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The influence of one's external factors

The world the two characters are in share a common characteristic: violence. Queen Ravenna’s world growing up was filled with violence; however, she was not evil even though the world to her was. She saw how her neighborhood was ravaged by a peasant king; and was impoverished, begging for scraps with her brother. Her mother was a sorcerer, yet Ravenna did not get into magic until her mother casted a spell on her for security, indicating that she will live as long as she remains to be the "fairest of them all." She became greedy and violent when her power and greatness were introduced to her by her mother, and was when she started killing youthful girls for her immortality. Macbeth, on the other hand, is used to being in a world of violence as well, as he is a general who fights in wars, yet he was not treacherous. He was a good man, yet when he was presented with all the power and riches he could possibly have by the prophecies of the Three Witches, he became greedy and vicious. The influence of Lady Macbeth also makes him opposed to his own morals and rationality.

The external influence of the greatness and power introduced to them misguided these two characters who were once good and honorable and had led them to turn sides.

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Factor of Supernaturals leads them to seek out their ambition.

The Three Witches and the Magic Mirror are supernatural factors in the play and film. The prophecies of the Three Witches and the judgment of the Magic Mirror are  factors that mainly lead the characters to seek out their true ambition. Ideally, both unearthly agents replied to Macbeth and Queen Ravenna with nothing less than the absolute truth, and therefore was an invaluable asset to their own mischievous plots.

For instance, Queen Ravenna’s own magic mirror tells her that she was once the fairest- however, not anymore, as it is now Snow White who is. This makes the queen very envious of Snow White, as she wants to maintain a grip on that title. The iteration of the Magic Mirror assures her that the only way to render her powers and her beauty permanent is to consume Snow White's heart. In this case, the only option that she takes is to order the murder of Snow White in order to achieve what she desperately wants. Similarly for Macbeth, the Weird Sisters gives him prophecies, in which one of the witches says, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.53), which clouds his mind to pursue his dark ambition to become the new king by killing King Duncan in his sleep himself.

It can be stated that both characters wouldn't do what they do in the play and film if it weren't for the supernatural factors that encourage them to take dark and evil actions towards others in order to get what they want.

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The Corrupting Power of Unhealthy Ambition

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The Corrupting Power of Unhealthy Ambition

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They are ambitious to get what they want.

Ravenna has the ambition to have the royal position as the queen of Tabor. She gains her royal position as queen by marrying the recently widowed King Magnus, but not for true love. She insists on marrying the king just for the sake of the title she will receive and plans on killing him on their wedding night to conquer his kingdom. Similarly to Queen Ravenna, Macbeth’s ambition is to be the new king of Scotland. In this case, right after killing King Duncan in his sleep, he  gains his kingship. Both characters show their eagerness and hunger for power and their noble titles as king and queen.

Both the characters could've been very loved and adored had they chose not to commit regicide. Ravenna would still be the queen of Tabor even if she hadn't chosen to kill the King, as they are married; and Macbeth would still be in good conditions with everyone in Scotland, as he is known as a brave and great general who is loyal to King Duncan. However, they were corrupted by their vaulting ambitions, and insisted on satisfying their desires, and so were led to do the awful things they have done.

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Factor of abnormal condition of the mind

Queen Ravenna is not only evil and sadistic, but rather seems to have been blinded by her greed of becoming more powerful and more beautiful. The mirror represents her other persona and her madness, in which her stunning beauty bewitches the widowed King Magnus and stabs him in the chest with a large dagger. However, she does not stop at murdering the king, as she also wants to murder Snow White. Similar to Queen Ravenna, Macbeth is also blinded by his ambitions. Because of this ambition of wanting to be the king, he plans to kill King Duncan also with a dagger. Rather than stopping at his first crime since the prophecies, he continues to order the murder of Banquo and Fleance, as well as all who were in Macduff’s household, among others. This bloody quest of his makes him a paranoid and desperate man who is willing to do anything just to remain king after all that he has experienced.

Sadly, because of their own abnormal conditions of the mind, both of them further become cynical in continuing to pursue their own greed and ambition in life.

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A Thirst For Universal Power Breeds Fear

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A Thirst For Universal Power Breeds Fear

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Evoke fear

Queen Ravenna is depicted as scheming and power-hungry as well as vain. She kills King Magnus on their wedding night, so her animosity toward Snow White is not rooted in competition for the King's favor, but rather she fears that Snow White will challenge her rule over the kingdom, aside from taking from her her title of being "the fairest of them all". In this case, her own fear further manipulates her to do malicious doings by killing Snow White. As compared to Macbeth, his own fear is starting to consume him as he can no longer sleep and is ravaged by guilt over what he’s done right after killing King Duncan. Furthermore, he fears losing the impending battle with England, which makes Macbeth start doing anything that will give him a vital edge in the final battle.

Although they both hold power to order the danger, and even murder of others, as well as the capability to do these themselves, these are not enough for them to feel at peace. Rather, the power and the grudge they hold over others only instills in themselves fear, unrest, and paranoia, making them mad.

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Their deaths bring about the restoration of order in the kingdom.

In both ends, the two vital characters, unfortunately, don't last long in their positions as king and queen of their own country. In the case of Queen Ravenna, her tyrannical ruling of the kingdom was eventually defeated by Snow White. Soon after Ravenna’s death, Snow White became the newly crowned queen of Tabor as she was able to restore the kingdom’s life in tranquility and serenity. In parallel, the success of Malcolm and Macduff, together with their allies, pave the way for the restoration of freedom and peace in Scotland under the reign of Malcolm.

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Factor of chance

Factor of chance or accident can also be seen in both movie and play. For instance, the Magic Mirror tells Queen Ravenna that if she killed the fairest, then she would be all-powerful, so Ravenna ordered a huntsman to bring Snow White to her, so as to kill her and obtain her title of being the fairest of them all, as well as the security of her crown. However, Snow White manages to escape and meets the seven dwarves in an enchanted forest. This connotes how the queen failed to secure her ambition of being the ‘fairest of them all.” Eventually, the huntsman’s failure of not killing Snow White signals the start of her downfall as a queen. On the other hand, Macbeth was already given an apparition by the Three Witches of an armed head, meaning he should be beware of Macduff. However, he wasn’t able to kill Macduff as he was in England together with Malcolm to join forces to dethrone him as the king of Scotland. Sooner or later, this would signify that Macbeth’s failure of not murdering Macduff will be his downfall as the king.