Macbeth Ambition And Power

Power is something one can find in all aspects of life. Whether in a relationship between two people or over an entire country, many people hold power in their lives. What is done with that power is up to the person who holds it and can be a strong reflection of their character. Too many people in positions of power become so wrapped up in wanting total control, that they lose sight of what is right and wrong. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, power is demonstrated many ways through many different characters. Power and ambition greatly affects the choices people make everyday.

In this world, one of the strongest human drives seems to be the desire for power. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Thane Macbeth seeks to gain power over Scotland. Through Macbeth’s search for power, he must choose between what is morally right or his inner motives. Macbeth gains power over others through the murders of King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s entire family along with his servants. After each murder, Macbeth becomes more confident in his search to gain power.

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

When one wants something bad enough, the lines between right and wrong tend to blur. In William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” the relationship between ambition and corruption is explored. Firstly, Macbeth’s inability to control his urges to know his fate leads him to listen to The Weird Sister’s prophecies, which eventually causes his unhealthy desire for power. Next, Lady Macbeth’s strong ambition to kill the King leads to a corruption of her mental state and behavioural standards. Lastly, Macbeth’s aspiration to rule Scotland leads to a harmful greed for power and the betrayal of his morals. In summary, one’s demonstration of an overly ambitious nature can lead to corruption and an excessive desire for power.

In addition, Aristotle believes themes and type of diction classifies whether or not a play is a tragedy. He states they should includes various themes, speeches that reveal themes and character, and metaphors. (McManus) Macbeth has various themes, such as, excessive ambition leads to one’s downfall, for which they aspire to reach unreachable heights, deception leads to bigger lies and to one’s downfall, and “fair is foul, and foul is fair,” (I, i, 12) meaning there is good and bad in everything. Macbeth perfectly demonstrates how excessive ambition can lead to one’s downfall as it leads to his death.

Right now I am choosing which universities I will apply to. I know I have put in enough hard work to be near the top of my class, and I will soon be reaping the rewards of my ambition by attending a university that will help pave my way to a good career and a happy life. Some may call me overly ambitious, but I know what I want, and I know what I must do to get there. However, I would like to think that my ambition is a little nobler than what drove Macbeth to his ultimate destruction – I’d like to think that my goal is moral, and I will not give up my humanity to achieve my goal. In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, ambition is the impetus for Macbeth to initially act, and ambition leads to his ruination. While Macbeth appears noble and honest at the beginning of the play, Shakespeare uses asides and soliloquys to communicate that Macbeth first kills for his own ambition but later kills because ambition corrupted his morals, creating his own unraveling, an unraveling that happens regardless of the other, exterior, factors that influenced him.

Nearly everyone seems to have an innate desire for power. However, the responsibility necessary to handle all the power humans desire is not had by many. This leads to tragedies and wars amongst countries and their people.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth focuses on the subject of ambition and its psychological burdens. He makes it clear that Macbeth did commit to his hateful deeds responding to the psychological burden of his sins. A respected Thane, who has shown great loyalty to King Duncan, goes from a vigorous and worthy soldier to a shameless murderer presents himself as Macbeth

Pauline Tolentino English 20 AP Ms. Donna Yanew December 8, 2015 Macbeth's Black and Deep Desires Having ambition in life means having a purpose in life, but too much of it can also spell the destruction of one's self. Ambition is an unyielding desire to achieve a goal. Most people think that living a life with a yearning of something is a key for success since it can help a person to strive for its attainment.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power” (Lincoln 1847). In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the ambition for power and its effects are explored deeply. In this play, Macbeth, a Scottish soldier is impregnated with the idea that he will become King but fails to realize that his journey for power will be filled with blood and suffering. The author of this play makes it clear that power has different effects on different people and he proves this by comparing and contrasting the characters of Macduff, Banquo, and Macbeth.

Power is an addiction. The less one has the more they desire. Addiction controls the body’s actions, and there is no way to stop it. Macbeth by Shakespeare contains details on the murder of the King of Scotland. Macbeth kills the king in order to fulfill a prophecy, and his mindset shifts from good to evil. Ultimately, he is beheaded for his heinous crimes. Nero, the last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, commits crimes punishable of death in order to exemplify his power. He kills his mother, step brother, friends, and innocent people in the towns in order to get exactly what he wants. Nero is betrayed by many people because of his careless action, and he commits suicide to protect his pride. Macbeth and Nero both use ambition, greed, power, and deception to secure the highest positions in their lifetimes.

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.

Ambition can be the one thing that drives people forward in life, motivating and inspiring them to be successful, but, ambition can also lead to one’s demise, infecting anyone and everyone involved. In the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth’s ambition is the main cause for the destruction of those around him. Macbeth’s thirst for power puts an end to many lives of many innocent individuals, as he is blind from all sense of rationality due to his need for the crown. Furthermore, Macbeth’s aspiration for royalty deeply affects the elements of nature as his ambition blinds Macbeth from acknowledging his corrupt actions. Although Macbeth manages to seek power for a short period of time,

William Shakespeare's Macbeth is a tragedy that takes historical events and turns them into fiction. Shakespeare wrote the play for King James I to honor his predecessors. The character of Macbeth is a good person who turns evil as a result of his greed and ambition. Throughout the story the reader learns many lessons which involve ambition, guilt, things not being what they seeming what they seem, and nature versus the unnatural.

Shakespeare’s stories are still read today because readers can still take meaningful takeaways from them. One of Shakespeare’s most famous stories, “Macbeth,” is the tragedy of a man, consumed by ambition and the thirst for power, who tries too hard to alter his destiny. Macbeth’s actions initially lead to his crowning as the king of Scotland, but lead to his downfall and demise soon after. Even many centuries later, people are still consumed by ambition, power, and their destiny, leading to violence worldwide and disappointment on a smaller scale. Macbeth is still relevant today because the lessons inside can still be applied centuries later.