Rachel+H.

Macbeth and Hitler
Although their lives were centuries apart, Hitler and Macbeth lives were strikingly similar. Both were verbally abused by those who should have loved and cared about them. Not only were both involved in wars, but they were also very impressionable when they had little power. However, Hitler and Macbeth did anything that took them to their ultimate goal, without worrying about others. Most importantly, they share the trait of being power-hungry and conniving. These traits led Macbeth and Hitler to their own self-satisfying glory, and their subsequent, rapid downfall.

[|Adolf Hitler] was born on April 20, 1889 in Austria to Alois Hitler and Klara Polzl. As a result of Alois’ controlling demeanor, Adolf and his siblings were often physically and verbally abused. Likewise, in the beginning of Shakespeare’s //Macbeth//, Macbeth’s wife verbally abused him and told him what to do. For example, Lady Macbeth told Macbeth to murder Duncan. Macbeth then questioned his obedience to his wife by stating, "I am afraid to think what I have done;/Look on ‘t again I dare not" (2.2. 50-51). Consequently, Lady Macbeth told her husband to "Give me the daggers" (2.2. 52) and put them by the servants to make them look guilty. Adolf Hitler and Macbeth were not only verbally abused, but they were also frequently criticized and told what to do.

Adolf Hitler found that [|school] was very easy for him and discovered a love for drawing and painting. However, Adolf’s [|father] disapproved of his son’s desire to become a painter and sent his son to a technical school to become a civil servant, as he wanted Hitler follow in his footsteps. Adolf stated in his novel __Mein Kampf__, "I thought that once my father saw what little progress I was making at the [technical school] he would let me devote myself to the happiness I dreamed of." After his father’s death, Adolf dropped out of school due to lack of interest and decided to attend the [|Vienna Academy of Fine Arts]. However, he did not pass the [|entrance exam,]and later became homeless after his [|mother’s death]. Adolf’s constant failures led to depression and despair. Similarly, Macbeth’s wife constantly criticized him for his lack of manliness and told him what to do. Lady Macbeth states "He will again be well. If much you note him,/ You shall offend him and extend his passion./ Feed, and regard him not./Are you a man? (3.4. 57-59). However, as the play progressed, Macbeth becomes more confident and cocky which eventually lead him to his destruction. Macbeth’s egocentric attitude allowed Macduff to kill him.

The reason for Hitler’s downfall came in the form of the Nazi Party. Hitler became involved in politics after world war one, when he joined the [|German Workers’ Party] in 1919. Hitler was persuaded to join the party, just as Lady Macbeth pressured Macbeth to "Look like the innocent flower,/ But be the serpent under it," in her attempt to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan (1.7.65-66). A year later, Hitler was trying, and succeeding to gather support for his ideas concerning Jewish people, the [|Treaty of Versailles], and other issues in Germany after its loss of the war. He had a charismatic and electrifying way of speaking, and at one of his group’s first meetings, captivated the audience throughout his whole thirty-minute speech. More and more people began to support him and donated money to his cause, thus allowing his anti-Semitic ideas to reach more people through the use of media, such as newspapers and pamphlets. Many ex-soldiers of the German army were angry about the peace resulting from the [|Treaty of Versailles] and the German government that stemmed from it. In February of 1920, Hitler gave a speech outlining the [|Twenty-five points] in front of one of his largest audiences yet. As he received loud cheers and support after he read each point, Hitler knew that his ideas were a success, and that all his efforts to gain support were worth it- he believed that support for himself and his party would continue to grow. Comparably, Macbeth became power hungry after he became the Thane of Cawdor.

After Macbeth’s victory in battle at the start of the play, the king made him Thane of Cawdor (1.2.63-67). Hitler created his own victory in 1921 by coercing the other Nazi officials into making him chairman and giving him dictatorial powers. This provided Hitler access to an unprecedented amount of power. After being made Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth realized that he could rise to the position of king. He stated that in order to become king he had to get rid of the Prince of Cumberland- "The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step/ on which I must fall down or else o’erleap" (1.5.48-49).

At the Nazi’s next meeting a few weeks later, Hitler was officially given the title of "[|Führer]" of the Nazi party. In 1932, Hitler was offered the vice chancellor Prussian Minister of the Interior after he ran and lost the election for Presidency, and his subsequent goal of becoming Chancellor. He refused this offer and decided to wait a few weeks before trying to convince top officials to make him President. After several more failed attempts, he was finally backed-up by a group of Germany’s most eminent industrialist and business leaders. A few months later, at the end of January of 1933, Hitler was successful in attaining the Chancellorship. Just as Hitler was successful in attaining power, so was Macbeth. He killed the king (2.2.14), and made himself the King of Scotland (2.4.31-32).

After Hitler’s power was certain, he started to remove top military generals and officials who did not sympathize with the Nazi party’s views. The [|Night of Long Knives] in 1934 was a purging of those Hitler thought were too ambitious and posed a threat to him. Similarly, Macbeth had Banquo murdered (3.4.16-17) because of the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s family would one day control Scotland’s crown (1.3.7-8). Finally, just as the English forces come up to Scotland to remove Macbeth from power (5.7-8), so did the allied forces finally liberate Germany from Hitler in 1945.

Although Hitler and Macbeth lived in completely different time periods, they had very similar lives. Hitler and Macbeth were not only verbally abused by their family members, but they were also involved in war and were power-hungry, self-centered men. Hitler and Macbeth’s confident and cocky attitude led to their ultimate demise.

Works Cited


 * [|"Early Years, The." Adolf Hitler Photos. 2006-2008. 19 Mar 2008 .]
 * [|Grobman, Gary. "Adolf Hitler." 1990. 18 Mar 2008] <[|http://www.remember.org/guide/Facts.root.hitler.html>.]
 * [|History on the Net Group, "World War One-The Treaty of Versailles." History on the Net. 03 October 2007. 18 Mar 2008 .]
 * [|"National Socialist Images ." Hitler Historical Museum . 1998-1999. 19 Mar 2008 .]
 * [|"Nazi Party." Highbeam Online Encyclopedia. 2007. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 18 Mar 2008 .]
 * [|" Rise of Hitler, The." The History Place. 1996. 18 Mar 2008 <]http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/born.htm>.
 * [|Sage, Henry J.. "The Rise of Nazi Germany: The SS-State ." WORLD WAR II: The "Good War". 2 November 2006. 18 Mar 2008 .]
 * Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth." __Prentice Hall Literature__. Ed.. Kate Kinsella. Boston: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.
 * [|United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "A smiling Adolf Hitler greets a soldier.." United States Memorial Holocaust Museum web site. 19 Mar 2008 .]
 * [|United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, " Chancellor Adolf Hitler opens Reichsparteitag (Reich Party Day) ceremonies with an address at the historic town hall in Nuremberg. " United States Memorial Holocaust Museum web site. 19 Mar 2008 .]

By Brittany Colton and Rachel Hoffer