How deep into immorality is man willing to delve in order to reap that which he desires? William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is a timeless tragedy that chronicles the rise and fall of a desperate man led astray by wicked ambition. This classic drama is set in Scotland during a period of great turmoil, a time in which noble factions competed for glory. One such noble was the valiant Macbeth, one of Scotland’s most seasoned warriors. The play follows Macbeth as he traverses a murderous course through destiny, which ultimately leads to his demise. A powerful theme is ambition, a leading trait that accounts for the actions of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff. Lady Macbeth played a crucial role in the events that transpired by way of her ambition. …show more content…
During a pivotal moment in the play, Macbeth submits the order “Seize upon Fife; give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.” (Act IV, scn I, ln 151-153) Macbeth’s ambition in that quote shows the lengths he is willing to go to maintain his maniacal sense of leadership. A more heroic notion of Macbeth’s determination and strength takes shape when he says an impactful phrase the perfectly represents the theme of ambition, “They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, but bearlike I must fight the course.” (Act V, scn vii, ln 1-2) In his phrase, Macbeth makes the blatant metaphor of himself as a man who refuses to go down without a fight. Though Macbeth may have a warped sense of morality, his drive and ambition shines brightly and illuminates his …show more content…
Lady Macbeth’s ambition was to deceive the world and clutch longingly at the chance of applying a dim importance to her life. Macbeth’s ambition was to ease his conflicted heart by hardening it and committing unspeakable acts in order to achieve happiness. Macduff’s ambition was to make amends for his abandoned family and spill the tainted blood that ushered in his true deliverance from complacency. Each character’s destiny was intertwined with another’s, and despite the harsh cruelties that occurred, the phoenix would have never risen from the ashes if at first it did not
Macbeth is hesitant about following through with her plan of killing the king, but Lady Macbeth sees this as a lack of courage and strength. Lady Macbeth felt that if you have the ambition to do something you shouldn’t hold back
In the myth of Icarus, the renowned artisan Daedalus and his son Icarus defied the gods in an act of hubris by flying, defying their mortal limits. Daedalus and his son flew with the aid of improvised wings composed of feathers and wax. Daedalus warned his son not to fly too low or too high or else the wings would be drenched by the waves or the wax would be melted by the sun. However young Icarus, filled with pride and ambition, while enjoying the act of flight, flew too high and the heat liquified the wax adhering the wings together. Icarus then plummeted into the Aegean Sea and drowned. (Shmoop editors) As seen in the myth of Icarus, his pride and youthful ambition coerced him to desire more, he was aware of the consequences previously indicated by his father yet he still opted for more. Just like any other circumstance, an excess of ambition can be a detrimental trait. Ambition is a common thread portrayed in both Macbeth, by William Shakespeare and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller that can be distinguished in a variety of similar and adverse ways such as ambition out of desperation, instilled ambition and ambition towards power.
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. Macbeth’s rise to the throne was brought about by the same external forces that ensure his downfall.
Based on the text it states, “And, on 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. Now o’er the one-half world Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse…..I have done the deed.” This illustrates that Macbeth went through with the plan his wife cameup with. He killed King Duncan so he could become King. His ambition caused him to take part and do a bad action such as killing Duncan. The killing and wrong doings don't stop there however. Macbeth’s ambition pushes him to the limit. Macbeth then kills his close friend Banquo and attempted to kill Banquo’s son, based on fears that Banquo’s son will become king. Macbeth brings forth murderers and states, “ Know That it was he, in the times past, which held you So under fortune, which you thought had been Our innocent self…. So is he mine, and in such bloody distance That every minute of his being thrusts Against my near’st of life. And though I could With barefaced power sweep him from my sight.” Macbeth deceives the Murderers and tells them that Banquo is to blame for their misfortune. He then convinces them that Banquo is the enemy and he must be killed. Macbeth also tells them, “The moment on ’t, for ’t must be done tonight….Fleance, his son, that keeps
In the early 1600’s, William Shakespeare penned an Aristotelian tragedy ‘Macbeth’ which provides his audiences both then and now with many valuable insights and perceptions into human nature. Shakespeare achieves this by cleverly employing many dramatic devices and themes within the character of ‘Macbeth’. Macbeth is depicted as an anti-hero; a noble protagonist with a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. This tragic flaw of Macbeth’s, heavily laden with the themes of ‘fate or free will’, and ‘ambition’, is brought out by Shakespeare in his writing to present us with a character whose actions and final demise are, if not laudable, very recognisable as human failings.
Where is there a page in William Shakespeare's tragic play Macbeth which does not present the selfish virtue of personal ambition. This paper addresses the problem of ambition in the drama.
