Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, there is a reoccurring theme: power corrupts. The saying “too much of anything isn’t good for you” is especially true with power. People can be significantly changed by power, and often times for the worse. After becoming King unrightfully, Macbeth decides to use his power to have deeds done that, had he not been king, been difficult to do.
Macbeth, while returning from battle, encounters three witches who tell him that he will become Thane of Cawdor and after that become King of Scotland. At first Macbeth is skeptical, but after he is made Thane of Cawdor he is confident that the prophecy may be true. When Macbeth informs his wife, Lady Macbeth, of the witches’ prophecy she urges Macbeth to kill King Duncan and become King, like it had been prophesized.
Doing as his wife had asked, Macbeth goes and kills King Duncan, cautiously framing his guards so that it looked like they killed him. Once a respectful and sincere war hero to his country, Macbeth had now committed regicide against his own king.
Clearly, Lady Macbeth is the one in the play that is the first affected by power. Just the thought of being queen of Scotland is enough to drive her to the idea of murder. Lady Macbeth definitely “wears the pants” in the relationship. Whatever she wants, Macbeth will do. Lady Macbeth’s power over her husband had corrupted her so much that she had him murder the king. She would do anything for more power.
“How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me.
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done this.” (1.7.60-64)
She would kill her own child just become queen of Scotland. This shows that she is very much corrupted by the thought of power and would go great lengths in order to get it.
Another example of power corrupting a character is when Macbeth hires two assassins to kill anyone that could possibly bring down his reign as king. He calls upon the killers to murder Banquo, his once good friend, and his son, Fleance, who was prophesized to become king someday by the same witches that prophesized Macbeth’s future. Knowing of the prophecy, Macbeth feels slightly threatened by Fleance and needs him out of the picture. Unfortunately for Macbeth, Fleance gets away.
“…Fleance his son, that keeps him company,
Whose absence is no less material to me
Than his father’s, must embrace the fate
Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart:
I’ll come to you anon.” (3.1.148-152)
The corruption that has occurred to Macbeth is now so great that he has sent assassins upon his once best friend and attempted to kill his son as well. One would almost feel sympathetic for Macbeth had he not become so malevolent and detached from life.
The final, most important example of power corrupts occurs in last scene of the play. This example shows what corruption can lead to. Macbeth will not go down without a fight and goes hand to hand with Macduff, a Scottish general, to try to keep his reign of power alive; literally.
“I will not yield,
To kiss the ground before you Malcolm’s feet,
And baited with rabble’s curse.
Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane,
And thou opposed, being of no woman born,
Yet I will try the last. Before my body
I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff;
And damned be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough’” (5.8.32-39)
Macbeth and Macduff begin to fight off-stage and when Macduff reappears he is holding Macbeth’s dead body. The corruption that occurred to Macbeth received the greatest punishment of all. He killed to get power and he killed to keep the power he received. “Blood will have blood" (3.4.121), murder leads to more murder. The quote rings true in the case of Macbeth who did all he could to keep the power he unrightfully took.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Siddhartha: Coming To America
Siddhartha: Coming to America
All the way from India, Siddhartha comes to the United States. Siddhartha travels to New York City to get a look at in a way he had not yet seen. Siddhartha, slightly overwhelmed at first just walks lackadaisically through Times Square, staring at all the lights and signs. He walks into a small deli along the side of the street. A young, dark haired man was sitting at a table in the middle of the deli waiting for him. The man’s name is Bill; he is the guide the travel agency had set up for Siddhartha to meet with on his trip visiting America.
“You must be Siddhartha. I’m Bill, Bill Jones, I’ll be your guide through this lovely city we call New York.”
“Very nice to meet you Bill, I am very glad to have found some transitory peace here in this deli.” Siddhartha looks left and right indicating there is only one other person in the deli aside from them.
“It is nice, but living here in the city you really get used to all the commotion that goes on. I’ve been living here since I was a kid, and there is no place I would rather be.”
“From what I have just seen since arriving I can think of a few places I would rather be, but since you are my guide I will leave it to you to convince me.” Both Siddhartha and Bill got up from their seats and headed towards the door.
Stepping outside again, Siddhartha cringed at the all of the noise. This was no place that anyone could reach enlightenment. As the two men stood at the curb, Bill called for a cab. “I’m going to show you some of the greatest parts of New York; you wait!” Bill leaned to the cab driver, “Central Park south please”.
