Examples Of Ethical Dilemmas In Macbeth

Macbeth is a greedy person like us all but he unlike most of us is willing to cross anyline to get what he wants. Macbeth was willing to kill someone he considered a dear friend to gain more power as well as killing Duncan's servants to frame them. His greed out-weighed his loyalty for his king and friend showing how much he’s willing to do to accomplish his selfish goal. Macbeth is so greedy that he’d turn against his own best friend to keep his position as king.

Macbeth's unrelenting desire for power leads him to commit evil acts, including murder. The story states, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other." (Macbeth, Shakespear) This quote highlights how Macbeth's ambition is the driving force behind his actions. He becomes so consumed with the desire for power that he is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it.

To begin, Macbeth demonstrates desperate and ruthless choices as he reaches for power which doesn’t belong to him. For example, when Macbeth is talking to himself about what he should do about the second part of the prophecy. Banquo, one of Macbeth's friends, also received a prophecy that his children would be their heirs to the king. Wanting to keep the power of the throne he says “Given to the common enemy of man/To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings./Rather than so, come fate into the list,/And champion me to th’ utterance”(3.1.74-77). Macbeth is not willing to take any chances when it comes to keeping the power he has been handed.

When the Witches' prophecy states Banquoes son will become king one day, Macbeth quickly acts and remarks, "I am settled, and bend up / Each corporal agent to this terrible feat" (3.1.92-93). Macbeth decides to have Banquo and his son Fleance killed, despite his initial reluctance to harm his friend. Macbeth's determination remains evident in his language as he declares his resolve to carry out the "terrible feat," and in his interactions with the murderers he hires. Clearly, Macbeth's determination to maintain his hold on power overrides his moral qualms and personal relationships. Macbeth's actions as a King seem to only promote and help himself which becomes known when he states, "I'll make assurance double sure, / And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live; / That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, / And sleep in spite of thunder" (3.4.90-93).

This shows that he wants everyone to think that he is some awesome, amazing individual and leader; despite the fact that he wants his best friend and his son dead. Macbeth is going to Great measures to make sure that his pride and power isn't damaged by

Although all the prophecies were essential to Macbeth's corruption, the third one claiming that Macbeth would soon rule over Scotland is what really pondered within him. This prophecy is what changed his mindset to want to receive power no matter the cost. He begins to passionately contemplate over the idea of stepping over people to be the king. “That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, for in my way it lies.” (Macbeth 1.4.50-53)

In one of his soliloquies, Macbeth talks about how he will stop Banquo’s children from becoming kings; “Rather than so, come fate into the list, / And champion me to th' utterance” (3.1.76-77). When saying, “champion me to th' utterance,” Macbeth reveals how he believes that he is unbeatable. By challenging fate, it becomes apparent that he truly believes that he has so much power, not even fate can go against his will. Thinking that his will is stronger than fate is harmful to Macbeth because it will cause him to not think through harmful acts, resulting in damaging effects. Later when giving directions to the murderers on how to kill Banquo, Macbeth says to them, “I could / With barefaced power sweep him from my sight /

In the play, Macbeth attempts to control his future many times. He does things that he probably should not have done, which then causes many more issues; he feels the need to try and correct them. Throughout the play, Macbeth involves many people in things that he forces them into doing by scaring and threatening them. Throughout the play Macbeth has many people killed in order to benefit him. He doesn’t believe that anyone knows what he is doing, but as people find out he begins to send murderers after them.

Macbeth sees himself as ambitious and gets offended if anyone suggests that he is anything other than a good man. He cares gravely about the opinions of his wife Lady Macbeth, who wants to see him as king, those of the king himself, and those of his companions’. Macbeth wants to be king because he wants the approval of others. To start, Macbeth is not always confident about having to kill King Duncan to rise to power because Duncan praises Macbeth and trusts him. In Act 1, Scene 4, King Duncan says to Macbeth, “I have begun to plant thee, and will labour / To make thee full of growing” (1.4.33-34).

In the play Macbeth, Macbeth’s fate is what drives him to his decisions for both power and greed. This is portrayed when Macbeth when he kills Banquo and his son because his greed sees them as a threat to his throne, killing the king for power above all mortals, and his fate ultimately leading to his death and freeing time. Macbeth has done countless sins in order to keep his rightful position as king, though his greed for power has led to him killing his best friend Banquo because the witches have predicted that Banquo’s descendants will be king. “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.”

Before committing to the conspiracy, Macbeth deliberates the implications of his decision: “I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares do more is none” (1.7.51-52). As Macbeth debates, he states that all people make mistakes, and all the occurrences so far fit his nature. However, he realizes that going further to usurp the throne would defy nature and dehumanize him. This act fills him with the cruelty and heartlessness that Lady Macbeth seeks, leading to his death.

Macbeth’s ambition is one of the most prominent things that drive Macbeth in the play and truly becomes evident when he hears of the Witches prophecies. When the witches stop talking, he demands to know more. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (I, III, 73-74). This portrays his excessive curiosity on the subject as well as his craving for more desirable prophecies. This ambitious nature and craving for power is also demonstrated only moments after hearing the witches, when he starts formulating a plan to kill Duncan in order to make the third prophecy come true.

Macbeth wants to be king, but he does not want to kill the current king, Duncan. After the Witches' prophecy Macbeth began to plan his demise, but decides against the murder. Eventually though, evil influences, wether it be the Witches, Lady Macbeth, or Macbeth himself, cause him to perform an act that propels him beyond redemption and he knows it. Macbeth's fate is controlled by his major flaw, that being, killing Duncan and Banquo.

Shakespeare’s timeless themes of fate and free-will interact continuously in the text in the form of decisions and torment for Macbeth. Macbeth was first sent into his downward spiral in act 1 scene 3 when the three witches “predict” that he will become the Thane of Cawdor and eventual King. Banquo and Macbeth are left stunned by the witches revelation, but it was not until Ross arrives to announce Macbeth as the Thane of Cawdor that he actually begins to believe it. When Macbeth realized he will become king, his mind automatically goes into a state of panic.

By describing becoming king as putting a “fruitless crown” oh his head and handing him a “barren sceptre” , Macbeth exhibits a yearning to expand his power beyond his own generation (35). Macbeth only wanted to become king but he selfishly concludes that his own command isn't enough and he wants to engender a legacy of heirs. Macbeth adheres to the growing ambitions of individuals once they gain power. Therefore, Macbeth does not think his efforts to reach power were sufficient. Thinking of the deeds he has done, he reasons that “For them the gracious duncan have I murder'd” (35).