What does Shakespeare mean when he says "Absolute power corrupts absolutely"? In saying this he is just saying the basics of saying too much power is a bad thing. Power goes to your head and makes you well crazy. If a person were to have an absolute power over something then that is part of this saying. The other part is the being of that person being corrupted whether it is drugs, money, or even power itself. People will start to get it in their head that they can do whatever it is they want.
To start off with, police are a good example. A police officer is supposed to be a "man of the law”, yes? Well then tell that to those dirty cops out there who they themselves break the laws they are supposed to be upholding. The issue here is they think they are the law when they are just the body guards of the law. They end up getting promoted to things such as chief and also sometimes detectives. Thus only proving to them they are above the law. These people end up getting into their heads they have absolute power thus giving them absolute corruption.
A second example, judges. Judges are the ones who yes sentence you to a punishment of a crime. It is up to them to decide whether or not you’re guilty. This gets into their head leading them to think they are in a higher power. Yet these people are again supposed to make decisions based on the laws they are supposed to be upholding. Some of them end up getting it in their heads that they themselves can do whatever they please. Such as let’s say for example a person they do not like for whatever reason gets a parking ticket and tries to fight it. The judge would get it in his/her head that they can charge whatever fee they want to the person in question. This proves that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Finally, Macbeth is a perfect example. He is this great warrior second to the king. Great at what he does. Until he comes across these witches. They tell him he will be king he will be thane he will be great! Yet they neglect to tell him the consequences he will face. Once the king decides to make him Thane of Cawdor he gets a big head about it. He is given a little bit of power. He tells his wife. Yet the little green monster hunts her down. Thus emphasizing her greed. This ends up turning into her controlling her husband like a puppet and leading into the king’s death. This shows into Macbeth becoming the king and showing how the power goes to his head. He gets away with murder and this shows him he is above everything.
In conclusion, absolute power corrupts absolutely has many meanings but the most common being power goes to the persons head. This was proven not only in everyday experiences but also in Shakespearian plays. This is proven in great measures. Yet all in all this is what it means.
