Julius Caesar's Ambition

From a young age, Julius Caesar was introduced to the politics of Rome through his family’s connection to Marius. Growing through his adolescence in both the proscription period of Marius and the dictatorship of Sulla, Caesar gained a lesson in extra constitutional advancement in the early career of Gaius Pompeius Magnus. Both Marius and Sulla distinguished themselves in the Social War, and both wanted command of the war against Mithridates, which was initially given to Sulla; but when Sulla left the city to take command of his army, a tribune passed a law transferring the appointment to Marius.

Macbeth has hallucinations based around guilt and to others he seems delusional and insane. After he hires the three murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance, they come back unsuccessful, only managing to kill Banquo. He is haunted by a hallucination of an apparition of (supposedly) Banquo and says “(to GHOST) Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake. Thy gory locks at me./ Gentlemen, rise. His highness is not well” (Shakespeare 3.4.61-63). Without being prompted by the ghost, Macbeth responds and another noble is weary of his actions. He kills Banquo because Banquo suspects that Macbeth did something horrible (like killing the king) to become king. Macbeth wants to keep the power that he

Macbeth also gained ambition from the witches, which creates chaos in the play and in his life. And for an earnest of a greater honor, he bade me, from him, call thee thane of cawdor, in which addition, hail, most worthy thane, for its thine” (1.3.106-109). The bloody child told Macbeth that he is now the thane of Cawdor. Macbeth realizes that the witches predicted that he would become the thane of cawdor. Once he realized that what the witches predicted came true, he wondered what else would come true.

Julius Caesar was a remarkably dynamic man who intended to become the supreme ruler of the Roman Empire in order to solve the many economic, political, and military problems. Julius Caesar died because his fellow friends did not think he was fit to be crowned king. They were worried he would ruin freedom to all Romans and ruin Rome. The only conspirators who expressed reasons for assassinating Caesar were Cassius and Brutus. Brutus was a friend of Caesar but had realized Julius was becoming ambitious. Although, Caesar was warned more than once to be careful and watch the ides of march. Many conspirators decided to all bring their daggers and stab him to

The meeting of the witches on the heath brought seeds of darkness into the mind of this noble warrior. This clever ploy caught him at the worst possible time - exhaustion from the battle clouding his reason and rightful pride for his victory enhancing his sense of ambition and opening his mind for darker things. Their words “All hail, Macbeth! Thane of Cawdor and the King hereafter,” bewildered Macbeth. Both these men were alive and prosperous, how could these words, spoken by dealers of the dark arts, be true? Upon being announced as Thane of Cawdor, the witches’ prophecies were becoming reality. The suggestion of becoming king enticed him, as it does any other man, but honour and loyalty to Duncan still remained as shown by the testimony when Macbeth quoted “…if chance will have me king, why chance may crown me”. There is no denying that Macbeth did have “black and deep desires” to kill the king upon being informed that Malcom was to be the successor to the throne of Scotland, but these thoughts were fleeting and can be attributed to the witches’ influence, later to be brought back with a vengeance by his

Despite this, however, he fell on Lady Macbeth’s decision that she made for him. Additionally, Macbeth’s friend Banquo, who had heard the witch’s prophecies with Macbeth was killed by Macbeth since Banquo doubted Macbeth for the king’s death. Ergo, Macbeth becomes mentally destabilized, which is shown by Macbeth seeing ghosts. Lady Macbeth could also not resist her guilt, she becomes insane and commits suicide. Although he had expressed his second thoughts and feels guilty before the murder, he commits the murder because of Lady Macbeth’s coaxing and ends up seeing unrealistic ghostly images, signs of his

After macbeth has successfully murdered King Duncan and gained full power of Scotland, he is unable to enjoy the power he stole, as he begins to become overwhelmed with growing paranoia, but mainly the sense of guilt that he suffers which leads to Macbeth’s insomnia. “Macbeth does murder sleep…Macbeth shall sleep no more.”(Act 2, scene 3) Visions of Banquo’s ghost “If thou canst nod, speak too./If charnel-houses and our graves must send/Those that we bury back, our monuments/Shall be the maws of kites.” ( Act 3, scene 4). The Appearance of Banquo’s ghost is an overwhelming site for Macbeth, it is a physical representation of his guilt. Despite the hallucinations and insomnia this does not stop Macbeth from committing further murders, “For mine own good,/All causes shall give way: I am in blood/

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.” These words, compiled by American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, perfectly convey the topic of ambition. A good portrayal of ambition can be seen through historical figure Julius Caesar, a famous leader of ancient Rome in the forties BCE. Caesar completed many conquests during his reign of power and expanded the Roman territory. His great success was followed by his appointment of dictator by the Romans, which destroyed the Republic and aggravated many Senators. Through their love of Rome, a group of conspirators killed Caesar in forty-four BCE by stabbing him in the chest twenty-three times. This historic tragedy has since then been interpreted by renowned playwright Shakespeare. Shakespeare uses the character Caesar in his play, Julius Caesar, to skillfully convey the idea that ambition is a force that can both hurt and help one’s reputation.

