Ambition plays a major role in Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, and is presented as a dangerous quality that principally influences the characters to do wrong. This play gives off a warning of how ambition can affect people and their actions by its influence on Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. This disastrous story begins with the witches predicting that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland. Hence, Macbeth’s ambition emerges, furthermore persuaded by his wife and also the prophecies that he depended on so well. He murders King Duncan and others and accordingly becomes the new ruler of Scotland. These actions are ones based on the dangers of ambition, thus making it the fatal flaw that causes their downfall. …show more content…
This is similar to Macbeth’s situation since his ambition would drive him to clear the obstacle of Duncan and thus become king. Macbeth gives into his dominating ambition and murders King Duncan. Hence, Macbeth becomes the King of Scotland. When Macbeth also realises that there were more obstacles in his path, he unhesitatingly commits more murder, and slays his best friend Banquo and Macduff’s family, gaining his status of king for longer, or so he thought. This states that ambition can make you a heartless person so that you will do anything to attain your objective. Thus it is shown that the play ‘Macbeth’ is a caution against the threats of ambition.
Even after Macbeth’s ambition leads to a fatal ending for those around him, he still wouldn’t doubt the witches’ words. “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him” (Act 4, Sc. 1, Lines 91-93). This prediction that is made by the witches furthermore expands Macbeth’s aspiration, making him believe that he is invincible. This way of thought causes his and his wife’s downfall. This is seen since Lady Macbeth commits suicide from what ambition has done to her life, and Macbeth, being so trusting in the witches’ words, doesn’t take anything other then his own ambition into account. At the end of the play, Macbeth is killed in the battle without mercy by Macduff.
Ambition is what motivates people to achieve a certain thing in their life. However, many fail if their ambition is too big and unreasonable. This is definitely the case for Macbeth in the William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth's ambitious causes him to disregard his loyalty to Duncan. Moreover, Macbeths desires lead him to be immoral, going to extremes in order to achieve success. Ultimately, Macbeths deep aspirations for power demonstrates being over ambitious will end in disaster. Therefore, in the play Macbeth, Macbeths ambition leads him to corrupt his morality, resulting in his downfall
What is ambition? Ambition is described as eager for success, power or fame. For Macbeth. Ambition was what drove him to become great, it forced him to change his nature towards evil. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was portrayed as a courageous soldier who fought for his King without mercy. But once the witches planted the seeds of greater things and Lady Macbeth fuelled his ambition, which lead him to become greedy and power hungry.
In the case of Macbeth, William Shakespeare presents how his blind ambition gets the worst of him, and eventually results to his failure and death. Throughout the novel, it is shown how Macbeth has three major qualities that drove his blind ambition, which all led to consequences whether it be the loss of friends and family, or the loss of his own moral standards. In attempt to achieve all that is possible, Macbeth tragically lost all he had. Shakespeare effectively portrays the negatives of blind ambition, and how it may lead to one’s downfall. Blind ambition is a consuming quality that can drastically affect one’s life, but it is upon the person to either control it and use ambition for good, or to take advantage of the desire and use it towards one’s own selfish
Ambition is something that needs to be controlled by each individual person because it can be expressed in an evil way and when done so it can lead down a destructive path. The play Macbeth is a perfect example of this when it comes to the two main characters, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, allowing ambition to control their lives. Their driving ambition for power tears their marriage apart and shatters their chances to ever gain kingship outside of their land. In some ways, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth reversed roles during the course of the play, yet they both changed in drastic ways making them both dynamic characters. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, uncovers a noble man and an ambitious wife who yearn for power, as they go down a path full of sinful temptation foreshadowing their tragic deaths.
Ambition plays a very significant role in the ultimate corruption of Macbeth’s character. In the play, Shakespeare
The play Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, is about a courageous Scottish general, who strikes with the prophecies by trio witches and his wife spurs that makes him strive for ambition, which eventually leads to his death. Niccollo Machiavell says “Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied.” An ambitious person chooses different ways to become successful, either good or sinister way, but depending on the situation. As life consists of challenges and perseverance, the more ambitious a person is, the more greedy it becomes resulting in significant changes to nature. Macbeth’s ambition to become a king leads him to murder Duncan and it renders changes in his character as revealed by his imagination, attitude towards the murder and by his relationship with his wife.
