Abby Miner

Period 1
Mrs. Clark
English 10H

THE DANGER OF PRIDE

Bear Grylls once said, A man's pride can be his downfall, and he needs to learn
when to turn to others for support and guidance. Grylls believes pride is fragile. It must
be contained, as it may eventually take control of men and their actions. In our society,
there have been countless times when people have let pride take over their lives. One of
these examples is in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. In the play,
Shakespeare demonstrates this idea by showing two characters: Macbeth and Macduff.
They are both men with noble power and authority. When pride gets into Macbeths
nature, it takes over his actions and results in bad decisions, whereas Macduff focuses on
others around him and uses his influence for good. Therefore, because of their choices,
Macbeth and Macduff differ with regard to their views of manhood and their murderous
thoughts.
Macbeth and Macduff differ in their ideas of what a man should be. Macbeth
believes men must not show weakness. If they do, they are considered unmanly and
cowardly. This is shown when Macbeth is under attack against the rebels and fighting for
his own life. He soon receives the news that Lady Macbeth is dead. Instead of grieving
over her death, he complains about the timing of the incident by saying, she should have
died hereafter/There would have been a time for such a word (V, v, 20-21). When

someone dies that was closely associated to someone else, they will usually take the time
to stop and take a moment of sadness, of reflection. Despite this, Macbeths lack of
emotion towards his wifes death shows that he believes men do not show weakness
because men must not be weak. By saying this, he also portrays that he was using Lady
Macbeth as a tool just to chase his ambitions. He did not sincerely care for her wellbeing. In contrast to Macbeths qualities, Macduff feels men should embrace the fact that
men can show weakness. This belief is noted when he discovers that Lady Macduff and
the rest of his family have been killed. He expresses that he cannot but remember such
things were/that were most precious to me (IV, iii, 263-264). Compared to Macbeth,
who thinks showing emotion is unmanly, Macduff believes that men can be saddened by
the loss of a loved one. He establishes the fact that he loved and cared for his family,
unlike Macbeth. As a final point, Macbeths emotions are skewed as we compare him to
Macduff, who believes men can show their faults and weaknesses, ultimately making
Macbeth look like less of a man.
Macbeth and Macduff have contrasting views of their murderous thoughts.
Although they are both murderers, Macduff is very specific with regards to the people he
kills. Macbeth will kill anyone in order to get what he wants. Macbeth believes
murdering for the sake of attaining ambitious goals is justified. His belief is shown when
Scotland is ill and wounded under Macbeths rule. He is so ambitious and ruthless that he
says, even till destruction sicken, answer me/to what I ask you (IV, i, 63-64). It is
morally wrong to cause this much destruction, but Macbeth will do anything, or kill
anyone and cause as much destruction as is needed, just to get what he is after.
Furthermore, as Macbeth becomes increasingly ambitious, the amount of destruction in

Scotland rises. In contrast, Macduff desires to stay loyal to the country and not cause any
unnecessary problems. He desires to make the right choices. This idea is demonstrated
after Macduffs family has been murdered because of Macbeth. As a result, Malcolm
convinces Macduff to kill Macbeth by saying, be this the whetstone of your sword; let
grief convert to anger/blunt not the heart; enrage it (IV,iii, 268-269). Unlike Macbeth,
who will kill anyone, Macduff has a motivation to kill Macbeth. Macbeth has done much
damage and caused much pain towards Macduff, thus, Macduff is compelled to get his
revenge on Macbeth. In this way, Macduff reveals that he requires a reason to kill another
human, and will not murder just to achieve ambitious desires. Macduff gives appropriate,
distinct reasons as to why he does the things that he does. Macbeth executes whomever
he feels, while Macduff is precise in his decisions. This demonstrates that Macbeth is
very brutal in his actions and shows little or no remorse.
Macbeth and Macduff differ with regard to their views of manhood and their
murderous thoughts.With these things considered, some critics might argue that Macbeth
was the reason Scotland was able to win the war at the beginning of the play. When
Macduff was captured during the same war, Macbeth was able to attain the victory
because of his fighting skills and abilities. Without him, Scotland would have been
defeated. However, even if Macbeth did initially bring Scotland to victory, and Macduff
was captured, how the two of them handle their pride throughout the rest of the play is
what determines their future. As Macbeth receives the reward of Thane of Cawdor after
the war, he continues to seek more authority, causing him to be caught up in pride.
Contradictory to this, as the play moves along, Macduff makes just choices and becomes
a better leader for Scotland as he remains loyal to his country. In society today, if people

are not able to control their egos and their ambitions, it will be the cause of their ultimate
downfall. If we are not careful with the things we do, our choices will consume us.