Going to Cuba
7 years ago
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Power and Corruption
The major theme we followed closely in Macbeth is as follows: Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. This becomes blatantly obvious when Macbeth murders Macduff’s Son out of pure bloodlust. Have you ever seen the power of an authoritative figure turn to absolute corruption? How does this power trip relate to the eventual absolute corruption of the character of Macbeth?
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I have seen many people who have been corrupted by greed of their surrounding. I've seen them slowly being dteriorated away by the morals that they bend at the point of almost breaking. But I now longer see them.Macbeth no llonger is macbeth when he become corrupt, he is the tyrant
ReplyDelete-Darkwallce
Absolute power is what everyone wants. They all want to be in control and be the ones to make the rules. I haven't personally seen someone become corrupt because of power but one example is when buisness people move up in the corperate world. As they gain more and more power they begin to want more and more and they all want to try and be at the highest, most powerful spot possible. On their journey to get there they are willing to step over friends and whoever nessacary to get to that spot. At first they might feel bad about leaving behind their friends but as they get their promotions and keep advancing in the business world they seem to forget about the little things. The power trip Macbeth goes on eventually leads to his absolute corruption because he doesn't realize that you can't just kill people for fun. He doesn't realize that by doing some of the things he did to be king had different affects on other people. ~caroleva
ReplyDeleteis there really a difference between power and corruption? you will eventually become power hungry and it will lead to your downfall(overthrown, death. etc.)
ReplyDelete-Negithekitty
I know one of the peole that has been corupted by such things. He/she was going through a hard family life and decided to do what everyone around her/him was doing to make life a little "easier". Everyone told him/her to stop before he/she got too sucked in and he/she didn't listen and now she/he is trying to rebuild the life they had before they trew it all away just to follow what someone said.
ReplyDelete~Kai Smith
Yes, there are several examples throughout history of political leaders who gain too much power and become completely corrupted. It is almost a guarantee that if you give one person such a large amount of power, he will eventually become corrupted, no matter how moral he is as a person. This connects back to the theme of the play that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
ReplyDeleterebels759
when people want power it will corrupte them then they will alter do something that they wish the had never done in the first place was will either lead to destroying their life or the people around theem.
ReplyDelete~ neverhide101
the halocaust was a production of a ruler gaining absolute power over a country. the power led to the creation of the most vile sick humans ever born in hitler. in no case has there ever been a ruler with dominent power that always did the right thing. THe more power macB recieved, the more corupt he became.
ReplyDeleteJbreezey
Power and corruption is a touchy subject, because we have all seen how it affects others whether there in out lives or not. Perosnally I think power is at the bottom of corruption. In the novel Macbeth was a good guy before a thought was planted in his head of hey your gonna be king. So he killed to get that power, in the end he became that tyrannical ruler, I assume he didn't plan on starting out to be.
ReplyDelete-Ksee Mattein
power and curruption seems to be like a ladder effect, the more you climb the higher you get. So the more power you get the more corrupt you get. Like power is evil in a way.
ReplyDelete-lady macbeth!:)
There are several examples of corrupt power in this world. Once in power, some people tend to take it overboard. If someone does something to make the person in power mad, they have an out burst and go on a rage to hurt someone like they have been. Absolute power is something that no one should posses because it's far too much for a person to handle.
ReplyDelete~goobies:)
@negithekitty,
ReplyDeleteOf course there is a difference between power and corruption. Think about anyone who has ever had any kind of power, or any form of authority over someone else. Did all of them become corrupt, which in turn lead to their downfall? I think not. I think good old Abe Lincoln wasn't corrupted by the time his downfall occured...
iliketurtles
i have seen cops on the news that have beat people because they can
ReplyDeletetunerslug
i personally have not see power corrupt someone, but i think it could very easily happen. when you have all the power you want, you can overcome a lot more obstacles in life and easily get anything you want.
ReplyDelete-Llama Z
Absolute power corrupts absolutely but partial power almost never corrupts because other powers can balance it.
ReplyDeleteindestructotank
I think that the power got to Macbeth's head because instead of killing people because he had to he killed them out of bloodlust.
ReplyDelete-Usernameunknown
ntk good point. there is not much difference between the two things. where in history do we see a ruler who was truly loved by all their subjects that doesnt eventually fall
ReplyDelete~Cataru
For some reason when i read this, the first corrupted powerfigure that popped into my head was Adolf Hitler. Now I'm not saying that Macbeth went to the extent of mass murdering millions of innocent people, but i would argue that like Adolf, Macbeth had a taste of his political power and that was the trigger for his corruption. He didnt kill people because of hatred for them but murdered families of once dear friends. His power as king only fed his corrupt mentality, as did the prophecies provided by the witches.
ReplyDeleteend_samsara
I dont really see a differnce in power or corruption... Is there any differnces betweern them because you will eventually become power hungry and you will probably lead you to a downfall, like it did for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.. They both end up dieing and not totally fillfulling what they wanted to do... So is there really a differnce in Power and Corruption??
ReplyDeleteCRebel
Macbeth did go power crazy. His only thoughts were to do whatever he had to do to stay king
ReplyDeleteMurbs
With power come great responsibility, Macbeth did nothing for anyone but himself, and was corrupted from when he first heard his prophecy, some people can handle power and others abuse it, even if it's not on purpose subconsciously they can not handle them selves or others
ReplyDelete-The One!
macbeth wanted to be powerful and for a while he was. but obviously that greed got him nowhere, but on a battlefield with no head. to think you are weak and not important is a rough way to live life, and when you have friends who are better at things doesnt make it easier. to want the power, and to be more popular for example is understandable. But some ways people try to make themselves higher up, can seriously end up being negative and really screw them over.
ReplyDeleteBill
Some authoritive figures that have become power hungry and corrupt are business CEOs. You always hear on the new about how someone who is the head of a company heads up stealing or taking money and spending it on themselves or their family. At first, Macbeth is just power hungry after hearing the witch's prophecies, but he eventually turns his life into corruption. By being power hungry he eventually starts thinking that the more people he kills the more people are going to keep getting in his way he has to kill. This leads to corruption which leads to his downfall.
ReplyDelete-Chocolate Rain
i think that people have to much power they would be come corupted to gain more power. u would have to be strong and cofendent to keep the coruption out
ReplyDeleteI can think of many instances where power led to corruption. The most obvious and maybe over used one is Hitler. Had he not gained so much power, he may not have been a bad guy. Same with Macbeth. As i said in another comment somewhere in here, if Macbeth had simply been ok with chillin as Thane of Cawdor, none of this mess would have happened. But as soon as he killed the king, he gained that power and it corrupted him.
ReplyDeleteOn the opposite spectrum, we can see Malcolm, who becomes king at the end and just seems to be a good guy all around.
-KottonmouthKing