In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, how is power represented and what purpose does it serve? In William Shakespeare's Macbeth the composer emphasizes the controlling force that power has over another being. Shakespeare uses many types of powers in different contexts, such as domestic power, supernatural power, and the power of the natural order within Elizabethan society. The composer uses these powers within the text not to illustrate but also to highlight their controlling and possessive influence on the text's central figures. The climax of the play is where the protagonist faces the consequences of his actions in succumbing to external pressures and internal hunger for ambition and power. In examining such desires he is killed, embodying the rigidity of the natural order to which all citizens during the Elizabethan era must conform. Through the characterization of the protagonist Macbeth, Shakespeare encapsulates the forces of control that power exerts on its victims. One of the powers Macbeth is drawn to through external influences such as...