Ambition In Macbeth

Macbeth’s simple ambition for power and status quickly turns into greed and obsession as his desires become more controlling. When he learns of his fate, Macbeth patiently states“If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (315). However, he grows restless after swiftly becoming Thane of Cawdor. Furthermore, Macbeth’s impatience grows as he takes matters into his own hands. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight, or art thou but a dagger of the mind, and false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (328). Macbeth’s imagination becomes troubled as he finds his thoughts consumed with murdering Duncan, the current king of Scotland. Specifically, these thoughts influence his actions by prompting him to acquire the strength to ultimately kill the King, although he feels guilty about his crime. “I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not” (330). Macbeth’s guilt is further reflected through this quote and his refusal to associate with the consequences of the crime he commits. Additionally, Macbeth’s actions and thoughts portray paranoia as he becomes closer to obtaining his predicted future. “ Oh full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives” (348). Out of his ill mind’s motivations, Macbeth kills Banquo, but his digression as a character shields the guilt he felt after Duncan’s death. Through this, Macbeth begins to recognize the evil consuming his thoughts and

To begin, the witches are the catalyst to Macbeth’s crimes because the convince him that he will become king. Macbeth first meets the witches while returning from a gruesome battle and it is safe to say that they greet him with some audacious titles. They initially greet him as the Thane of Glamis and the Thane of Cawdor, but it is their final greeting which has the greatest effect on Macbeth. The witches hail Macbeth as someone “that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.53). This ignites a fire inside Macbeth, who is an immensely ambitious person. He begins to fantasize about the luxurious life he would have if he were the king of Scotland and he suddenly has the temptation to kill King Duncan. Although the witches’ prediction is favourable, Macbeth has no reason to believe them, at least until one of their other predictions turns out to be true. This

These prophecies severely change the lives of both soldiers.  The three witches surprise Macbeth and Banquo but tell Macbeth the prophecy of him being given the position of Thane of Cawdor.  Secondly speaking, ¡§All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!¡¨  (Act 1, scene iii p.12)  They then tell Banquo that his sons will be kings but he will never rule a King.   This news frightens Macbeth and both try to put it in the back of their minds, thinking of it as a prank.  This is until Ross, one of the kings men, greets Macbeth and Banquo and gives great news to Macbeth in these words:

If Macbeth didn’t know about this prophecy he would have happily took his position as Thane of Cawdor, but knowing he will be King drove him to commit murder. Macbeth was rapidly changed from an honorable general to an evil tyrant. “The witches did not tell him to commit murder; all that was necessary was for them to suggest the fact of the crown, and they could trust Macbeth to overcome the obstacles in his way just as they would have him” (Wiley, 45). This emphasizes the fact that the play is shaped by the supernatural. This lead to the murder of Duncan, then to get rid of his obstacles he kills the guards. The Witches also reveal “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (1.3.67) to Banquo. This knowledge leads Macbeth to send Murderers to kill Banquo and his son. This is more evidence to show that the words of the witches construct the plays events.

The three witches or “weird sisters”, are only one of the contributions to Macbeth's destruction and downfall. The prophecies that the witches make are merely temptations for Macbeth. The weird sisters never tell Macbeth what to do with these suggestions, leaving him curious and in disbelief about what the witches have to say. The witches make predictions about the future of Macbeths kingship: "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor” (I.III.50). Macbeth becoming Thane of Cawdor increases his thirst for ambition and eventually drives him into demise. They also tell Macbeth that no man born of woman can kill him, making Macbeth believe that he is invincible. "The power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" (lV.I.81-83). Macbeth and Lady Macbeth take the prophecies too rigorous and try to put them into action immediately. The prophecies predicted by the witches do result in the end, however not exactly how either of them imagined.

One of these prophecies is the main driving factors towards violence throughout the play. The witches tell Macbeth that he will be King. And although at first he may be skeptical the witches say a couple more things that start to impel Macbeth towards the witch's fate. Those two things they say are, “Fair is foul, foul is fair” and, “All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!...’’. The first quote the witches are telling Macbeth that killing Macbeth is civil and playing the civil way is wicked. Basically all in all, they are saying killing Macbeth is the right thing to do. In the second quote the third witch says that Macbeth will be the king, that is fate. Although these things the witches say do not persuade Macbeth to kill King Duncan, they get him thinking. These prophecies end up getting to the ear of Lady Macbeth and give her the leverage to manipulate Macbeth and the ideas to come up with this plan to kill King Duncan. Once she starts manipulating Macbeth he does not directly tell her no because the witches gave him this ideology that he should be king and that it is fate for that to happen. Lastly the witches bring this presence through the scenes of killing the king of pure evil that leads Macbeth into King Duncan's room and he leads him to Murder Duncan. The evil overtakes him and causes him to do

