Nick Harris

Power corrupts, when said it makes you think of presidents and generals that were once considered great people but have fallen due to being consumed by the power they have been granted. Power can corrupt anyone from a senator to a principal to a preschooler. Macbeth and his wife are the perfect example of someone who has been corrupted. Here is a good man who has never committed a crime and is a loyal follower of King Duncan. By the end of the book Macbeth is a murdering evil plotting maniac. Macbeth had a good life a his own castle and was the Thane of Cawdor, all this was not enough. In the following essay I will show some of the quotes that show Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s transition from good to evil.

My first quote is “What have we hear, you mysterious black hags of midnight what is it what you do” This quote means that Macbeth is looking for the witches for advice. Why in the heck would he do that, that’s like me going to the neighborhood drug dealer to ask him for advice about life, not good! From the books that I’ve read that contained witches most of them only seek to hurt the main character in some way or to bring him or her misfortune. In the book you’re probably wondering about how this relates to the topic power corrupts, but Macbeth is going to a corrupted source for advice to keep his power. Last time I checked most witches are evil except for the one in the Wizard of Oz. My advice to Macbeth would be to go to Banquo or Ross, someone he can trust.

The next quote I have is about Lady Macbeth. She is so corrupted by the sense of power she claims "I have given suck, and know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me; I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this"(1.7.55-59). This basically means that Lady Macbeth is willing to bash her own baby’s brains out if that would enable her to be queen. I’m not a mom but I’m pretty sure that’s unfathomable to most moms. Before Macbeth even mentions to his wife about the witches’ prophecy Lady Macbeth seems like a decent person, but after the news she turns crazy.

The last quote that I am going to use is “Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.51). Macbeth knows deep down that he wants to be the big enchilada and that he must kill King Duncan to do it, and he is ashamed of himself for even considering it. Macbeth is ashamed of himself because him and King Duncan are good friends and King Duncan would never even think about doing something like that to Macbeth. King Duncan considers Macbeth one of his most trustworthy best friends and Macbeth knows that he feels like this. Macbeth knows if he does kill King Duncan he can never go back. While he thinks it will be a quick job that will be over in five minutes. I’m sure that there is something in the back of his mind that says he will have to keep lying and murdering to