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

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is

The greatest factor to Macbeth’s downfall should be attributed to his blind, uncontrollable ambition. This factor is first seen with the second appearance of the witches, upon which they meet Macbeth. Macbeth’s first thought to the prophecy “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.63) is he must murder the king. This thought provides the groundwork in which Macbeth can seed his

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 first thing that Macbeth's desire leads him to do is to kill King Duncan. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth goes to the three witches and they tell him a few things. “First Witch- All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! / Second Witch- All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! / Third Witch- All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”(Shakespeare 1.3.49-51) The three witches’ prophecy to Macbeth is that he will move up from his current position and that he will become king soon. With this information in mind, he realizes that he really wants to become a king as soon as possible. He will do anything to make that prophecy come true. He will do anything to make that prophecy come true. He even decides to kill his king, however, it was not an easy choice to make at first. “We will proceed no further in this business. / He hath honored me of late, and I

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.

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

Macbeth originally ignored the prophecy, but when he became Thane of Cawdor, he eventually became insane. He decided that he needed to act upon the prophecy to ensure he would become king. In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth demonstrated that ambition can greatly influence one’s moral character and cause them to do dreadful deeds and remove anyone who threatens what they want. One could have no interest in a goal or

This event was his encounter with three witches who predicted Macbeth’s future by telling him that he would soon be the Thane of Cawdor and then also king. Afterward, Macbeth was skeptical until he was immediately informed that the would be the new Thane of Cawdor. This is when Macbeth’s ambition began to grow like a weed. Later on, Macbeth informed his wife, Lady Macbeth, about the witches predictions and she urged him to take action to obtain the throne.

The witches and their prophecies are the first major influence on Macbeth's actions. Macbeth seems happy and content with himself until the witches tell him he will be king. He begins immediately to consider murdering Duncan. "If good, why do I yield to that suggestion / Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, / Against

To start, the initial telling of the prophecy that started it all. It stated that Macbeth would become the Thane of Cawdor, and then would ascend to be king. This prophesy also indicated that Banquo would be the father of a future generation of kings, but would not be a king himself. This prophecy begins Macbeth’s quest for power. When Lady Macbeth hears this prophecy she becomes obsessed with the idea of her husband becoming king and she develops a plan to make it happen

“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erlaps itself and falls on th’ other-” (Shakespeare 321). Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth highlights the dedication of characters towards a specific cause or achievable goal. However, the intentions of the character and the intensity of their pursuit varies as the action of the play progresses. Throughout The Tragedy of Macbeth, main characters exemplify the positive and negative influence of ambitions through their thoughts, traits, actions, and motivations.

(HOOK) Thomas Hobbes is a 17th century english philosopher who believed that human nature is naturally evil, greedy and ambitious. (THEMATIC) If individuals become consumed by their ambition and becomes blind to the consequences of their choices it can cause rifts in their relationships. (SOURCES) Macbeth is a piece of classical literature by Sir William Shakespeare first performed in 1606.

In the Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth, Shakespeare utilizes a theme of extreme ambition to expose the wrongdoing of traitorous characters, especially using it to depict and emphasize the tyranny of King Macbeth. There are essentially 2 main traitors in Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. These two characters essentially antagonize the play due to their justification of their evil-doing for their subsequent good. Early in the play, Macbeth encounters 3 fortune-telling witches.

Ambition and Macbeth’s search for power is what leads him to the throne and gets him to become king. Witches prophesize that Macbeth would gain power and essentially become king. Macbeth never questioned this and believed it. When Macbeth finds out that the prophecies gain more than he believed before: “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man, that function is smothered in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.140-143). The witches predicted his future, but did not include anything about murder which Macbeth’s mid flips too after he finds out what he has in store for him. It can be concluded