IB Lit and Lang Blog 6: Witch-slapped: Macbeth's fall from grace
2. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Acton
To what extent would Shakespeare agree with this statement? Use the play and your own experience as your support.
Throughout the play, Macbeth has become darker and darker. He has become a vile person, one who would do anything to keep his newfound power. In the beginning of the play, he was a good person who looked out for his fellow man, but after the witches implanted the idea that he would one day become king, he started doing terrible things. This idea corrupted him, turning him into a completely different person. Shakespeare uses internal conflict throughout the play to show the corruption seeping into his being. Therefore, Shakespeare would agree with that statement to a great extent.
Towards the beginning of the play, Macbeth is imagined as a great and honorable hero. He fought valiantly beside Banquo, his brother in arms and a good friend, and was even the Thane of Glamis. Once they both met the witches, however, things began to change. He didn't believe what they said at first, but once he was named Thane of Cawdor, just like the witches had said, he started to believe their whole prophecy. But he knew that if the prophecy was true, he wouldn't have to do anything to make it so, but eventually he was pushed by his wife, Lady Macbeth. She pushed him into doing what was necessary to get the throne. She convinced him that killing Duncan had to be done, and she doubted his ability to, and rightly so. He was at conflict with himself about it, he didn't want to kill a man, much less the king. In the play, Macbeth says "A dagger of the mind, a false creation" (Act 2 sc. 1 line 50). The dagger represents his guilt, he is at odds with himself. The power he knows he will possess is starting to corrupt him. Eventually he does kill Duncan and become king, and when he does, his character is almost completely transformed. He is not longer the quiet man of action, but now a man of words and action. He orders the death of Banquo, but then Banquo's ghost comes back to haunt him. It is his internal guilt causing him to conflict with himself. His kingly power has corrupted him.
While Macbeth is a character that Shakespeare has created, there is still an influence in his life that he may or may not believe has been corrupted by power: King James I. Shakespeare believed that once Queen Elizabeth I died, he would be able to have creative freedom with his plays. Once King James I took control, Shakespeare was happy; but he soon found out that he was wrong in this assumption. Queen Elizabeth I killed many "witches" during her reign who were most likely Catholics who were framed, and so did King James I. He was a firm believer of witches, and therefore ordered the death of lots of them. Once Shakespeare saw King James I abusing his power as ruler, his plays started to get darker and darker. It's not a coincidence that Macbeth shows a king get corrupted and abuse his power, he was influenced by a real king.
Hey Alec,
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog this week wasn't bad. I love what you wrote but simply wished you had written more. The connection at the end to King James I was very thought provoking and I think it was a really great addition. I just wish you had more about how Shakespeare portrayed corruption through Macbeth as well as a person connection to the question. Keep up the good work.
Alec
DeleteI really enjoyed your post this week. I enjoyed how you talked about King James, I found that connection too. I wish you had connected your post to your own life so that way you could have written more. But good job dude keep it up!
Hi Alec! I really enjoyed your blog post this week. I think you did a good job with outlining Lady Macbeth's role in instilling power in Macbeth, and handing him the power that made him more likely to abuse power. Additionally, your contextualization with King James I and Queen Elizabeth I helped to advance your point about power. I think that you could have brought in your own personal experiences to provide more perspective and answer the question better. Overall, however, great post!
ReplyDeleteGutentag. I thought that your blog post was doubleplusgood this week. I liked your analysis of the way Macbeth is displayed at first as unsure of his actions, but once he takes this evil path, he takes full reign of his actions. I wish you would have analyzed this dynamic a bit deeper, and perhaps explore what causes this. Perhaps even mentioning that the further down the dark cataclysmic path to villainism the less his guilt weighed on him would do this. I also liked your historical context analysis that you brought in, and thought it really tied your whole post together.
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