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The role of power and ambition in macbeth
The role of power and ambition in macbeth
The role of power and ambition in macbeth
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Ambition in Macbeth by Shakespeare Words are the basic elements of the English written language. With words, one can say precisely what one wants to say, a skill that Shakespeare has mastered. In Macbeth, he carefully chooses each word so as to say exactly what he wants to say, and often leaves these words open to the reader’s interpretation. One such carefully chosen word is the word “slave,” a simple word meaning “someone entirely under the dominion of a person or an influence” (Random House, 674). Although this word appears only four times within the play, it’s importance should not be underestimated. Every time that Shakespeare chooses to use the word “slave” he is using it to show a “slave of ambition,” an important symbol within the play. The first use of slave in the play comes when a war-wounded soldier comes to deliver the message to the king of Macbeth’s defeat over Macdonwald. He refers to Macdonwald as “the slave,” which is the perfect name for him (Shakespeare, Macbeth I.ii.20). One would have to be a “slave of ambition” if he thinks that it is acceptable for him to try to overthrow his very own king and center. Furthermore, it is extremely ironic how Macbeth is the one who defeats this slave in act one, but then becomes one himself in act two. After performing a heroic deed and making what was “foul” (Macdonwald’s rebellion), “fair,” Macbeth goes and makes what is “fair” (Duncan’s Kingship), “foul;” thus making him a slave like Macdonwald(I.i.11). Also, in using this word, the reader comes to learn much about Macdonwald. We first of all learn that he cares mainly about his own personal gain, for he desires kingly power. We also learn that if he had actually succeeded in stealing the throne, he would not have made a good king, for a good king can never be selfish or stray from the center the way that he does. In using the word slave Shakespeare actually puts into the reader’s mind a concept that runs throughout the entire play; you cannot be selfish or stray from the center if you are king and still expect to be a king in the truest sense of the word. The second time Shakespeare uses the word “slave” in Macbeth is when Banquo yells to his some Fleance, “Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou mayst revenge.
In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, there is a deep relation to ambition. Macbeth's ambition started after the witches told him that he was going to be king after Duncan died, so then Macbeth and Lady Macbeth just decided to kill Duncan. After this first murder he then decided that he would do anything to keep his crown, since he was so hungry for power. Guilt soon got the best of him which then led to his demise.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a story of a great Scottish warrior hero who falls prey to the temptations of his own aspirations to be king. Macbeth hastily silences everyone who even has a chance of standing in the way of his power. Initially, he is able to overcome his scruples to obtain the position he desires, but soon the uneasiness catches up to he and his wife in shocking manners. The dagger scene, banquet scene, and sleepwalking scene are all related because they demonstrate the guilt that both the Macbeths experience after the murders of Duncan, Banquo, and the Macduffs and how their actions are driving them to their inevitable deaths.
Just like any of us, Macbeth’s ambition caused him to be easily influenced. Based on the text, the witches say to Macbeth and Banquo, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!” “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Cawdor!” “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, that shalt be king hereafter!” After the witches speak his prophecy, Macbeth with great interest and desire then asks to here more about what the witches have to say. Soon after Macbeth was given the name Thane of Cawdor, he believed what the witches said had some truth to it causing his ambition to be influenced by the wicked weird sisters. When Macbeth tells his wife, Lady Macbeth about the prophecy, Macbeth’s ambition then faces Lady Macbeth’s influence. According to the
There are myriad fine lines in life, seemingly unattainable happy mediums that we endeavour to find, and spectrums that we attempt to exist in between. As sentient beings, we are continually evolving, and yet we are always searching for something that will remain constant in our often haphazard lives: Balance. Without it, one may see structure within their life deteriorate, as an overwhelming sense of chaos begins to percolate day to day existence. When we fail to achieve balance, adverse effects soon transpire. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, the type of balance being discussed is that of ambition and pride. The author suggests that ambition and pride are both respectable qualities to possess, and can coexist within a person
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press New Folger Edition, 1992
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play centred around opposing forces trying to gain power in the succession for the throne of Scotland. Macbeth, in the beginning, is known to be a noble and strong willed man, who is ready to fight for his country. However, one may see that Macbeth has a darker side to him, he is power hungry and blood thirsty, and will not stop until he has secured his spot as King of Scotland. Though Macbeth may be a tyrant, he is very nave, gullible, and vulnerable.