“My first impression of you when you walked into the deli was your peaceful countenance was neither happy nor sad. You seemed to be smiling gently inwardly. With a secret smile, not unlike that of a healthy child, you walked along, peacefully” Bill told Siddhartha as they traveled to their destination.
“I felt that way about someone I met once as well…”
“Well, here we are. Central Park.” Bill handed the cab driver the toll and exited the cab.
Bill guided Siddhartha through Central Park pointing out statues and other notable objects. Once the two men had journeyed deep enough into the park you could not even tell you were in a city at all. “This may be the most similar to India you’ll find here, Siddhartha.” said Bill.
“Hmm… yes, this is similar to what I am used to. This area reminds me of when I went off with the samanas in the woods and tried to find enlightenment.”
“Did you find it?”
“At that time no, but many years later I did.”
“Now let’s keep moving. We want to see as much of the city as we can.”
Bill guided Siddhartha yet further through the park until Bill came to a sudden stop. “We should… er… I think we should go this way.” Bill was clearly unsure as to which way they should travel.
“Are we lost?” asked Siddhartha who asked the question somewhat rhetorically.
“No no. Don’t be silly. I know where we are… I think.”
“Because if we were I would have no problem with being lost here. It is very calming and peaceful.” Said Siddhartha
“Well, you are the guest here. I suppose we can rest here for a little while until someone comes by and we can follow them out of here.”
Siddhartha walked to a bench and sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. Bill went and sat down next to him. “So what’s it like-“
“Shh…” Said Siddhartha, cutting off Bill from what he was about to say. “Just enjoy this. Take it in. There are few times in life where you can enjoy the calm and peacefulness of nature like this.”
Bill looked around, shrugged his shoulders and sat like Siddhartha on the bench. Side by side, the two men sat on the bench with legs crossed and eyes shut. They were completely concentrated on the silence and calm around them. Bill had never experienced anything like this before. He saw all these forms and faces in a thousand relationships to each other, all helping each other, loving, hating, destroying each other and become newly born. Each one of them was mortal, a passionate, painful example of all that was transitory. Yet none of them died, they only changed, were always reborn, continually had a new face: only time stood between one face and another.
“Hey. Getting late. Might wanna think ‘bout getting out of here and a little closer to the streets.” Siddhartha and Bill quickly opened their eyes to see a park ranger standing in front of them. “Lotta muggers around here at night. I’m just warning ya.” Said the ranger.
“Actually, we got lost in here, do you think you could help us out and get back to the streets?” asked Bill.
“Yeah, no problem. Let’s hurry up though it’s getting dark.”
Bill and Siddhartha looked around and realized that it must have been about 6 o’clock at night. They had sat on the bench for almost 7 hours in a deep meditation. “That was amazing!” said Bill to Siddhartha. “I had no idea that it would be that relaxing and calming!”
“Yes. Meditation is the best way to relax.”
“I guess so!” said Bill “I feel fantastic!”
Siddhartha and Bill got up and began following the ranger out of the park.
“I am delighted that I was able to share my relaxation methods with you Bill.”
“I’m happy you showed me. Ya know, I’m not totally sure what you experienced when you had your enlightenment, but I think I had my enlightenment there.” Replied Bill
“Perhaps you did, I traveled my entire life seeking enlightenment, and I would be a little surprised if you had. But I am not one to say you could not have been enlightened there.”
The ranger had led the men out of the park back to where they had entered the park. The men were very thankful. “It’s pretty late Siddhartha; I think we might need to end this tour. I apologize for getting lost. I didn’t even give you a good tour.”
“You are right Bill, but I was able to show you peace and relaxation. I am happy with helping you.”
All the way from India, Siddhartha comes to the United States. Siddhartha travels to New York City to get a look at in a way he had not yet seen. Siddhartha, slightly overwhelmed at first just walks lackadaisically through Times Square, staring at all the lights and signs. He walks into a small deli along the side of the street. A young, dark haired man was sitting at a table in the middle of the deli waiting for him. The man’s name is Bill; he is the guide the travel agency had set up for Siddhartha to meet with on his trip visiting America.
“You must be Siddhartha. I’m Bill, Bill Jones, I’ll be your guide through this lovely city we call New York.”
