“It might take a year, it might take a day, but what’s meant to be will always find its way. ” —Anonymous Fate and destiny are supernatural concepts that many take the time to consider while others disregard as notions beyond scientific understanding. The quote above represents the idea of providence; events that are intended to occur will occur and no one can stop them from taking place. In his writings of The Scottish Play, Shakespeare suggests that individuals have the ability to make choices associated with their fate.
Choices, that can assist or destroy them. A combination of predestined occurrences and formulated schemes caused Macbeth to rise and eventually fall from power in his society. When it comes to the 21st Century, we can associate Macbeth’s actions with those of modern day leaders. Whether it be Bashar al-Assad, Kim Jongun or Omar al-Bashir we can predict how the actions of these individuals could lead them to a potential downfall, as Macbeth’s had done. Born on September 11, 1965, Bashar Hafez al-Assad is the second son of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.
Now a brutal dictator, Assad, like Macbeth is said to have had no intention of taking on a role as a head of state. Similar to the suggestions in the quote above, Shakespeare introduces the idea of destiny playing a key role in the rise of an individual’s power and influence in society. However, in the process of gaining power, individuals tend to wander astray. Human beings often end up believing that destiny played absolutely no role in their progress. This often leads to developing egoistic attitudes, growing wants for power, wealth and influence.
Macbeth was foretold that he would become a king, however, he let his mbitions take control of him; subconsciously allowing him to commit heinous acts. Likewise, Assad grew to be greedy, powerhungry and self-absorbed along with his increase in power. Macbeth’s desire to secure the throne led him to assassinate or place orders of assassination for those he considered obstacles in his path. For example, he killed King Duncan with his own hands and hired murderers to eliminate Banquo and his son, Fleance. In the same way, the president of Syria is known for cruelly imprisoning, torturing and slaughtering his political opponents.
As both Macbeth and the president’s efforts to hold onto power continued, individuals ended up joining together to lead a war against the current government in power. In Macbeth’s case, Macduff, Malcolm, Donalbain and other Scottish noblemen united with the English army to wage a deadly war against Macbeth. Macbeth’s greed for the throne led him to chose war over all else; showing his disregard for human life. In the end, Macbeth had to bear the consequence of playing unlawfully with his destiny; death.
While on the other hand Bashar al-Assad refused to resign power, even after being pushed by countries such as the United States and the UN. To ensure he could hang onto his “throne”, Assad launched mass civilian termination in Syria; eventually leading to a non-stop civil war throughout the country. By analyzing how Macbeth’s actions led to his downfall in society, we can now understand that the Syrian president may face similar consequences. Omar al-Bashir is the seventh president of Sudan, coming unofficially into power in 1989.
Similar to what Macbeth had done, the head of Sudan decided he needed to take strict action to gain power. In 1989, Bashir (who at the time was a brigadier in the Sudanese army) led a military coup into the offices of democratically elected Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi; overthrowing his government. His ambition for achieving power led him to do so openly in front of a crowd. Over the years, as his influence in the Sudanese society grew, so did his barbaric deeds. In 2009, he was formally accused of his crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
These crimes include murdering the innocent families of those he considered to be rivals or opponents in his political career. At a much more controlled level, Macbeth had committed similar acts. For example, he had ordered individuals to capture and murder Lady Macduff and her son despite their innocence, due to the sole fact that they were associated with Macduff (who Macbeth considered a traitor. ) The fact that Macbeth had ordered assassins to kill so many individuals in close relation to him, lead to survivors hating Macbeth.
For example, Macduff simplified abhorred Macbeth and would take any chance possible to ensure that Macbeth was slain for the atrocities he had committed. Omar committed closely relating crimes to Macbeth. Therefore, we can predict that his horrific actions will lead him to unthinkable, if not torturous consequences. Following his father, Kim Jong-il’s funeral, Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the Worker’s Party of Korea was declared the supreme leader of North Korea in 2011. Looking back at the quote above, we can see that the current leader of North Korea was somewhat destined to become heir to his father’s throne.
In most cases, an individual is usually named the heir to their family’s throne due to the sole reason that they are the oldest or next-in-line. However, Kim was declared “The Great Successor” within a night of his father’s death, even after being one of the younger sons. Somewhat like Macbeth, Jong-un’s acquiring of the throne led him to become an unpleasant, selfish and inconsiderate dictator. Just as Macbeth had done, the supreme leader of North Korea decided to promptly eliminate any close relations.
While Macbeth had simply hired murderers to kill his best friend Banquo, Kim took it to another level when he publicly disgraced and had his elders along with other members of his military slaughtered. To start, the supreme leader, had senior military command defense minister, Hyon Yong Chol executed by anti aircraft guns because the old man had accidentally fallen asleep during a meeting. North Korea’s leader truly showed his colours, when he ordered his uncle, Jang Song Thaek to be tossed into a mammoth cage filled with 120 hungry dogs, where he later gave up his life.
Due to horrific events, such as those stated above, Kim Jong-un has become the target of numerous assassination attempts. Similar occurrences had occurred during Macbeth’s reign, leading him to not only face a downfall in power but eventual death. The main goal of the war led by Scottish noblemen was to ensure Macbeth’s fatal end. If put into context, we can see that the gruesome actions taken by Macbeth led to his eventual termination. However, by looking at that fact that Macbeth was predestined to become king, we can pre edict that he may have led a happier, well-resulted life if he hadn’t taken the actions to secure his power.
Likewise, leader Kim Jong-un may have been destined to become king, however, his vile actions could lead to his future removal of power or even mortality. Whether it be Bashar al-Assad, Omar al-Bashir or Kim Jong-un the fates of these world leaders can be considerably related to that of Macbeth. As the quote above states, “what’s meant to be will always find its way. ” Similarly, if it is predestined that an individual will lead a country, it will happen no matter what he or she does. Three witches had told Macbeth his future; that he would become thane of Cawdor and eventually king.
However, Macbeth chose to “speed up” the process by brutally murdering the king and then becoming the perfect candidate for the throne. If we compare the actions of Macbeth to the three modern leaders in our world, we can realize that they took similar approaches to gaining and implementing their power. Shakespeare’s’ writings illustrate a connection to the modern day world. They provide an overall message that acts as a hypothesis to the fates of modern day leaders; greed, desires for power and wealth often cause individuals to commit reprehensible deeds, leading to their downfall.
