Examples Of Ambition In Macbeth

In his shortest and bloodiest play, Macbeth, Shakespeare exhibits an ongoing theme of greed through the rise to power and the downfall of his main character, Macbeth. Macbeth is a brave Scottish warrior fighting in King Duncan’s army who, after proving his bravery in the war, is rewarded by King Duncan as Thane of Cawdor. Prior to being informed of his new title, Macbeth and his friend Banquo meet three witches in the woods who tell them their prophecies. The witches proclaim that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor and king of Scotland and that Banquo’s descendants will also be kings. At first, Macbeth is skeptical about his prophecy, however, once he learns that Duncan has named him Thane of Cawdor he begins to believe it. He believes that if the witches were right about the

The three witches have told Macbeth that he will be Thane of Cawdor as well as becoming king. Macbeth believes that the witches predictions will come true because he has just been announced the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is very confused. The tone of this soliloquy is one of bafflement. In fact, he proclaims that the witches’ fortune “cannot be ill, cannot be good” (130). Given that Macbeth had been told about being king, he’s had terrible thoughts about murdering Duncan which “unfix [his] hair” and “make [his] seated heart knock at [his] ribs” (135,136). Macbeth does not want to kill his friend, yet he still desires to become king. It is very ironic that his emotions and mind-set towards Duncan who is his “friend” has changed because of the fortune that the witches have given Macbeth.

Coinciding with the cycle of the tragic hero, Macbeth contains flaws in his character, his most prominent, being his ambition. In Shakespeare's Macbeth the idea of ambition is served as a vice to cause Macbeth’s tragic downfall. Ambition is a dangerous quality that causes those to go against their morals in order to gain power. Macbeth transforms into a self serving tyrant murdering anyone supposedly threatening his position of power or prophesied fate. ‘’I have no spur, To prick the sides of my intent, but only, Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself. And falls on the other.’’ This quote found early on in the play, reveals that Macbeth recognises his ambition as a flaw, yet not one so serious to leads, to his demise. Macbeth’s ambition is strongly influenced by lady Macbeth. “Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’ like the poor cat i’ the adage?” This simile expresses Lady Macbeth’s willingness to manipulate her husband to betrayal. She passes her murderous desires to Macbeth, building up his strong nature. Lady Macbeth’s emotive language helps Macbeth’s already present ambition, truly develop into a overpowering force. Foil is again used between Macbeth and Banquo, as well as Duncan and Macduff. Although Banquo, Duncan and Macbeth all aim to be dominant leaders they contrast from Macbeth as they withhold from the urge to let ambition control their decisions. Macbeth lets go of all sort of moral of social recognition allowing ambition to be his leading and most noticeable characteristic. Ambition is the driving element of the play triggering a series of deaths at Macbeth’s expense. He has spiralled so out of control that he is incapable of knowing any other option then to murder repetitively, to cover up his previous treasons. ‘’For mine own good, All causes shall give way. I am in blood, Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er.’’ There becomes a time in the play when Macbeth s completely aware of

The key is to pursue a healthy ambition. Many people including myself want to be successful in life but the characteristics that pushes someone towards success can sometimes turn into a game where winning is not about achieving, its about the other person. Seek your ambition correctly. Macbeth's ambition on the other hand, caused him to be influenced by the witches to be deceitful and to be a ruthless murderer.

The story of Macbeth is about Macbeth's ambitions for power, and how he will do anything to obtain that power. With the help of his wife and a prophecy, given to him by the witches, he has become an evil monster capable of committing hideous acts. Do his ambitions for becoming king make him evil, or is it his actions in pursuit of that power? Macbeth explains his actions by saying, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair." -(Macbeth, Act I, Scene I), he is expressing his confusion about whether his actions are good or evil. His ambition for becoming king runs deep, and he knows that murdering is wrong. Yet, he is willing to set aside all of his beliefs and morals to reach his goal. He describes himself and his dark ambitions by saying: "The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on ... which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, for in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black

Macbeth: Macbeth is a prime example of ambition leading someone down the path of corruption and making a complete fool of himself. “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 th' edge o' th' sword, his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.” Act 4.2 Macbeth starts off by saying that he will immediately act on his thoughts which is a terrible idea. He then makes macduff is enemy by killing macduff's family. Every Time macbeth acts on his thoughts he seals his fate and makes his situation worse. This is a common occurrence in the play, this idea of fate is challenged because the audience must determine if his fate is set or created by uncontrollable ambition.

