A desire for power and advancement is typically seen among many longing to rule. Shakespeare’s Macbeth incorporates the theme of ambition and how it controls the main characters to pursue it. After attaining knowledge of the witches’ prophecies that say Macbeth will become king of Scotland, Lady Macbeth sees the predominant obstacle being King Duncan and feels as though Macbeth does not have the aggressiveness to take action and thus ensure the fulfillment of the prophecies. Using her sly words, she readily manipulates Macbeth to kill Duncan, which in turn provokes Macbeth to continue performing atrocious misdeeds, mainly out of fear for himself and his power. Although not naturally inclined to do evil deeds, the ambition of his manipulative wife as well as his own desires drive Macbeth to abandon self-restraint. After learning the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth urges her husband with great determination to be rid of his hesitation and unwillingness to murder Duncan in order to begin his reign of tyranny. While serving king Duncan at their castle, Macbeth finds himself alone and deliberately starts reassuring himself, saying “He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman…strong both against the deed then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek…” (1.7. 12-17). In his soliloquy, Macbeth, emotionally unstable, talks himself into keeping in mind that he is just the king’s subject who should always try protecting the king, as opposed to bearing the knife as his murderer. Lady Macbeth however, wrongly attributes her husband’s disinclination and uneasiness to murder Duncan as righteousness and kindheartedness, which spurs he... ... middle of paper ... ...aw belonging to himself, Macbeth made a point to murder Macduff’s whole family as a warning not only to Macduff but all the people of Scotland, showing what would happen if they were to go against him. Thus, Macbeth’s drive for ambition ruled over his moralistic values to savagely murder harmless people in order to achieve his own desires. The consequences of murder and power are continuously shown as the tragedy proceeds. With a longing for power, his wife’s manipulative and convincing words help Macbeth endure assurance in his rule yet weaken any rational thoughts he had held prior to his crowning. His own desire for control soon ruled him out as a tyrant. Macbeth’s ambition, however, shows that although one attempts to rid those in their way of prosperity, there will always be potential threats to the throne; in this case, leading to the downfall of Macbeth.
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.
He no longer is the innocent soldier he once way, he now has “unclean hands”. Lady Macbeth however, assumes his innocence. She claims she cannot murder Duncan herself because Duncan looks to much like her sleeping father. She is all words and no actions. Macbeth is devoid of any human emotions as the play goes on, and Lady Macbeth assumes the emotional role. Lady Macbeth begins to have dreams in which she cannot get the blood off her hands, and ultimately commits suicide from guilt of her actions. This breakdown of Lady Macbeth really highlights how inhuman the murder of Duncan has made Macbeth.
Humans are always fascinated by power. Sadly, they do not realize the danger of it until it is too late. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare's underscores how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both consumed by power. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth dominates Macbeth, manipulating him to kill Duncan. After the death of Duncan, Macbeth becomes ambitious, and hires murderers to kill Banquo without notifying Lady Macbeth. Even though he is a decorated soldier, when Macbeth rises to power, he becomes ruthless. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth becomes weak, and insane. Shakespeare illustrates how Macbeth’s obsession with power undermines his moral judgement, leads to his mental deterioration, and ultimately results in his death.
The longing for power can seem to be that empty hole that anyone would try to fill inside themselves, but one should always be careful what they wish for, because as we can see in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth’s ascension to the throne of Scotland is unlike the typical reign of a monarch in any country for that matter. The rising glory of Macbeth is primarily what this play focuses on, but there are several steps Macbeth must take to reach his desired destination. There are multiple aspects that lead to Macbeth becoming king, but in actuality, there are three key ideas that are the most compelling. The first of these three factors happens to be Macbeth’s ambitions just in general, especially in early parts of the play before the
Macbeth’s ambition to obtain power convinces him that it is his destiny to become King of Scotland, and that he should do anything to fulfill that destiny, even if it involves him committing tremendously immoral acts such as murder. After Macbeth realizes that the witches may actually speak the truth due to the second prophecy (Thane of Cawdor) becoming true, he begins to have an eerie and frightening thought of him killing his king and friend, Duncan, in order to ac...
