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From Fame to Shame!
By Vicki Leung
Ever since man has been born, evilness has already been lurking behind us, and it won’t necessarily reveal itself, until something triggers it. Are we naturally born good? Or are we artificially manipulated into a sinister doppelganger of ourselves? Everyday, we yearn for some type of power; maybe not the royalty kind, but the power to make ourselves feel that we have accomplished something in our lives. It may be physical, political or psychological power people want to take hold of. Power changes and corrupts people, or it may help certain people in rare circumstances. William Shakespeare’s play, “Macbeth” portrays how power is an ambiguous gift given by nature due to many factors, and that we are all vulnerable to be concealed within its grasp.
Temptation is a significant element that triggered Macbeth’s journey to persevere with his evil deeds. After he was praised for killing the traitors to King Duncan during the battle in Scotland, he and his pal, Banquo, rode into a forest, where the three grotesque witches were waiting for them with their prophecies. “Two truths are told, As happy prologues to the swelling act Of the imperial theme. (Act I, Scene iii)” As stated by Macbeth, he is already intrigued by his first prophecy about becoming Thane of Glamis. Macbeth is convinced that his other two prophecies will most likely come true. This is how the witches have tempted him, and now, Macbeth is contemplating on heading towards the evil side for personal power. At first, Macbeth is uncertain if his future will be told correctly, or that killing Duncan to fulfill his prophecy will do any good. He’s a weak character yearning for even more than what should be given to him. After a few fantasies, Macbeth temporarily leaves his decisions aside, because he does not have a real “ ambition” to pursue his other prophecies yet. Applying to reality, when given an intimidating opportunity, for example, like trying new candy, we are at first fearful of the consequences, even though we really want to try it. This spark of fear makes us ambitious out of curiosity, and what if we don’t try that candy? We are also afraid at the loss of not trying it. It’s a double edged sword. This is where the two-faced Lady Macbeth comes in. When she hears about Macbeth’s news of being crowned Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, she wants to get even more fame and power by erasing whoever will get in her way. “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.(Act I, Scene V)” Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is a devious one. In order to get what she wanted, she uses infatuation on Macbeth, which also pushed him to pursue his ambitions to better himself for his wife’s judgement and for love. The act of murdering Duncan looked appealing to Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Ironically, nearing the end, through all the manipulation and verbal abuse that came from Lady Macbeth, she could not handle the pressures of guilt and regret from the murder, and took her life away. As for reality, for example, hurting someone, sometimes we become remorseful for our actions, because we may not have meant to do it at all. In the end, we just blame ourselves for our careless actions. Many descriptions fit temptation, and as a result, temptation is a huge umbrella for all the uncontrolled actions of humans, which lead to disaster.
Curiosity tends to lead people to feel over confident, with a high self esteem. Macbeth’s inquisitive behavior inflated as a result of relying on his prophecies from the witches. “Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires. ( Act I, scene iv). Even though Macbeth really wants his prophecy to happen, he did not want to become a murder if he kills Duncan. He desires for more power by asking the stars to make his evil thoughts come true, yet he doesn’t want anything to happen to him. He’s a very shallow character, because he calls on darkness to hide his sinister plans, yet he is easily manipulated to bring them out again and purse them. Since his first two prophecies had come true, his third one was bound to happen due to his actions. However, he did not realize that both the witches and apparition’s prophecies were paradoxical. The witches have played with his mind and including his weak ability to apply common sense, he was lead to his doom. If he were not so curious, he would not have degraded from a brave, noble fighter to a ruthless, dangerous tyrant. As humans, it is normal to be curious, as it is an emotion, that can be expressed in many ways. We sometime give in, either because we want to benefit from it, or we do it to impress others. We sometimes feel motivated to try new things, whether it will benefit us or not. Macbeth thirsts for an answer from the witches of how is he to become the Thane of Cawdor and king, until he realizes afterwards, the witches told the truth. “Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more. By Sinel’s death I know am Thane of Glamis. But how of Cawdor? The Thane of Cawdor lives a prosperous gentleman, and to be king stands not within the prospect of belief.” (Act 1, Scene 3). Macbeth thirsts for an answer from the witches of how is he to become the Thane of Cawdor and king, until he realizes afterwards, the witches told the truth. As the play continues, Macbeth slowly relies on the witches’ prophecies, which fuels his body and mind, and it became a remedy that allowed his curiosity corrupt his character. The most significant part of the play is where Macbeth’s morbid curiosity-the killing of Duncan and his servants, gets the best out of him. The idea of gaining more power over others became a drug for him, and it made him addicted to killing eventually. His curiosity changed into a disease for him. The ruthless killing of the Macduff family showed us his masochistic side of Macbeth. Curiosity killed the cat, and it did so to Macbeth also. When taken too seriously, it’s fatal and may or may not make someone greedy for more excitement.
