Lack Of Power In Macbeth

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Humans experience a wide range of emotions, varying from being absolutely overjoyed to incredibly sullen. People strive to be the best, but tables do not always turn the way they want them to. That is when people begin to experience ambition, the willingness to strive for achievement. People feel an urge for power along with the desire to be content with their lives. However, when that is unattainable they begin to feel jealousy towards those that are superior. The feelings of ambition, the urge for power, and jealousy are emotions that motivate people to strive for greatness. When someone desires something, such as wealth or happiness, they will do whatever it takes to obtain it. This is also called ambition, which can be classified more …show more content…
Believe it or not, “power is at the heart of all our relationships,” (Robertson 2). Much the same as in Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth himself has many relationships affected by his lack of power. He learns from a prophecy that “[he] shalt be king hereafter,” and he wants to know instantaneously when he will become king so he demands for the witches to stay and tell him more (Mac.1.3. 49-50). He is desperate to gain more power because he wants to be as successful as possible and he is motivated by not having the amount of power he desires. His relationship with King Duncan becomes ruined because Macbeth is envious of the amount of power in which he withholds. When people “have urges to do certain things, [they] behave in a particular way that might involve breaking rules,” (Burgess 3). This leads Macbeth to murder the king so that he is immediately able to take over the throne. Not only does his relationship with Kind Duncan fade, but so does his relationships with other characters in the play such as with Banquo. Macbeth wants to make certain that he remains King of Scotland, but the only thing keeping him from ensuring that he keeps his authority is the prophecy of Banquo’s heirs are to be next in line at the throne. The only way for Macbeth to remain in charge is to murder Banquo, so he does exactly that. His urge for power is what …show more content…
Ultimately, “of all the emotions humans show, jealously is one of the most common and unsettling. It tends to bring out the worst in us, even though most of us know better.” (Hoyt 1). Likewise in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, Don Pedro’s “illegitimate” brother, Don John, is extremely envious of him. This is due to the fact that Don Pedro is much more superior in comparison to him. Don Pedro is even referred to as “Prince” in behalf of his generosity and respect that he expresses towards his friends and acquaintances. Don John on the other hand is the polar opposite of his brother since he is always being annoyed by his peers along with feeling melancholy. He also tries to create evil schemes in order to make other people know what it’s like to feel as sullen as him. That is why Don John sabotages Claudio and Hero’s wedding. He is envious of how happy they are and how cheerful they make other people feel to see them together. He does it because “it is torture for them [Don John] to constantly be in the presence of their higher functioning peers.” (Langman 2). No one seeks to be around those who live a better life than them because it is absolutely awful to feel jealousy towards
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