preview

Ambition In Macbeth Essay

Decent Essays

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth’s descent into madness is a major theme in the story. Throughout the play we witness him try to reach his ambitions, but also witnessing his journey into insanity. What caused this descent? Macbeth had many influences in his life telling him where to go and what to do. His wife, Lady Macbeth told him to chase after his ambitions, and the three witches supposedly prophesied that his ambitions would be reached. Who was responsible for the final outcome of his descent? Lady Macbeth and the three witches were major influences in his descent, but ultimately was Macbeth responsible for his own destruction? To be able to identify who is really responsible for this unfortunate outcome, one must examine each person’s …show more content…

Macbeth was king and had killed several people to get this far, even killing his friend to stay king. Macbeth was afraid that Banquo’s son was a threat to his throne. He went to the witches so that they could inform him on what was going to happen in the future. The Witches told him to be aware of Macduff, that no one born of a woman can harm him, and to not be weary until the forest comes to the palace. This makes Macbeth think he is invincible. This also makes him a bit arrogant since he does not comprehend how the forest can just come to the palace. Though he is still a bit weary of Macduff, this was his breaking point. This is when you see him fully loose his conscious. He decides without hesitation to kill everyone in Macduff’s castle without remorse. His thoughts were “from this moment the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand. And even now, to crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife, give to the edge o’ the sword his wife, babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line” (Shakespeare, Act IV Scene II) This is when Macbeth’s descent is fulfilled, but there is still another influence to this …show more content…

Throughout the play Macbeth falls deeper and deeper into insanity until he breaks while losing all conscious and traces of any good. What caused this descent? Well, he had influences such as the witches and his wife, but I don’t believe they were the main cause. I believe that Macbeth caused his own downfall. He had his ambitions too elevated and he was gullible enough to listen to the other bad influences around him. He could have just ignored the witches like Banquo did. Even if he did not ignore them, he still could have said no to his wife. Instead, he took the easy way to his dreams and tried to fix things himself. Unfortunately, his ambition for more and lust for power blinded him. He might have gained power, but in the end he lost everything. He lost his soul, which is the worst thing one has to lose. Macbeth teaches us a lesson on how not to give in to the lust for power. It’s ok to dream, but if you let your ambitions blind you to where you can’t see what is right and wrong anymore then you are losing everything. If the line between right and wrong is blurred then do not follow that dream. Instead, get into God’s word and pray about it. If your dream is in God’s plan for you then he will make it happen in his time. If God tells you it is not a good idea, then don’t do it. If you are patient and wait for Gods will then things will work out. Don’t take the easy way out like Macbeth did.

Get Access