Isolation In Macbeth And Lord Of The Flies

Macbeth, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast In a lot of ways most everyone can say they want to be the one with the power, but wouldn’t be a crazy physco that would kill in order to get it. In one particular story the main character Macbeth would do just about anything to gain the power that him and his wife strived for him to have. 5-6 murders and a suicidal wife later and witches that think they know what’s best and Macbeth still isn’t one with all the power. In many movies we know and love today hold parts and scenes similar to those of the story of Macbeth.

Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare in 1606. Macbeth is essentially a story of a warrior who gets consumed by his own greed and ambition. Betrayal is a prevalent theme throughout the play that shifts power between the characters. In the beginning, the Thane of Cawdor betrayed the country and the king. When King Duncan heard the news he removed him from his position, “ No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth” (Shakespeare 1:2:63-66).

Humans need connection with other humans. When people lose connection, they back away from everything. There are many ways for people to lose connection. People could be abused, bullied, lost and many more. If a person gets pushed away from human connection, they feel they don’t belong.

Near the end of their time on the island, Piggy, Sam, and Eric are the only ones left with Ralph, and Jack, who appears as “a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear” (Golding 168). Jack starts to get violent, and what was fun when they first got to the island become attempts to kill. At this point, Jack has fully taken over, and the only thing left for him to do is kill Ralph. Lord of the Flies exemplifies how when one person has all of the power, there is always somebody else that wants it more than that person. Ralph is not against Jack, nor does he want to fight with him for the chief position, but ambition and violence overtakes Jack, and he turns into a dangerous savage.

(Golding 180-181) At this point in the story, Roger is acting on his primitive instincts and becoming the biggest savage on the island. Speaking about his savagery, Roger kills Piggy with a huge boulder, which not only kills Piggy but destroys the conch into smithereens. Savagery has overtaken Roger, and his murder of Piggy symbolizes savagery and the destruction of their civilization. This quote shows that Jack's cruelty is rubbed off on his people.

He does not want to be a loyal servant to the king, but rather be the king with loyal servants to serve him. And because of these ambitious thoughts lurking in his mind, he must ask the “Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.52-53). So that no one can see through his wall of false appearance and discern his true deepest desires. Hence, Macbeth appeared to be an honorable and exemplary candidate for the role that king Duncan bestows upon him, but in reality he is only dishonorable for he has notion of regicide to become king himself and must appears to be loyal to a king “whose murder yet is but fantastical” (1.3.139). Also, Lady Macbeth hides herself behind the wall of her false appearance which makes her seem as if she is the greatest of hostess, but in reality she too has “black and deep desires” (1.4.52-53), to kill king

Of all the things people possess, their personality traits are among the most significant because their qualities are what define who they are. Each person is unique and distinct in their character, but there are some personal attributes that many humans have in common. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, the tragic hero, Macbeth, embodies several of such universal human traits. One important character trait that Macbeth holds is selfishness, and this facet of his is universal because it is reflected in great leaders like Steve Jobs and also in normal individuals such as the Rod Dreher.

Power is always coveted in any society and the world of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is no different. In the play, Macbeth, a noble lord, shows his hunger for power with thoughts to remove an heir to the throne from power. Macbeth’s impatience to be king leads him to stain his honor by using murder. Macbeth travels further down the path of evil by arranging the assassination of a friend.

Primarily, Macbeth craves power but is too weak to obtain it rightfully, leading him to a second internal struggle in which his ambitious attempts to obtain power conflict with his conscience. Finally both of these struggles are results of his struggle to be admired. Firstly, a contributing factor towards Macbeth’s internal struggle is his hunger for power that is contrasted by his cowardice which prevents him from independently attaining power. Macbeth hopes that “chance may crown (him) //

Greed for power leads corrupt leaders to pursue power through ruthless and violent ways, putting their countries in an unstable state. Macbeth commits murders and violent acts to earn his absolute power, but his corrupt mindset of yearning power leads to instability in the Scotland. After hearing from the witches, Macbeth admits that, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical/ Shakes so my single state of man/ That function is smother'd in surmise /and nothing is but what is not.”

Later on in the book, another character named Jack is going seriously insane and is getting sick of Ralph and Piggy. He says to them "I 'm not going to play any longer. Not with you." (Golding, William. " Lord of the Flies" pg.

Shakespeare and Golding present Jack and Macbeth as very complex characters, both presented as ‘eccentric’ and ‘heroic’ personalities. In both texts the characters are introduced in contrast to their surroundings. In Lord of the flies, the character Jack is first introduced to the reader in complete contrast to the setting. The setting is presented as ‘beautiful’ and ‘flawless’ whilst on the other hand Jack is presented as “something dark fumbling along”. This implies that Jack, and the children on the island, are the beasts, creatures, referred to in the title ‘Lord of the Flies’.

“If good, why do I yield to that suggestion[killing Duncan]/Whose horrid image doth unify my hair” (I, III, 144-145). This quote indicates that the force of ambition is so strong within Macbeth that even he himself cannot understand why it is making him think of killing Duncan. Likewise, Macbeth’s ambition to become king is further emphasized after Duncan names his son Malcolm as his successor. Here, Macbeth says that he will have to “oerleap,/For in my way it [Malcolm] it lies” (I, III, 55-57).

At the beginning of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ the protagonist Macbeth is described as ‘brave’, ‘noble’ and ‘honourable’, however Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeths desire for power consumes them. Macbeth’s ambition overrides his conscience and transformed his greatest strength into his greatest weakness. Macbeth’s inability to resist temptations that led him to be greedy for power, Macbeth’s easily manipulative nature which allowed his mind to be swayed, Macbeth having no self control and his excessive pride was what allowed him to renew his previously honourable and celebrated title into one of an evil ‘tyrant’. Macbeth is led by the prophecies of the witches after they foretell he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Not only the witches, but also his wife easily manipulate Macbeth as she attacks his manhood in order to provoke him to act on his desires.

In the story “Macbeth”, Macbeth was considered a very well-respected warrior. He was known for being chivalrous as well as ambitious. Although ambition is typically a good thing, Macbeth turns it into the complete opposite. He lets his ambition get the best of him and it ruins Macbeth entirely. He was given the title Thane of Cawdor and, due to greed, he continued to push for more.