Everyone in this universe seeks power. The more powerful a person gets, the higher rank they are in this world. In the theater play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, he exemplifies power throughout the entire play. The three main characters that had power was Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, and The Weird Sisters. In Macbeth, power is the main thing that everyone in the play wants to achieve but in order to achieve power a person must also have control. Throughout the play Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, and The Weird Sisters are in control when they each take matters to their own hands.
Lady Macbeth is in control hen she takes on her husband’s role. In the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth would plot the murder of King Duncan. She knew that her husband would be too scared to think of a plan that would actually work to kill Duncan. As she is trying to convince him she would inform him “Only look up clear; To alter favour ever is to fear. Leave all the rest to me. “(1. 5) In this scene Lady Macbeth has all the power to herself because she is in control of the entire situation. She is planning the murder of King Duncan.
Macbeth may become the king but without Lady Macbeth’s wiseful mind there would not be any need for a new ing if Duncan does not die tonight. Lady Macbeth is starting to show her dominance in the relationship and have control over Macbeth. She is questioning his manhood and that is fueling the fire for Macbeth to get rid of his fears and obey her commands. Another scene in which lady Macbeth had control was when Macbeth came back from killing Duncan and forgot to place the dagger next to the two body guards that lady Macbeth had made drunk.
Macbeth would refuse to go back into the room because he was too scared to see what he has committed. Lady Macbeth would have to take matters into her own hands once again. Deep down inside she was happy for her husband’s new position as king but is also worried about his cowardness and would tell him, “Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures… For it must seem their guilt. “(2. 2) In this scene Macbeth is being a coward because he is afraid to look at Duncan’s body.
Lady Macbeth shows her authority one more time, when she shows Macbeth that she has supremacy over him and takes the dagger back to the soldiers. She would eventually lose her control over him when Macbeth visualized the death of Banquo and executed it to perfection. Macbeth showed great wisdom throughout the play. He had control when his lust for power overtook his humanity. The first time we see Macbeth with power was when he ordered three murderers to assassinate Banquo. Macbeth would not tell his wife that he is killing Banquo.
He would just tell her that “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, And with thy bloody and invisible hand Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond.. So, prithee, go with me. ” (3. 3) This proves that Macbeth’s thirst for power has begun and it also shows that he s starting to take over and have control of the situation. He showed his nobility by not telling Lady Macbeth that he had thought up of this assassination. By doing this Macbeth shows how he wants all the power to himself.
He doesn’t want his power to go to someone else’s child. Even if Banquo was a loyal person to Macbeth, he saw that Banquo’s child will affect the future of his throne. Macbeth would show his capability of holding his power but was controlled by The Weird Sisters. He would lose control when he went back to the witches to fortell his future once more. The last characters that had power hroughout the entire play was The Weird Sisters or witches. They had power at the beginning of the play. In the beginning Macbeth met The Weird Sisters and they would state “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter. “(1. 3) They would persuade him that he would become all of these magnificent things. At first Macbeth was hesitant but with the witches disappearing like they did and leaving no trace behind, Macbeth would trust their fortune telling and kill King Duncan. Without the witches telling Macbeth all this information there wouldn’t have been a storyline to continue with but by telling Macbeth a simple fortune telling he would turn from this innocent human being to as bad as the devil himself.
Slaughtering the king and killing his friend Banquo all for the sake of power. Corruption has started to seize control of Macbeth. Even when Macbeth was the king he still didn’t have all the power to himself. Macbeth needed the witches to tell his future. In order for Macbeth to become the absolute king he needed to know what his shortcomings were. Later in the play, Macbeth would meet up with the witches again and get his fortune told again. That was when the witches would use their magical powers and brought up three apparitions. The first one would state that “Macbeth!
Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff; beware the Thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough. “(4. 1) The second apparition would state, ” Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth. “(4. 1) The third apparition would state ” Be lion-mettl’d, proud, and take no care WHo chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are: Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him. “(4. 1) Macbeth was told to be careful of Macduff and that he will never die of someone who is born from a female.
Also he will not be harmed until Great Birnam Wood is moved into Dunsinane. Again the witches are helping Macbeth but only for their pleasure. They have the choice of helping Macbeth. If they did not want to help Macbeth they would just have left and Macbeth would never have met them again.. They control what Macbeth does and if they control Macbeth that means they also control what Lady Macbeth does. Lady Macbeth may be smart ut she can’t control her husband if he is trusting every word these witches are saying.
He will soon begin to not trust her also and only trust the witches. That is what the witches want and that is why they are watching from a distance and secretly placing restrictions on what Macbeth does. The witches would continue to have power until the end of the story, where their fortune telling told Macbeth to be careful of Macduff and he was not so he paid for it and would succumb to the situation. In conclusion, throughout the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare he shows that Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, and The Weird Sisters only have control when they each take matters into their own hands.
Throughout the play there were many testaments to each of these characters. Some of them chose the path of evil and gained power. Others watched from a distance and controlled the entire situation calmly and through their non-human powers. Either way power comes with a huge risk and order to gain power one must turn evil and become greedy. That is how each of these characters gained power but is that the only way to gain power? Is there a true form of gaining power without becoming corrupted?
