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Essay / Similarities between Macbeth and Creon - 1031
Creon believes that "As long as I am king, Polyneices, I will be able to have no burial: no traitor will be honored with the loyal man" (197). First of all, anyone who dies, for whatever reason, must be buried. At that point, Creon made a foolish choice by enforcing the rule and keeping Antigone locked up for burying her brother. Yes, she broke the king's rule, but she is morally right. Creon's stubbornness prevents him from listening to others. He's too proud of himself not to change his mind for anything. Macbeth's fault is very different from Creon's. Macbeth reveals that he has "no goad to prick the sides of my intention, but only a leaping ambition, which goes beyond itself and falls upon the other" (1.7.25-27). He has a strong desire to become king and will do anything to achieve his goal, but he also knows that too much ambition can have consequences. Macbeth is aware that ambition can be both good and bad. Ambition led him to kill King Duncan, who was the only person he had to kill to achieve his goal, but he continued killing because he felt the people nearby were going to take his crown. Creon and Macbeth have foreseen it and a terrible fall is imminent.