Macbeth

Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare whose story revolves around ambition. This play was written in North of England, in a place called Scotland. One day Macbeth who is from Scotland gets this idea to become king of his country with the help of some witches that he comes across. In order be the king of Scotland, he first had to kill the present king. Macbeth completely forgets any moral fears and kills Duncan who is the current king of Scotland. After he died the king, Macbeth comes to power himself but soon after the phobia of losing his power never leaves him. To avoid this fear, he gets to start killing other people whom he felt risk from. In the play Macbeth the author, William Shakespeare uses After Macbeth is visited by the three witches the door of curiosity and power is opened and Macbeth's thirst for power increases. Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to learn more about what the witches told him, together they were blood driven people who stopped at nothing to attempt to change the fate of Scotland for their benefit. When it is all written about ourselves, ultimately, we control the outcomes. This essay aims at describing some of the ethical issues such as betrayal, murder, and violence of the play Macbeth in comparison with the contemporary world, and by mentioning in detail how the greed for power can be destructive if the ways to achieve it is unregulated.

Macbeth is greedy for power, and he listens to the witches, and his wife who constantly manipulates him in killing the king is very unethical. This manipulation and lust for power triggered a sense of war in Macbeth. How on earth can someone only for power take away someone’s life? This play portrays people behavior of that time where power and lust played a huge role like it does today. Not only this but people like Macbeth and his wife can do anything for power and even killing someone is also a witness for how power matters to people. Even in today’s world when we look around, greedy people are growing in number, and this world is turning into a competition for power which seems very scary to me.

Macbeth lust for power even betrays the one who helped him kill the current king of Scotland. It shows that greed for power is destructive. For example, “Power is omnipresent in human society—it is coveted, fought over, and fiercely protected” (Vescio and Guinote, n.p) Even though both Macbeth and Banquo decide to kill the king with the help of the witches but Macbeth hunger for power makes him bling enough to such an extent that he even thinks to kill Banquo’s and his sons. Banquo was the one who helped him accomplish his mission but killing someone who is a helping hand is a shocking fact.

Another moral behavior can be seen from the play is not being true to yourself and the person you are. For example, if we talk about Macbeth, it was not his idea at first to go and kill the king. Not only did this but he not even on the first hand to murder Duncan, the king of Scotland. Then what made him do the killing and all other killings that he did? It was the prophecies of the witches from which it can be understood that without any reason the idea of harming someone can never come to mind. For example, “All hail Macbeth, that shall be king hereafter” (Tennakoon, n.p). There are reasons to act badly, and in the case of Macbeth, it was the greed for power to be a king that led him to commit all the crimes.

Abusing power is one of the universal tendencies in the play of Macbeth. For example, “The tale of Macbeth signifies everything inhumane about humankind. It is a tale of bloodshed and treachery, a tale of a man in pursuit of power, destroying anyone who stands in his way – bringing about a collapse in moral order” (Galhenage, n.p). The abuse of power such as murder, lies, and betrayal in the contemporary world seems familiar to the play. In the modern world, the tragedy of Macbeth reminded me of the events such as 9/11, and the fight against terrorism. That was also violence against innocent masses who lost their lives.

Someone beautifully said absolute power corrupts. As the events in Macbeth almost everything in the contemporary world is interrelated. Inhuman activities such as wars, stealing, telling lies to each other, and lust for power are still practiced in our surroundings. Some people confuse power is a way to inner peace. It is also believed that on monetary terms peace and happiness can be achieved. However little do people who see power can lead to happiness know that it leads to destruction and turmoil?

The endless cycle of violence in the current world is an example of evil desire. Countries fighting each other for extra land, bomb blast, terror, and killing, and fights, Dishonesty, untruthfulness have now become standard practice. Unlike the time of kingship in today's world countries fight each other in the name of religion, and some countries to dominate its political power and put sanctions on them. All these fightings are only due to evil desires which make countries blind towards the suffering of other citizens. Also, in the materialist world of power and gain all the ethical principles such as love, friendship, being a helping hand to someone are vanishing day by day making the world a dreadful place to live in.

Conclusion:

A play called Macbeth is a written by Shakespeare. In the country of Scotland, this play takes place. One day Macbeth dreams to be the king of Scotland and this dream of becoming a king was initially been not his ideas but the forecasts of witches, and with the help of his wife, he goes behind the dream of being the king of Scotland. In order be the king of Scotland, he first had to kill the present king. Macbeth is greedy, and desire for influence and authority is limitless. He follows the instructions of the witches and his wife who continually influences him in killing the king which is very unethical. This guidance and desire for influence caused violence and a sense of war in Macbeth.

Macbeth lust for power was so powerful that he even deceives his friend Banquo, the one who helped him kill the present king of Scotland. It is evident that hunger for power is destructive. It can even get you to kill your near ones. Even though both Macbeth and Banquo decide to kill the king with the help of the witches but Macbeth hunger for power makes him bling enough to such an extent that he even thinks to kill Banquo’s and his sons. Banquo was the one who helped him achieve his task but murdering someone who is a helping hand is a very wrong approach.

Mistreating power and unethical approaches in today's world are common in the play. For example, violence, wars, betrayal are also abusing power which is faced by today's world.

References:

Guinote, A. Vescio, T. K, "The Social Psychology of Power." American Psychological Association New York (2010)

Senarath Tennakoon, “Reading Macbeth – The Riddles of the Witches” Daily News (2015)

Senarath Tennakoon, “The Witches, do not make promises. They utter riddles” Daily News, (2017)