Perseverance In The Play Macbeth example essay topic

Courage, Ambition, Perseverance In the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, one can examine the characteristics of the three kings and decide which traits make the best leader. According to the play, these traits include courage, ambition, and perseverance. However, these traits are dependent upon the motivating force behind the individual. In Shakespeare's play, motivation by love of country molds the traits into a successful kingship whereas motivation by selfish or purely political desires leads to ruin. Throughout the play, Macbeth shows two different types of courage, one motivated by loyalty to his country and the other based on his political desires.

Courage and violence are interchangeable according to Alan S infield, "Violence is good, in this view, when it is in the service of the prevailing dispositions of power; when it disrupts them, it is evil". As the play begins, Macbeth shows unusual courage when he helps the king fight for his country. As the captain said, "For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valor's minion carved out his passage Till he faced the slave; Which nev'r shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unsealed him from the nave to th' chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements". With this violent description of Macbeth's loyalty to his country, one can see that he shows no mercy to those rebelling against the king. His courage and fortitude help win the war and make him the country's hero. Later in the play, Macbeth continues to exhibit courage, but his motivation has changed from duty to country to purely political and personal gain.

This motivational change eventually leads to his downfall. Ambition is another quality essential to being a good king. Both Duncan and Macbeth were ambitious men, but perhaps the most ambitious character in the play was Lady Macbeth. Whereas Duncan and, in the beginning, Macbeth, were motivated by love of country, Lady Macbeth's ambition was purely for personal gain. In her emotional monologue, "The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements.

Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood... ". , Lady Macbeth indicated that she would do anything to seize the thrown from Duncan. She was able to manipulate Macbeth and turn his ambition from what was good for country to what was good for Macbeth and herself. This naked grab for power as shown by their plotting and murdering of King Duncan and positioning Macbeth to replace him as king, eventually led to the corruption of their characters and to the downfall of Macbeth's reign as king.

According to A.C. Bradley in his critical essay on Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are "two characters fired by one and the same passion of ambition; and to a considerable extent they are alike". Although ambition is necessary for one to become king, according to Shakespeare, the motivational force is just as important. Perseverance is another valued quality in a leader. It is very important that a leader stick to what he believes in once a course of action has begun.

Given the proper motivation, perseverance provides stability for the country and allows a trust to be formed between the king and his subjects. In the case of Macbeth, at first he was not convinced that killing the king was a good idea. However, when Lady Macbeth said, "What beast was 't then That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, the you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place did then adhere, and yet you would make both. They have made themselves, and that their fitness now Does unmake you", she shamed him into the assassination.

Once the murder was done, however, Macbeth persevered to become king and maintain power. Perseverance causes progress for either good or bad. Again, the motivational force behind the perseverance is essential to whether the progress is good or bad. Whether these three traits courage, ambition, and perseverance lead to a successful kingship or to tyranny and a personal downfall depends on the driving force behind them. Both types of kings, Duncan and Macbeth, are exemplified in Macbeth; however, the focus has been on Macbeth and his corruption.

Courage, ambition, and perseverance were all qualities Macbeth possessed; however, his reasons for using them were flawed and corrupt and led to his downfall..