Macbeth Final Draft

     People have a natural tendency to want things. It starts when we're born and just follows us through life. It doesn't matter what it is, if it's something better than what we already have or something we don't have, we want it. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, it talks about how the things we want can control us. Macbeth plays a brave soldier that is destined to be king by prophecy. Once he hears about the prophecy, the crown is the only thing he has on his mind. He shows how easy it is to let the things you want take over his decisions when he does horrible things to take the throne. Macbeth by William Shakespeare, teaches us that our temptations can lead us to do the wrong things even if it goes against our morals.

     Macbeth didn't always want to be king, it wasn't until he heard of a prophecy that he began to go after the crown. In order to reach his goal, he needed to get rid of King Duncan. At first Macbeth was very hesitant, "First, I am his kinsmen and his loyal subject, / both strong persuasions against the deed. Then I am his host, / who should lock the door against his murderer / rather than carry the knife myself" (1, 7, 13-16). He didn't feel its was right to kill an innocent person, nobody does. King Duncan trusted him and believed that he was a noble soldier. He couldn't even think about ever doing a such inhumane thing all for a crown, but Lady Macbeth, his wife, wanted that crown so much she kept pushing him to do it. "Do you wish to possess the thing / that you value most highly in life (i.e., the crown) / and yet to live like a coward in your own judgment," (1, 7, 41-43). The pressure of someone telling you what to do and calling you names is hard to fight. He never wanted to be King in the first place but somehow he got the idea stuck in his head. You don't want to be called a coward or weak so you do what they say, which is what Macbeth did. He gave into the temptation and killed the King. Lady Macbeth wanted the crown and Macbeth wanted to give to her, but now the weight of the King's death is on Macbeth's shoulders. 

     After the King is dead, Macbeth becomes more hungry for the crown but also more paranoid that people know his secret. His best friend, Banquo becomes suspicious of him. With the kings position up in the air, Macbeth keeps wishing for him to be chosen. "To be king is nothing, unless one is safely king. / My fears about Banquo is deep-rooted. / There is something kingly in his nature / which is threatening to me," (3, 1, 48- 51) The feeling of someone going after the same thing you want just makes you want it even more. You want to get the prize and beat them too. Macbeth feels that against Banquo that he decides to kill him to take him out of the running to be king. " I will tell you privately of a plot, / which carried out will destroy your enemy / and make you very dear to me, / whose peace of mind remains uncertain while Banquo lives, / but would become perfect if he were dead." (3, 1, 104-108). All for a crown, he decides again to kill someone to get ahead. He keeps letting his temptations get the best of him. He has lost control and he isn't stoppingg until he can get his crown. 

     Everything is almost in line for Macbeth to become King, but when he hears that Macduff was in his way, he once again decides to kill more. He finally becomes king but his greedy personality creates news enemies that want to tear him down in battle. " I have lived long enough. My life-style / has been transformed into a shriveled and faded leaf," ( 5, 8, 22-23) He realizes after all that he's done to get the crown, it hasn't done anything good to him. All that we risk for something we want has no meaning if it makes us a bad person. The guilt even consumed Lady Macbeth to a point where she couldn't even handle it. By himself, Macbeth is now faced with Macduff and he loses the battle. He loses his crown and life leaving the throne to Malcolm, son of King Duncan. "Life is a tale / told by an idiot, full of noise and rage, / but meaning nothing." (5, 5, 26-28) Macbeth toward the end of his life became more and more mad. If we let one thing control our entire lives, we lose out on all the other opportunities. Although Macbeth finally got what he wanted, the crown,  but never got the happiness of being a king. 

     The play Macbeth shows how our temptations get the worst of us. It can control us to do wrong things to get what we want. All Macbeth wanted was to be king and to have power, which he got, but through it all he was paranoid and unhappy with all that was going on. He had to commit murder after murder to even come close to the crown. Lady Macbeth also want the crown but it all just became too much for her to handle. In the end, they both end up not happy with their lives. What they wanted took control and they did things they never thought they would. Wanting things is a habit. We we're told to wish for our dreams and to go after what we want, but there are always obstacles to get there. We should always go and get what we want but we shouldn't do wrong things to get it. If you need to go against what your morals to get there, what you want isn't worth it. Work for your dreams and accomplish them in the right way. If we start doing wrong things to get what we want, all we'll end up with is a corrupted world.