Macbeth Vaulting Ambition Analysis

The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays the story of Macbeth who is driven by his vaulting ambition, which causes him to commit heinous crimes. Someone with vaulting ambition has the desire to achieve as much as possible. In the beginning of the play, three witches tell Macbeth a prophecy which does in fact seem like it’s Macbeth’s destiny. Although some believe that Macbeth is a victim of fate which let him follow his destiny, he actually let his vaulting ambition get to the best of him.

Before Macbeth thought about being king, he had much respect for Duncan. Macbeth was also originally the Thane of Glamis. This changes when Macbeth and Banquo come across three witches who give both of them prophecies. Macbeth’s vaulting ambition comes into action when the third witch tell Macbeth that

Macbeth’s destiny was out of his control. The interference of fate, in the form of the witches, is what caused his inevitable downfall… Once the idea was placed inside his head, however, it consumed him.” (Sharma 1). Yes, it is true that macbeth went on to do certain things because of what the witches told him, but that only contributed to his vaulting ambition. The prophecies from the witches motivated Macbeth to do whatever it takes to become king and to keep his power, which does not make him a victim of fate. If Macbeth were to be a victim of fate, he would not have done anything to get crowned as king, he would just let his fate take control.

When a person has the ambition to achieve something, they are going to do whatever it takes to reach their goal. If a person if very ambitious, they have all control of what paths to take in order to reach their destiny. But a person who lives by fate has no control over the events in their life which leads them to an undetermined destiny. Out of those two types, Macbeth was a very ambitious person who chose what paths to take to become king and keep his