If macbeth were a modern man, who would he be? What do these men have in common with each other?

A good modern parallel to Macbeth might be presidential candidate Ted Cruz. What both men have in common is boundless ambition, a willingness to do almost anything to get to the top. Now, Cruz is NOT willing to murder others to clear his path! But without going to those lengths, he is very ambitious. We should also note that Macbeth's wife pushed him to commit murder--Cruz's wife doesn't share Lady Macbeth's murderous tendencies at all.

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A good modern parallel to Macbeth might be presidential candidate Ted Cruz. What both men have in common is boundless ambition, a willingness to do almost anything to get to the top. Now, Cruz is NOT willing to murder others to clear his path! But without going to those lengths, he is very ambitious. We should also note that Macbeth's wife pushed him to commit murder--Cruz's wife doesn't share Lady Macbeth's murderous tendencies at all.

Let's focus on ambition, leaving aside the issue of murder. Again, Cruz is not a murderer.

But as a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times (see link below) notes, Cruz wants to be the top dog, just as Macbeth did. 

Here is Bruni on Cruz:

"It’s striking how many explorations of his past wind up focusing on the magnitude of his confidence, the scale of his ambitions and the off-putting nakedness of both.

As a cocky teenager, he said that his life goals were to “take over the world, world domination, you know, rule everything.” He separately wrote of plans to “achieve a strong enough reputation and track record to run for — and win — president of the United States.”

We know that the whole thrust of Macbeth is his lust to become king. Macbeth's theme, however, underscores the folly of ambition without mercy, compassion or moderation. Naked ambition, Shakespeare says, leads to disaster. Macbeth functions as a warning or cautionary tale. Should we send Mr. Cruz a copy of Shakespeare's play?