2. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Acton
To what extent would Shakespeare agree with this statement? Use the play and your own experience as your support.
Shakespeare's views of the phrase, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely", are shown throughout his play, Macbeth. The main character, Macbeth, immediately betrays his friend and the current king, Duncan at the start of the play, in order to assume the position of king. This is the first time in the play that we see first hand how the crave for power can corrupt an innocent and well liked man. Later in the play it is seen again when Macbeth's newly found power is threatened by his best friend, Banquo, when Banquo begins to question how Macbeth rose to power in the first place. The intimidated King Macbeth has his best friend murdered in order for his reign to continue. This is an example of how absolute power corrupts absolutely. Macbeth has gained more power then he ever could've imagined and this power corrupts him so much, he would even kill his best friend to ensure that he keeps it. We see throughout the play how Macbeth becomes more and more desperate to hold on to his power.
An example of power corrupting is seen everyday in high schools across the country. Everyone eventually experiences being "the big man on campus," or seniors in a high school. These 17 and 18 year old kids hold the most power out of all the students on campus. How these students respond to their new power of being looked up to and idolized by younger kids is different for everyone. While some students use their power in a positive way to mentor and guide younger kids, others choose to use their power in order to bully and make themselves feel bigger than they are. These few kids who are corrupt by the power of being the oldest on campus abuse their seniority to put down younger kids and make sure everyone knows who they are.
Jordan, you have raised some good points, and I really like how you related the quote to the high school popularity system. However, I do wonder if its simply power that corrupts people. When the big man on campus uses his impact in a negative way, is he corrupted simply because he has power? I think that power is certainly a dangerous tool that people take advantage of, but I don't think that power is the actual corrupter. In my opinion people use power, power doesn't use them.
ReplyDeleteJordan, I agree with the general message that is created by your post. One thing that you really made me think about was the connotation of the word power. The word can hold either an extremely positive connotation or an extremely negative one; no in-between. This led me to think that absolute power can also be used in a positive way. Instead of corrupting people, power also has the ability to enlighten people. Power is an extremely volatile tool, but I do not believe that absolute power leads to absolute corruption.
ReplyDeleteJordan, this is solid blog post and you included some great content and ideas. The idea of power and corruption can relate to what we are learning about in history. I think you make a great connection between being a senior and power corruption. You do a good job of creating an argument for Shakespeare and his view on power. Unlike Mark, I do believe that absolute power leads to absolute corruption.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really good analysis of how power can and does lead to negative consequences. Can you think of any examples in Macbeth where power does not lead to corruption and tyranny? I agree with Tyler that the connection made to high school was very helpful. I also thought it was interesting that Mark brought up the possibility of power leading only to either extreme good or extreme bad, and I would disagree with that. In fictional things it is often true that people with power end up as a hero or a villain, but in real life there are plenty of people in power that end up as neither. Simply looking at past presidents of the United States of America, I would not regard every president as someone extremely positive or extremely negative, since there are many whose names I do not even know.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens when we apply this question to Banquo? How does the possibility of power (through his heirs) corrupt Banquo?
ReplyDelete