Macbeth Power Quote

Walter Creech

11/16/14

4A

2. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Acton
To what extent would Shakespeare agree with this statement? Use the play and your own experience as your support.

            I believe, based on Macbeth and the characters actions throughout the play, that Shakespeare would wholeheartedly agree with this statement. At the beginning of Macbeth, Macbeth and Banquo receive prophecies from the three witches, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.” These are the prophecies given by the witches, Macbeth was to be Thane of Cawdor and then king after and Banquo’s decedents or children were to be king. This is representative of the power that these characters could have and the way they act perfectly matches this quote by Lord Acton.

            At the end of Act I scene 3, the first prophecy of the three witches comes true, Macbeth is named Thane of Cawdor. This first prophecy coming true drives the actions of these characters for the rest of the play, as they could have all of the prophecies come true and gain large amounts of power. Macbeth is heavily influenced by his wife, whose drive for power is greater than all others. This and his own desire to own the crown drives him murder the current king, Duncan, in order for the second prophecy to come true. In addition, Macbeth has to kill the two guards of Duncan’s and blame the murder on them, and unholy and horrid thing to do. This desire for power and kingship drove him to commit murder and blame it on someone else.

            Contrast the actions of Macbeth with the actions of Banquo and the “absolute power corrupts absolutely” is addressed. The power that Macbeth would gain from being king would be absolute power, while Banquo’s power was to be his offspring’s not his himself. Banquo, after receiving these prophecies, does not quickly rush to extreme actions like those of Macbeth, but instead pledges his allegiance to the king. Banquo states “So I lose none in seeking to augment it, but still keep clear my bosom franchised and allegiance clear, I shall be consoled.” I believe that he is saying how he is not going to actively pursue to prophecies in an unholy way so he can keep his reputation and his allegiance to the king. This compared to the murdering by Macbeth, is obviously more reasonable. The power that Banquo would have gained would have not been his power so he was not corrupted and continued to think clearly. However the power prophesized for Macbeth was absolute, so it corrupted him absolutely driving him to murder to ensure that the power was his.

            I also agree with this quote based on everyday life, specifically presidential and other election races. For example, the recent senate race between Thom Tillis and Kay Hagan showed how power, or the opportunity for it, can corrupt you. There were many advertisements that put down one candidate or the other pointing out their flaws, which is wrong and corrupt. How would you like it if I pointed out your flaws?  This shows how power and the opportunity of power causes people to do things that they normally wouldn’t do, corrupting their thinking and their decisions. This is another example of absolute power corrupting. If you were offered a candy bar to reveal your best friend’s deepest darkest secret, would you do it? Most people would say no because it is just one candy bar, but many would do it if they were offered a million dollars. This shows how the extent of the power, whether absolute or not, determines the extent of the corruption. Based on this, I concur with this quote and, based on the actions of the characters of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, I believe that Macbeth himself would agree also.

Contemporary Art Museum

The entire exhibition was very interesting and had a good feel to it. I am not a big fan of contemporary or modern art but I was interested in the limited visibility exhibit. It was kind of ominous and up to the viewer’s interpretation, after all the title was “limited visibility.” Since there was something missing in the art or visibly missing, it was up to the viewer’s interpretation to determine what was missing and what is symbolized. The presentation was good but I wish that they had more of the description of the artist’s intention rather than what it was made out of. That being said, the lack of description of intention leaves the meaning up to the viewer as well. Overall the presentation and feeling of this exhibit was good and it was very interesting.

Visual Analysis

Title: Miradas I by: Moris

Date: 2012, Mexico

Size: each panel: 39”x 69” total: 69”x117”

Medium: Acrylic painting over a highly pixelated photo on canvas.

                 This was created in Mexico City, Mexico in 2012 which is ironic because many of the individuals in this painting appear to be white, as far as I can see. This was created in modern times in Mexico and they possibly envy the Americans because of the opportunities that we have. Represented in this picture appears to be six individuals whose bodies blend into the background and you can only see their eyes. This could represent how they are starting to make a name for themselves and break away from society, the eyes not blending in represent that they are stepping out of society. In Spanish, which they speak in Mexico, “Mirada” means gaze or look. This could be important in interpreting the painting. This painting shows many eyes gazing at you or just looking ahead. This represents that everyone has a vision for the future and we all want it to be equal, as the bodies of these individuals all blend into the background.

                   The artist blends the bodies of the individuals into the backgrounds, however you can still see them a little bit. This shows that they are human also, having the eyes visible is a great stylistic point as it draws your attention to the eyes and they obviously represent a deeper meaning. Finally, choosing black as the background was a good choice because the white portion of their faces stand out even more and black represents everyone not just white individuals. This represents a cultural ideal because most citizens of Mexico envy the white Americans for the privileges that they get but, Moris is trying to communicate with them that white Americans have a vision for a future that involves everyone as equals. The eyes looking ahead represents the vision while the bodies blended into the background represents everyone as equals. This is a strong statement and comes from an unlikely source, a Mexican citizen. It adds to the museum because you wonder what their bodies look like as they are “invisible” but the eyes really draw the attention and tell the story. I believe that the purpose of this was to inform viewers that everyone has a vision for an equal future, with vision represented by the eyes and equal represented by the bodies blending into the background.