The three witches make three initial predictions. The first witch says, "All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis", the second witch then goes onto say, "All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor", the third witch then says "all hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter". They also tell Banquo that his sons shall become King. The prophecies have a lot of influence over Macbeth. The witches are clever in coming to Macbeth at the right time and in what they said. They chose exactly the right moment to approach Macbeth. He is full of triumph and fresh from the fighting ad killing. He is at a particularly vulnerable time to have his head filled with thoughts of becoming king and fame. He says to Banquo "… Why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix to my hair, and make my seated heart knock on my ribs, Against the use of Nature." The text states clearly that Macbeth has murderous thought in his mind that are prompted by the prophecy, "Present fears, are less than horrible imaginings: My thought, whose murder is fantastical shakes so single state of man." It is an important point, it shows his reaction that someone has read his mind. The Witches are actually speaking Macbeth's innermost thoughts. Does this

Throughout the play “Macbeth” Shakespeare uses multiple examples of strong diction, paradox, metaphors, and imagery to demonstrate the theme that fate is inevitable. These examples also help emphasize that the witches are in control of Macbeth's severe and hostile actions throughout the tragic play. Without the witches prophecies the idea of murder would have never crossed Macbeth’s mind. After the witches informed Macbeth that he would soon become king he was willed to do anything to make sure this bizarre prophecy would come true.

In the beginning of the play, the witches make three prophecies. First, that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor. The second part of the prophecy is that Macbeth will become King. The third prophecy being that Banquo will be father to future kings. When Macbeth first hears the prophecy, Duncan holds the position as king. King duncan is also a very loved king by his people. Macbeth and Duncan even have a good relationship. Macbeth is Duncan’s greatest war hero and because of Macbeth’s great success in battle, Duncan rewards him by promoting him to the position of Thane of Cawdor. With this promotion, Macbeth realizes that the witches first prophecy was true. With this realization, Macbeth’s head begins to fill with thoughts of killing King Duncan to speed up the process so that he can become king. When he tells his wife of the prophecies and his promotion, she becomes extremely

Throughout Macbeth there was a constant theme of darkness and violence coming from being too greedy for the sake of gaining power. This is mainly shown when Macbeth places his life in the hands of three sisters that tell him what is destined. The witches make claims that sound like heaven to his ears, but are only giving him an obscure path on how to complete these prophecies. Each time they give Macbeth a sense of hope from a prophecy, it eventually leads to him carrying out unholy deeds such as killing and lying. Macbeth shows a change of character throughout the play multiple times, as he plays by the witches theories to complete immoral actions leading to unforeseen consequences.

Ambition is defined as, having strong want or desire for more than you have. In the story “Macbeth”, ambition contributes to the devolvement of the characters. The three witches are the source of such ambition in this story. It’s almost as if they control the negative or even dark, selfish ambition of the characters Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and Banquo.

Macbeth, a tradgedy writen by William Shaekespear and first preformed in 1606 expresses themes through imagery, motif, symbolism, etc. The main theme in this play, as well as the theme that stood out to me the most was, the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints. Oxford Dictionary defines the word ambition: A strong desire to do or achieve something. Characters including, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, show that they are ambitious through ambition and actions.

Macbeth is considered as an instrument of darkness as the prophecies of the witches will only result in his downfall. An irony found in one of the three prophecies is when

Macbeth feels he must find ways to fulfill these prophecies and his wife is hot on his heels the entire time nagging and having a caustic affect on his free will. These prophecies lead to great amounts of pain, despair and loss in his life. These events include but are not limited to: the death of his wife, to his murder of Duncan and finally ending with his own death by the hands of Macduff. Macbeth is also harassed by his wife. Lady Macbeth repeatedly manipulates Macbeth into the murders of those around him.

In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth, a once honored and valiant Thane, abandons all virtue after three meddling witches prophesize his ascent to the Scottish throne. Consumed by his ambition and encouraged by his malevolent wife, Macbeth sets forth on a downward spiral of murderous treason and tyranny that subsequently leads to his own demise. This Shakespearean tragedy explores betrayal, manipulation and the blood lust that adjoins a relentless climb for power. Hovering behind the narrative are various supernatural forces and visions that seem to be present during each terrible act. Subsequently, a question prevails whether Macbeth’s downfall is result of his own flaw or if these forces possess a vice-like hold over