What Is Macbeth's Ambition

Ambition in Macbeth

Heraclitus said “Big results require big ambitions.” However big results are not always necessarily good. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare shows how Macbeth’s ambition leads to his downfall. Shakespeare illustrates the theme of ambition in the play. The witches and their prophecies fool Macbeth and it makes his ambition go crazy.

Macbeth’s ambition will lead him to doing things he will regret. In the play the witches give Macbeth a prophecy by referring to him as “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” (1.3.50) After Macbeth realizes he could be king, he decides to take it into his own hands. Macbeth invites Duncan to come over for dinner and stay the night. Lady Macbeth sees this as the perfect chance to kill

Duncan. She tells Macbeth the plan, that he will have to kill Duncan in his sleep. He does this because of his ambition to get the throne. When the deed is done he still feels a little shaky about what had just happened but he will soon get over it.
Macbeth is so greedy he will even kill his best friend to keep from letting his secret about the prophecy get out. If Banquo knows about the prophecy he could tell everyone and put it together that Macbeth killed Duncan to become king. “Our fears in Banquo/ Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature/ Reigns that which would be feared.” (3.1.50-52) Macbeth fears Banquo and wants to keep the throne, to do that he will have to kill Banquo. He sends murderers to kill Banquo. Now he has one less person to worry about telling his secret.
The witches used Macbeth’s ambition to get the best of him.

The witches told him that only a man not born of mother could defeat him. They said beware of Macduff and the last apparition was that “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until/ Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill/ Shall come against him.” (4.1.92-94) He’s not worried at all when he hears troops are coming to attack because he can’t be vanquished. Then a messenger comes telling him “I looked toward Birnam, and anon, methought,/ The wood began to move.” (5.5.34-35) At first Macbeth thinks he joking but as he looks out the window he realizes that the witches had tricked him. Even though Macbeth knows that it will be the end for him he still has ambition and courage and He fights till the very end.

The role of the witches helped his ambition grow throughout the play. At the beginning of the play Banquo uses his ambition to do some terrible things. He kills Duncan to become king, he kills his best friend so he can stay king, and tries to kill Banquo’s son just so their family won’t become kings. When he becomes king he becomes more greedy and kills more people. When the witches tricked him that made him have courage and good ambition to finish the battle. He fought even though he knew it was going to lead him to his

death.