Macbeth did have his own ambitious thoughts as shown when after his encounter with the wishes but ultimately it was Lady Macbeth’s greed for power which convinced Macbeth to kill King Duncan.

Macbeth shows us that people can become violent due to their ambitions, to the point of being callous and apathetic to others. For example, at the beginning of the book, Macbeth and his friend, Banquo, are visited by the Weïrd sisters, who tell them that the sons of Banquo will be king. Upon becoming king, Macbeth fears that Banquo will inherit the throne, so he decides to murder both Banquo and his son. Macbeth states, “Upon my head they placed, a fruitless crown… no son of my succeeding. To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings. Rather than so, come fate into the list, and champion me to th’ utterance,” (3. 1. 85), and later, “It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight, If it finds heaven, must find it out tonight,” (3. 2. 91).

Shakespeare characterizes the main character Macbeth as the tragic hero. Witches come to Macbeth and Banquo and chant “All Hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter”. Macbeth is not king but the thane of Cawdor, respected by King Duncan. Duncan treats both Macbeth and lady Macbeth well out of pure kindness of his heart. Even though Duncan was a great host to lady Macbeth, the power of greed overcomes them and they still insist to kill Duncan to obtain the crown. When Macbeth prepares himself to kill Duncan he whispers “Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell “. Macbeths hesitation makes it seem that there is still some human response in him, but overall, he accepts what he must do to get what he desires. For the sake of owning this amount of power Shakespeare

All things considered, ambition should just be had to a specific degree. In the story Macbeth his ambition is the reason he failed. The corrupt nature of his ambition to become King clouds his ability to think and act clearly. Macbeth killed the former king because he thought that would be the only way he would become King. This type of greed hurt many people in the story. Greed is not a good characteristic to portray.

Macbeth's first interaction onstage is with the witches, who predict that he will gain the title of Thane of Cawdor, as well as eventually the crown of Scotland: "Hail Macbeth, that shallt be king hereafter" This expression emphasises the certainty in which the witches spoke to the tragic hero, informing him that he will become incredibly powerful, whilst also fuelling the man's hubris and planting the first seed of conflict within his brain. The idea of Macbeth, a noble and courageous man beginning to doubt his own good morals provides a stark contrast to Lady Macbeth's exposition at the end of the first act. After receiving news of the prophecy through a letter from her husband, the woman begins planning a devious scheme before the tragic hero even returns home to her. She essentially decide that Macbeth and her will have to commit Regicide in order to gain access to the throne, a heinous act to even suggest.

In Macbeth, William Shakespeare writes about a lad whose life starts going downhill after he meets three sister witches on a deserted moor who can predict the future. Macbeth is a thane in Scotland who has supported and fought for King Duncan. The kinds rewards Macbeth with a new title, Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, are disappointed that Macbeth has not been crowned King of Scotland and plan to murder Duncan due to his unsettling decision to crown his own son, Malcolm, king, instead of Macbeth. After killing the king, Macbeth is filled with the ambition to kill many other people, to assure himself that he will not be crowned king. Obviously, killing people is not the best solution to any problem one may have, so murderous

Ambition is a trait Lady Macbeth carries out through a majority of the play; especially in the beginning. We first see Lady Macbeth's ambitious ways after she reads the letter from Macbeth in Act I. Post reading it she declares “Glamis thou art and Cawdor and shalt be what thou art promised”. (1.5.15-16) This statement is her telling Macbeth that he WILL become king as promised. Lady Macbeth doesn’t like to go back on her word, therefore since she told Macbeth she would help his promise come true, she will do everything in her power to do so. The letter triggers her into becoming power hungry. That power hungry pulls out her cunning ways.it is Lady Macbeth who created the plan to kill duncan. She plotted his murder making a cunning plan that

Ambition is one of the many qualities a person must possess to be a great leader. Ambition is the desire and determination to achieve success. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth he allows many of the characters to be ambitious, but to be an exceptional leader you must not let ambition overwhelm you. Leadership also requires other qualities that keeps your ambition in control such as, focus, inspiration, and integrity. Macduff possesses all of these characteristics, which makes him the perfect example of a leader in the play.

In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is visited by three witches who prophesies his future, telling him that he will be named Thane of Cawdor, and that he will soon become the King. During this time, Macbeth instantaneously begins to think about killing king duncan, but the thought of doing it scares him. This shows that Macbeth is struggling over his own ambition, as Macbeth states in a Aside: “The supernatural soliciting cannot be I’ll, but cannot be good. If I’ll, why hath it given me earnest of success commencing