Examples Of Greed In Macbeth

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Ambition Unchecked Can Lead to Greed
Ambition is a natural desire in all humans. It is this desire that makes us work hard to achieve success, whether it be on the playing field, in school, in business, or in life in general. However, ambition gone unchecked, can lead some individuals to become greedy and seek more than they need. Greed can be in the form of anything. Through the ages, it has most commonly been for money, admiration, fame, and power.
According to Neel Burton, a psychologist, “A person who is consumed by greed becomes utterly fixated on the object of his greed. Life in all its richness and complexity is reduced to little more than a quest to accumulate and hoard as much as possible of whatever it is that he craves. Even though he has met his every reasonable need and more, …show more content…
Some of these common traits that lead to their downfall and impacted others included: greed, jealousy, and machismo.
The first of these parallels was greed. In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth was considered to be a great general in the Scottish army, who was not inclined to commit violent or evil deeds. However, Macbeth did crave power. After meeting the three witches and having the first prophecy come true (to become the Thane of Cawdor), he obsesses over the second prophecy--that of being king. To achieve this, he kills Duncan who is presently the king of Scotland. At first, Macbeth feels guilty and as the play moves forward Macbeth goes crazy and begins hallucinating.
Once Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide to use violence to further their quest for power, it is difficult for them to stop. Macbeth sees multiple threats to the throne--Banquo, Fleance, and McDuff, and was tempted to remove the threats by using violence. When Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm, will be heir to the throne, Macbeth sees him as a threat to completing his destiny of becoming king. Macbeth (in an aside)

Examples Of Greed In Macbeth

Power, greed, and violence; these are all important characteristics shown in William Shakespeare’s piece Macbeth. However, these same topics, when used in the wrong matter, also lead to Macbeth’s downfall. Evidence of this can be seen in many parts of the play such as acts 1,2, and 3. These acts show consequences being given after bad deeds were done. With this in mind you can interpret that the message being portrayed by the author is what comes around goes around. Shakespeare first hints at…

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Macbeth Greed Quotes

about seeing other people being greedy? The theme of greed in Macbeth is still continuing to relate to modern society today. Macbeth was greedy for power. There are countless examples of greedy people today. Greed can cause something very serious like what Macbeth has been through. But greed does not have to be something serious. Greed is when people want more of something than you really need in expense of others. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth was greedy for power and murdered King Duncan to get…

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Theme Of Greed In Macbeth

means can be stated as one word, greed. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth greed helps the characters pursue their happiness but it also deters it. Shakespeare displays this by showing how greedy the human mind can get when given an opportunity to gain more of what they desire. In the play of Macbeth Shakespeare shows us how greed can change an individual's view on their happiness. In this play Lady Macbeth is the one who is destroyed the most by her greed. Her greed to make the prophecies come true…

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