The Theme Of Ambition In Macbeth

Ambition is often the driving force in one’s life. It is supposed to be the motivating factor that drives one towards success. Society also deems ambition a necessary quality of their leader. It can be said that Macbeth exhibits this quality of ambition. He is the strong, valiant warrior who has won in battle and brought victory to Scotland. However, Macbeth’s quest to acquire more power-his ambition-ultimately leads to his tragic demise. How can one allow himself to be destroyed by such a thing? Before Duncan’s murder, Macbeth questions and second guesses his ambitious tendencies and actions. Despite his anxiety, he succumbs to these tendencies and finds himself in an increasingly precarious situation, with his back against the wall and growing ever closer to his almost inevitable end.

There are many different themes displayed in Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth. Many of these themes play with nature, the supernatural, and fate. From ghosts to horses eating each other the play uses symbolism, language, and characters to portray these themes. During the play the audience learns of several themes such as ambition, guilt, fate versus free will, nature versus the unnatural, and how things are not always as they seem.

We have all made mistakes in our lives, things we cannot reverse. I personally have never made such a bad mistake its life-changing but we see this happen in MacBeth, a play written by William Shakespeare. It has many themes and insinuates several different messages.

The cast of Hamilton: The Musical once sang “ambition is my folly”. This quote, sung by Alexander Hamilton himself, was showing that having too much ambition will lead to your downfall in life. One character that comes to mind when hearing the word, ambition, is Macbeth from the Shakespearean play Macbeth by non other than William Shakespeare. Macbeth follows the story of a former general named Macbeth who goes crazy with greed and power and does anything to remain king, even murder. Although Macbeth's journey to becoming king may seem simple, it was full of not only emotional but physical triumphs. Throughout the book, Macbeth’s ambition is driven by numerous factors including: the prophecy of the witches, Lady Macbeth, and wanting to stay king.

Ambition has been a driving force of humanity since the beginning of time. Emotions have always had a strong influence on humanity, specifically emotions that tend towards the ruin of others and the gain another. Throughout the history of humanity there have been many examples of people abusing their position of power, to gain something they more than likely did not deserve. Whether it be Hitler and his repulsive ascension to becoming chancellor of Germany, or Kim Jong Un’s obsession with obtaining nuclear weapons at the cost of the people, humanities struggle with greed is unceasing. No one better illustrates this unrelenting thirst for power more than Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is a good, brave, and beloved man at the beginning of the play with the end of his latest battle heralding a new title for him. Fate though, seems to have different plans for the good, albeit, ambitious Macbeth. He is told by the 3 weird sisters that he will one day become king. Thus igniting the flame of greed within Macbeth, signaling his descent into madness and the guilt he feels towards the deeds he has done. Lady Macbeth is much the same in the sense that once she knew of Macbeths own ambition, it hatched her own deep seeded desire for the crown as well. However, there various similarities end with the death of Duncan and the way they both deal with the guilt over what they did. In the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have similarly great ambition, but this intense avarice in the end leads to their ruin in differing ways.

Coinciding with the cycle of the tragic hero, Macbeth contains flaws in his character, his most prominent, being his ambition. In Shakespeare's Macbeth the idea of ambition is served as a vice to cause Macbeth’s tragic downfall. Ambition is a dangerous quality that causes those to go against their morals in order to gain power. Macbeth transforms into a self serving tyrant murdering anyone supposedly threatening his position of power or prophesied fate. ‘’I have no spur, To prick the sides of my intent, but only, Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself. And falls on the other.’’ This quote found early on in the play, reveals that Macbeth recognises his ambition as a flaw, yet not one so serious to leads, to his demise. Macbeth’s ambition is strongly influenced by lady Macbeth. “Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’ like the poor cat i’ the adage?” This simile expresses Lady Macbeth’s willingness to manipulate her husband to betrayal. She passes her murderous desires to Macbeth, building up his strong nature. Lady Macbeth’s emotive language helps Macbeth’s already present ambition, truly develop into a overpowering force. Foil is again used between Macbeth and Banquo, as well as Duncan and Macduff. Although Banquo, Duncan and Macbeth all aim to be dominant leaders they contrast from Macbeth as they withhold from the urge to let ambition control their decisions. Macbeth lets go of all sort of moral of social recognition allowing ambition to be his leading and most noticeable characteristic. Ambition is the driving element of the play triggering a series of deaths at Macbeth’s expense. He has spiralled so out of control that he is incapable of knowing any other option then to murder repetitively, to cover up his previous treasons. ‘’For mine own good, All causes shall give way. I am in blood, Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er.’’ There becomes a time in the play when Macbeth s completely aware of

