Ambition In Macbeth

Ambition is often the driving force in one’s life. It can have an extremely dominant impact on not only yourself, but also many people in your surroundings. You have the ability to control if the outcomes either have a lasting negative or positive effect. When a goal requires determination and hard work to complete, personal morals often take a back seat to the aspiration of accomplishing the goal. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it is clear that like many other great leaders, Macbeth exemplifies the necessary leadership virtue of ambition. Macbeth’s ambition does not just drive him to do great things. It in fact controls him. The playwright explores the idea of how an individual’s ambition can cause them to deceive others, make irrational

Macbeth murders many to gain power. He causes the suffering of families and murders former friends. The violence starts with the murder of the king, Duncan, who’d trusted and honored Macbeth; Macbeth kills him to gain the position of king. Duncan’s death is the catalyst; Macbeth subsequently begins to use violence as a regular way to attain power. He murders his former friend, Banquo, refusing to accept that Banquo’s sons will be kings as prophesized by the witches. He says in regard to the prophecy, “Rather than so, come fate into the list, / And champion me to th' utterance.” Instead of accepting fate, he challenges the prophecy and orders Banquo’s death. His final homicide is the massacre of Lord Macduff’s family. When Macduff hears of the brutal slaughter, he cries, “That were most precious to me. Did heaven look on, / And would not take their

Ambition has been a driving force of humanity since the beginning of time. Emotions have always had a strong influence on humanity, specifically emotions that tend towards the ruin of others and the gain another. Throughout the history of humanity there have been many examples of people abusing their position of power, to gain something they more than likely did not deserve. Whether it be Hitler and his repulsive ascension to becoming chancellor of Germany, or Kim Jong Un’s obsession with obtaining nuclear weapons at the cost of the people, humanities struggle with greed is unceasing. No one better illustrates this unrelenting thirst for power more than Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is a good, brave, and beloved man at the beginning of the play with the end of his latest battle heralding a new title for him. Fate though, seems to have different plans for the good, albeit, ambitious Macbeth. He is told by the 3 weird sisters that he will one day become king. Thus igniting the flame of greed within Macbeth, signaling his descent into madness and the guilt he feels towards the deeds he has done. Lady Macbeth is much the same in the sense that once she knew of Macbeths own ambition, it hatched her own deep seeded desire for the crown as well. However, there various similarities end with the death of Duncan and the way they both deal with the guilt over what they did. In the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have similarly great ambition, but this intense avarice in the end leads to their ruin in differing ways.

The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare recounts Macbeth's meteoric rise as a soldier and promising future leader whose megalomaniacal ambition led to his tragic downfall. In addition to Macbeth's ambitions, which initially enable him to be strong leader and soldier, he is influenced heavily by his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the three witches that prophesize his ascent to the throne, as well as warn him of his eventual demise. It can be argued that it is Macbeth's ambition that allows him to succeed in his endeavors, however the goals to which he is working toward influence the results of his hard work. Macbeth's ambitions help him to become a war hero, and as his goals change, his ambitions drive him to become a tyrannical villain.

    Macbeth's internal combination of ambition and passivity create his susceptibility to the witch's prophecies and allow him to commit murderous deeds, but his unwillingness to take action-and to do evil-create his internal conflict that ultimately leads to his downfall. Although Lady Macbeth tries to goad Macbeth into action, it is Macbeth's character flaw that causes him to take action.  At first Macbeth is unwilling to murder Duncan, citing his loyalty to Duncan

Macbeth’s negative ambition to become king also caused him to kill others that tried to stop him or got in his way of being king. All of this madness caught up to him and started to make Macbeth act bizarre, “…sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”-the innocent sleep” (II, I, 35). Macbeth’s unhealthy ambitions also caught up to him when he went to fight in the forest of Donaldbain and got killed, “Hail, king! For so thou art.

His character, along with Lady Macbeths’ is used as a lesson for all who desire power unrightfully, as the consequences of these actions greatly outweigh any

Once Macbeth murders Duncan, he begins to panic and regrets his action; Macbeth is too ashamed of himself showing weakness as his personality instead of dominance. “This, I will argue, is precisely the psychological configuration of Macbeth, where dangerous female presences like love, nature, mother, are given embodiment in Lady Macbeth and the witches, and where Macbeth wields the bloody axe in an attempt to escape dominion over them.” (Adelman Pg. XXXVIII). Macbeth tries to please Lady Macbeth by showing his manhood by gaining power, killing Duncan was a sign of dominance, that he is not weak and indecisive.

It is a popular assumption that ambition is not a quality that someone is born with. Alternatively, external influences frequently catalyze the development of ambition. During the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth, a general from Scotland hears prophecies from three witches. One of these states that he will become King of Scotland. Upon hearing these, his power-hungry wife, Lady Macbeth, manipulates him into murdering King Duncan.

“He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must fall with the greatest loss.” - Niccolo Machiavelli William Shakespeare’s Macbeth presents a fascinating discussion of ambition, and what it is capable of. Shakespeare portrays ambition as a trait that is dangerous and demonstrates this through the main characters of this play. As such, William Shakespeare’s

In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, ambition is an important influence to much of the plot, especially the title character’s ambition. The role of ambition is predominantly brought upon the three witches who reveal two facts and a prophecy about Macbeth upon their consultation with him and Banquo. Macbeth lacks any noteable intentions, however his desire to become king heightens when the witches foretell that he will be king. The witches’ predictions influence Macbeth’s aspirations because he had no intent to be king until they predicted he would be. Macbeth’s belief in the prophecies affected his ambitions.

Nevertheless, ambition and manipulation both root from one source: the obsession with the witches’ prophecies. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth both believed every word the witches said after the first three prophecies came true, not knowing that they were being fooled. Macbeth went to great lengths because of the prophecies, doing unusual things with his kind and good-hearted nature. His obsession was so great that he completely forgot about what was important: his wife, his friends, and himself. He murdered one of his friends, who was the of king of his country and never did him any wrong; he trusted Macbeth, and Macbeth ruined it over power and a title.

After this killing, Macbeth still did not feel secure. He was angered Macduff had fled to england and was afraid he was conspiring against him, so in a fit of range, he had Macduff’s family and servants murdered in cold blood (4:1.168-175). Macbeth chose not to stop killing people. He says, “From this moment/ The very firstlings of my heart shall be/the firstlings of my hand.

Power is one of the most intriguing words of the human language. Its enthralling connotation is enchanting to the ears of many. The pursuit for the fruits of power relies on one’s ambition. Ambition is a valuable characteristic, when expressed, to quench one’s thirst for power, or ultimate goal. However, when it commences to consume one’s entire thoughts: it comes at a detrimental price. The tragic play of Macbeth, written by the renown William Shakespeare, tells of Macbeth’s tragic downfall when in the pursuit of power as becoming King of Scotland. During this process, his ambitions begin to feast upon his life. In other words, it causes him to prioritize success above everything else, including people and himself. This

The witches tell him beware of Macduff and no man born of a woman shall harm him. Macbeth then claims ‘’ Then live Macduff: what need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, and take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live” (IV.i. 82-84). This is important because it shows the witches confused Macbeth into thinking he can kill Macduff. Macbeth then murders Macduff’s family, after Macduff discovers his family was murdered he states ‘’ Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; Within my sword’s lengths to set him; if he ‘scape heaven forgive him too! (IV.iii. 233-235). This basically means after hearing his fate and trying to change it he caused his own demise and proves the witches are the force that influenced him try and kill Macduff. Causing his