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
Prior to the miniscule reign of Macbeth, countless people were murdered. This included everyone that threatened Macbeth emotionally and also everyone in relation to that character. For instance, when Macbeth had Duncan killed Malcolm and Donalbain (Duncan’s sons) fled. Likewise when he had the murderers kill Banquo, Banquo’s son Fleance managed to escape. The last person to worry about was Macduff. Although he could not kill Macduff, due to his conciliation in England, he did go after everyone that resided in his home. This concluded Macbeth’s “thought out” plan to become King. However, the blood from these innocent families brought only guilt to Macbeth’s conscience; so why did he do it? Many say that he was driven by Lady Macbeth, but no one can make you do the unthinkable; there had to have been a voluntary choice to kill. Everyday human beings are presented with situations that need his discretion. Whether he makes a decision based on evidence, outside influences, or impulsivity it is still his name that represents that choice. Why else would the title of this Shakespearean play be named Macbeth? Macbeth made these choices, thus creating his own destiny. However, his inability to make his own choices, without the voiced opinions of others, was what transformed him from a respected war hero to a power hungry monster.
It is in human nature that the more power one desires the more corrupt actions one must do to attain it. In Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, a Scottish noble's craving for power leads him to do terrible deeds that leads to his demise. Shakespeare shows that power corrupts by using Macbeth who corrupts under the thought of have power over others. Macbeth becomes corrupt under the thought of becoming king and gaining almost complete control over the people that he rules. Macbeth wants the power badly enough to do horrible deeds such as commit regicide. Lady Macbeth becomes very ambitious and allows herself to become seduced to the idea of becoming Queen. Her ruthlessness urges Macbeth to commit regicide by questioning his love for her and his own manhood.
To begin, Macbeth experiences an internal downfall due to his ambition where he battle between his desires and moralistic values. Initially, the idea of attaining power over Scotland by killing King Duncan sparks a sense of fear and paranoia in Macbeth, however, his conscience struggles to take over his ambition: "that we but teach/ Bloody instructions, which being taught, return/ To plague the inventor. [...] I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Valuing ambition, which o'erleaps itself/ And falls on th' other-" (1.7.8-28). At this moment, Macbeth contemplates on killing King Duncan as he visualizes the long term consequences of committing the crime. The reader can grasp his moral judgement as he understands that by proceeding with the murder, he is only causing his own demise and punishing himself. With that b...
In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare has a strong theme of power. Macbeth is a king who is given three predictions from three witches, one of which is that he will become king. The one problem is he doesn’t know what he has to do in order to become king. His wife then decides that in order for him to become king, he must kill the current king. This one murder then leads to others in order to cover the original murder up. Once Macbeth becomes king, he doesn’t want anything to change, he wants to stay king until he dies. He then begins to kill again, but instead of killing to cover something, he is killing anyone who stands in his way of staying king. Macbeth’s fate is affected by the personality trait of bravery, his ability to be manipulated, and his determination.
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...
...olm so that he could come back and rule over Scotland. Macbeth then decides to send a murderer to kill Macduff's family. This would show Macduff that he had better watch out, and it would scare Macduff. In which was almost the final step into becoming that much more evil.
Lady Macbeth is the first to strategize a way to kill Duncan. As a character foil to Macbeth she juxtaposes their possession of guilt and ruthlessness, which creates irony and excitement to the play. Originally, she is very power hungry and wants to utilize her husband’s position in status to become queen. Macbeth objects to the plan to kill Duncan because he believes Duncan is Macbeth’s kinsman, host, and an overall virtuous ruler (Act. 1 Scene. 7) and thus feels very guilty for taking advantage of Duncan’s trusting quality towards the Macbeth family. She refers to Macbeth as weak and rebukes his manhood (Act 1. Scene 7.) . As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a character role reversal of their possession of guilt and ruthlessness. The character foil is extant, however Macbeth’s ruthlessness overcomes his guilt, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt vanquishes her drive for power. In addition to an alteration in character foils, Shakespeare introduces situational irony because now Lady Macbeth succumbs to the weakness Macbeth once possessed and Macbeth is the one who is formidable and ambitious. Macbeth’s ability to transcend his guilt exemplifies his struggle for power and reinforces the theme of evil ambition because Macbeth is able to secure the throne and power only by mass
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.
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.