Perhaps greed is the most devitalizing out of the other two factors, with its ability to control, seduce and finally, pollute one’s mind with ways to make others suffer, and for themselves to flourish. Macbeth would keep returning to his prophecies, and when he fears that Banquo’s prophecies will come true, he uses his devious mind to plan the murder of Banquo and Fleance, his son, to avoid kingship. If Macbeth had only killed Fleance and allowed to Banquo survive, then Banquo will be able to produce more sons that would endanger Macbeth's position as the King of Scotland. Therefore, he had to destroy him from ruining his desires. “I am in blood Stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er(Act III, scene iv).” Macbeth already had the advantage of keeping his two titles, but his greedy mind puppeteers him into taking more than what he already deserves. He’s so far into killing now that he cannot be stopped, and if he had tried to stop, it would be nearly impossible. Macbeth sees his other crimes inevitable since he kills to get to the throne. Everything he does is to protect what he already possesses, thanks to Lady Macbeth’s manipulative words to get him going. As a result, Macbeth becomes a liar, cheater, and a murderer, all due to greediness. The need for power makes him become self-centered, and this shows the parallel difference between him, Malcom,Macduff and Banquo. Those three are innocent people who have been hurt due to Macbeth’s actions, but he does not care anymore. Applying to reality, when people are motivated to pursue with a goal of theirs, they will remove any type of hindrance blocking their way to success. Power has already implanted its seed into Macbeth’s mind, and now, his pure thoughts are eliminated. He needs to be King Of Scotland, and if he can’t he feels incomplete. The need for power makes him become self-centered, and this shows the parallel difference between him, Malcom,Macduff and Banquo. Those three are innocent people who have been hurt due to Macbeth’s actions, but he does not care anymore. Macbeth needed to show his poker face so that no one will be able to know what he is planning to do.
“False face must hide what false heart doth know.” (Act 1, Scene 7)
Greed turned into guilt for both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Their sleepless nights, awoken up with nightmares, all signify their guilty conscience overpowering them,after they have murdered Duncan, along with his servants. If Lady Macbeth had not locked her feelings away, and banned evil spirits from “unsexing” her and “making her blood thick, she would not have suicide. Despite all of that, their vaulting ambitions allowed them to pursue with their sinister plans. In other words, both of them have lost their morality and innocence, even though Macbeth cared for morality and religion. Despite having his own conscience and the witches deceive him, he still has himself to blame. Alas, realizing he has no more purpose in live, he still dies as a brave soldier in the end. Sometimes, we hide our true feelings when we want something, but our hearts are finding ways to get it without asking. It could be money, or a new released item. When we can’t get it, we convert into stealing for example, and that never comes out with good outcomes. Everyone has been sucked in by greed in the form of evil at one point in their lives, and it often difficult to oppress.
It is emphasized that almost every piece of literature, play and movies, that goodness prevails, and it most certainly was evident for this play. Power certainly does make one go insane for it, especially Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. For them to gain power, they turned to evil to do the job. William Shakespeare showed us a lot about how humans are easily consumed by malevolence in our society, through the use of the emphasized tragic hero, Macbeth. When one gains power over another they lose their innocence, and we are either able to embrace or give in to it. Humans are easily susceptible to things that are easy for them to reach. Despite power being both ephemeral and impermanent, it is seductive, and people still want that feeling of having power, both real or surreal. No matter how handsome power may seem, it’s consequences of gaining it are almost never optimistic.
 L o v e s e c t o m y · Mon Nov 29, 2010 @ 04:36am · 0 Comments |
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