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 is defined as a “desire and determination to reach success” ("Ambition." Ambition - Wiktionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2017.). In history, ambition has brought many people success and riches, but when unchecked, it can prove to have a devastating effect on its host. A great example of this is in the 1606 play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. In this play, the titular character, Macbeth, a Scottish army commander, is told by three witches that one day he would become king. Upon revealing this to his wife, Lady Macbeth, she pushes him to kill King Duncan out of greed to gain the royal status. Although Macbeth is not a natural born killer for greed, he eventually acts upon this fatal suggestion and kills King Duncan. After committing this treacherous deed, Macbeth is plagued with guilt for killing such a noble and kind king. Further into the play, Macbeth’s early ambition to become king builds up to the point of driving him mad. He begins to see ghosts, orders numerous assassinations, and uses the supernatural to keep up with his prophecies. Macbeth's greatest downfall is his ambition, sparked by the prophecies of the three witches. This flaw drives him to become someone unrecognizable, and ultimately, carries him to his tragic end.

Ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. In Williams Shakespeare 's Macbeth the characters Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a strong desire to ascend the throne and they are determined to do whatever it takes in order to achieve this goal, including deceiving and killing those they are closest to. The zeal of ambition predominately persuades both characters actions in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth portrays how the forces of ambition strike her to instil a powerful drive in her husband, also how she demonstrates an overweening pride and lack of morals in order to reach a goal and lastly how ambition leads Macbeth to betray those cares about most.

The play, Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife kill the king of Scotland so Macbeth can become king. As a result, of the witches since they told him about the prophecy and how he would become king. He eventually does more evil things which fills Lady Macbeth with guilt. She ends up killing herself and Macbeth ends up dying. In the play, there are numerous of themes that you can see and examples that you can find. There are five themes that we have discussed in class which are ambition, guilt, things are not what they seem, fate versus free will, and nature versus the unnatural.

Many Shakespearian dramas, like Macbeth, are inspired by the ancient Greek notion of tragedy and the fall of man; much of which is powered by one’s lust for greater gains. Correspondingly, the play reveals how ambition creates the capability of deteriorating a man’s morality and world. This is presented through the titular character and his “dearest partner of greatness” (P. 23) and the consequences of their actions.

First, ambition is found in just about every character in Macbeth. Macduff, Malcolm, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth all show very obvious signs of ambition. In the first act, Macbeth is ambitious after talking to the Witches. They address him as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and last but definitely not least, King. This peaks Macbeth's interest and he begins to think about how he would become King. Thoughts of killing Duncan flood his mind. If it were not for his ambition, I am almost certain he would have never told Lady Macbeth or allowed himself to be convinced to kill Duncan. This quote signifies his ambition perfectly, "The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step / On which I must fall down, or else o'er leap, / For in my way lies. Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires. / The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be / Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see." (Mac 1.4.28). Furthermore, Lady Macbeth played a very important role in convincing Macbeth to murder Duncan. After reading a letter sent from Macbeth, Lady Macbeth was determined to become Queen and she was willing to do anything to receive the title, "...Thou'ld'st have, great Glamis, / That which cries, "Thus thou must do," if thou have it, / And that which rather thou dost fear to do, / Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither, / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear / And chastise with the valor of my tongue / All that impedes thee from the golden round, / Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem / To have thee crowned withal." (Mac 1.5.30). Additionally, Macduff is ambitious towards the end of the play. After Macbeth kills his whole family, Macduff is extremely determined to get rid of Macbeth once and for all. He joins forces with Malcolm, Siward, and the

The undeniable power of unbridled ambition and its ramifications are extensively portrayed within William Shakespeare’s tragedy; Macbeth. Within this play, ambition is portrayed as a corrupting and unquenchable force through the main concepts of mental imbalance, supernatural behaviors and betrayal. The consuming desires of Macbeth and their repercussions are vividly enhanced through the use of various expressive literary techniques. Ultimately, Macbeth is a play that explores and reiterates the tragic and pestilent nature of unreasoned aspirations.

Ambition, a trait which underlines success, but while unchecked can lead to self or societal corruption. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Macbeth”, a brave general falls into tyranny and paranoia after he acts immorally upon the witches prophecies. Macbeth’s pursuit of long lasting power reveals the consequences of hubris and unchecked ambition, which ultimately leads to the the deterioration of his human nature and the corruption of the kingdom. Through the use of thematic motif, the theme of Macbeth’s unchecked ambition and hubris is examined through his struggle to alter and actuate fate, his haunting hallucinations, and the apparitions.