from demonstrating what it means to be a

Aside from Macbeth, Lady Macbeth also exemplifies greed in the play. She is the first push for Macbeth towards greed. She manipulates Macbeth to thinking he must kill King Duncan. When reading Macbeth's letter in Inverness, she says to herself, “ Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be/ What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature;It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great…”(Act I,Scene 5 14-17). This shows how evil Lady Macbeth is. Her aim is to get Macbeth what he is “promised”, which is the kingship as foretold by the witches. However she feels that Macbeth may be too full of “human kindness” to get what he truly deserves.Her soliloquy continues with her saying that he must do all he can to get the throne, regardless of its consequences. It can be argued that it was under Lady Macbeth's influence Macbeth too became greedy. She is willing to do anything to get what she wants. She tells the fates to take away her female features, “Come, you spirits /That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here/ And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full /Of direst cruelty...Come to my woman’s breasts/ And take my milk for gall,” (Act I,Scene 5 42-51). This shows the audience that she is willing to give up her female features as long as the “spirits” grant her what she wants, which is a dire cruelty. Something that would be needed to commit the act of killing the King of Scotland, an immoral act. It is her hunger to be the queen that lead her to adopt such a mindset. It is because of greed for power that she has these immoral thoughts and

Throughout reading the play, Macbeth changes a lot from being a man of loyalty and honesty, to a man of whom is power hungry and greedy. This shows how the more power you receive the more power you want; which in many cases, such as this one leads to destruction. Many of the choices that Macbeth made were influenced by the power that he had, and this power began to take over him. This then lead to greed and destruction of not only others, but himself as well.

Th’st est Rough’st Draft’est In Macbeth, William Shakespeare writes about a Scottish general who rises to power after learning of his prophecy from three witches. Instead of focusing on the rise to power, Shakespeare instead details the insanity and paranoia that plagued the Macbeths due to their ambition. TH Shakespeare uses symbols of witches, blood, and sleep to represent the greed and guilt Macbeth feels throughout the text to convey the message that greed and guilt are a result of unchecked ambition. TS Macbeth’s greed begins to show it’s hideous face once the three witches tempt him with a prophecy of great fortune.

Macbeth is already the thane of Glamis and a high Scottish general, but his wife lady Macbeth contributes to him being a tragic hero as she often encourages him to do bad stuff for a good outcome. The good outcome has to do with getting more wealth and power thus, an act of greed because Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to feel he deserves more. When Macbeth considers the murder he states, “if it were done when ’tis done, then ’there well It were done quickly . . . He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself (act 1 s7) Later on when his greed tones down as he realizes nothing motivates him to kill the king other than his own ambition lady Macbeth states “When you durst do it,” she says, “then you were a man” (1.7.49) this urges Macbeth to want immediate power and

“The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires.” (1.4.55-58). The prophecy foretold by the witches promised that Macbeth would eventually become king. However, they never explicitly say how he would gain that position. What this reveals to us is that Macbeth’s lust for power overshadowed his duties as a loyal follower to his own people and King Duncan. Once he obtained the throne, it is shown that Macbeth is willing to do anything he possibly can to keep his spot in the throne, even if it means murdering more people. “Seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.” (4.1.158-160). At this point, Macbeth’s ego and confidence has risen so high that even if someone were to threaten his spot as king, he could care less if he were to murder Macduff’s wife and

Greed has a couple of effects on Macbeth. For example, Macbeth becomes overconfident and obsessed with witches prophecies because of the greed. In the end of the play Macbeth dies because of his greed for power. The greed causes him to be overconfident, which as a result, leads to his death in the long run. Macbeth thinks that he could fight anyone women-born because of this overconfidence caused by greed. As the witch said, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (4.1.90-92), was one of the main causes for his downfall because of his greed. Just as greed was shown by Macbeth earlier in the play towards the witches prophecies. Macbeth’s greed and want of power are fed by his feelings of invincibility created by his interpretation of the witches prophecies. This results in Macbeth becoming overconfident in addition to being greedy during the last parts of the play. He is willing and wants to fight everyone and anything that would threaten him because he would not die from anyone a women born. This attribute of overconfidence was shown at the end of the play when his castle, Dunsinane, was being attacked by Malcolm and Macduff. His overconfidence led him to believe that he could beat them and be victorious and he would keep his position as king. His overconfidence caused the opposite of what he thought was possible. He

Humans, by nature, are very dependent individuals. Greed engulfs any selflessness we have and leads us to do unforgivable things. We act out of love and seek acceptance, even if it means compromising our own values and ignoring our conscience. When our actions catch up to us, our fear drives us to find a sense of security. Macbeth allowed greed and his own insecurities to destroy his life, and let fear dominate his quest to find security.

Macbeth has not failed to show how evil he can become. After he killed Duncan, his brain started to twist. His conscience soon began to distort so much, he planned the killing of Banquo. He killed his best friend over power and his title. “"All power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"--Lord Acton,” (Meyers) is the basis of this play.

This shows that from now on he will act upon his plans immediately and will not deliberate about them. His madness drives him to kill Macduff’s innocent family, due to his cruelty the Scottish and Scotland itself must suffer. His reaction to Lady Macbeth’s death further implies that he has become empty of any feeling and this also shows that the two have grown apart. He has become so fearless that he ‘has almost forgotten the taste of fears’. Once his life is cursed, he realises that the witches were never to be trusted however it is now too late.

In William Shakespeare's tragic play, "Macbeth", there is blood, power and greed; all of which can be read with literal and metaphorical interpretations. They intertwine at different points in the story and have different effects on each of the characters including: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Malcom, and Macduff. These three ideas create a cycle throughout the story, particularly for Macbeth, as greed leading to the spilling of blood, which can give someone power is ultimately his demise.