"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" -Lord Acton
I am certain that Shakespeare would completely agree with this quote. Throughout many of his plays, he shows how power corrupts individuals and makes them do terrible things. In Hamlet, Hamlet's uncle kills his father, the king, in order to gain the throne. In Macbeth, his desire to be king causes him to kill King Duncan, his former friend. Shakespeare knew the danger of power and included many examples to show people how detrimental the chase of power could be. Throughout my own experience, I have seen how power can turn people bitter. One friend I have is one of the best tennis players in the state. He's put in countless hours of work and already has many scholarship offers from D1 schools. Because of his great proficiency, he has become very prideful and egotistic. Whenever he plays a tennis player who is not as proficient as he is, he does not try and shows and air of not caring at all. It is very frustrating to play him because he is not a good winner. He is not humble at all and only cares about being better than everyone else on the tennis court. This is a prime example of how power can corrupt people and cause them to look down on others. There are many other examples of power throughout history and Shakespeare learned from them as he included aspects of them within his plays. People with power need to be extremely careful not to become prideful or look down upon others. Power is a dangerous thing and can easily cause corruption in the best of individuals. Shakespeare knew this and tried to teach people lessons about power throughout many of his plays. Hopefully, we can learn from the many past examples of corruption through power and avoid being corrupted ourselves.
