How Does Macbeth Corrupt Power

“Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.” (William Goddis) I disagree with this statement due to the evidence found in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. The theme of this play is Power. Macbeth was prophesied to by the three witch sister that he would be King. “Hail Macbeth… thane of Glamis!, Hail Macbeth…. thane of Cawdor!, Hail Macbeth…. King hereafter!” (Act.1 Scene 3) The odd aspect about this proficiency is that during this time, is that most kings were chosen by God. Macbeth being “The Chosen One” took it upon himself to do anything in his power to make that happen even o that meant getting his hand a little Dirty. Shortly after being prophesied to Macbeth became thane of Cawdor. Was it by coincidence or was it his fate? “Glamis,
A signal was sent off in her mind after Macbeth sent her a letter informing his wife about prophesies that was spoken into his life and that now he was Thane of Cawdor. She begins to make a plan of her own way to help these prophecies become reality. “That which cries, “Thus thou must do,” if thou dost fear to do, than wishest should be undone.” (Act 1, Scene 5) She came up with the idea of killing Duncan in order for Macbeth to become king. When she heard that Duncan was coming to stay with them, it gave her more of a reason to kill him that very night. The thought of power became a psychological problem for both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. For Lady Macbeth to smile in the face of Duncan Knowing what she will be doing later on that night. When Macbeth finds out that Duncan has asked for him her begins to second guess about killing him. Lady Macbeth then questions Macbeth’s manhood by calling him a coward. “Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem.” (Act 1, Scene 7) From the looks of things Lady Macbeth is using social pressure to make sure her husband doesn’t back out from killing Duncan. This shows physical evidence of a mental problem. Lady Macbeth thinks that this is the best thing to do for them to make the prophecy fall into place but this is only a way of her trying to get her and her husband to the top. In today's society the mental disorder that Lady Macbeth is showing is
From the evidence given above both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth would go to jail, but they would have different charges. Lady Macbeth would be charged with Complicity to the murder. This means she aided the crime or she plane the crime but she just didn't physically do the crime. She will also be charged with conspiracy to plant or tamper with evidence. Which she did when she planted the dagger on the guards. Macbeth would be charged with murder to the first degree. This is because the murder was deliberately planned. In many murder cases the suspect would plead not guilty due to insanity. In this case of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth yes they did show signs of mental problems but prior to the crime the Power can do two things either hurt people or help people. In the case of the Play Macbeth it only hurt people. The thought of power drove both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into a physiological episode. Making them do things that they would not normally do, seeing things that they would not normally