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Modern Day Parallels to Macbeth Shakespeare
Macbeth was a very greedy and unhappy man who was very susceptible to pressure. Everyone in todays modern world fits the Macbeth mold in one sense or another. There is not a living being that has never fallen prey to peer pressure, greed or jealousy.
Macbeth had always desired and dreamed of being King and ruling over the country. His wife wanted Macbeth to be King, therefore Macbeth wanted to rule even more. Lady Macbeth also craved to be the Queen of Scotland. The pressures that Lady Macbeth laid upon Macbeth were unmeasurable. Macbeth was constantly influenced by his wife.
Macbeth had many dreams and wishes of ruling over Scotland. He was a very ambitious man. His desires and visions of being King seemed possible and achievable. With the influences of his wife and the foresights of the three witches, Macbeth realized that his dreams could become reality. Selfishly, not thinking of others, Macbeth committed murder to become King. He killed Duncan, the King of Scotland. Macbeth was a very greedy and thoughtless person.
In a way, Macbeth could be classified as jealous. He was obviously a bit jealous of Duncan because Duncan had everything, including happiness. Duncan was the King and Macbeth was not. This could cause a lot of jealousy. Macbeth had desires and wishes but they were unattainable with Duncan around.
In the end of the story everyone loses respect for Macbeth and realizes that he was the one who killed Duncan. Macbeth was killed. This seems like a high price to pay just to be King. The strange thing is that Macbeth was filled with extreme guilt and sadness. He could not even enjoy his time of rulership.
A classic modern day parallel to Macbeth who fits the Macbeth mold is Tanya Harding. Tanya was a figure skater who was not number one. Kim Campbell on the other hand was a very good skater who had potential and great talents on the ice. When Kim was competing for third place and Tanya was below tenth, Tanya lost her common sense and was filled with jealousy and greed. All of her hopes and ambitions seemed to be disappearing Tanya believed Kim was all to blame. Tanya hired her bodyguard to clobber and beat Kim in the knee with a baseball bat. Kim was severely damaged and was not able to compete.
Tanya could have been pushed or influenced into this act by her friends, family and even her coach. She could have felt as though her family and friends were counting on her to do well. So many people were watching while she felt as though she was failing. Perhaps Tanya felt that the only way she could make her fans proud was to win. Her only choice would be to get rid of a top competitor.
Tanya is still trying to regain honour from society and all her old fans but no one will be able to forget the tragedy and the mistake that Tanya committed to achieve a medal in skating. She still struggles with the loss of friends and the loss of respect.
Scar, from the "Lion King" also fits the Macbeth mold. Scar was very jealous of his brother Mufassa who was the King. Scar could only dream and wish of someday becoming ruler over the Pride Lands. If he ever did become King Scar knew that Mufassa and his son Simba would have to be out of the picture. Scar had many plans and tried many times to kill Simba, but it never worked. He finally came up with a plan that would kill both Mufassa and Simba. He planned that the two of them would be caught in the middle of a horrible stampede.
Simba escaped safely from the stampede but Mufassa was trapped. He managed to climb up a cliff. Scar was at the top of the cliff. Mufassa reached out his paw to his brother for help. Instead of pulling his brother up, Scar drove his nails into Mufassa's paw. Mufassa fell and was killed.
Simba ran to his father. Scar came up behind Simba and told him that he was the cause of his father's death. Scar encouraged Simba to flee from the Pride Lands and never return. Simba took his uncle's advice and ran away, followed by three murderers hired by Scar. Simba made it to safety and lived in the jungle.
Scar became King and enjoyed the time that he ruled very much, although none of the other animals had any respect for him. In the end of the story Simba returned to discover that Scar had killed his father. Scar was killed.
Even though Scar became king, he only ruled for a couple of years. The death of his brother brought happiness to his life. This proves that this character was very selfish and greedy. No feelings or sensations for others would get in the way of Scar becoming King. Scar had constantly dreamed of being King and did anything to achieve his goal, including murdering his own flesh and blood.
The most popular person in todays modern world that does fit the Macbeth mold is probably O.J. Simpson. O.J. has been proven guilty of the crime of murder. He has supposedly killed his wife, Nicole Brown.
Why did he do it? Well, there may be many reasons. O.J. and Nicole were in the middle of a divorce. If the divorce would have been completed, O.J. would have to pay Nicole alimony. As O.J. is a very wealthy man, he probably would have had to pay a large sum of money. If this was the reason why O.J. killed his wife, O.J. can be looked upon as being very greedy and selfish.
O.J. also has two children. The mother of the children usually gets custody of the kids in divorce settlements. Perhaps O.J. loved his children so much that he could not bear to loose them. O.J. killed for his own needs and desires. He may of had ambitions and goals for his children which were being taken away from him.
The divorce between O.J. and Nicole was not settled. Nicole was dating another man (who was also murdered). Since the divorce was not clear, this dating could be looked upon as an affair. Perhaps O.J. was jealous of this man. Maybe, out of selfishness, greed and jealousy O.J. went to far when he decided to murder his wife.
O.J. has lost a lot of money, friends and trust. Not only has he lost most of his trust with friends and family, he has also lost trust and respect from the public and his fans. Faith and trust is very important in life. O.J. fell prey to ambition, greed and jealousy, just like Macbeth.
Everyone in todays modern world fits the Macbeth mold in someway or another. There is not a single person that can honestly say that they have never been jealous, greedy or filled with hopes and ambitions. It is not wrong to dream once and a while, as long as it stays in control.