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Examples Of Ambition In Macbeth

Decent Essays

First of all, if one’s ambition is without compassion, it can often manifest as greed-one of the prime vices of humanity. Often, there is a very thin line blurring the differences between ambition and greed, and this line is completely reduced to rubble in the absence of ambition. Moreover, many great leaders have had their ambitions corrupted into greed as a result of their own voracious hunger for power, at the expense of innocent lives. This exact lust for power was also illustrated in Shakespeare’s tragic play, Macbeth, in which the titular character is shown to be chief of this vile manifestation of ambition. This is proven when Macbeth is shown to be mulling about whether he should partake in the regicide of his King Duncan, his own …show more content…

Many ambitious individuals are always striving for more and more power; thus occasionally, they begin to crave the belongings of other individuals in order to achieve their own goals. Furthermore, without compassion, this manifestation of ambition can take dangerous routes, thus endangering the lives of others. The manifestation of ambition into envy was depicted in Shakespeare’s tragic play, Macbeth, in which the newly crowned King of Scotland is shown to be planning the murder of his good friend, Banquo. Macbeth wishes to assassinate Banquo, as the witches had prophesied that his lineage would reign over Scotland, thus usurping Macbeth’s throne. Consequently, Macbeth realizes that the witches placed a “fruitless crown on [his]” (III.i.66-68) head, as he simply has no successor. On that account, it can be acknowledged that Macbeth harbors envy towards Banquo, as he has what Macbeth lacks-an heir, and thus Macbeth wishes to eliminate Banquo from his path, as he is a threat to his royalty. Furthermore, we can also acknowledge that Macbeth’s envy surpasses his sense of morality, as he is willing to throw away his morals once again for his ambition, as he plans the assassination of Banquo for the protection of his throne. Unfortunately, little does Macbeth realize, that through his envy all he has done is plunged himself into an endless cycle of bloodshed from which there is no escape. Also an another example of the transformation of ambition into envy is the Crusades. The Crusades originally started after the Muslims gained much new territory through rapid conquest and gained control over the holy land. As a result, the Europeans grew envious of the land that the Muslims were in possession of, as it was technically their holy land and, thus they launched the crusades. As both sides fought for land and religion, all sense of compassion was lost, as thousands of innocent men died fighting

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