Themes Of Ambition In Macbeth

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.

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.

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.

Consequences such as the dreading constant thought of guilt can significantly impact a person’s life mentally, emotionally and physically. Guilt most often occurs due to a morally wrong act which one commits. The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare effectively demonstrates this statement since the protagonist, Macbeth, provides a good example as his tragic flaw damages him overall. The text establishes the theme that a selfish desire can destroy one’s conscience and morals due to over ambition. He advertises this life lesson towards the audience through usage of imagery and symbols to show universality. Shakespeare explores the theme by constructing obstacles, which develop distinct characteristics of the main characters,

In his book On the Sublime and Beautiful, Edmund Burke said, “…God has planted in man a sense of ambition…” (Bartleby.com). Burke contends that a man’s ambition is the passion that drives him toward perfection. Ambition is an innate desire to improvement, but how is the word actually defined? The word ambition means “an ardent desire for status, fame, or power” (Webster 2).

Macbeth is a tragedy play written by William Shakespeare in 1606 and published in 1623. Shakespeare created this play during the Elizabethan era and was highly influenced by ‘The Great Chain of Being’, which was the social structure of the time. This play revolves around a noble that soon changes after he encounters three witches on his way home from a battle and they tell him of three prophecies, which sparked his interest and causes worry when they start coming true. These prophecies start to occupy his mind and causes his ambition to increase drastically. This new character, not only starts to harm himself, but also his country, Scotland, and his relationship with his wife, Lady Macbeth.

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.

A thane and his wife go through anything to get what they want in Macbeth by William Shakespeare. As Macbeth , and his friend Banquo come back home from a successful battle he encounters three witches who give them 3 prophecies. Macbeth was astonished by the prophecies they gave him, both which became true. As he told the news to Lady Macbeth, his wife, she convinces him to kill the current king, Duncan. Macbeth then proceeds the murder of the King, leaving him as the new king of Scotland.

One theme in Macbeth is ambition. We see all different types of ambition through out the story. The first instance is when Macbeth sends a letter to his wife tell her what the weird sisters said. He told Lady Macbeth that they said he would become king after becoming Thane of Cowdar. He also told him wife that he would to anything to make sure that comes true. After Lady Macbeth read this she wanted to make sure her husband would become king. She has a few concerns though, "To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it" (I/5/17-19). She does not know if Macbeth will be able to go through with their plan. She talks him into killing Duncan by telling him that he will not

The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare develops the theme of ambition throughout the play. First, Lady Macbeth goes to extreme measures to make sure Macbeth becomes king. This influences Macbeth to ambitiously kill others so he can become king. Macbeth’s killings cause Macduff and Malcolm to try to overthrow Macbeth because he can not be trusted if he becomes king.

Shakespeare’s characterization of Macbeth and his consequences reveals his warning about ambitions and its downfalls. Macbeth begins as a noble man who’s ambition ruins him and his true self, leading to his inevitable death. In Act I, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as an accomplished man whose lust for more is fueled by his wife’s ambitions. At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth commonly challenges his masculinity to drive his ambition to kill King Duncan and acclaim the throne of Scotland: “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art desire?” (P. 29). Conversely, by Act III, Macbeth’s ambition is self-driven because of the prophecy making him loses his sense of morality, and become corrupt. One such action is the murder of Banquo, Macbeth’s “noble partner” (P. 17): “Who wear our health but sickly in his life, which his death were prefect” (P. 56). Banquo’s murder serves as the beginning of Macbeth’s crumbling edifice, as for each murder he commits, he falls deeper into the world of deception.

In the play Macbeth, there are several different themes used by the author (Shakespeare). Some of the themes that are used in the play are ambition, guilt, things are not what they seem, and natural vs unnatural. Every theme used in the play is very important to the story.

“The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.” - Shakespeare The quote above, exemplifies how ambition can mislead and force people to make desperate decisions. Thus, in the play, “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth takes over her minor role of a medieval woman and becomes the causation of the death of her husband and a fallen kingdom. Lady Macbeth, in the role of a woman is especially protected by the thoughts of society back in the middle ages. She had an invisible aura around her, she had the power to control everyone from the inside; hence make it impossible for men to read her motives and character. Nevertheless, Lady Macbeth was the cause of Macbeth’s killing spree and the drama inside the Scottish kingdom