Macbeth
In William Shakespeare’s renowned play Macbeth, the theme that power corrupts is strongly depicted through several characters, each of whom follow the “power corrupting” path of lusting for power, doing nearly anything to achieve that power, and ultimately meeting his/her end because of that power. Shakespeare illustrates this theme most vividly through the character of Lady Macbeth, an ambitious woman living in medieval Scotland. She craves for power but is ironically driven crazy by it, for the power reflects the wicked schemes that she contrives to attain power. Moreover, her lust for power overwhelms the morality and good judgment of her conscious mind and causes her to believe that no matter how cruel a deed she carries out, as long as its purpose is to achieve power, she will never feel reprehensible. As a result, Lady Macbeth declares that blood can be easily washed away, but she eventually finds that the guilt that the blood symbolizes refuses to abandon her and becomes too much for her to bear, causing her ultimate deterioration.To begin, Lady Macbeth’s insistence that blood can be effortlessly distilled provokes the beginning of her downfall. Early on, Lady Macbeth acts as the mind and the will in plotting an a
Clearly, Lady Macbeth’s descent becomes incipient when she contends that guilt is easy to get rid of. Likewise, her defeat is apparent when she realizes that guilt is recalcitrant towards expurgation and when the guilt becomes unbearable. The idea that Lady Macbeth’s decline follows the theme that power corrupts is plainly shown because Lady Macbeth yearns for power, and in order to attain that power, she even manipulates her husband to do what she knows is morally wrong. Shakespeare’s message is clear. He denotes that guilt is forever bound with sins, as in Lady Macbeth’s case. Lady Macbeth chooses to take the debauched path, and in turn, suffers from a case of guilt so great that it engenders her end. The irony between Lady Macbeth’s initial insistence on the ease of cleansing guilt and guilt’s refusal to abandon her leads to her deterioration. Moreover, at first, Lady Macbeth believes that she can easily manage the guilt of her deeds and that she has nothing to fear from the guilt, as is portrayed when she insists, “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.2.86-87). However, the guilt never ceases to haunt her. Her attitude completely changes from confident to scared, even horrified, screaming, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (5.1.45). This change shows her deterioratio
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Approximate Word count = 886
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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