Theme Of Obsession In Macbeth

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

The play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is based upon old Scotland and this is used as the general time frame. During this time, Monarchy still existed and Scotland is in war with Whales. There are many emotions that arise throughout the play, but the most important of all is ambition. “Ambition is the desire for personal achievement. Ambitious persons seek to be the best at what they choose to do for attainment, power, or superiority” (“Ambition”). The motif of ambition in the play is that being ambitious leaves one blind to certain areas and can drive one insane to reach the intended goal. Numerous characters that showed this trait throughout the play were Banquo, Macduff, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth.

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.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play.

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.

Obsession is defined as “an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone” (1), and is a prominent theme (in) The Great Gatsby, Enduring Love and Othello. For example, in all three, there is a great desire to obtain things which are unattainable, and in turn this fuels their obsession and causes it to intensify. Furthermore, the act of being obsessive is a common human characteristic, which enforces the fact that obsession is a key element throughout all the texts. Othello has the desire to seek revenge. Fitzgerald shows the desire of lust for Gatsby to have Daisy, whilst also allowing him to accomplish a social desire of fulfilling the American Dream, which was typical of the 1920’s as people were searching for wealth

Back home, Lady Macbeth plans to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan knowing that he is loyal to Duncan “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ milk of human kindness” (Shakespeare 1.5.15. Finally Macbeth submits to her plan influenced by her deceiving words that boasts about the wealth and power they would receive “I am settled, and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat” (Shakespeare 1.7.79-80) . Jay Gatsby on the other hand had a strong desire to marry Daisy whom he had met before leaving for war. He knew that she belong to a rich community and would intend to marry a rich man. The only ambition in Gatsby’s life was to marry Daisy; that as all he lived for, Nick comments on this by saying “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.’ ... He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths -- so that he could ‘come over’ some afternoon to a stranger’s garden.” (Fitzgerald. 78). Both Gatsby and Macbeth are determined to gain power to please their mistresses. Macbeth submits to Lady Macbeth’s plan of murdering Duncan to show her that he is brave and courageous. Gatsby, on the other hand, strives for wealth and power to please Daisy and convince her to marry him despite the years they have been apart “ the wordings of naive romance evoke the ambition of the individual,”. Rather than persuing their personal goals and dersires, Macbeth and Gatsby seek to please the women in their

An ambition for power can seem to be true perfection, but one should be careful what they wish for, because that power might be exactly what causes their downfall. In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare ambition plays a great role and is also a main theme. Ambition is often the motivating force in one's life. It is supposed to be the motivating factor that drives one towards success. The main character, Macbeth has ambition even though it leads him to his downfall. In contrast, Lady Macbeth pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the outcome of her actions. She becomes guilty which leads to her death since she becomes mentally ill and commits suicide, leaving Macbeth without any

The definition of paranoia is a mental condition characterized by delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, or exaggerated self-importance, typically elaborated into an organized system. The tragic play Macbeth, is written by William Shakespeare, and portrays the murders committed by a power hungry warrior. The three witches inform Macbeth that if Duncan dies then he will become King. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband, Macbeth, to kill the king, Duncan, for his throne. This starts out as one killing, but then more become inevitable, and Macbeth begins to feel unbearable guilt for the killings. The deaths of Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family are significant to the tragedy as Macbeth’s mental state progressively declines to a state of paranoia.

A motif is a repeating symbol that takes on a figurative meaning. A motif can be an object, a color, the weather, or even an idea or a concept. Motifs are usually used to establish a certain mood or a theme, and they have a symbolic meaning. For example, in a fairy tale, some motifs would be: the handsome prince, the wicked witch, talking animals, and magic fairies. Another example would be the song “Beasts of England” in Animal Farm by George Orwell, and it is a motif that mainly serves as propaganda to the animals. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, motifs are seen all throughout the book, like the motif of blood and how it represents guilt. The motifs of blood, sleep, and birds affect the character development and relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Paranoia, motive, encouragement, these are examples of forces that lead individuals to do certain actions and tasks. These forces that drive people to do what they do are powerful, and affect everyone around the force infected person. Everything that happens affects someone in one way or another, whether good or bad. But more often than not, it is for the worst. In both “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “Macbeth” by Shakespeare, examples of corruptive and confusing forces are shown. When Fitzgerald’s character Gatsby falls in love with the heartthrob Daisy, his mind is filled with desire and motive to get close to her. Instead of marrying Gatsby though, Daisy marries another man named Tom, breaking both Gatsby’s heart and mind.

Although some might say that Scotland is a great country, in reality, it is filled with lies, evil, and blood. Through the Tragedy of Macbeth, a popular theme that keeps appearing is the will of desire. In the play, the main character Macbeth gets blinded by the desire to become king which leads him to do evil and savage things. In Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the main character Macbeth displays a vivid theme of desire to become a king which eventually leads him to do savage things like murder King Duncan, kill Banquo and also destroy Macduff's family.

In the novella The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, there are endless differences in the plot, but stunning similarity between the themes that are discussed. A major theme in both works is the theme of ambition, more specifically what their objectives are, how they attempt to attain them, and the product of their endeavours. Jay Gatsby, from The Great Gatsby, is one of the main characters that demonstrates the theme of ambition throughout the plot. In the play Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, also shows these characteristics. An example of these characteristics is Jay Gatsby wanting to achieve the ‘American Dream’; becoming wealthy and having lots of success in everything. Macbeth, also shows these qualities, as he has an unquenchable thirst to rule over Scotland. Ambition is a key theme in both The Great Gatsby, and Macbeth; the main characters both possess it, and it demonstrates how it can lead to power, then to demise.

Within Shakespeare’s King Lear and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the following human flaws are explored: obsession, greed, yearning, and loss. These flaws are a commonality between these two characters. Although these flaws are standard for many characters among many genres, they are unique only to Lear and Gatsby because they lead to their death. Lear and Gatsby share a dream of power and love, but this dream slowly becomes an unhealthy obsession. King Lear is so blinded by his love for his daughters that he does not see that they are only using him for his wealth. Jay Gatsby shares a mutual experience; he is oblivious to Daisy Buchanan’s materialistic and selfish ways and is helpless to her charms. In Act Two of King Lear, the Fool tells the King “...fathers that bear bags shall see their children kind.” (2.4 49-50), a premonition that clearly illustrates how Lear’s daughters love him only for his riches. Both men are bound by their mutual suffering caused by the women that dominate their lives. It is obvious in The Great Gatsby that Daisy Buchanan is a woman who only has eyes for powerful men and when she realizes that Gatsby is a self-made millionaire, she casts him aside. The same occurs in King Lear; Goneril and Regan only proclaim to love their