In William Shakespear's play, Marc Antony cried "O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts,and men have lost their reason. Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there Caesar and i must pause till it come back to me.

Lady Macbeth’s guilt consumes her, and she begins to lose her mind. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are partners in their crimes but toward the ending Macbeth continues to execute without consulting her. Macbeth chose to have Banquo killed without telling Lady Macbeth, and this is when she knows that they are no longer allies. Now that her connection with Macbeth “begins to slacken and she is left alone to bear the burden of her guilt,” which drives her to slowly lose herself (Bali 85). One night she sleepwalks, and one of the servants gets a doctor to observe how she is acting.

     Once Macbeth possessed the power of being Thane of Cawdor he began to exhibit more greed. He has just been given such a huge responsibility and once he was given new power, he craved more; especially when he stumbled upon the witches. He liked the power that he had and wanted to gain more, no matter what he has to do to get it. Macbeth had an encounter with the three witches and they had told him that he will become the next king. Although the witches did say this it did not mean that it was certain, it was just a possibility. But when Macbeth realized the opportunity for power he knew he wanted to become the king. This passage was in part of the letter that Macbeth wrote to Lady Macbeth: “Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it came missives from the King, who all-hailed me ‘Thane of Cawdor,’ by which title, before, these Weird Sisters saluted me and referred me to the coming on of time with ‘Hail, king that shalt be’” (1.5.6-10). . It seems as if the power and greed now had full control over him, he is doing things that he wouldn’t do when he did not have all this power. This is the first time that we see this side of Macbeth, the side of him that is greedy for power and is willing to kill the king to do so. In the beginning of the play the thought of being Thane of Cawdor never even crossed his mind, and by no means being

After murdering King Duncan, Macbeth returns ashamed of what he had done and becomes weak and morose. Lady Macbeth remains as bold and cold-hearted as she was at the moment she plotted to kill the king, but it was obvious that it would only be a matter of time before all of that bravery faded away and guilt would overcome her. She realizes that Macbeth is at one of the lowest points of his life and tries to give him that same sense of boldness that she has as she tries to cover up his weaknesses. Macbeth had a lot on his conscience that shortly after Banquo had been killed, he believed he saw the ghost of who was once his friend. No one else sees this apparition but Macbeth speaks to it as if it was

The definition of ambition is a strong desire to achieve something, usually requiring determination and hard work. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history. This play demonstrates ambition through Caesar. Caesar is a highly successful but ambitious political leader of Rome. The people of Rome wanted him to become their king, and conspirators saw that as a threat. Many of the conspirators feel that he is too ambitious and going to become a tyrant, so they plot to murder him. Caesar’s ambition is also what worries Brutus, and ultimately leads to Brutus joining the conspiracy to murder Caesar. The conspirators along with Brutus successfully murder Caesar. Throughout the play there are multiple instances where Caesar’s overly ambitious character was detrimental and lead to his downfall. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar written by Shakespeare, through Caesar, demonstrates how ambition may be the force propelling one towards accomplishment, it can still lead to one’s downfall.

Macbeth's feels that his destiny is to become King and rule with all the power that goes with kingship. The three witches on his way back to the kingdom, prophesied that he would rise to kingship. They said "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis" (I, 3, 48), and then as the thane of Cawdor "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor" (I, 3, 49). At this point in the play Macbeth had just become thane of Glamis, and the thane of Cawdor is still alive. Then, the witches greeted Macbeth as the King of Scotland saying "All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter" (I, 3, 50). This is the point in the tragedy where Macbeth starts to think as a villain. If the witches had never greeted him as King on Scotland, then he would probably never have contemplated killing Duncan in the first place. At first, he believes that he will need to kill King Duncan. Though at the end of Act 1, Scene 3, he thinks that perhaps he doesn't need to do anything to become the king saying "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.", showing he is a man of honor and morals. Then, Lady Macbeth hears of the prophecy in his letters and decides immediately for him that King Duncan must die, showing Macbeth's doubt. An

In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Caesar displays evidence of being an ambitious, or showing a strong desire and determination to succeed, type of person. One might say that Caesar is a very humble and man. One might say that Julius was power hungry. One who might choose to write about Caesar may lean on the side that Julius was not ambitious human. On the other hand people may conclude that Julius was a very ambitious person.