One’s true character traits can be hard to read. In the case of one’s ambition and his or her movement of power in the hierarchy, one’s instinctive choices show their true character traits. Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, produced by George Lucas and Rick McCallum, display characters’ who are merciless, savage, and courageous in the case of a shift of power in the hierarchy. To begin, Macbeth’s leading character Macbeth and Star Wars’ Emperor Palpatine are both prominent examples of one being merciless.
First off, the leading role, Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is ambitious to become king of Scotland. Macbeth proceeds to murder King Duncan to become king. But he does not stop there, later he demands “Banquo, thy soul’s flight, / If it find heaven, must find it out tonight,” along with that he murders many others, using his own hands or through the hands of The Murderers (Shakespeare, 146-147). Macbeth’s instinct to continue murdering people after becoming king shows how merciless and ruthless he really is.
As well, Star Wars’ Emperor Palpatine is determined to become the ruler of the galaxy. To do so, Palpatine’s instinct is to get Anakin Skywalker to help fight the Jedis with him, he tells Anakin what “a powerful sith you will become” and that Anakin’s new name is Darth Vader (Revenge of the Sith, 1:16:40). He persuades Anakin, an extremely cherished Jedi, to come to the dark side and kill his fellow Jedis. Palpatine does this with no remorse and continues on with his journey to rule the galaxy, displaying how merciless Palpatine truly is.
This is why Macbeth and Palpatine are prominent examples of one’s instinctive choices showing his merciless character. Next, Macbeth’s Lady Macbeth and Star Wars’ Anakin are great examples of one being truly savage. To start off, Lady Macbeth desired to become queen and have Macbeth be her king. Instinctively, Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth to murder Duncan and plants the daggers on the guards in order to help Macbeth become king and ultimately her become queen. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth “Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers.
The sleeping and the dead / Are but as pictures,” showing how she has no regret with what has just happened and therefore how savage she really is (Macbeth, 52-54). Secondly, Anakin wants to become a sith and rule the galaxy with Palpatine. Anakin’s wife and child bearer, Padme, comes to visit Anakin because she heard he switched to the dark side. Upon Padme questioning Anakin, Obi-Wan Kenobi exits the Naboo Cruiser; Anakin says to Padme “You’re with him. You’ve betrayed me! and intuitively begins to choke Padme (Revenge of the Sith, 1:46:20).
When Anakin releases Padme he does not apologize to her, nor does he realize that what he had done to her was wrong, displaying how savage Anakin truly is. Overall, this is why Lady Macbeth and Anakin Skywalker are great examples of one’s instinctive choices showing that he or she is completely savage. Finally, Macbeth’s Malcolm and Star Wars’ Obi-Wan Kenobi are strong examples of one being extremely courageous.
To begin, Malcolm from the play Macbeth aspires to be king and is next in line for the throne once Macbeth is destroyed. Instinctively, Malcolm says to Macduff that “Old Siward, with ten thousand warlike men, / Already at a point, was setting forth” to fight Macbeth (Macbeth, 136-137). Malcolm risking his life storming up Dunsinane Hill with the troops in order to become king of Scotland shows how courageous he is. Next, Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars has his position of Jedi Master and General in the Army of the Republic threatened by Anakin.
Obi-Wan chooses to fight Anakin, Obi-Wan says “I will do what I must” and ignites his lightsaber, initiating the battle against Anakin (Revenge of the Sith, 1:47:50). Fighting Anakin shows how courageous Obi-Wan is because he put his life at risk to hold his Jedi position and to better the lives of the people around him. For these reasons, Malcolm and Obi-Wan Kenobi are strong examples of one’s instinctive decisions showing that he is truly courageous.
In conclusion, Macbeth and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith’s characters are great examples of one’s instinctive choices showing him or her to be merciless, savage, and courageous in the case of one’s ambition and his or her movement of power in the hierarchy. Even in the case of real life ambition and movement of power in the hierarchy, one’s instinctive choices display his or her true character traits. One can look around and possibly be surrounded by people who easily fall under the same character traits despite their different situations. Therefore, when stakes are high everyone’s true character traits come out.
