Ambition is a largely re-occurring theme in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Many characters in the play share this characteristic, however the characters whose actions are mostly driven from their ambition are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have ambitious qualities, however, between Macbeth wanting to be king and Lady Macbeth pushing him to take what is "rightfully" his, Lady Macbeth seems far more ambitious than her husband. Mostly, these characters are driven by their desires and greed, they don't care who they have to step on or crawl over to get to where they want to be. This ambition motivates them to do terrible things to get what they want. When MacBeth begins to hesitate regarding his plans to murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth …show more content…
This plants a seed in her mind, and she becomes obsessed with the witches second prediction – Macbeth would become King of Scotland. After reading his letter, she states,"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and thou shalt be what thou art promised"(act I sc. V line 15). Lady Macbeth realizes that since the first part of the witches prophecy has come true, the second part must as well, however not without Macbeth's participation. Lady Macbeth displays great ambition by telling herself and the audience/reader that Macbeth will be king, and that he will get what he was promised by the prophecy. Soon after Macbeth returns home, Lady Macbeth is excited to tell him that she has devised a plan, and that she knows what the future holds. She tells him,"Thy letters have transported me beyond this ignorant present, and I feel now the future in the instant"(act 1 sc. 6 line 64). Lady Macbeth explains to Macbeth that his letters have enlightened her to imagine their future as the rulers of Scotland. Also, how his future actions can help them ascend from their current status into monarchy; she explains that she can sense their destiny coming very …show more content…
Thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it” (act I sc V line 16-20). She realizes that she must be the driving force behind his assent to the throne, otherwise he might be content to remain a Thane. Lady Macbeth displays how warped her feelings have become when she utters the words, “How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this” (act I sc VII line 63-67). This quote illustrates how cold she has become. If she had promised to kill her innocent baby, she would, and she dares Macbeth to follow through with his own promise to obtain the throne at any
From the act I, the witches predict Macbeth prophecy about he will become a king. The prophecy have marked on Macbeth’s and Lady macbeth’s behavior, thought, and emotions. The prophecy leads both of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to idea of greatness and powerful. Lady Macbeth thought that if she became a queen, she would have gotten attention, power, respect, and love. She never realizes that killing Duncan would ruin her life. On the other hand, Macbeth still struggle against his ambition and he is more profound about the consequences than Lady Macbeth, from the example event that he thinks that Duncan is a good king and he doesn’t deserve being murdered. But he still gives in to his ambitions. Furthermore, the prophecy leads them
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is
As being the dominated one in their relationship Lady Macbeth uses all her control over Macbeth to make Macbeth murder king Duncan. She also challenges his patriarchy to make him murder the King. For example, when Lady Macbeth says "When you durst do it, then you were a man." Now that Macbeth is trying to back out of it, Lady Macbeth is calling him a coward and torments him to do the murdering. She also says " Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem'st the ornament of life and live a coward in thine own esteem..." In other words, Lady Macbeth uses the power of love to persuade him. She also says if you love me you would kill him straight away with no hesitation. Lady Macbeth says "I have given suck and know how tender tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums and dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this." In this quotation Lady Macbeth stirs Macbeth even more when Lady Macbeth challenges their love relationship on the basis of the decision, he eventually gives in and murders King Duncan.
MacBeth Prompt In the beginning of the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth was the driving force in the murder of King Duncan. She believed that this crime could lead her and her husband to great success, she was even willing to do whatever was needed, even claiming to “have plucked my nipple from his (her newborn’s) boneless face and dash the brains out” (1.5, 55-58). Lady Macbeth then created a brilliant plan to kill the king but, she feared that Macbeth would be too kind hearted to complete the tasks. With a little persuasion, she was able to convince him.
She believes that her ambition to become queen will come true after reading Macbeth's letter with tells her of his meeting with the witches and their prophecy that Macbeth will become king. Shakespeare wrote "Macbeth" so that throughout the play tension is built up and the play relates strongly to witchcraft and the
Ambition is often the driving force in one’s life. It can have an extremely dominant impact on not only yourself, but also many people in your surroundings. You have the ability to control if the outcomes either have a lasting negative or positive effect. When a goal requires determination and hard work to complete, personal morals often take a back seat to the aspiration of accomplishing the goal. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it is clear that like many other great leaders, Macbeth exemplifies the necessary leadership virtue of ambition. Macbeth’s ambition does not just drive him to do great things. It in fact controls him. The playwright explores the idea of how an individual’s ambition can cause them to deceive others, make irrational
Greed and ambition are traits that everyone has. Depending on how much of that greed and ambition the person has will determine their outcome. Greed is the intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food and ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. Ambition can be seen as a good thing when used toward good goals. For example, a student being ambitious to get an A-plus on a test. Greed is intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food, therefore, when combined with ambition, it can lead toward evil personalities. Which is displayed in the play “Macbeth” in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, their desire to kill Duncan and become king and queen. However, their plan quickly unraveled and lead to Macbeth’s downfall. The person that was responsible for Macbeth’s downfall was Macbeth himself due to his inability to say “no” to Lady Macbeth and……...
