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.