“Very nice to meet you Bill, I am very glad to have found some transitory peace here in this deli.” Siddhartha looks left and right indicating there is only one other person in the deli aside from them.
“It is nice, but living here in the city you really get used to all the commotion that goes on. I’ve been living here since I was a kid, and there is no place I would rather be.”
“From what I have just seen since arriving I can think of a few places I would rather be, but since you are my guide I will leave it to you to convince me.” Both Siddhartha and Bill got up from their seats and headed towards the door.
Stepping outside again, Siddhartha cringed at the all of the noise. This was no place that anyone could reach enlightenment. As the two men stood at the curb, Bill called for a cab. “I’m going to show you some of the greatest parts of New York; you wait!” Bill leaned to the cab driver, “Central Park south please”.
“My first impression of you when you walked into the deli was your peaceful countenance was neither happy nor sad. You seemed to be smiling gently inwardly. With a secret smile, not unlike that of a healthy child, you walked along, peacefully” Bill told Siddhartha as they traveled to their destination.
“I felt that way about someone I met once as well…”
“Well, here we are. Central Park.” Bill handed the cab driver the toll and exited the cab.
Bill guided Siddhartha through Central Park pointing out statues and other notable objects. Once the two men had journeyed deep enough into the park you could not even tell you were in a city at all. “This may be the most similar to India you’ll find here, Siddhartha.” said Bill.
“Hmm… yes, this is similar to what I am used to. This area reminds me of when I went off with the samanas in the woods and tried to find enlightenment.”
“Did you find it?”
“At that time no, but many years later I did.”
“Now let’s keep moving. We want to see as much of the city as we can.”
Bill guided Siddhartha yet further through the park until Bill came to a sudden stop. “We should… er… I think we should go this way.” Bill was clearly unsure as to which way they should travel.
“Are we lost?” asked Siddhartha who asked the question somewhat rhetorically.
“No no. Don’t be silly. I know where we are… I think.”
“Because if we were I would have no problem with being lost here. It is very calming and peaceful.” Said Siddhartha
“Well, you are the guest here. I suppose we can rest here for a little while until someone comes by and we can follow them out of here.”
Siddhartha walked to a bench and sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. Bill went and sat down next to him. “So what’s it like-“
“Shh…” Said Siddhartha, cutting off Bill from what he was about to say. “Just enjoy this. Take it in. There are few times in life where you can enjoy the calm and peacefulness of nature like this.”
Bill looked around, shrugged his shoulders and sat like Siddhartha on the bench. Side by side, the two men sat on the bench with legs crossed and eyes shut. They were completely concentrated on the silence and calm around them. Bill had never experienced anything like this before. He saw all these forms and faces in a thousand relationships to each other, all helping each other, loving, hating, destroying each other and become newly born. Each one of them was mortal, a passionate, painful example of all that was transitory. Yet none of them died, they only changed, were always reborn, continually had a new face: only time stood between one face and another.
“Hey. Getting late. Might wanna think ‘bout getting out of here and a little closer to the streets.” Siddhartha and Bill quickly opened their eyes to see a park ranger standing in front of them. “Lotta muggers around here at night. I’m just warning ya.” Said the ranger.
“Actually, we got lost in here, do you think you could help us out and get back to the streets?” asked Bill.
“Yeah, no problem. Let’s hurry up though it’s getting dark.”
Bill and Siddhartha looked around and realized that it must have been about 6 o’clock at night. They had sat on the bench for almost 7 hours in a deep meditation. “That was amazing!” said Bill to Siddhartha. “I had no idea that it would be that relaxing and calming!”
“Yes. Meditation is the best way to relax.”
“I guess so!” said Bill “I feel fantastic!”
Siddhartha and Bill got up and began following the ranger out of the park.
“I am delighted that I was able to share my relaxation methods with you Bill.”
“I’m happy you showed me. Ya know, I’m not totally sure what you experienced when you had your enlightenment, but I think I had my enlightenment there.” Replied Bill
“Perhaps you did, I traveled my entire life seeking enlightenment, and I would be a little surprised if you had. But I am not one to say you could not have been enlightened there.”
The ranger had led the men out of the park back to where they had entered the park. The men were very thankful. “It’s pretty late Siddhartha; I think we might need to end this tour. I apologize for getting lost. I didn’t even give you a good tour.”
“You are right Bill, but I was able to show you peace and relaxation. I am happy with helping you.”
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