Jeremy Keeshin

Macbeth: The Story of Human Incentive

The wise philosopher Aristotle said in his book Politics, “It is the nature of desire

not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.” In this sentence,

Aristotle was picking at the fundamental tenet behind human drive. Aristotle realized

what Shakespeare was to realize many years later in his play Macbeth about greed.

Aristotle observed the inherently persistent nature of greed, and how humans exist

entirely for its fulfillment. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the characters are all

motivated by their natural human incentives, and the power achieved by Macbeth cause

him to become corrupt and is the underlying catalyst behind the plot.

Macbeth’s response to incentives is evident throughout the play when he decided

to aggressively pursue the fate set out by the witches. Throughout the play he sets these

goals for himself, and uses his knowledge asymmetry to fulfill them. Macbeth finds out

early in the play that he is destined to a certain fortune. The witches greet him with the

eerie titles of Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and king hereafter. His selfish want and

curiosity cause him to demand the witches an explanation. Macbeth says, “Stay, you

imperfect speakers. Tell me more. By Sinel’s death I know I am Thane of Glamis. But

how of Cawdor? The Thane of Cawdor lives a prosperous gentleman, and to be king

stands not within the prospect of belief, no more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence

you owe this strange intelligence or why upon this blasted heath you stop our way with

such prophetic greeting. Speak, I charge you” (1.3. 73-81). Whenever Macbeth is offered

information from the witches, he seems to extract it forcefully. He demands it from them

early in Act 1, but also does again later in Act 4. Macbeth demands, “I conjure you by
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that which you profess (Howe’er you come to know it), answer me” (4.1.51-52). The

prophecies lent to Macbeth offer him an advantage against his opponents, as he knows

what the final outcome will be. He knows he will be king, so he decided to make this

dream a reality through his own force.

The character of Macbeth is the epitome of the flow of impetus and motivations in

human beings. Once he realizes he will be ‘king hereafter’ he wants to kill Duncan. Once

he kill’s Duncan and has ascended the throne he wants to protect it. Macbeth

demonstrates some of the most fundamental human motivations. He wants power, he

goes after the power, and he struggles to maintain the power. While Macbeth preserves

his power, he sees Banquo as a threat and does what any person would do to competition:

he eliminates him. He even convinces two men to murder Banquo who have no prior

grudge against him. Macbeth says, “Both of you know Banquo was your enemy”

(3.1.129-130). He is lying blatantly to them, and the idea that he is king is convincing

enough to get them to commit a murder. The essence of his character is best summed up

as a power hungry and greedy individual. Once Macbeth has attained power, he will

cease at nothing to guard over it. Late in the book, Lady Macbeth is ill and dies from the

realization of the sheer magnitude of the crimes she has perpetrated, but Macbeth fails to

stop his greed. Macbeth says after Lady Macbeth has passed, “She should have died

hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow and tomorrow and

tomorrow creeps in this petty pace form day to day to the last syllable of recorded time,

and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!”

(5.3.20-26). Macbeth is so caught up in his own desired that he cannot take time out to

stop and mourn the death of his wife. Macbeth’s character shows the inherent corruption
 Jeremy Keeshin

that comes with power. At the beginning of the play, his character does not seem power

hungry and conniving, but after he becomes king and starts killing people, his entire

demeanor changes.

The other characters in Macbeth exhibit a large amount of response to their own

incentives and selfish actions. Lady Macbeth is arguably as selfish or more selfish than

Macbeth because she attempts to act out her ambitions through him. She wants to gain

the crown, so she pushes him into the murder of Duncan. Macduff, the Scottish noble

who eventually kills Macbeth in a duel, has his own motives as well. Macduff acts

selfishly when he leaves his wife and child alone in Scotland when he flees to England.

He only lingers on the news that they are dead for a moment until he moves on. Macduff

says, “But I must also feel it as a man. I cannot but remember such things were that were

most precious to me” (4.3.261-263). In this instance Macduff displays his own

selfishness when he cares not to think of his family that he left to die. Malcolm acts in a

very similar way with this greed. Malcolm tests the loyalty of Macduff, but while doing

so is very selfish and greedy, not thinking that Macduff’s belief in him is faltering.

Malcolm says how he would be even worse than Macbeth and that he would be even

more greedy and lustful than ever and it would not make him a good candidate. Malcolm

says to Macduff, “With this there grows a stanchless avarice that, were I king, I should

cut off the nobles for their lands, desire his jewels, and this other’s house; and my more-

having would be as a sauce to make me hunger more, that I should forge quarrels unjust

against the good and loyal, destroying them for wealth” (4.3.91-99). In this instance

Malcolm shows the same type of greed that Macbeth showed as well.
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In Shakespeare’s story Macbeth, the plot moved along because of human response

to incentives and power. The characters in this play, although all acting based off a

different perspective, acted off the same underlying reason. They each acted off their own

knowledge and motivation. Macbeth acted of the prophecies of the witches to gain the

power to the throne. This demonstration of incentives is why the values of Shakespeare’s

play are timeless. The morals that Aristotle told about human desire in his book Politics

were that same as Shakespeare told in Macbeth, which is the same as today’s society.

Humans are naturally greedy.