Ambition is a personal desire and determination to achieve success, although it cannot always be viewed as positive. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the danger of power and unchecked ambition proves to be tragic. Macbeth is surrounded by many influences and challenges and continually fails to take the correct approach. All of Macbeth's struggles are inflicted by his biggest weakness which are his temptations. His temptations become tragic due to their power to overtake morals and values to fulfill his personal ambitions. This is evident when Macbeth realizes his desires and begins to give into them, loses his control over his thoughts and actions, and when Macbeth has to face his final fate. Macbeth is an everyday hero in eleventh century Scotland, but that quickly changes when he is delivered a prophecy. Macbeth's evil ambitions soon begin after talking with three witches and being told he would become thane of …show more content…
Everything Macbeth has wanted is now out of reach and he has lost hope. This is apparent when Macbeth expresses, “From this moment/The very firstlings of my heart shall be/The firstlings of my hand" (Macbeth, Act 4.1.146-148). Macbeth, now in despair, has given up and has decided not to face his own battle, but act immediately on everything that comes his way without putting any thought into it. Macbeth recognizes the mistakes he has made and communicates them by saying, "My way of life/Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf,/And that which should accompany old age,/As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends,/I must not look to have, but in their stead/Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honor, breath/Which the poor heart would fain deny and dare not" (Macbeth, Act 5.3.22-28). Macbeth, now aware of what is truly important, knows he has lost the privilege to obtain what really matters. Macbeth's beliefs are what contributed to his tragic
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.
Ambition is frequently seen as desirable - it provides purpose, motivation to work hard, and a goal to strive towards. Yet it also has a dangerous side, when it becomes too great and out of control. Although ambition is often positive, excess of it can have detrimental effects. This unrestrained ambition is predominant in the tragedy of Macbeth. In this play, Shakespeare employs the use of hallucination, blood, and prophecy motifs to emphasize the theme of ambition, which, when goes unchecked by moral constraints, wreaks destruction upon an individual.
“Macbeth” is an age-old tragedy by, William Shakespeare, that tells the story of the disastrous down fall of Scotland and it’s Kings. The protagonist, Macbeth, starts out as a thriving Thane in Scotland, but ends up destroying his own prosperity as well as Scotland’s. Certain witches who tell people their fate convince Macbeth that he will be King and that his dear friend Banquo’s children will be kings. In an effort to be sure his prophecy is true and with some encouragement from his rash wife, he kills King Duncan, the current king of Scotland. To continue on this path of destruction Macbeth, acts on impulse and has his friend Banquo killed, because he is afraid that he killed Duncan for someone else’s fortune. Throughout the play Macbeth’s degeneration continues until the tragic ending when the country turns against him and seizes his castle. Macbeth’s demise can be attributed to his abandoning his belief in fate for a need to prove his masculinity.
Ambition is defined as a strong will to achieve something, and at times, it will inspire success. But, what is truly considered success? In William Shakespeare’s work Macbeth, ambition is one of the most prominent themes. To begin with, Lady Macbeth’s ambition sparks treacherous ideas, which results in her own tragedy. Furthermore, Macduff’s ambition is treated as impulsive thinking, leading to his tragic experience.
In Macbeth, William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth’s dishonorable political advancement to his downfall, as the acquisition of foreseen titles ends in his execution. While Scotland is fearful of the invading forces, Macbeth’s valor in the battle with traitors secures him the positions of Thane of Cawdor, as well as Thane of Glamis. Macbeth is a character of bravery and courage. In the beginning, one believes that Macbeth is a stable, rational individual, although when Macbeth discovers the weird sisters’ forecasts that he will continue to obtain ranks, an insane character emerges from within. Macbeth’s actions are based upon motivation and truly evoke an imbalance in his mind.
In the play Macbeth, ambition plays a big part, specifically in Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s lives. Macbeth’s ambition to be the best overtakes his real character, causing him to change tremendously. He will do anything to overstep others, which makes his character stand out. Lady Macbeth is ambitious for Macbeth’s sake, causing him to become ambitious. Shakespeare highlights the theme that devastation follows ambition when ambition oversteps moral boundaries, which is relevant not only in this play, but in our world today.
Dictionary.com states that ambition is an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, Fame, or wealth, and willingness to strive for its attainment. Ambition becomes unchecked ambition when someone can’t control their desire and ends up going crazy. Macbeth allows his ambition to surprise him and becomes a murdering maniac. Abigail, in the crucible started out to be a good person, but she let her ambition get to her.
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.
Ambition is the most shown theme in Macbeth. In the story it shows how ambition run right through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, when they try completely change themselves to fulfil this urge for ambition. For example Lady Macbeth was very ambitious when she says, "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the toe top full of the direst cruelty. Make thick my blood."
Throughout the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the reasoning of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is completely subverted and undermined by their insatiable ambition. Macbeth was at first reasonable enough to keep his ambition in check, however it eventually became to strong for even Macbeth and therefor over powered him. To the contrary, Lady Macbeth was overcome by her ambition from the very beginning. Reasoning was abandoned after the decision to kill Duncan was made. At that point we see no serious questioning of the motives of the three witches when they told their cunning and misleading predictions. Macbeth even went as far as to ask for their advise a second time - this second time would of course lead to his downfall. The decision to kill Duncan also signified the last serious attempt at moral contemplation on the part of Macbeth. Throughout the novel we see that the Macbeth's ambition completely subverted their reasoning abilities and eventually lead to their downfall.
Ambition; a dangerous quality possessed by Macbeth that triggered his downfall and abolished his honorable innocence. Macbeth’s ambition caused Macbeth to participate in ruthless acts, bringing the death of many due to his greed of self-indulgence. Macbeth strived heavily for the thrown, inhabiting vicious traits that contributed to his ambitious death and failure as a leader. For a leader to be
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a tragedy play written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s. Being set almost entirely in Scotland, the play is written to dramatize the physical and psychological effects of ambition and power. Shakespeare wrote this play during the reign of King James I, who was at the time King James VI of Scotland before succeeding to the English Throne in 1603. Shakespeare paid homage to King James’ Scottish Lineage, as well as the witch’s prophecy that Banquo would found a line of kings; that is clearly homage to King James’ claim that he had descended from the historical Banquo. This essay will be a discussion of how The Tragedy of Macbeth offers insight to the message of ambition, and will demonstrate how ambition can
Humans have an instinctual desire for what others possess. However, when these desires are acted upon, it can lead one to stray from their true human character. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, greed and ambition cause characters to deviate from principled behaviour to an evil nature. Ambition freed from moral guidelines may fulfill one’s desires, but at the cost of distancing oneself from their true personality. Each character’s ambition results in selfish tendencies and causes them to focus on futile wants, which poorly reflect what truly matters in life. Within the play, paranoia, guilt, and loss of innocence are direct consequences of unchecked ambition and evidence of the deterioration of one’s essence. Heightened paranoia indicates that
William Shakespeare was the most influential writer who ever lived. For more than four hundred years, people all over the world have been reading, watching and listening to the plays and poetry of the famous writer. Years and years after his death, his works have continued to have a miraculous life of their own. So what is it about the centuries old stories that still resonate with audiences and how do we keep Shakespeare’s work so alive and well after four hundred years? Wright has the right answer.
In Macbeth, ambition is shown as a dangerous quality. Macbeth’s ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints which ultimately leads to his downfall. His desire and strong belief in the witches prophecies are what led him to kill anyone or anything that stood in his way. Macbeth’s ambition is driven by many things, but the witches prophecies is what started it all. After hearing the prophecies, Macbeth instantly believed them and this affected him and his relationships with a lot of people around him.