Witch-slapped: Macbeth's fall from grace

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" - Lord Acton 

From the events of the play, Macbeth, by Shakespeare as well as other support from my own experiences from learning about history, I think that Shakespeare would agree with this statement to a great extent. In the play of Macbeth, Macbeth, a current Lord, was confronted by three witches when returning home from battle with Banquo. Here they delivered a prophecy to the two soldiers, naming Macbeth as "Thane of Glamis," "Thane of Cawdor," and "king hereafter." (Macbeth 1. 3) This was mysterious and confusing to him because currently only the first was true, making the rest interesting to him, but was then followed by a prophesying statement that Banquo's son would become king. 

Macbeth sends word of the prophecy to Lady Macbeth, who already being in a position of power as the wife of a Lord, instantly desired more and began to plot how to enable Macbeth becoming the king. This leads her to persuade him to kill Duncan, the current king, who is a great friend of theirs and has always done good. Lady Macbeth does this by questioning his manhood and coercing him. However, we not only see her corruption by power in this form, but through her soliloquy when she asks to be unsexed and for her blood to be thickened to commit these acts as she does not believe that her husband has the capacity to carry them out. The killing of Duncan by the Macbeth's is not the only, and maybe not even the main reason, why Macbeth would agree with this statement. After the king had been killed and Macbeth's power had grown, Banquo became doubtful of Macbeth's integrity and involvement in all of the happenings. To make sure that nothing came of this, Macbeth plotted Banquo's death and hired murderers to kill both him and his son Fleance, which would secure the throne not only for Macbeth but also his descendants. This shows how power corrupted him so absolutely that he was willing to turn on and kill his best friend just to retain it. 

Aside from the play, there have been many leaders and people who acquired power in history who were corrupted by it. An example of a figure who was corrupted by power, and actually died recently, is Fidel Castro. Castro led the Cuban Revolution against the government of the time due to the oppression of the Cuban people and the unjust treatment from which they suffered. His original goal was mainly good as he aimed to liberate the Cuban people, which succeeded and he was placed into a position of power as the new leader of the country, at least until things were stabilized. For awhile he did do good for the people, which is why even today so many people still liked him. However, he quickly became corrupted by his absolute power in a time of such turmoil. It was through this that he was able to secure his position and rule for the next 55 YEARS. He modeled much of what he originally fought against and many Cubans were exiled or had to flee to America to escape his terror. 

There are many more instances in which people in positions of absolute power have been absolutely corrupted, including some people who are currently still in power and causing many people to have to lead difficult and fearful lives. So, with the examples from Macbeth as well as history as support, I believe that Macbeth would agree with the statement to a great extent.