Macbeth: The Tragedy of Unchecked Ambition

‘Tragedy of ambition’ is the other name of the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare between 1599 and 1606. Macbeth, the tragic hero of this play possess Hamartia, which is his ambition. Ambition, which is a desire and determination to achieve success is a very common universal trait which is seen in many people. This play is a great example of the terrible effects of ambition and guilt on a man who lacks strength of character. From the murder of King Duncan, to the downfall of Macbeth, everything happens because of the ambition of the tragic hero in this drama. In the beginning of this play, Macbeth is depicted as a faithful and devoted warrior. We can say this by considering the way people speak about him. For example in this
He doesn’t care about anything else besides the idea of becoming the king. His desire to become the king makes him ruthless and gutsy. Although, he is aware of the possible consequences of murdering the king, he still commits the murder because of his uncontrollable passion. On one side, he wants to hide his intentions in order to avoid the punishment he could get because of this crime, but on the other side, he keeps on fortifying them instead of reducing their virtue. In the first act, he says ‘Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires.’(Shakespeare 1.iv.50-51) which means that he doesn’t want anyone to see his evil desires, but he still continues to follow them instead of giving up on a thing which is making him low deep inside. Giving in to desire, we become prisoners of our own greed! His ambition makes him blind and the only thing which is visible to him is his motive, to be the king! His conscience sometimes makes him feel like he is doing very crooked things but his ambition again stops him from considering such things. One example of this is, ‘For mine own good, All causes shall give away. I am in blood, Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.’ (Shakespeare