Argument #2: Greed without
Power is not the root of all evil.
L A D Y M A C B E T H ’ S D E P E N D E N CE O N M A C B E T H
Root of all evil?
 We’re looking to prove that, like power, greed alone
is not the root of all evil.
or
 You can use this to prove that greed is the root of all
evil (you would have to edit the working thesis, of
course). You could argue that nothing would happen
without greed, and so it’s the source of evil.
Act I, scene v: Summary
 Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth. The letter
announces Macbeth’s promotion to the thaneship of Cawdor
and details his meeting with the witches. Lady Macbeth
murmurs that she knows Macbeth is ambitious, but fears he is
too full of “th’ milk of human kindness” to take the steps
necessary to make himself king (1.5.15). She resolves to
convince her husband to do whatever is required to seize the
crown.
 A messenger enters and informs Lady Macbeth that the king
rides toward the castle, and that Macbeth is on his way as
well. She resolves to put her natural femininity aside so that
she can do the bloody deeds necessary to seize the crown.
Macbeth enters, and he and his wife discuss the king’s
forthcoming visit. Macbeth tells his wife that Duncan plans to
depart the next day, but Lady Macbeth declares that the king
will never see tomorrow. She tells her husband to have
patience and to leave the plan to her.
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt You are thane of Glamis and Cawdor, and
be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear you’re going to be king, just like you were
thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of promised. But I worry about whether or
human kindness To catch the
not you have what it takes to seize the
nearest way: thou wouldst be
crown. You are too full of the milk of
great,Art not without ambition, but human kindness to strike aggressively at
without The illness should attend it. your first opportunity. You want to be
What thou wouldst highly ,That wouldst powerful, and you don’t lack ambition,
thou holily; wouldst not play false, And but you don’t have the mean streak that
yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou’ ld’st have, these things call for. The things you want
great Glamis, That which cries, “Thus
to do, you want to do like a good man.
thou must do,” if thou have it, And that You don’t want to cheat, yet you want
which rather thou dost fear to do, Than what doesn’t belong to you. There’s
wishest should be undone. Hie thee
something you want, but you’re afraid to
hither, That I may pour my spirits do what you need to do to get it. You want
in thine ear And chastise with the it to be done for you. Hurry home so I can
valor of my tongue All that impedes persuade you and talk you out of
thee from the golden round, Which whatever’s keeping you from going after
fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To the crown. After all, fate and witchcraft
have thee crowned withal.
both seem to want you to be king.
Analysis
 We have previously seen Macbeth’s uncertainty
about whether he should take the crown by killing
Duncan. In this speech, there is no such confusion,
as Lady Macbeth is clearly willing to do whatever is
necessary to seize the throne. Her strength of
purpose is contrasted with her husband’s tendency to
waver. This speech shows the audience that Lady
Macbeth is the real steel behind Macbeth and that
her ambition will be strong enough to drive her
husband forward.
Come, you spirits That tend on mortal
thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me
from the crown to the toe top-full Of
direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.
Stop up the access and passage to
remorse, That no compunctious
visitings of nature Shake my fell
purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my
woman’s breasts, And take my milk for
gall, you murd'ring ministers, Wherever
in your sightless substances You wait
on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of
hell, That my keen knife see not the
wound it makes, Nor heaven peep
through the blanket of the dark To cry
“Hold, hold!”
Come, you spirits that assist murderous
thoughts, make me less like a woman
and more like a man, and fill me from
head to toe with deadly cruelty! Thicken
my blood and clog up my veins so I
won’t feel remorse, so that no human
compassion can stop my evil plan or
prevent me from accomplishing it!
Come to my female breast and turn my
mother’s milk into poisonous acid, you
murdering demons, wherever you hide,
invisible and waiting to do evil! Come,
thick night, and cover the world in the
darkest smoke of hell, so that my sharp
knife can’t see the wound it cuts open,
and so heaven can’t peep through the
darkness and cry, “No! Stop!”
Look like th' innocent
flower, But be the
serpent under ’t. He
that’s coming Must be
provided for; and you shall
put This night’s great
business into my dispatch,
Which shall to all our
nights and days to
come Give solely
sovereign sway and
masterdom.
You should look like an
innocent flower, but be
like the snake that hides
underneath the flower.
The king is coming, and
he’s got to be taken care of.
Let me handle tonight’s
preparations, because
tonight will change every
night and day for the rest
of our lives.
Putting it all together…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Moreover, both greed and power alone are not the
roots of all evil. Lady Macbeth’s ambition is
Topic sentence
greedy in that she has no resolve for others, but
State purpose
she is ineffectual without her husband’s power.
She asks the spirits to fill her with “direst cruelty.
Evidence
Make thick my blood. Stop up the access and
Explain evidence
passage to remorse, That no compunctious
Analyse evidence
visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor
Conclusion sentence keep peace between The effect and it!” (I.v.42-45).
Lady Macbeth is effectually asking the spirits to
help her in her future selfish acts—that nature
would otherwise not allow. Moments later she
asks to be unsexed and for her husband to hurry
home. All together, it suggests that her greed is
dependent upon masculinity, or, in other words,
power. Lady Macbeth’s greed alone is insufficient
to change the course of their lives.
Remember, the other option….
 The other thesis or argument option is that power is
not the root of all evil, but greed is. You would look
to Lady Macbeth and descriptions of her as evil to
prove that.
 We’ll start that next time…