Similarities Between Macbeth And Macduff

The Ambition for Power

“Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them” (Napoleon Bonaparte). To have ambition and drive is a very great thing to have in life. Having goals, aspirations, and dreams are essential points to a person’s life, however, it is what factors lead these goals and dreams and what exactly motivates the dreams and ambitions. In Shakespeare's play, “Macbeth”, both Macduff and Macbeth had the ambition of gaining power, Macbeth having a negative ambition of power that eventually led to his deterioration and Macduff’s positive ambition of power that led him to his uprise! Both Macbeth and Macduff are similar in

a way that they share the same qualities of loyalty/ “seen” being loyal, however, both differ in their motivations for striving and achieving their ambitions, and in this case-power of ambition!
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is considered and views as a good and loyal subject. After Macbeth fought in the war against the villain/rebel Macdonwald and defeated him, Duncan was very proud of Macbeth. Duncan announced that Macbeth is his “worthiest kingsman” and that Macbeth has “done so much for” him (I.iv.14-17). Macbeth is seen as a loyal subject to his king. King Duncan is proud of him due to him protecting the country. The king sees Macbeth as a loyal individual in his eyes. He thanks Macbeth for everything he has done and even more, he greets Macbeth with a new title: Thane of Cawdor. The king gave promotion to Macbeth because of what Macbeth has done for the country and most for the king. Duncan trusted Macbeth so much that he gave him a title that was very close in line of that of a king. After Macbeth’s promotion, Lady Macbeth decided to set up a plan to kill King Duncan and convinced and pressured Macbeth in doing so. However, Macbeth did not want to kill Duncan because he is the “[King’s] kinsman” and “subject”and that he should “against his murderer shut the door” and not “bear the knife himself” (I.viii.13-16). Macbeth is shown as being a loyal person because he knows he is the king's subject and should fight those who want to murder the king. He has to protect the king from getting killed and not try to kill the king himself. Furthermore, Macbeth is aware that the king “...hath borne his faculties.

So meek, hath been so clear in his great office” (I.vii.16-19). Macbeth realizes and is informed that King Duncan is truly a very humble leader, is free of ALL corruption and that there is no correct or true reason to kill him. He understands that Duncan is a great leader and king and thus wants to stay loyal to the King! Similarly, Macduff is somewhat considered a loyal subject as well! Following the murder of king Duncan, Macduff looked for the king. Once Macduff entered Duncan's chamber, he cried out, “O horror, horror, horror! Tongue not heart cannot conceive nor name thee” ( II.iii.58-59). Macduff weeped upon the king’s death and the death of a great and innocent man. Macduff is loyal to the king because of his weeping and feeling very sorrow upon the death of his gracious king. Afterwards, Macduff goes to England to Malcolm to discuss the terms on how to save Scotland from Macbeth. Malcolm, the son of Duncan, thought that Macbeth was a traitor and was not loyal. Malcolm told false and malicious things about himself to Macduff in order to test if Macduff would be trusted and still be on his side. At last, Malcolm understood Macduff’s character qualities and “reconciled” his thoughts “to thy good truth and honor” ( IV.iii.116-117).

Malcolm was assured that Macduff was loyal after Macduff had told him that Macbeth should be removed from throne before Scotland gets into big trouble. Malcolm tested Macduff’s loyalty by stating that he is a terrible person in order to check if Macduff would still continue to support him and Macduff appeared to. Malcolm was convinced that Macduff was trustworthy and loyal to the country of Scotland and not to the evil and treacherous Macbeth. Even though Macduff loved his “pretty chickens and their dam,” he had love and strong loyalty for his own country (IV.iii.218). Macduff put his country before those he loves, leaving his family vulnerable to attack from Macbeth so that he may raise an army to defeat him and end the tyranny that plagues his lovely country. Macduff loved his country very much that he put the country as his first priority to defend and not worrying much about his family thus showing his loyalty to his country Scotland.
Although Macduff and Macbeth share a similar quality, they both have different motivations, ambitions and desires to gaining power.

Macbeth’s strong ambition is to become king of Scotland. After the war, Macbeth and Banquo both walked and came into contact with : witches. The witches told prophecies that Macbeth will “Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” and then “shalt be the king hereafter” (I.iii.48-50). The witch’s prophecies were the first step into motivating Macbeth to be in power of Scotland. Macbeth’s promotion to Thane of Cawdor, made him believe the fact that the prophecies from the witches of the future are true. Macbeth soon wanted to have more power and so he wanted the stars not to “light” his “black and deep desires” (I.iv.50-51). Macbeth had evil and negative ambitions to become in power of Scotland and thus did not want anyone to know that he was going to have plans to kill the innocent king and his closest friends. While Macbeth was deciding whether to kill or not to kill Duncan, he states that the only thing motivating him is “ambition” which makes “people rush ahead of themselves toward disaster” (I.iii.25-28). Macbeth's plan of killing king Duncan was his strong desire because he would succeed into power. He was willing to do anything just to be in power and thus decided to kill his gracious king Duncan and his closest friend Banquo. His ambition of power led him to commit such a terrible and cruel action. Macbeth's blinding ambition led him to take a

violent and disastrous path to the throne. After the witches told him that he would succeed into throne in the future, his honorable nature seemed to fade. His lust for power led him to murder king Duncan. When Macbeth was crowned king of Scotland, he feared those who had a noble bloodline as a threat to his own power and throne. By the end of the play, four deaths can be blamed on Macbeth, hoping to protect his kingship. His ambition blinded him from seeing the destruction and violence he had created along his path of gaining power. He ruled as a tyrant and evil man, not as a noble man. Macbeth was easily manipulated by his wife Lady Macbeth and by the three witches, however, his ambition led him to a disaster. His own ambition resulted in his characters deterioration and eventually led to his own and final death. On the contrary, Macduff’s ambition is to save his poor country Scotland from the ruling tyrant Macbeth. While talking with Malcolm, Macbeth fears for Scotland and cries “O Scotland, Scotland!” (IV.iii.100). Macduff fears for his country's future. His ambition is leading him to do a positive action and that is to save Scotland from Macbeth. He wants to do anything possible in order to overthrow Macbeth from Scotland’s throne. As a result, Macbeth goes into war against Macbeth. While finding Macbeth, Macduff stated “let me find him, Fortune! and more I beg not” (V.viii.22-23). Macduff’s ambition was to find and kill Macbeth and nothing more! He wanted to get revenge on Macbeth because Macbeth had killed his dearest and lovely family. Not only this, Macduff needed to save his country Scotland from the tyrannic plague that was continuing to spread. Macduff’s positive ambitions led to the removal and the death of the tyrant and saving Scotland! His ambitions to saving Scotland succeeded in his ultimate uprise.