While in Hamlet and others of Shakespeare's plays we feel that Shakespeare refined upon and brooded over his thoughts, Macbeth seems as if struck out at a heat and imagined from first to last with rapidity and power, and a subtlety of workmanship which has become instructive. The theme of the drama is the gradual ruin through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man, who, though from the first tainted by base and ambitious thoughts, yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. (792)
...ility to manage slaves, to whip, alarm their fears a strike terror. Look word motion mistake accident want of powers all matters for which a slave may be whipped at anytime.
...rent between kingship and tyranny.” Macbeth may have been King, but not the King anyone would want. He was just like a tyrant, he was not a real King, and he did not show Kingship or demonstrate a real leader. He was a King for the power, dictatorship, and control. As stated above there were many different literary devices evident in the play Macbeth.
Among the greatest gifts that the renaissance produced was the eloquent and incredible Shakespearean plays. Written mostly in the 1590s these plays have been performed and admired countless times; entertaining mass audiences by providing interesting tales that explore the depth of human insights and the different universal themes. Among the many Shakespearean plays Macbeth, written in 1606, stands out with its short composition but multiple themes. This tragedy narrates the tale of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s quest to grasp ultimate power by ignoring their morals and succumbing to their dark desires, which ultimately leads to their downfall. This tragic play portrays the desires, needs, and temptations that accompany ambition in men and women. However the ambition in Macbeth is blind, it does not abide to the morals, but it allows space for dark actions as means necessary for accomplishment. Blind ambition serves as the main driving force that drives Macbeth to subdue to his dark desires, defy his noble behavior, and ultimately his downfall.
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.
Macbeth shows how greed and ambition can bring down a person as well as others and how the changes of power occur because of loyalty and betrayal. Macbeth is the play’s main unhappy character. The play tells of Macbeth's greedy thirst for power is a dangerous trait.
Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood. She insists: “When you durst do it, then you were a man”. Macbeth is a proud soldier, in a culture where men are defined by their courage and masculinity. By challenging his manhood, Lady Macbeth is in effect questioning his professional and social status. Furthermore, the slur becomes all the more effective, coming as it does from the one person who should surely be a source of admiration and tenderness rather than humiliation. It is clear that Lady Macbeth’s affections are conditional and, unless he meets her expectations, she will continue to deny his role as a protector and husband. Seeing a king being humiliated by a female would have made the Elizabethan audience particularly uncomfortable, especially given the strong patriarchal society of the time. To recap, Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeth’s masculinity to manipulate him into doing what she wants.
Ambition and desire are double-edged notions present in all who crave success and power. While ambition is most often associated with unfavorable greed and overwhelming need, people who express this desire are simultaneously praised for being goal-oriented and steadfast in achieving their goals. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, this duality of ambition is explored through the character of Lady Macbeth. In the play, Lady Macbeth’s husband, Macbeth, is prophesied to be king, and in order to expedite his path to the throne and their combined rise to power, Lady Macbeth plots to murder the current King Duncan. Throughout her Act I soliloquy, Lady Macbeth reveals not only her malevolent and scheming nature, but also profound determination
In Macbeth, Shakespeare confronts audiences with universal and powerful themes of ambition and evil along with its consequences. Shakespeare explores the powerful theme of the human mind’s decent into madness, audiences find this theme most confronting because of its universal relevance. His use of dramatic devices includes soliloquies, animal imagery, clear characterisation and dramatic language. Themes of ambition and mental instability are evident in Lady Macbeth’s reaction to Macbeth’s letter detailing the prophecies, Macbeth’s hallucinations of Banquo’s ghost and finally in the scene where Lady Macbeth is found sleep walking, tortured by her involvement.