Lady Macbeth's Vaulting Ambition

Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ is a character who suffers greatly in because of her human weakness, which is her vaulting ambition. This ambition is not for her, but for her husband. This woman, who seemed so in control at the beginning of the okay, only cared for her husband and his success, later becomes so consumed with guilt and remorse that it results in her tragic death. Through the discussion of characterisation and lkey scenes, I shall reveal that Lady Macbeth’s human flaw is  not only a major contributor to the ruthlessness of her husband but creates a huge influence in how the play unfolds.

Ambition is typically seen as a pathway to success, yet in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, it is clearly evident that this is not always the case. As the play progresses, Macbeth’s overall aspirations in order to become king are continually tested. By looking at his overall motives, the adverse choices which reshape his destiny, and the fatal conclusions based on his insufficient decisions, we can clearly see how vaulting ambitions can be destructive rather than beneficial. To begin, Macbeth has many motives which persuade him towards becoming king. Rather than looking at the negative effects of these motives, Lady Macbeth, prior ambitions and the prophecies all change Macbeth’s pathway in life.

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.

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 the play, “Macbeth”, the character that stands out the most is Lady Macbeth. Her role in this story is significant, she is an evil, ruthless, and ambitious person. She is responsible for the murders that her husband commits because she was bloodthirsty for the crown. In fact, she then becomes more eager to get the crown than Macbeth himself and soon realizes that once you commit one violent act, there is almost no way of ever turning back. An analysis of Lady Macbeth reveals that she is a powerful character who adds complexity and depth to a play about murder, madness, and revenge.

When Macbeth is greeted by his wife she wants to tempt him into going ahead with her plans. He does not want to commit regicide against the king so disregards her ideas, but Macbeth’s ambitions and desires get the better of him and he eventually agrees.

Lady Macbeth is a complex and intriguing character in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. She is a difficult character to embody as her personality seems split between two sides, one that is pure evil, sly and conniving in contrast to her softer, vulnerable, weak and feminine side. In the play we see her in these two main ways. The reader may feel a certain animosity towards Lady Macbeth throughout the first few acts as her personality appears more and more distasteful, in spite of this towards the end she has a serious breakdown over the guilt that torments her, even in her sleep, regarding her hand in Duncan’s untimely death.

Lady Macbeth's ambition for power

A queen’s responsibility was to produce a male heir and help soften the king’s image. However, Lady Macbeth was the total opposite. She had no heir and instead of softening the king’s rigor, she encouraged it. This contrast

In William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, it shows the ambitions of the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a similar ambition of their own which is to gain power and glory to such a point that they are the king and queen. While the play goes on, both characters go through similar feelings, thoughts, and effects of ambition on each character to complete their plans of gaining such power and glory.

This shows her ambition and her wrongfully placed strength and determination. We later experience how these qualities are enveloped by her culpability which, is shown to be significant with how her character becomes slowly becomes irrelevant as she no longer has any control in the decisions made by Macbeth or her mental state. The two characters gradually switch

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare we see the character of Lady Macbeth and her relationship with Macbeth as destructive as she supports his bad ambitions to fulfil the witches prophecy as soon as possible. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a brave soldier, but because his ambitions get out of hand, he kills King Duncan so that he can become the King. Ambitions make people try hard to achieve any of their goals and it will make people do the things that they never done before. But ambitions can lead to some bad consequences and it can lead to a person or couple’s downfall. The purpose of the writer is to show how destructive a relationship can be when Lady Macbeth provokes Macbeth, which leads to guilt. Lady Macbeth was a supportive

Macbeth’s mental and moral deterioration throughout the play engages the audience illustrating how guilt overwhelms his conscience He believes he hears voices crying “Macbeth has murdered sleep” this demonstrates how he is battling against his morals and his ambition. His good qualities are battling his bad thoughts and this is the main reason for his mental downfall which makes for a deeply engaging plot. Macbeth goes from being a man of bravery, strength, honour yet he slowly loses these qualities. He once believed that killing a good man was an evil, un-worthy thing to do yet by the end of the play he is killing the people he once had close relationships with to get himself out of the mess that was dragging him deeper into despair and tragedy. This process is enthralling for the audience who cannot resist watching him go to any length to save himself as his morals go into deep decline. Ambition has completely taken over him in the soliloquy in which he states; “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleap itself and falls on the other.” In this instance Macbeth is interesting because he realises that the only thing that is making him want to kill Duncan is

Following Macbeth's murder of Duncan, Macbeth becomes frightened and unsure of himself. He begins to regret his actions and realises that this will remain on his conscience until his own death.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there are many issues that may have had an affect on the play. The complex marriage between the power hungry Macbeths, lady Macbeth’s dominant character directing Macbeth in the murders, the role reversal during the murders, Macbeth’s reaction to his wife’s death, and male and female marriages for authority. When analyzed these issues help describe the Macbeth’s relationship. They are the very issues that eventually lead to the “Great Tragedy”.