Similarities Between Macbeth And Muagabe

Marie Meyer
Mrs. Belanger
English 11 Blk C
Nov 2nd 2012

Macbeth and Mugabe Comparison Essay

Macbeth and Robert Mugabe are people who had very driven minds. They knew what they wanted but both got it in a different way.

Macbeth’s main goal was to become Thane of Cawdor after he heard what the witches told him his future but it wasn’t going to be as easy he thought it would. At first he was ready to do anything but then realized that he couldn’t kill Duncan, it was his cousin and he had been nothing but nice to him. Lady Macbeth had to push him and tell him that for him to be king, to be the one in control, he had to do it. She had to knock some sense into him and make him, push him into thinking that this was the only way he would
fully be rewarded and acknowledged for what he has done and become. After killing Duncan not only did Macbeth feel regret he now became even more afraid because even if Duncan was out of the way Banquo (his best friend), Banquo’s son Fleance and Duncan’s son Malcolm were still in the way of him being named Thane of Cawdor.
Even though he was going through so many emotions and feelings like regret, anger, envy, and frustration he still went through with his plan because the throne was what he wanted and he was already too far in to give up now. Later after Macbeth killed Banquo, Banquo’s son fled Scotland giving Macbeth the power to finally be named King of Scotland. While being in power nothing ran as smoothly as he planned because all he could think of is what he had done and what he had to do to keep being able to be king. It wasn’t over yet. Not only now did he have to worry about Fleance fleeing and Malcolm being somewhere out there, he kept seeing ghosts of Duncan and Banquo which made him go even crazier. The thought of not having Fleance and Malcolm dead, being suspected by others, and not knowing if he was actually going to be able to pull this off made Macbeth seriously
worried. Finally it all came to an end. Macbeth murdered Macduff’s family when Macduff left to go find Malcolm and bring him back. Macduff and Malcolm came back and fought for Scotland and put an end to Macbeth’s ruling over Scotland.

Now for Robert Mugabe it was a different story.
At first, he wanted power because his country was being ruled by the British which led and gave the country white majority and Mugabe did not like that. He was frustrated because black majority was taken away from him and his people and fought back because he felt it was unfair. He was so frustrated that he publically discussed starting a guerilla war which led him to being arrested and sentenced to 10yrs in prison. While Mugabe’s time in prison he had people outside to make arrangements to launch the guerilla operations toward freeing Rhodesia from British rule. He managed to escape prison and the war happened killing many people, leaving Rhodesia’s economy in very bad shape but managed to liberate Rhodesia from British rule giving the people back their black independence. He became prime minister after defeating Nkomo and in 1985 he got re-elected as the fighting continued. Within a week Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister and that’s when everything began to change. People who used to look up to him as a hero began to start to dislike him and his ways. He became very conscious of his power and eliminated anyone who came in his way. The power seemed to overtake who he was and what he was doing. The alliance he made with Morgan Tsvangirai was abolished since he beat Mugabe in the election making him outraged and demanded for a recount making Morgan with draw himself because he knew no matter what Mugabe would have found a way
to make sure he would not be elected. Mugabe’s supporters were as reckless as he was and had violently harassed and tortured Mugabe’s opposition. Robert Mugabe started off as hero and turned into a dictator that everyone disliked but was mostly afraid of because no one could do anything about it and the sad part is… he’s still in control of Zimbabwe today.

Overall Macbeth and Robert Mugabe had some differences but were similar at the same time. Mugabe started off as someone who wanted to help out his country but then as he was given more and more power his decisions and the way he began to act became worst. Whereas for Macbeth, he wanted to become King to benefit himself and to get there he knew what he had to do even if it meant killing innocent people. Also it seemed much easier for Mugabe to kill then Macbeth because even though Macbeth killed all those people he was haunted by his decisions and it began to make him go mad. Where they were the same is, as they both got more and more power they acted more and more reckless and did things that were so immoral just so that they could be the ones to have power. They were both wrong in what they did and even though Macbeth was killed for what he had done and Mugabe is still alive today. Macbeth and Robert Mugabe were wrong and they both managed to get what they wanted but went through drastic measures to get them. Even though they may have had different ways to reach their goal Macbeth and Mugabe both managed to reach them; Mugabe being a little more lucky than Macbeth.