Tragic Ambition
As we all know Shakespeare is a very emotional writer. For example; Romeo and Juliet is a love story ending in death, Hamlet, in order to get the crown everybody died, and then we have Macbeth, a man with great ambition, challenged everyone to get the crown, just to end up alone and decapitated. Macbeth is a really dark story of how one man’s ambition got him everything, but was not able to really enjoy it. In Macbeth there are symbols that contribute the main theme of ambition. These symbols are; the three witches, blood and hands, sleep, light,darkness, and women. All these symbol contribute to set the overall theme of a tragic ambition. The three witches, or the three weird sisters, are people who came to manipulate Macbeth into conquering his desires. In the first act, scene one was all about them meeting with Macbeth and letting him know about some glorious news. Later on in the act, the three witches encountered him and said ‘First Witch. “All hail, Macbeth!, hail to thee, thane of Glamis.” Second Witch. “All hail, Macbeth!, hail to thee of cawdor!” Third Witch. “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter.” pg five to six act one scene three Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Dover Publications, 1993. The witches gave him a prophacy of being next in line to be king, so this obviously sparked ideas in his head. He became obssed with this prophacey and did not stop at anything to make them true, he cause chaos in people’s lives just to maintain a high stature. “Illustrating the positive creativity power at work, even inadventurally through the witches, power that Macbeth can niether control or destroy. His own art- wholly evil and negative one.” Lynch, Kathryn L. “'What Hands Are Here?' The Hand as Generative Symbol in Macbeth.” Vol. 39, no. 153, 1988, pp. 29–38., www.jstor.org/stable/515476. Accessed 30 Nov. 2017. Basically, the witches gave him so much power from a brief conversation the he did not know what to do, but use it for wrong. His ambition lead him to kill people. Blood and hands are the guilt of the ambition. Macbeth and his wife planned to kill their king, so they could be the royal family. Macbeth was not totally happy with the plan, but he wanted more then what he
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
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.
In the thrilling tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses key devices in order to effectively establish and sustain a suspenseful atmosphere. Shakespeare tells the story of a brave Scottish general, Macbeth, who receives several prophecies from a trio of sinister witches. His positive mind set is soon overcome with ambitious thoughts, leading to a series of selfish murders. The overall mood throughout the play is predominately dark and ominous in which many tragic plays inhabit. The major theme running through the play is the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints. Actions carried out without thought have the potential to present undesirable consequences and self-guilt. This argument is particularly concerning for Macbeth as his lust for power seizes control over his sanity, ultimately leading to his tragic flaw. Shakespeare clearly implements three vital devices to further
Another important theme was guilt. Guilt is a strong emotion. It is a heavy weight to bear if you have any. MacBeth found this out the hard way. When MacBeth and Lady MacBeth kill King Duncan to make the prophecy come true, they set the course for their guilt to send them to insanity for they were so wracked with
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.
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.
The play Macbeth is about a Scottish general who is told by witches that he will one day become King of Scotland. Swayed by the prophecies of the magical witches and pressured by his wife, Macbeth is fueled with ambition and greed which prompts him to kill King Duncan and take his place as ruler. However, Macbeth’s abundance of ambition has a price, as it comes back to haunt him and ultimately leads to his demise. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare utilizes the symbols blood, a dagger, and a ghost to exemplify Macbeth’s guilt and support the theme that ambition produces guilt from unwise and immoral decisions when one is power hungry. To begin with, blood is symbolized by Shakespeare to illustrate Macbeth’s guilt. After killing Duncan, Macbeth
In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, several different themes permeate the plot, establishing the deeper meaning of the tragedy. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth commit several murders to attain the power prophesized by the three witches. Hands, as a revealing symbol of sin is a recurring theme throughout the play and are used as a symbol of the effect of guilt on the characters’ actions. Macbeth’s guilty conscience is indicated through several references to his hands, which play a key role in Macbeth's passage from a hero to a traitor. Even before Macbeth commits any crimes, his plotting against the King of Scotland, is revealed through his eyes and hands: “Let not light see my black and deep desires, the eye wink at the hand; yet let that
The strive of ambition and power can seem to be true perfection but should be careful of what they do for power because it can cause a huge downfall in their life. In the play Macbeth, one of the major themes that can be derived from the play is No matter how much you want something killing and taking an innocent person’s life is never the answer which is supported by the three motifs blood, daggers and super natural. The motif blood is symbolic of banquo’s blood that was on Macbeths hands. This particular motif supports the theme because after Macbeth murdered king duncan his mind began to play tricks on him once he saw the blood on his hands.
It is a popular assumption that ambition is not a quality that someone is born with. Alternatively, external influences frequently catalyze the development of ambition. During the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth, a general from Scotland hears prophecies from three witches. One of these states that he will become King of Scotland. Upon hearing these, his power-hungry wife, Lady Macbeth, manipulates him into murdering King Duncan.
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.
The play ‘Macbeth’ established by William Shakespeare, exhibits the act of ambition and the danger that also accompanies it. Shakespeare specifically utilises this through the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and how ambition accounts for a majority of the mishaps that occur throughout the course of the play. During the beginning acts of the play, Macbeth is declared as a good-willed man who only inflicts righteousness upon others. However, as soon as the possibility of utmost power is said to be crowned in his name, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are filled with only deceit in order to claim success. Whilst the couple looks as though they are in control of their ambition and their actions, danger is however always seeping through. It does
Moreover, Macbeth’s constant paranoia forms hallucinations, illustrating the thesis of how unchecked ambition can lead to madness. His burden with killing is holy king is overpowered by Lady Macbeth’s insults of Macbeth’s manhood. While preparing for Duncan’s murder, Macbeth’s guilty conscience is represented through a dagger as he states, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? [...] thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There’s no such thing. It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes.” (2.1.33-49). Covered with blood, the dagger displays the wicked course of action Macbeth has decided to take. The hallucination underlines the juvenile stages of Macbeth’s decline into tyranny. Macbeth’s ambition
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth talk about wanting the power no matter the cost; however, both go through waves of utter and completely debilitating guilt. After Macbeth killed Duncan he felt overwhelming guilt while Lady Macbeth belittled him for it. Throughout Macbeth blood is used as a sign of guilt after the killing Macbeth in his delusional state, complaints about the blood that will never come off of his hands. All the sudden he forgets about his need for power and can only focus on the terrible things he had done; and the guilt that he will “never forget”. Macbeth, however, is not the only character to feel this level of guilt, Lady Macbeth also feels this type of guilt after the killing of Banquo, and Macduff. Interestingly Lady Macbeth only feels guilt over murders that she had little to no part in. As the play continues Lady Macbeth falls further
In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare slowly but surely begins to give his readers an understanding of the different themes he uses throughout this play. The most important is the relationship between the main characters which are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In my opinion the main theme of this play is that of ambition. Ambition is the compelling force that pushes Macbeth to pursue the crown through lies and evil crimes. Among the characters that ensure Macbeth’s ambition is Lady Macbeth and the three witches.