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
It is in human nature that the more power one desires the more corrupt actions one must do to attain it. In Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, a Scottish noble's craving for power leads him to do terrible deeds that leads to his demise. Shakespeare shows that power corrupts by using Macbeth who corrupts under the thought of have power over others. Macbeth becomes corrupt under the thought of becoming king and gaining almost complete control over the people that he rules. Macbeth wants the power badly enough to do horrible deeds such as commit regicide. Lady Macbeth becomes very ambitious and allows herself to become seduced to the
Macbeth’s greed Ever since Macbeth heard the prophecies that promised him power, his mind has been descending into a delusional state as time has passed. During Acts 1 and 2, Macbeth, under the influence of Lady Macbeth and his own ambition, has changed from being a rational, heroic figure to one of questionable integrity. With Macbeth’s crowning, not only does his inner mayhem affect his mentality, but also his behaviour. Scotland is in more chaos by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s hunger for supremacy.
The Tragedy of Macbeth written by Shakespeare is a play that tells the story of Macbeth, a nobleman who receives a prophecy from three witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition Macbeth and his wife murder King Duncan and they both become king and queen. Although it appeared that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s ambition to have the throne made them feel accomplished, in reality they didn’t enjoy themselves because they knew they didn’t deserve it and tormented themselves with guilt, which suggest that ambition and guilt go hand in hand when one does dirty deeds. Ambition is a key concept throughout the play. In the beginning when the witches say their prophecy, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth thought that killing King Duncan was the only solution for them to be able to take over the throne.
Within every human being, there is an underlying motive that puts them on the hunt for greatness, power, and achievement- all to fulfill their ideal self-image, which in turn grants them eternal happiness. This same motive is notorious for corrupting the mind’s of those who will stop at nothing to satisfy their thirst for power, consuming them from the inside and ready to take control of their minds, leading them to their own destruction. This is known as ambition; a parasite that can either build up or shatter a person completely. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, ambition is one of the major themes in which the story revolves around as it follows the character Macbeth through his journey to fulfill his prophecy gaven to him by the three witches; he is to become the Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and most importantly, the King of Scotland. With him is his companion and fellow general of the Scottish army, Banquo, who is also given a prophecy, in which he is to become a father to many kings, however not become one himself. Where the two characters’ roads diverge, however, is in their reaction to the information received. Macbeth steers onto an aggressive path, while Banquo remains passive. This is evident through their differences in skepticism, loyalty, and patience, where their particular degree of ambition is tested. The following series of paragraphs will illustrate the differing characters of Macbeth
Ambition is an admirable trait that enabled famous writers and scholars to attain an unbelievable greatness. However, highly ambitious people often end up failing because they are unable to fill up an insatiable hole of greed that leads them to constant frustration and dissatisfaction. Just as an excessive ambition can start with malice, it can end in anguish and despair. In the play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the main protagonist, Macbeth, and his wife, Lady Macbeth, demonstrate an ambition that has an exacerbating impact on them that slowly leads to the self-destruction and obliteration of people around. After Lady Macbeth clouded Macbeth’s mind, Macbeth killed a benevolent king Duncan. But even with crown and power, Macbeth spend his life in fear and anxiety, until the weight of the ambition was relieved by his downfall. Through Macbeth’s character, Shakespeare shows that the extreme ambition that was emerged out of ferocious passion could devour an individual’s moral goodness, which in turn would carve the path directly to the total misery. Possessing such ambition makes the individual live in a self-imposed fretfulness and expose the closest people under consequential threats.
Macbeth, from Shakespeare’s world renowned Macbeth, serves as an example as the type of person who has their sight set on power and control and is willing to let their unchecked ambition get ahead of them. Macbeth had such a strong desire for power that he was even willing to commit the evil act of murdering King Duncan. Macbeth has chosen the path of evil, which for Macbeth this includes murdering loyal friends, scheming with apparitions and witches, and even murdering sleep, but now there is no turning back.
In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the true consequences of ambition are revealed. Though ambition isn’t inherently evil, it can easily become so. Macbeth’s obsession with power only clouds his judgement and pushes him to continue to kill. For Lady Macbeth, who begins by encouraging Macbeth to murder, her downfall is filled with guilt and remorse. Wanting to be king and queen isn’t amoral, but killing to reach this goal, was.
In this world, one of the strongest human drives seems to be the desire for power. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Thane Macbeth seeks to gain power over Scotland. Through Macbeth’s search for power, he must choose between what is morally right or his inner motives. Macbeth gains power over others through the murders of King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s entire family along with his servants. After each murder, Macbeth becomes more confident in his search to gain power.
Deadly Ambition In the dimly lit chambers of Shakespearean tragedy, Macbeth emerges as a figure both captivating and terrifying, his ambition a relentless force propelling him towards a fate of despair. From the murky depths of the Scottish castle to the blood-soaked halls of power, Macbeth’s unsatisfied hunger for domination casts a shadow that darkens every corner of the play. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a powerful piece of literature that delves into the dangerous consequences of uncontrolled ambition. The play boldly portrays the consequences of pursuing one's desires without ethical considerations or the thought of one's actions.
“...it's true that some of the most terrible things in the works are done by people who think, genuinely think, that they're doing it for the best” (Terry Pratchett). In Shakespeare’s play, The Scottish Play, Macbeth is driven by selfish desires to take his fate into his own hands and go to extremes to obtain the title of King of Scotland. At the start of his pursuit for power his actions are planned and his first murder has real meaning behind it. Next, Macbeth targets the man who will father future kings. Finally, Macbeth becomes so paranoid and overcome with guilt that he has innocent women and children murdered. What starts as selfish ambition can quickly grow into an all consuming force, causing one to abandon one's honor, lose friends
It is obvious that Macbeth has ambition, as most people who are in power do. In fact, ambition is often a necessary quality of people in such high standing as Macbeth is. However, Macbeth’s ambition does not just drive him to do great things. It in fact controls him
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
‘Macbeth’ is a play in which a Lord and his Lady come into supreme power through acts of injustice and despicable inhumanities. In the play Macbeth there is no main focal theme that overrules the others; the play however has several underlying themes, namely there are important themes i.e. good and evil (like ying and yang), greed and power, guilt and conscience, fear, ambition – this leads to the murder of other people illustrating to the reader that even the most sane of people can result to character diminishing methods to get what they want. These particular themes are the most prominent and when closely looked at, it can help to understand characters and meanings behind the play. The theme of ambition is very important in this play,
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, we are faced with a character, Macbeth, who is known as a strong soldier in the play and from this we can infer that he is a determined character. In saying that, we witness the transition from a character that is already very ambitious, into a character that becomes fuelled with the desire for power. The fuel had begun from the prophecies and apparitions given by the witches in telling Macbeth that he will rule the kingdom of Scotland. Not only do the witches begin and spur Macbeth crimes, but also does Lady Macbeth in encouraging him and instilling the evil values that she possesses
The Danger in Ambition In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare there are several examples of ambition shown throughout all five acts. One of the main examples is Macbeth always wanting to take it to the next level to get as much power as one man could receive in a lifetime. Macbeth does not care what he has to do to become King and receive the highest power he can. Throughout the play, Macbeth tumbles upon drastic lengths to become King after the three witches told him his prophecies.