The main theme of Macbeth-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints-finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
Macbeth’s blind ambition leads him to surrender to his dark desires that taunt him throughout the play. Macbeth is frequently tempted to result to the wrongful methods that seem to roam inside of him. In the beginning however Macbeth tends to ignore these desires and depends on chance. He declares “if chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare, act 1, scene 3, 143-144). This declaration by Macbeth shows his initial stand, which is reliant on fate and sin free. Yet as Macbeth’s character develops throughout the play, he moves farther from his dependence on chance and closer to his darker desires. Eventually his blind ambition to become king overp...
Typical of Shakespeare’s works, the play Macbeth has a protagonist who ultimately experiences a downfall that lead to his demise. The protagonist or tragic hero of this play is Macbeth, once brave and honorable, who eventually becomes tyrannical and feared by many due to what Abrams describes as his “hamartia” or “error of judgment or, as it is often…translated, his tragic flaw.” In this case, Macbeth’s tragic flaw proves to be ambition; however, he cannot be held solely responsible for his downfall. As a result of many outside influential factors, including the witches’ prophecies and a rather coaxing and persuasive wife, one should not hold Macbeth entirely culpable for his actions and tragic end.
In the play of “Macbeth”, Shakespeare gradually and effectively deepens our understanding of the themes and most importantly the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The main theme of Macbeth is ambition, and how it compels the main characters to pursue it. The antagonists of the play are the three witches, who symbolise the theme appearance and reality. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relation is an irony throughout the play, as most of their relation is based on greed and power. This is different from most of Shakespeare’s other plays, which are mostly based on romance and trust. There is also guilt that leads Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to the final consequences of the play. As the progresses, the constant changes in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are exposed.
Timothy Leary once said, "Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition" (Peters 175). But is this true in the case of the classic play Macbeth? In Macbeth it seems to be, that Macbeth the protagonist of the play is influence by Lady Macbeth's ambition. Could this be an exception or was Lady Macbeth lying when she ask to be equal to a man so she could commit the murder (1.5.33.45-61). To understand one must look deeply into the plot and many themes of Macbeth. William Shakespeare uses ambition among other things to imply may different ideas. Thus, Macbeth's downfall is a direct cause of Lady Macbeth's goading and ambition.
The vigorous desire to achieve and willingly attain something holds the capability to greatly affect one's life. William Shakespeare's play Macbeth establishes the immense effect and influence of ambition. After gaining power over his country Scotland, the protagonist, Macbeth, experiences an internal downfall as he battles between his wants and moral judgement. He struggles to maintain stable relationships with others as his selfish desires and goals hurt those around him when achieved. In addition to clashing with himself and others, he is seen as a tyrant leader and is slowly turned against by Scotland's nation as well as England. Shakespeare's play Macbeth provides the reader with a clear understanding of ambition's corrupting power in Shakespeare's tragic character Macbeth, through his inner conflicts, struggle to maintain stable relationships with those surrounding him, and clash with society.
Macbeth’s subsequent fear creates a constant compulsion to watch his back so that no one will take his position of power. This evolving greed, motivation, and insecurity leads to his and Lady Macbeth’s killing spree, which in turn takes the lives of anyone and everyone who posses a threat to their power. These actions have tremendous repercussions on them whether it be their inability to sleep or in their personal relationship. In order to protect their power, humans, in many cases will go to the greatest length no matter what the consequences may be.
Lady Macbeth and the witches have both planted the seed of ambition inside of Macbeth Because of Lady Macbeth’s wicked behavior, which resulted in Macbeth’s evil transition; he was led to become a murderer. Macbeth should not be held accountable for his actions completely since she is the one who lead him towards committing both crimes. The major theme ambition and greed for power have played a key part in Macbeth’s fall from a great Scottish general to a murderer. People should be content on what they have and not strive for things which destroy a person even if we are influenced. In this case Shakespeare’s thought proving play of Macbeth.
Ambition is an underlying theme throughout Macbeth, it is the tragic flaw in human kind, bound to lead to disaster. In Act 1 scene 7 this is one of the most interesting scenes of the play. This is the last time as we see Macbeth a freeman, he can still make the decision whether he wants to be good or evil. The choices that are preventing Macbeth are committing the murder, fear of the consequences on this earth, variety of feelings of kinship, loyalty, and hospitality he admires Duncan’s goodness as he is not the most moral character but hes power is what urges him on that are motives of good A soliloquy, which is found in Act 1, scene 7, in the lines 1-28, Macbeth debates whether he should kill Duncan. The imagery that is in this speech can be dark and moody for most people. Some examples we hear of imagery are “bloody instructions,” “deep damnation,” and a “poisoned chalice”—and suggests that Macbeth is aware of how the murder would open the door to a dark and sinful world. When the soliloquy ends, Macbeth goes to resolve to not kill Duncan but this only...