Examples Of Vaulting Ambition In Macbeth

Macbeth’s ambition for power is strongly shown through foreshadowment throughout the play. His ambition is seen at the start of the play towards the end, however, his ambition is one of the causes of his death. The witches tell Macbeth a prophecy that he will become the Thane of Glamis, Thane

A large part of William Shakespeare’s genius is attributed to his talent in examining human nature through his works. By weaving certain themes throughout his plays and poems, Shakespeare indirectly projected messages about the inherent fallacies of mankind. Such is the case with Macbeth. As classic literature goes, there are numerous themes found throughout the script. One of the most prevalent (if not the most prevalent) themes is that of blind ambition. It’s justifiable to say that blind ambition is the driving force of the plot. Nearly every major event in Macbeth was instigated, or, at the very least, influenced by various characters’ ambitious tendencies. The characters’ decisions, their influence over other characters, and moral degradation all exemplified the effect that blind ambition had.

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

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

    Macbeth's ambition is what allowed him to become powerful. Without ambition, it is impossible to achieve goals. Therefore, ambition is what allowed Macbeth to overcome his obstacles and come closer to his final goals. As soon as he developed the trait of vaulting ambition, Macbeth is able to make his life fall into place exactly the way he wants it to. He first murders Duncan so that he will become king. Macbeth's ambition is directly the cause of this tragic incident. This murder is in cold evil blood by Macbeth's own hand; at this point he starts seeking his future on his own and will overcome any obstacles in his

Ambition is often the driving force in one’s life. It is supposed to be the motivating factor that drives one towards success. Society also deems ambition a necessary quality of their leader. It can be said that Macbeth exhibits this quality of ambition. He is the strong, valiant warrior who has won in battle and brought victory to Scotland. However, Macbeth’s quest to acquire more power-his ambition-ultimately leads to his tragic demise. How can one allow himself to be destroyed by such a thing? Before Duncan’s murder, Macbeth questions and second guesses his ambitious tendencies and actions. Despite his anxiety, he succumbs to these tendencies and finds himself in an increasingly precarious situation, with his back against the wall and growing ever closer to his almost inevitable end.

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……...

Ultimately, vaulting ambition is what brings Macbeth to his greatness, but later ironically turns out to be Macbeth’s tragic flaw itself and indeed considers being the most to blame for his own destruction. Macbeth himself is capable to distinguish what is right or wrong and even states the possible consequence of his own foul act. “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’other” Within Macbeth’s soliloquy, Shakespeare’s metaphor enable him to compare the vaulting ambition to a horse that tries to jump too high and falls on the other side of the fence. In fact, Macbeth himself realizes the possible outcome of his own vaulting ambition, however chooses to take the risk and “jump the life to come’. Along with his vaulting ambition, Macbeth ruins his soul, destroyed his mind and become a butcher. Throughout the play, Macbeth killed off anyone who might have posed a threat to his position and power. He indeed sends murderers after his good friend Banquo, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature… and to that dauntless temper of his mind, he hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour” Macbeth’s soliloquy reveals that he indeed afraids of Banquo’s ‘royalty of nature’ since he has ‘dauntless tempter’ or courage as well as wisdom that might ruined Macbeth. It is interesting that

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

We have all made mistakes in our lives, things we cannot reverse. I personally have never made such a bad mistake its life-changing but we see this happen in MacBeth, a play written by William Shakespeare. It has many themes and insinuates several different messages.

As we finished reading and analyzing the story of Macbeth, we have found out his ambition which is the pursuit of power. Macbeth's ambition led him to his own downfall and have done things that is out of his characteristics. Macbeth's ambition represents a universal human pursuit of power because they will do anything to an extent to obtain power, they can be encouraged by someone to take action to get what they desire, and it can lead them to their own "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.

“He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must fall with the greatest loss” is a quote said by Niccolò Machiavelli. What it is explaining is that blind ambition will take you to a position in life where the only direction to go is down, as you are already as high to top as possible. Blind Ambition is the strong desire to achieve something without taking into consideration what is happening around one’s self. People that are inspired by ambition may be capable of doing prodigious things, but when tempted by their blind yearnings, it can lead to the destruction of their own self and others around them. An over ambitious person will often go to extremes and do anything they are capable of, in order

Shakespeare’s characterization of Macbeth and his consequences reveals his warning about ambitions and its downfalls. Macbeth begins as a noble man who’s ambition ruins him and his true self, leading to his inevitable death. In Act I, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as an accomplished man whose lust for more is fueled by his wife’s ambitions. At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth commonly challenges his masculinity to drive his ambition to kill King Duncan and acclaim the throne of Scotland: “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art desire?” (P. 29). Conversely, by Act III, Macbeth’s ambition is self-driven because of the prophecy making him loses his sense of morality, and become corrupt. One such action is the murder of Banquo, Macbeth’s “noble partner” (P. 17): “Who wear our health but sickly in his life, which his death were prefect” (P. 56). Banquo’s murder serves as the beginning of Macbeth’s crumbling edifice, as for each murder he commits, he falls deeper into the world of deception.

Macbeths undeniable and “vaulting ambition” was ultimately the cause for his own demise. All of those who surrounded him, his wife and the witches, played no role in Macbeth’s decision making (1.7.27). Macbeth had a strong and powerful lust for power and praise, and this lust is what eventually led him to his downfall. Macbeth’s twisted and very powerful ambition was showcased from the very beginning of his play when he realized that the prince of Cumberland, Malcom, “is a step/ on which [he] pull down must or else overleap, / for in [his] way it lies” (1.4.57-60). Macbeth was a conniving and deceitful man and knew that he must defeat both Malcom and King Duncan. Furthermore, when Macbeth sees a hallucination of a dagger, with drops of blood