‘Macbeth’ is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare in the sixteen hundred, it dramatizes the physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power through the character of Macbeth. ‘The Pursuit Of Happyness’ likewise is a film directed by Gabriel Muccino who portrays a man named Chris Gardener who through his hard work and dedicated ambition goes from living on the streets to a rich stockbroker. In Macbeth and pursuit of happiness, both authors explore how ambition can…. (thesis). Macbeth's ambition is portrayed in a negative light as it is aimed to gain power and status, however, Chris ambition is pushed by his desire to gain happiness and a better future for him and his son. Similarly, both characters endure toxic spousal relationships that help them to tap into their ambition but it leads to different portrayal of ambition. Macbeth and Chris eventually both face the outcome of their ambition for Macbeth it being his doom where else for Chris it being his success. Shakespeare and Gabriel Muccino explore the theme of ambition through the protagonists of both plays.
On the contrary, Lady Macbeth begins as a ruthless woman. She has a manipulative and controlling character, convincing Macbeth to kill King Duncan; she will do anything to gain power. When she says, “How tender ‘tis to love the babe…I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out” (I.vii. 55-58), she shows her ruthlessness and her “bad” ambition. In her “role reversal” with Macbeth, she gains somewhat of a conscience and realizes her guilt. When she tells him, “You must leave this” (III. ii. 35), she wants Macbeth to forget about his plan to murder Banquo’s family. She is very hesitant about committing another murder and does not want Macbeth to follow through with his plan.
She thinks Macbeth is a coward, she feels Macbeth can’t do anything just like a baby. “Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures. ‘Tis the eye of childhood That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, For it must seem their guilt”(2.2 line 52-57). Lady Macbeth just wants power, she doesn’t care about killing other people at all, she’s cold-hearted and crazy, she would do anything to get power. However, after she feels like she’ll lose all of her power, she goes crazy. ”Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (5.1 line 49-50). When she thinks about losing her power, she went crazy, she’s afraid of losing her power and afraid of what would happen to her, she made her own
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth focuses on the subject of ambition and its psychological burdens. He makes it clear that Macbeth did commit to his hateful deeds responding to the psychological burden of his sins. A respected Thane, who has shown great loyalty to King Duncan, goes from a vigorous and worthy soldier to a shameless murderer presents himself as Macbeth
Ambition is what motivates people to achieve a certain thing in their life. However, many fail if their ambition is too big and unreasonable. This is definitely the case for Macbeth in the William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth's ambitious causes him to disregard his loyalty to Duncan. Moreover, Macbeths desires lead him to be immoral, going to extremes in order to achieve success. Ultimately, Macbeths deep aspirations for power demonstrates being over ambitious will end in disaster. Therefore, in the play Macbeth, Macbeths ambition leads him to corrupt his morality, resulting in his downfall
Isn’t it amazing how humans throughout the centuries have clung to their ambitions and accomplished amazing feats? Surely it must be. However, what happens when someone clings to their blind ambitions? This problematic characteristic has wedged its way into humanity for many, many years. Why, even in Macbeth it’s a common theme that somehow relates to our modern society. Three prime examples of people who have blind ambitions are: Christy Clark, a British Columbian politician, Hillary Clinton, and the entirety of the U.S. government. No, you’re not seeing that wrong. All three of the above mentioned are victims of blind ambition, and, like Macbeth, it’s likely they won’t realize it until it’s too late.
The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare recounts Macbeth's meteoric rise as a soldier and promising future leader whose megalomaniacal ambition led to his tragic downfall. In addition to Macbeth's ambitions, which initially enable him to be strong leader and soldier, he is influenced heavily by his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the three witches that prophesize his ascent to the throne, as well as warn him of his eventual demise. It can be argued that it is Macbeth's ambition that allows him to succeed in his endeavors, however the goals to which he is working toward influence the results of his hard work. Macbeth's ambitions help him to become a war hero, and as his goals change, his ambitions drive him to become a tyrannical villain.
Ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. In Williams Shakespeare 's Macbeth the characters Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a strong desire to ascend the throne and they are determined to do whatever it takes in order to achieve this goal, including deceiving and killing those they are closest to. The zeal of ambition predominately persuades both characters actions in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth portrays how the forces of ambition strike her to instil a powerful drive in her husband, also how she demonstrates an overweening pride and lack of morals in order to reach a goal and lastly how ambition leads Macbeth to betray those cares about most.