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Macbeth - Authority - Paper

Macbeth - Authority

"Authority poisons everybody who takes authority on himself" (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin), this quote applies to the play, Macbeth. In the play, Macbeth kills the respected King Duncan so that he can be king. However, during his rule, Macbeth demonstrates that he is incapable of mastering the power and responsibilities of being a king. His drive for power and maintaining his power is the source of his downfall. Macbeth is not meant to have authority beyond Thane of Cawdor. When Macbeth is king, he does not use his authority judiciously.
Macbeth's eventual demise is by virtue of his obsession for power and retaining his power. Before he desired the power of being king, Macbeth was a respected ...

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good warrior he is thus showing that he has respect for Macbeth. Once Macbeth became king, he became overpowered with keeping his authority. Macbeth realized that he was being used just so that Banquo's sons can inherit the throne:

They hailed him father to a line of kings.

Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,

And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,

Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,

No son of mine succeeding (act III, scene 1, lines 60-64).

Macbeth feeling this way convinces a pair of men to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. By having Banquo and Fleance murdered, Macbeth believes that it will prevent Banquo's sons from becoming king. Macbeth also hires the murderers to kill Macduff's family. This demonstrates Macbeth's obsession because it indicates that Macbeth values his power over his friends. His obsession with power causes Macbeth to feel guilty and lose his sanity. Macbeth's guilt and loss of sanity is indicated in the hallucinations he experiences. ...

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Macbeth - Authority. (2006, November 13). Retrieved July 12, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Macbeth-Authority/55542

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 11/13/2006 11:33:39 PM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 977
Pages: 4

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