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Macbeth Power Struggle Quotes

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Macbeth by William Shakespeare features a power struggle where Macbeth, who has an insatiable desire for power fueled by ambition, performs cruel actions in order to gain and maintain power over others. This power struggle is used by Shakespeare to highlight the intricacies of ambition, and how it can cause psychological turmoil and moral decay. In the tragedy, Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth receives a false prophecy from the three witches, which reveals he will gain dominance over others, causing him to commit terrible acts for power. Ultimately, revealing that one’s ambition to gain power can cause chaos and destruction if left unchecked by their moral conscience. In the first act of Macbeth, Shakespeare reveals Macbeth’s ambition after …show more content…

This revelation leads him to madness and desperation to hold onto his power. Macbeth’s madness is revealed when he says “Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly.” His act of murdering Duncan has caused him to become mentally tortured, the usage of the phrase “eat our meal in fear” reflecting the guilt and paranoia he is experiencing, as he cannot do something as simple as eating without being haunted by his actions. The quote shows how Macbeth’s ambition has caused him to commit terrible acts, which lead him to be impacted psychologically by guilt. Left unchecked due to his lack of moral constraints, the ambition leads him to commit further crimes in order to cover up his initial murder of Duncan. Affected by the witches and their prophecy that Banquo’s descendants would become kings, Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance, for two reasons. First, Banquo was becoming suspicious of him, believing he killed Duncan, and second, Macbeth would then be able to have his sons succeed him rather than Banquo’s

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