How is Macbeths plot, theme, and characters relevant to todays society

Although William Shakespeare 's epic Macbeth ' was written several hundred years ago , its lessons are still as applicable today as they ever were . Certainly , times have changed . Witches are no longer feared as real possibilities , kings are rarer than legislatures , and Scotland today barely resembles the setting for the masterful play . Yet , Macbeth is not a play that is defined by its setting instead , it is a timeless masterpiece that echoes throughout the centuries because it strikes to the core of several issues central to the human experience . In particular , Shakespeare preaches

on the corrupting influence of ambition , the failings of both genders , and the psychological trauma of immorality

First , Macbeth ' is a lesson in the seductive power of ambition and how giving into that seduction can spell disaster . From the outset of the play , Macbeth is angling to move upward in his world . This desire is reinforced by the strictly hierarchical structure of Scottish society , with a king at the peak and subjects below him . In spite of Macbeth 's high standing in that pyramid , he is not at the top and being subject to a king - however good of a king it may be - still irks Macbeth and makes him vulnerable to the prophecy of the witches Macbeth himself is aware of his own ambition , as he states "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent , but only Vaulting ambition , which o 'erleaps itself and falls on the ' other--- (Macbeth , Act1 .Scene7 .Lines 25-28 . This...