Having ambitions can lead you to success, but what if they took you into failure? Having high expectations or too many ambitions can lead to chaos. When a person is overly ambitious, it´s likely that they fail by becoming unsatisfied. Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, amplifies this and helps to show Macbeth´s downfall. His downfall is a result of his own doing, due to his over-ambitious attitude. He´s also easily manipulated by his wife, Lady Macbeth. Admittedly, it's well argued that Macbeth could have failed because of the Witches, or the Weird Sisters. However, Macbeth's wrongdoing comes from his own willingness to listen to their prophecies. The opening act shows his desire to listen to them in the lines, ¨Stay, you imperfect …show more content…
By using insults and seduction, Lady Macbeth quickly manipulates Macbeth into murder and eventual downfall. During the closing scene of Act 1, Lady Macbeth says that ¨when you (Macbeth) durst do it, then you were a man¨ (1.7.56). She implies that Macbeth would be a man if he dared to become king. By implying this, she also says that he would be more of a man if he killed Duncan. In addition, Lady Macbeth says, ¨But screw your courage to the sticking place and we'll not fail¨ (1.7.69-71). Upon questioning if they will fail, Macbeth is told to have courage to kill the king. At this point, Macbeth doubts whether he has the ability to murder his own cousin, and it´s by Lady Macbeth's words that he does. Lastly, After the murder is committed, Macbeth returns with bloody hands and daggers; Lady Macbeth sees him and says, ¨My hands are of you color, but I shame to wear a heart so white¨ (2.2.82-83). With this, Lady Macbeth means that she would be ashamed to be as scared as Macbeth. Piling insult after insult, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan. In conclusion, Lady Macbeth takes a toll on Macbeth by manipulating him. By being molded so easily, Macbeth slips into his own
Eye witness testimony can be a very important piece of evidence surrounding criminal cases but not always the most reliable. As discussed in the textbook Criminal Evidence: Principles and Cases, jurors often rely very heavily on eyewitness interpretations of an incident to determine whether or not a defendant is guilty. Since an adult is presumed to be competent, a juror will often make the assumption that the testimony provided is an accurate account of the events that took place. Amongst other factors, the amount of stress the witness is under at the time of the crime, the presence of a weapon, lighting and the lack of any distinguishable characteristics can play a role in creating a false memory. Under that extreme pressure, a witness is more likely not to recall certain aspects of an incident. Their attention may have been drawn elsewhere and they never noticed the suspect’s beard, tattoos or facial features which can be crucial identifiers. The consequences of falsely identifying a suspect due to false memories can ruin an innocent person’s life, have them convicted and cause them to be punished for a crime that they did not commit.
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.
When she learns Macbeth has been given a fortune of been given thane of cawdor then king and half the prophecy has become true, she knows if Macbeth is king she will be queen. She is willing to do anything to get it. On the night that Macbeth and lady macbeth have planned to kill Duncan. Macbeth is having second thoughts but Lady Macbeth is not letting him back down by saying he is a coward and she would do it if she was in his place by saying ”When you durst do it, then you are a man. And to be more than what you were you would be so much more than a man”. Macbeth is a hearty warrior and feels as though he has to prove to Lady Macbeth he is a man and he is not a coward. Therefore due to Lady Macbeths manipulation Macbeth murders Duncan. On Macbeths return Lady Macbeth is happy but Macbeth is Filled with regret Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to forget what happened “ A little water clears us of this deed”. Which is Ironique as At the end of the play Lady Macbeth has been in the anxiety and it has finally eaten away at her and she has gone mad and keeps seeing blood on her hands. “Out damned spot out, I say !” which in turn leads to her own suicide and portrays Lady Macbeth as taking her fate into her own hands in an evil manner, However the guilt from doing the evil task highlighted Lady Macbeth was not as manly as she wanted to be and she still had feelings, showing the audience by her suicide as an act showing she was unable to withstand the guilt of being queen knowing the great evil she had to do to get
Macbeth is put together with many character traits. He is a very complex character. In the beginning Macbeth was brave and loyal. He won the battle of Norway and became the Thane of Cawdor. For brave Macbeth disdainding fortune with his brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution( ACT1 SC2 LNS18-20). Macbeth is also a gullible man, when he runs into the witches he believes them when they say, all hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter(act1 sn2 line 50) . He is so gullible to what these witches said that he killed his best friend Banquo and nearly kills Banquo's son. Macbeth also was convinced by his wife to kill Duncan. Macbeth conscious becomes guilty after he kills Duncan when he said, will all great neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?(act2 sn2 lines 79-80). He is thinking that nothing can take back the murders he had committed.
