Macbeth's Drive For Power

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Throughout the play Macbeth, readers see many different characters with many different personalities. However, as the play moves forward, some characters develop certain intentions they did not have before. Macbeth is one of the characters readers see several drastic changes in. At some points in the play, readers may even question if he is still the same person. Macbeth’s drive for power, the witches telling him their conspiracies, and his influential wife completely transform this noble thane into a power, hungry beast. From the start of the play, Macbeth has a drive for power. As Macbeth's drive for power gets stronger, his character starts to transform. Macbeth as a Thane of Glamis, already carries a lot of ambition for victory on …show more content…
She is a good wife who pushes her husband to achieve his goal of being king of Scotland. However, her plan involves the evil deed of murder. Since Macbeth already has all this ambition to become king, Lady Macbeth fires up that ambition even more. Not only does she plot the whole murder, but she calls him names to make him go through with the killing. She really has him motivated for power when she calls him a coward and strips him of his manhood.“When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man” (Shakespeare 1.7.49-51). Lady Macbeth denounces Macbeth of his manhood in order to encourage him to kill Duncan. This is one factor that changes Macbeth because he becomes the powerful man his wife wants him to be. Macbeth has a conscience especially when he expresses his guilt from murdering the king when he cannot sleep. However, Lady Macbeth immediately reassures him that the deed is already done and he should just wash his hands of the blood to get rid of his guilt. Macbeth now has a new ambition for manliness and no guilty conscious in …show more content…
That title will not only change his role in Scotland but his humanity as a whole. This prophecy has a huge influence on Macbeth even from the start. “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo! (Shakespeare 1.3.70-71) The witches are prophesying about how Macbeth will be king. Whether all the events in Macbeth are of fate or of human will, the witches have an impact on Macbeth either way. The prophecies they tell Macbeth make him want to do anything to keep his power, such as killing Banquo and Macduff's family. If fate is controlling this whole play, the witches’ potions are a cause for Macbeth’s transformation because the ingredients of their potion make up a monster. The witches prophecy and potions are causes to Macbeth undergoing drastic
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