Ambition: a Path to Success or Failure?

   Shakespeare's "Macbeth" holds many hidden themes within its already exuberant plot.  The first of these surrounds the murder of Duncan and the role that both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself played.  However, the true guilt of the murder can fall on either character.  Although Macbeth physically committed the crime, it was Lady Macbeth that pushed him to his limits of rational thought and essentially made fun of him to lower his esteem.  With Macbeth's defenses down, it was an easy task for Lady Macbeth to influence Duncan's murder and make up an excuse as to why she could not do it herself.  The guilt of Duncan's murder can be placed firmly on the head on Lady Macbeth.

The witches have a profound effect on Macbeth's actions and his character development throughout the play. They gave Macbeth a false belief with seemingly true statements about his destiny. Instead they prove to cause him to do harmful actions because of his over confidence in the witches prophecy. THe witches are the ones who actually implant the thought of killing Duncan into the realms of Macbeth's mind. However, if the cause was merely the

The Tragedy of Macbeth details the downfall of the tragic hero, Macbeth, and is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous works of tragedy. Macbeth’s bloody murders and eventual descent into complete madness serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of uncontrolled ambitions in humanity. Macbeth may not be held responsible for the death of Duncan and Macduff’s family, but he should be for that of Banquo’s. It is definitely arguable that Macbeth is the cause behind the death of Duncan, Banquo and Macduff’s family; however, the influence of others and his mental instability greatly reshaped his persona, as such, Macbeth cannot always be held responsible for his actions.

Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches ' fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo 's / Burried; he cannot come out on 's grave" (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul.

Macbeth is crucially at fault for his own death, although blindly following the witches and giving Lady Macbeth so much power over him to manipulate and influence him are an essential irrefutable factors that aided in his death. Although ultimately it was Macbeth’s own blind and greedy ambition which both

Lady Macbeth had a very powerful hold over Macbeth. Just by questioning his valor she could shift Macbeth’s whole thought process and second-guessing of the murder of Duncan (Booth, 24), and he allows it because he cannot bear to disappoint her. His love for her and need for her approval is what ultimately leads him to commit each and every one of his crimes. She is the center of his world and if she does not see a problem in the murders than why should he. This is naïve ignorance caused by a blindness that is induced by love, and that is both heart breaking and tragic.

In Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’, Macbeth is seen to be the grounds of his own downfall. Macbeth’s actions bring upon his downfall, because it is he who eventually chose to kill Banquo and MacDuff’s family. These actions were due to his ambitious nature. Lady Macbeth is also to blame for her husband’s demise because she is the one who originally pushed Macbeth into killing Duncan; her actions cause Macbeth to eventually meet his own death. Lady Macbeth is not the only factor that cause Macbeth’s downfall. The three witches are also responsible because they heighten Macbeth’s confidence and put the idea that he cannot be killed by anything. Macbeth’s ambitious nature

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play.

“When Lady MacBeth receives the letter from MacBeth telling her that he wants to kill Duncan, she fears that he would not have the courage to go through with it” (Shakespeare 31). She brings out the worst in him and encourages him to kill King Duncan. She persuades him by constantly telling him negative things to get MacBeth to believe that he is doing the right thing. “Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under ’t” (Shakespeare 35). Lady MacBeth is the one who tells MacBeth to be this vicious creature and makes him think that killing King Duncan is okay. Because of Lady Macbeth’s behavior, MacBeth was led to become a murderer. Macbeth should not be held accountable for his actions since Lady MacBeth is the one who convinced him to commit the crime that started his madness and turn him into a monster.

After hearing the prophecy that he will become king, Macbeth resolves to leave his future up to fate proving his pride and prestige are very important to him. Once he is told of Malcolm being named successor to the throne, Macbeth decides that if he is going to reach his goal he cannot leave it up to luck. Again Macbeth’s resolve to murder Duncan wavers when he leaves the grand banquet to assess his situation and decide whether he wants to proceed. His arguments include wishing to keep his honor and not kill Duncan for Duncan is there ‘in double trust’. Thus, Macbeth is shown to be clinging to his honor. Finally, Macbeth must stand his ground one last time against his wife who uses tact to emasculate Macbeth. In his final attempt to stop the whole ordeal before it can start Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he does not want to ‘cast aside’ the honor he has just recently received. Unfortunately, Lady Macbeth will have none of what her husband is saying and so convinces Macbeth to follow through with his plan of murdering King Duncan. Hence, the audience is given the first example of how powerful selfish motives are and how quickly they can spread to others along with cause them to perform unthinkable

In Shakespeare play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s character progresses in an interesting manner. Lady Macbeth is made to act as an incentive to Macbeth's immoral actions. Even though Macbeth is generally the person to have a final say before killing someone, Lady Macbeth plays the role of his “sidekick”. She mocks her husband if he worries over a sinful deed (which usually she instructs him to do), saying he would be less of a man if he does not follow through with their plan (I. vii. 56-57). She gives Macbeth a short lecture in deceptiveness when they are planning to kill King Duncan (I. vi. 73-78). She also prepared the daggers for Macbeth to kill Duncan in advance (II. ii. 15-16). Although her husband was still having doubts, she was always ready to go in for the kill. She did not think twice about it or feel any remorse. This shows that Lady Macbeth evolved into looking like a humble and quieter person on the exterior, but being an insane woman and criminal due to the events that have affected her.

Shakespeare is one of the most influential and famous playwrights of modern times. A major reason his work is loved by so many is because of his insightfulness into the human mind, and one of Shakespeare’s greatest works demonstrating this is Macbeth. This famous play is about nobleman and military man Macbeth and how his tragic choices lead to his inevitable demise. The first and most trying choice that Macbeth has to make is whether or not to kill Duncan, the king of Scotland. Macbeth has to make this decision while being pulled in different directions by two conflicting forces. The force pulling him away from murder is his loyalty and humanity towards Duncan. The other force pulling him towards murder is his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth

    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

The “Tragedy of Macbeth” by William Shakespeare tells a tale of deceit, murder, and ambition, beginning with a cutthroat rise to power, followed by calamitous downfall. At the start of the play, Macbeth is a brave and loyal captain in King Duncan’s army, but after three witches prophesize that he himself will become the king of Scotland, and that those born of a friend, Banquo, will be king after him, Macbeth is overtaken by ambition and gluttony. Instigated by his wife and his own lust for power, he murders Duncan, assumes the throne, and subsequently sends mercenaries to kill Banquo’s sons. While awaiting battle, Macbeth addresses the death of his wife in Act V, scene 5. Throughout the

Shakespeare’s characterization of Macbeth and his consequences reveals his warning about ambitions and its downfalls. Macbeth begins as a noble man who’s ambition ruins him and his true self, leading to his inevitable death. In Act I, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as an accomplished man whose lust for more is fueled by his wife’s ambitions. At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth commonly challenges his masculinity to drive his ambition to kill King Duncan and acclaim the throne of Scotland: “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art desire?” (P. 29). Conversely, by Act III, Macbeth’s ambition is self-driven because of the prophecy making him loses his sense of morality, and become corrupt. One such action is the murder of Banquo, Macbeth’s “noble partner” (P. 17): “Who wear our health but sickly in his life, which his death were prefect” (P. 56). Banquo’s murder serves as the beginning of Macbeth’s crumbling edifice, as for each murder he commits, he falls deeper into the world of deception.