In the play ‘’Macbeth’’ by William Shakespeare Macbeth struggles with his conscience and the fear of eternal domination if he assassinates King Duncan. Lady Macbeth’s conflict arises when Macbeth’s courage begins to falter. Lady Macbeth is has a cruel, venomous, evil personality in which no man can escape from her wrath and raging power. Lady Macbeth is like a black widow who utilizes aggressive and ruthless tactics to persuade Macbeth to commit the assassination. This cruel minded woman utilizes the power of manipulation and reverse psychology to get what she desires.
After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others. It is this selfishness that makes it hard for the reader to be empathetic towards her later in the play, as it is evident in this scene that her hardships were brought on by herself. If she hadn’t insisted on the murder, she would not be driven in...
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
Macbeth attempts to murder King Duncan, but he convinces himself to not kill him. Macbeth returns back to the celebration banquet to talk to Lady Macbeth, telling her that he will not kill King Duncan “We will proceed no further in this business” (Ⅰ vii 33). Lady Macbeth is manifested when she discovers that Macbeth did not kill Duncan. She then again changes Macbeth’s decisions by mocking him of being less of a man “When you durst do it, then you were a man; [a]nd, to be more than what you were, you would [b]e so much more the man” (Ⅰ vii 54-56) and if he were to murder Duncan, he would then be more of a man than he was. Near the end of Macbeth’s conversation with Lady Macbeth, they plan on how they will proceed and kill King Duncan.
People are manipulated constantly. Whether it is an advertisement that they see or the people they talk to everyday, they are being exploited. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the manipulating forces within relationships is a very prominent theme. Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth throughout the tragedy to get what she wants. Her development and interactions revealed this theme.
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.
Impact of Ambition on self and others Desires, needs, and temptations are all normal in the sense that they are part of the human nature. However, the question remains; how far is one willing to go, to achieve these yearning wants? When an individual loses all sense of their morals, they are only then driven by ambition; thus loosing themselves as individuals because who you are as a person, is a reflection of one’s beliefs. This idea is portrayed in William Shakespeare ’s play Macbeth, where the constant disputes between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s aspirations and principles, destroy every bit of their morals.
Lady Macbeth even threatened him into killing his own cousin. For she said, “When you durst do it, then you were a man;/And to be more than what you were, you would/Be so much more the man” (1.7.56-58). When Lady Macbeth says this, she basically tests Macbeth’s manliness. He is so easily manipulated by his own wife saying he is not a man if he does not murder. This is why Macbeth is really at fault, because he had a choice to murder or not, he let his own wife have this simple power over him.
Heraclitus once said,“big results require big ambitions.” The idea that being unrealistically ambitious can have tragic consequences shines brightly throughout the short tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. To help develop this idea to his audience, Shakespeare uses the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, whose ambition is so strong that it ends up leading to their downfall. Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act One about murdering his cousin King Duncan and Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy about wanting to lose her femininity. These acts lead them losing their minds, emotions and respect from and for others and changes them in a way that they become unrecognisable and the furthest things from themselves.
Ambition is defined as the motivating element for one's personal triumph. However, an immoderate amount of ambition can lead an individual to believe that they must go through extraordinary measures in order to reach this aspiration. These measures can ultimately result in violence and thirst for power, eventually resulting in personal defeat. William Shakespeare's, Macbeth, and the actions portrayed by former president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, exhibit that inheriting over ambitious qualities for dominance can be extremely harmful. The ambition of power turns desire into despair as morals become lost, power is abused, and demise is the outcome.
The desire for success or fame engulfs individuals’ lives and drive their every need. In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, ambition controls the lives of the characters. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s ambition cloud their judgment and lead to their downfall. Both characters use a negative ambition to make decisions and commit actions.