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Similarities Between As I Lay Dying And Macbeth

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In As I Lay Dying and Macbeth, certain characters naturally readjust the extent to which they reveal their true selves to the outside world following the demise of their leader. This culminates in a shift of power and leads the characters on a distinct and troubling journey. The death of a matriarch or patriarch in both As I Lay Dying and Macbeth shifts the power by revealing individual agendas and the justification of unsavory actions. In As I Lay Dying, Addie’s death as the matriarch of the Bundren family shifts the power by uncovering the true intentions of Anse, her husband. Before she dies, Addie expresses that she wants to be buried in Jefferson. When she does, Anse appears obsessed with burying her there. Her death shifts the power …show more content…

Macbeth instantly clings to the witches’ prophecy that he will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor and King. A shift in power is created as Lady Macbeth crafts a plot to murder Duncan, the king of Scotland, so that Macbeth may gain power by ascending the throne. The power in their marriage leans at first towards Lady Macbeth as she tells Macbeth, “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, / And we'll not fail” (I.vii.60-61). Lady Macbeth places pressure on Macbeth and ensures him that the plot will unfold rightly. By challenging him to follow through with the plan and kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth establishes herself as an ambitious and manipulative counterpart. Macbeth’s vision is obscured with evil, and he loses sight of the importance of relationships as he disregards others. He says, “Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires” (I.iv.52-53). Macbeth suspects that his dark desires for the throne and for power will be revealed. He hopes that God does not exist and that his crime will go unpunished. This premeditation on Macbeth’s part conveys the mental processing that went into his ultimate decision to go through with killing Duncan. By asking that the light not illuminate his desires, Macbeth crafts secrecy and careful thought around his …show more content…

. .The witches are exile from that violent order, inhabiting their own sisterly community” (Brown 159). Macbeth’s encounters with the witches is what releases his lust for power, which the play portrays as evil. From this point of view, the witches were the key force behind Macbeth’s lust for power, and they represent a sisterly community that works separately from the violence of society. Macbeth is a very ambitious character, and his desire to be King drives and shapes his behavior and sets him up for an unsavory sequence of final events, which is caused by his indecisiveness and his understanding of success. This lust for power and improved social status leads Macbeth to an evil that fails his destiny and leads to his downfall. He justifies his actions through the belief that fate is working on his side, and he uses the witches’ prophecy as a scapegoat on which to blame his poor

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