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the titular main character begins as a successful Scottish thane with loyalty to his king. A promotion and a visit from prophetic witches, however, put him on a murderous path that ends in his and his family's downfall. Shakespeare constantly represents overactive ambition as Macbeth and his wife's "fatal flaw". Additionally, it is arguably the major cause of nearly every negative occurrence within the play. Excess ambition can be considered the main theme of the play and overall, one that evolves over time.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth, created in the seventeenth century, is a tale that follows the dreams and ambitions of a couple who wish to govern Scotland. There are many themes that are woven into the story, such as corruption, mortality, and a large hand from the supernatural. Their actions, choices and ambition doom many innocent lives, with the tragic hero and his wife following soon after. William Shakespeare, through Macbeth and his wife, educates his audience of the consequences that follow when ambition goes beyond morality.
In the story, Macbeth, Shakespeare explores the ambition and - if left unchecked - the effects it can have on the human psyche, such as: compromising a person’s ethics, direction, and sense of morality. The culmination of these traits prove to be the root of Macbeth’s rise to power and,inevitably, his fall. But Macbeth’s ambition is not an exclusive creation of his own mind; three evil spirits and Macbeth’s love interest also cast their ballots in the struggle for the man’s soul.
Macbeth’s ambition begins reluctantly. When he first encounters the witches, he is taken aback, and scared; however, once they begin talking, his interest is captured. He forces them to keep talking, which serves as a precursor for his uninhibited strive for power that is to come. The witches tell him that he is destined to be king, and is unable to be killed by any man born of woman. He is doubtful, but enticed. After being greeted by Ross by his new title, Macbeth is convinced. Because he is an honorable and nonviolent man, most would not expect him to act in such a way to force the prophesies come true, rather, one would anticipate that he would simply believe the prophecies, and allow them to be fulfilled naturally. However, Lady Macbeth
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, ambition is shown to be the main cause for the destruction of those around him and eventually leading Macbeth to his own destruction. 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. Although Macbeth manages to seek power for a short period of time, chaos around him arises because of his blinding and overreaching ambition to become king.
If one's ambition is noble then he will surely prosper, but if one's ambition is selfish and narrow, he will surely fall. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth we witness this statement to be true, as we follow the story of an ambitious man in 11th century Scotland, who let his desire for power control his life. Macbeth, a once noble soldier, disrupts the natural occurrence of things and murders the King to gain this power and authority for himself. But Macbeth soon learns that power is not a simple tool. The themes of manipulation, paranoia and corruption that are discussed throughout the play represent the consequences of abused power. Macbeth, once tempted by the prosperity that being King would bring, becomes paranoid and crazed with the power he possesses until it ultimately leads to his own defeat. Shakespeare's Macbeth shows how easily power can change us, and to what extent we will go to pursue it.
In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, we watch Macbeth’s life take a left turn due to his ambitiousness of wanting to become king but, in some ways being overly ambitious can lead very bad consequences. Macbeth would soon come to know that having these types of ambitions could be deadly. Ambition is the desire for power, Macbeth is devoured by his ambitious ways and later destroyed by them.
Ambition can be a good thing; it can help people get what they want and can help drive a person to success. However, when it is used to try to convince someone to commit a despicable act, it is a bad thing. Macbeth decided to murder his own cousin, King Duncan, so that he could take over as the king. After sharing the plan with Lady Macbeth, he began to contemplate the decision. He began to doubt that it was a good idea and told his wife that he did not want to go through with it. Upon hearing this, Lady Macbeth became frustrated. She had a strong desire for Macbeth to become king, and she wanted to be the queen. She was full of ambition; she tried to convince Macbeth that they would absolutely succeed in their goal. She said "We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we'll not fail" (Shakespeare 44).
In life, the strength of a person`s ambition determines their level of effort to pursue their goals and aspirations. In the play, Macbeth, William Shakespeare utilizes this concept by incorporating it into two crucial contrasting characters. To begin the play, ambition`s importance is immediately presented when Macbeth and Banquo comprehend the mysterious prophecies in a dissimilar way. Moreover, the actions taken by both of these characters after the prophecies evidently convey who benefits from a powerful ambition. Clearly, ambition is a valuable asset for a person and it influences people to advance towards a better future. On the other hand, a lack of ambition leads to no progression and an unsuccessful life.