As a young adult, one goes to school, studies hard, maintains good grades, and works to achieve the same goal as everybody else. Everyone wants to obtain power, because power is often equivalent to money. The ambition for power can be seen as a harmless goal, but many times can lead to the downfall of a person. Greed, combined with the addiction to the most power as possible, is not a good combination. In the book Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth hears a prophecy that he will one day be King, and wants to do anything to fulfill it. A once noble warrior is consumed by desire and influenced by his wife, and ends up murdering King Duncan. From then on, Macbeth is no longer the same person, and continues to make more bad decisions. He ends up being King, but is swallowed by guilt and paranoia, which eventually are the causes of his death. Too much power in such a short time is overwhelming and controlling. People make bad decisions in the fear of losing it. Macbeth, by Shakespeare, portrays that when one is placed in the hands of power, all morals and beliefs that they once had are forgotten, because power transforms one into a lesser version of themselves.
Macbeth was once a respected, honorable man, until he received the news that he could possibly be King. From that point on, his character had gone in a downward spiral. "I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o'erlaps itself." (1.7.25-27) King Duncan was a perfectly good king, but Macbeth killed him for the benefit of his own good. It didn't occur to him that there were other ways to become the King, he chose the easy, quick path, rather than working hard to achieve his goal. "By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good/All causes shall give way." (3.4.137-38) Macbeth decided that he would do whatever it took to fulfill the prophecy, no matter what evil deeds he would have to do. His character is already changing for the worse, just because he's hopeful of the promise of power.
As the addiction to power becomes stronger, Macbeth loses most of his humanity and emotion. "She should have died hereafter;/There would have been a time for such a word,/To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow." (5.5.17-20) Instead of weeping at the loss of his wife, Macbeth barely thinks twice about it and says that it was bound to happen. There were more important things that he'd rather worry about it, and his wife's death was just a part of life. "The castle of Macduff I will surprise,/Seize upon Fife, give to th'edge o'th'sword/His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls."(4.1.150-53) Compared to his first murder, the vile acts that Macbeth are committing are getting uncontrollable. A person who is capable of killing an innocent child is one who has lost pretty much all aspects of their morals.
In the end, Macbeth's character is almost unrecognizable. The traits and characteristics that consumed him towards the end made him a totally different person. "Do call it valiant fury: but for certain,/He cannot buckle his distempered cause/Within the belt of rule."(5.2.13-15) Macbeth became this crazy, unpredictable man who lived his life based off of a prophecy that witches had told him. He lost all self control due to the guilt and paranoia that built up in him over the journey to acquire his power. "I have supped full with horrors;/Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts,/Cannot once start me."(5.5.13-15) At this point, Macbeth had lost all feelings and was basically a walking skeleton. The abundance of power that he claimed in such a short time was overwhelming and stripped him of his compassion for others. All ethics and principles that he once followed was forgotten in his race to become the King.
From his wrongdoings and shortcuts, Macbeth came to a point in which he could no longer be saved. Throughout the book, Macbeth transformed from a person who would do anything to protect his country, to one that almost ended up destroying it. Just from the presence of power, he changed to a unrecognizable version of himself, and forgot everything that he once stood for. Macbeth is a representation of why one should work hard for the things that they want in life, instead of expecting to get by off of cheating. No matter how happy a person thinks they may be from achieving their goal, doing it in the wrong way will only bring them unhappiness in the future.
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