Greed in Macbeth

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 achieved, but eventually leads to the fall of him. The Sun Also Rises and Macbeth, greed causes the ultimate downfall of the main character.

Macbeth and Jake are led by greed to have ideas and thoughts that they should not have. Jake’s greed was driven by Brett’s physical beauty, once he saw her, he could not resist having her for himself. This is proven in the quote: “Brett was damned good-looking. She wore a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed shirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy’s. She started all that. She was built with curves like the hull of a racing yacht, and you missed none of that in that wool jersey.” (Page 29-30) This is showing his lust for Brett, as he exaggerates her looks comparing them to other things. This is comparable to Macbeth, when the three witches tell Macbeth that he is going to be King. This causes him to be greedy and he wants to believe them. However, he is not supposed to think disloyally to the King, and in those days, plotting against the King is considered like plotting against God. For example, when Ross informs Macbeth that he is the Thane of Cawdor, and after Banquo warns Macbeth not to trust the witches, Macbeth speaks aside and contemplates that he might be King, and then realizes that these thoughts are not right. This greed, on both characters, eventually leads them to accomplishing what their greed pushed them to do.

In both stories, the main character achieves the goal that their greed compels them to do. In The Sun Also Rises, Jake’s lust for Brett drives him to have an affair with her, in which he thinks that she dearly loves him and he loves her. During the affair, Jake is always so tight with Brett, meaning he does not give her much freedom. Jake lets Brett dance with other friends and drink with other people, but any move that would be against their relationship, Jake would get angry. For example, when Brett had a drink with Count Mippipolous, and invited him home, Jake made her send him away, even though the count did not have any thoughts on her at that time. This is easily comparable to Macbeth, by the fact that Macbeth is “indecisive and is a tyrannical leader”, and he did anything to stay in power. For example, when Macbeth hired the three murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance, because according to the witches, all of Banquo’s sons will be King. Eventually, this greed to achieve what was not intended for them ended in the defeat of the characters.

In The Sun Also Rises and Macbeth, the main character’s greed leads to his downfall when he took what was not meant to be his. Jake had thought throughout the affair that Brett loved him. The truth was that she was just with him because she liked to have affairs, and when she realized that he had