Power and Passion – Macbeth

In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, two concepts, power and passion are conveyed through the downfall of the tragic play. The characters, mainly Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, show the relationship between these two concepts. Throughout the playwright, Macbeth has an ambition to gain more power, and especially when hearing the prophecy from the three witches after the victory of his battle, he becomes passionate about possessing the throne of Scotland. This essay will also discuss a particular soliloquy acted out by Macbeth where he imagines a dagger in front of him.

Macbeth’s passion to be king originates from where the three witches address Macbeth as the ‘Thane of Cawdor’, ‘Thane of Glamis’, and ‘King hereafter’ when the witches chant “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (Act 1 Scene 3, line 48). Macbeth believes in these prophecies as they are supernatural entities, and this drives Macbeth’s ambition to achieve higher status and reputation. When Lady Macbeth hears this from the messenger, she gains high ambitions for him and becomes seduced by the idea of becoming the queen. She speaks to herself “I may pour my spirits in thine ear” (Act 1 Scene 5, line 25), which means she will inspire Macbeth with her passion about an evil deed she thought of. However, she also knew Macbeth could not perform such evil deeds as she says that he is “too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” (Act 1 Scene 5, line 16), therefore she uses his weakness throughout the play to convince him into killing King Duncan for the throne. Macbeth is influenced in committing King Duncan’s murder by Lady Macbeth, the three witches and his own ambitions. However, the influence of his wife is the most influential element out of all, which means the murder of Duncan would not have been committed without Lady Macbeth.

Power is what kept Macbeth going to achieve what he was passionate about throughout the play. His desire to gain a better reputation and a higher status has lead to the killing of Duncan, as well as Lady Macbeth’s dominance over Macbeth, which shows her powerfulness and masculinity. She asks for “toe top-full of direst cruelty” (Act 1 Scene 5, lines 41-42) and to be less like a woman and more like a man so she can fully persuade Macbeth to do evil. Lady Macbeth also asks, “make thick my blood” (Act 1 Scene 5, line 42) to be stronger and more powerful, which also indicates her persistence throughout the play. She manipulates Macbeth by doubting his manhood and calling him a “coward in thine own esteem” (Act 1 Scene 7, line 43), which then makes him want to prove his manliness even more. Having said that, Macbeth is still worried and concerned whether or not he should murder King Duncan just for his greater power, but Lady Macbeth has him so convinced that they end up doing the deed. After the deed is done, Lady Macbeth is calm about the murder however Macbeth becomes conscious of his guilt, which shows Lady Macbeth’s evilness compared to her husband. She mocks him, “a foolish thought, to say a sorry sight” (Act 2 Scene 2, line 21) and calls him an “infirm of purpose” (Act 2 Scene 2, line 52). Macbeth was convinced to do evil by his wife’s manipulative and deceptive personality that he allowed his ambitious desires to be controlled over with.

“A false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?”(Act 2 Scene 1, lines 38-39), this particular soliloquy signifies that Macbeth is imagining things that are not actually there. At this stage, Macbeth is faced with strong emotions including fear, worry and hatred, which create hallucinations before he murders Duncan. He visualizes a bloody dagger in front of him that he tries to grab hold of, realizing it is all just imaginary. The invisible dagger is the first sight of Macbeth’s powerful imagination, which suggests that he is conscious of the solemnity of committing homicide. His intense hallucinations fill him with fear and horror, which then makes him become so paranoid, he suspects that the dagger will affect him greatly. Nevertheless, he finally makes up his mind to kill Duncan as he says, “the bell invites me. Hear it not Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell” (Act 2 Scene 1, lines 57-58). This line signifies a sense of evilness within Macbeth which was convinced by his wife, as he even states himself that “it is the bloody business which informs thus to mine eyes” (Act 2 Scene 1, lines 47-48).

In conclusion, power and passion are the key themes in the downfall of Macbeth. As mentioned, Lady Macbeth’s persuasive manner towards Macbeth’s ambition to be king has made him commit an evil deed, which Lady Macbeth has forced him into through manipulation and by being offensive. The power of Macbeth’s wife and his own ambition to possess the throne, which was influenced by the three witches, has lead to the downfall of the playwright. Moreover, the soliloquy proves how badly Macbeth was affected even before he killed Duncan in the play.