We live in a world where being at the highest authority is the only way of being successful, but for some people, they would do anything it takes to get what they want. It seems that with all the things we’re blessed with, there are always gonna be people who are not satisfied and happy with what they receive. “Macbeth” is a story revolves around what one does to gain power and the effects of doing so. A man faces the outcome of murdering those around him to gain authority and eventually pays the price. He starts off as a normal individual with a normal life, but throughout the story, his character progresses into an entirely different person. In the book “Macbeth”, written by William Shakespeare, the story represents the result of how being so driven by power can affect one’s life negativity in ways that leads them to changing their entire personality.
Macbeth starts the story off as a man destined to become king, but with there already a king on the throne, he’s not able to take power. But with his wife also willing to do whatever it takes to gain authority, they decide take action. “It is this bloody business I am about to do which makes me see things. Now in one hemisphere of the world, nature seems dead, and wicked dreams disturb the sleepers in their curtained bed.” (2.2.48-51) By killing king duncan they eventually had the power they didn't deserve. Feeling anxious with those around him being suspicious, he then turns to murdering others. “My anxiety returns. Except for this, I'd feel totally secure, all of a piece like a marble monument, firm as a rock, as open and free as the air that encloses us. But now I am imprisoned, hampered, confined, hemmed in by uncontrollable doubts and fears.” (3.4.22-26) A result of killing the king, Macbeth at this point is so paranoid to the point where he’s willing to have anyone murdered.
With such a drastic change and series of events, Macbeth has started to lose his mental stability and began to see what he thought were “ghost” but instead were just fragments of his imagination due to the guilt he was feeling. “Get out! Leave my sight! Bury yourself in the earth! Your bones are without any narrow; your blood is cold; you have no perception in those eyes you glare me with!” (3.4.94-97) Those around him are also noticing the change in his personality. They are starting to realize how he has been acting and are starting to doubt him as king. “Now he feels hid hidden murders clinging to his hands...Then who can blame his tormented senses for being jumpy and easily startled, when his own conscience condemns what it finds in his inner thoughts.” (5.3.23-27) Although Macbeth has power, he is still tormented by the amount of crims he has committed. His conscience had played tricks in his mind because of what he did in order to obtain his desires the wrong way.
Throughout this entire story, Macbeth has gone in a downward spiral. Starting off as an average man, he’s turned into a psychopath doing whatever it takes to keep his power. “I have lived long enough. My lifestyle has been transformed into a shriveled and faded leaf, and all those things I ought to go along with old age, such as honor, love, obedience, crowds of friends I can't expect to have. Instead I get curses, not voiced loudly but felt deeply, and respectful mouthings of courtesy, merely hot air, which the timid speaker would like to deny but dares not.” (5.3.21-29) Macbeth himself notices the change he has gone through and has completely changed into an entirely different person. With the many things he's done, being this way has not come to a surprise. He had been so caught up with what he was doing that he hasn't noticed anything around him. “I have almost forgotten what fear feels tastes like. Once I would have shivered if I heard a shriek in the night; and if I read a frightening story, my hair would stand on end as if it were alive. I’ve had my fill of horrors Terror, which goes hand in hand with my bloody thoughts, can no longer startle me.” (5.5.10-16) Even after the death of his own wife, he no longer felt anything. If Macbeth were still the same character he was in the beginning of the story, his reaction to his wife's death would've been completely different. From the moment he killed the king, his life was basically a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
Macbeth’s character represents those who cheat, get lazy, and are hungry for power. In this story, Macbeth has gone from an honorable man with friends and a future with his wife, to a dead man with nothing but a ruined reputation that will forever be remembered. William Shakespeare's book, Macbeth, is a clear representation of why we as individuals need to understand the concept of working for what we want and taking the easy way out of situations will only make things worse. Relating it to our society, it shows that even today, what we do to get what we want may not be the correct option. It is important to remember that what goes around, comes around, which is another focus of this story. Every decision one makes will eventually affect your future based on weather the decision was the correct or wrong one. We as individuals must work to the best of our abilities to get what we desire.
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