How Is Macbeth A Misused Ambition

Macbeth Essay

Every individual has a goal set, and acting with ambitious actions may hasten the time it takes to achieve it. However, no matter how important the goal is, using ambition incorrectly will cause problems for the individual. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare, strongly elaborates how the protagonist’s life and the others around him are shaped by the ambitious choices he makes. When Macbeth discovers that a prophecy shall crown him king, he instantaneously uses ambition in the wrong way to get there. In life, whenever man is attempting to strive to achieve his goals, misused ambition will always carry a negative consequence on self and others.

At the beginning of the play Macbeth is a noble thane. He has all the respect

from Duncan, and all the other Thanes of Scotland. Macbeth has no urge to become the king as he is happy with his rank already. Although, Macbeth interacts with various individuals throughout the play which ultimately stirs up his ambition and provides him a kickstart to perform his evil actions. Earlier in the play, Macbeth and Banquo approach the three evil witches, the prophecy describes his fate as being Thane of Cawdor and soon to be king, which ultimately sparks his belief of using deadly ambition to make the prophecy come to life. With the witches knowing how vulnerable Macbeth is when it comes to power, they continually poke at to stir up his evil thoughts. Another individual who does an excellent job at firing up Macbeth’s ambition is his wife, Lady Macbeth. When she finds out that Duncan will be attending her home for a banquet, she creates an evil thought of murdering the king, so the Macbeth’s can be crowned the king and queen of Scotland. Upon Macbeth’s return, his wife begins to criticize him of his rank and call him various names such as a coward, and unmanly. These remarks implant into Macbeth’s mind and create the illusion of murdering the king in order to become king of Scotland. In the past murdering the king was a terrible act, which untimely resulted in death of the perpetrator, and Macbeth wanted to part of this act, but with Macbeth being so vulnerable for deadly ambition it doesn’t take much to convince him.

Eventually, Macbeth's ambition begins to grow expeditious with the multiple individuals in his life stirring up his ambition. Macbeth becomes so caught up with ambition that he murders the king in his sleep, and then murders Duncan’s guards after they have been intoxicated from all the alcohol kindly offered from the Macbeth’s to attempt to blame the murder on them. Although the Macbeth is extremely happy that he has captured the throne, now he feels that he is never safe. A king possesses large amounts of power so if he feels that any certain individual is a threat he will have them killed immediately. Macbeth has become ruthless and follows this same principle, and has his best friend murdered, Banquo. Macbeth feels that since Banquo is a strong military soldier, it is best that he is dead. As the play’s plot begins to thicken, the audience begins to truly understand how Macbeth’s ambition has caused him to become a ruthless, evil, malicious tyrant. This is really shown when Macbeth finds out that Macduff has fled to England to reach Malcolm in attempt to create an English army to stop the tyrants rule, and Macbeth sends assigned killers to eliminate Macduff’s wife and children. Murdering a human is unbearable, but going to the extent of murdering innocent women and children is iniquitous.

All this misused ambition that Macbeth performed has carried consequences for for not only him, but also his wife.

Over time Macbeth’s ambition has caused Lady Macbeth to crawl into a deep cavern of depression and regret. After so much mental destruction, the ambitious actions they have committed contributed to the suicide of Lady Macbeth. Even Macbeth effected himself from all his ambition, but not to the extent of killing himself. The primary reason Macbeth refuses to kill himself at the end of the play is because he finally realizes what evil he has done and he strongly believes that he is still a noble, and that he is aware of his choices and feels terrible. Also Macbeth doesn't want to go out like a coward, Macbeth quotes “why should I play the Roman fool, and die on my own sword?” (5.8.1). A collapsing monarchy is also a result of Macbeth’s evil ambition. The innocent citizens of Scotland are greatly affected it because they are now feared of Macbeth’s way of ruling. Having a source of defence is extremely important when ruling a country, and at the end of the play when the English forces are advancing to Macbeth’s castle, Macbeth is looking for soldiers to help defend his country. All of Macbeth’s army work in duress in result of Macbeth’s misused ambition to become

king.

Macbeth started out as a Thane and an important individual in the country of Scotland. Overtime, Macbeth has obtained an evil passion for ambition and it slowly disintegrated his loyal and noble soul. Missused ambition will always carry a negative consequence for man. As Macbeth realized, he lost his wife, friends, honour, and self respect as a human, just as a result of misused ambition. Even Macbeth effected himself from all his actions, but later realized what evil he has done. Man must come to the agreement with one's own mind when it is important to act with ambition and to ensure it is used for the correct reason, or negative consequences will trail behind it.