Greed in Macbeth Essay

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Greed is the excessive desire to acquire or possess more, and it is also one of the biggest creators of tragedy. This is so vividly shown in both the novel The Sun Also Rises and in the play Macbeth. In The Sun Also Rises, this greed is directed toward a person, Lady Brett Ashley. Five men; Mike, Jake, Pedro, Bill, and the Count, are fighting to be with her throughout the book. In Macbeth, this greed is directed toward power as Macbeth wanted to become King, and what he does to become it. However, this greed led to the collapse of each character. Lady Ashley left all five men, leaving them devastated, while in Macbeth; an opposing army overthrew Macbeth. In both stories, greed drives the main character to do something, which is then …show more content…
She abandons Jake and leaves him devastated, and he ends up drinking non-stop throughout the book as he sees her do the same thing she did to him, to all his friends. This was the fall of the character, Jake, as he was left heartbroken. This can compare to when Macbeth was overthrown and killed by Macduff. He had tried to kill Macduff, because according to the witches, they had told Macbeth to beware of Macduff. Macbeth had thought that he was invincible after hearing the new prophecies, and was confident he could kill Macduff, since any person born by a woman couldn't kill him. However, he was wrong because "Macduff was from his mother's womb untimely ripped," and Macbeth was killed in a swordfight. Malcolm then became King of Scotland, gaining his rightful place on the throne. Therefore, in the end, greed was the cause for the characters collapse.

Overall in both The Sun Also Rises and Macbeth, greed plays an important role in the life leading to the downfall of the character. The stories are similar through the greed that drives the characters to search for something they want, achieve that goal, but in the end is responsible for their downfall. The characters in both stories are blinded by greed and cannot see the obstacles that they must overcome in the future; and

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