Rayyan Ahamad

Explore how Shakespeare presents the theme of Power in Macbeth?

Shakespeare presents the theme of power in the play Macbeth in quite a few different ways.

Macbeth, as it was written in 1606, was heavily influenced by witchcraft and the supernatural.

Power is presented through these supernatural appearances as well as the presentation of physical

power, and power of the mind. There is also a presentation of loss of power nearing the end of

the play. The different forms of power are portrayed through the different characters in the play,

like Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the witches. The type of power that is portrayed differs from

each character.

Shakespeare presents a form of power through the portrayal of the protagonist Macbeth. During

Act 1 scene 2 the captain praises Macbeth for his bravery and strength. “Doubtful it stood… but

all’s too weak, for brave Macbeth”. From this we can understand how much physical power

Macbeth possesses. “Doubtful it stood…” From this we can infer that the battle seemed tied, no

one was winning or losing. “but all’s too weak, for brave Macbeth” However with the

intervention of Macbeth it was a certain win. Macbeth’s power is intimidating not just to the

captain or the enemy but to the Jacobean audience as well. We haven’t even met Macbeth yet

and we know how powerful he is. The captain continues to say “with his brandished steel, which

smoked with bloody execution”. “With his brandished steel,” Comparing Macbeth to steel, a

very strong metal, shows how truly powerful Macbeth is. Macbeth is as strong as one of the

strongest metals. The captain is praising Macbeth however, he is also trying to intimidate the

King. He wants to portray Macbeth as powerful yet loyal as well. “Which smoked with bloody

execution” Execution is usually used when a traitor has been captured. Which again would show
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Macbeth’s loyalty. This makes the audience feel intimidated by Macbeth however they have

respect for the bravery of Macbeth. However this is quite ironic because as soon as we meet

Macbeth for the first time, his loyalty starts to falter at the thought of power.

Another form of power that is portrayed throughout the play, is the portrayal of the supernatural.

This is mainly portrayed through the three witches. The witches are portrayed with power that is

conventional. The witches use their power for manipulation. They manipulated Macbeth into

killing the King. Their power and prophecy influenced Macbeth into doing so. This is portrayed

when the first witch says “I’ll drain him dry as hay. Sleep shall neither night or day hang upon

his penthouse lid”. This quote tells the audience how powerful the witches are. It shows how the

witches can literally influence a person’s life without them knowing. They can make it so that a

person can’t sleep during the day nor night. This clearly shows to the audience that the witches

play a huge role in this play. “I’ll drain him dry as hay.” The simile in this quote suggests that the

witches literally have the power to suck the life out of people and make them “dry as hay”.

Another way that this is portrayed is when the witches prophecies Macbeth being king. “All hail,

Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter”. This is said at the beginning of the play. But the audience

knows that Macbeth isn’t the king. He was just named Thane of Cawdor. The witches saying

“hereafter” means they know something that we don’t. This shows their power, and increases

that mystery factor that they already have. It raises the question, how powerful are these witches?

And what do they know?

Shakespeare also uses Lady Macbeth’s character to portray the power of the mind. She uses her

mind to manipulate and influence Macbeth into killing the king. This of course is all out of
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ambition. The ambition which later on in the play will be the Macbeth’s downfall. The

manipulative power that Lady Macbeth has is portrayed when she says, “When you durst do it,

then you were a man”. Lady Macbeth calls him a coward at that killing King Duncan will prove

to her otherwise. Again Shakespeare uses irony here, as before we even met Macbeth he was

portrayed as this brave and powerful character. However Lady Macbeth clearly doesn't think so.

“then you were a man”. She is suggesting here that Macbeth isn’t a man, and will only become

one by killing the King. Which is again suggested when she says, “And to be more than what

you were, you would be so much more the man”. However, this time she is saying that he will

become more of a man than he previously was. This confuses Both Macbeth and the audience as

Lady Macbeth contrasts what she said before. Showing even more how she can easily

manipulate and influence not just Macbeth but the audience as well. Linking to the time of the

play, 1606 women were thought to be lesser beings, and that men were supposed to be superior.

Being a man meant that people would know you were strong, powerful and they were respected.

The effect that this has is the audience can see how cunning, smart and unlady like Lady

Macbeth was. She has the aspects of a man. She is the one who is more ambitious for the power

that the king possesses, than the person who if the king dies would possess. Another example of

Lady Macbeth’s manipulative power is shown when she says “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 to this.” Lady Macbeth is trying to make Macbeth feel guilty, she is

trying to guilt-trip him into killing the King, into committing murder. She uses barbaric language

and imagery like “...dashed the brains out…” to further manipulate Macbeth. Because of this

Macbeth now feels guilty, because if she would do this for him then it would be wrong for him

not to do this for her.

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Finally, Shakespeare portrays the theme of power is the hamartia of Lady Macbeth. Lady

Macbeth was very powerful through her mind. Which is shown through her manipulative

prowess that is portrayed throughout the first 3 acts in the play. However in the 4th act we can

see that she is guilt stricken and quite clearly going insane because of this. “Since his majesty

went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her

closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon ’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed;

yet all this while in a most fast sleep.” Lady Macbeth is losing her sanity, she is losing her mind.

The power hunger of Lady Macbeth has turned into guilt stricken insanity. The same thing, the

same order, the same time of every single night. She is clearly very ill. Her strong and powerful

mind has been reduced to ruble. This displays to the audience the conflict that Lady Macbeth is

experiencing. This could invoke pity for Lady Macbeth, her hamartia is mentally painful. Her

hamartia was the cause of guilt while Macbeth’s was mostly because he was too ambitious and

suffered because of this. “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t.

Hell is murky! … Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.”

This shows that even though she wanted this to happen she is still filled with the guilt of being a

part of the Kings murder. When she mentions “Yet who would have thought the old man to have

had so much blood in him.” she could feel that while the blood on her hands may have physically

been clean, but mentally it can never be washed away. “Hell is murky! …” Here she realises the

consequence that she will face for the actions she has made. The audience may have mixed

emotions because of this. They would have this feeling of disgust for her involvement in the

murder of King Duncan. However they may feel a slight bit of pity and sorrow for Lady

Macbeth, as she is now mentally unstable and ill.

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To conclude Shakespeare portrays that there are many different forms of power; And that it is

not just physical power. Power comes in all shapes and sizes, it doesn’t necessarily mean that

you deserve that power however. Shakespeare is trying to portray that not everybody is destined

for power. That power is not something that everyone can handle and keep in control. He is also

trying to prove that the way you obtain that power also has an effect on whether you are worthy

enough to wield it. Macbeth may have had the power of a king and Lady Macbeth of a queen.

However, they weren’t worthy of this power, as the way that they obtained their power was in a

way that was unconditional. Lady Macbeth, one of the most powerful characters in the play, was

foiled from the guilt that she felt from being involved in King Duncan’s demise.