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Unchecked Ambition In Macbeth

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And they all lived happily ever after. One of the most famous (and cliched) ways to end a story, where the burning desire of ambition leads characters to accomplish amazing things, to achieve their happily ever after. But when does the burning desire of ambition to become one's best self turn into a roaring inferno that consumes one and leads him to destroying everything with in his grasp? Perhaps, when ambition erodes one’s moral compass. Unchecked ambition leads the seeker to extreme ways of gaining power and making poor choices. Often when people are over ambitious they let their morals deteriorate until they have no compassion. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates through his character Macbeth that unchecked ambition …show more content…

Within the quote Macbeth also states, “My thought whose murder is yet fantastical,”. The word yet has great importance it means up until now. The statement implies that Macbeth is planning to take action and even though so far he has only begun to imagine the king’s death he is already thinking of what to do next. With a the word yet implying that Macbeth will take action of what he was thinking, Macbeth is deciding to kill the king to ascend to power quickly. Macbeth’s ambition makes it clear that he has a lust for power not only is he thinking of killing the king but killing a friend. The King was once a friend of Macbeth. King Duncan stated this about Macbeth: “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.”(1.2.68).With Macbeth proving that he started off working for a king, King Duncan gives Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor. Note how the King calls Macbeth noble, noble comes from the Latin root from gnoscere which means “to come to know”(etymonline.com). From that etymology it is clear that Duncan knows Macbeth and considers him a fine person. The definition of noble is having fine qualities or high moral principles. With that aspect the King admires …show more content…

When ambition is out of check often the person who was over ambitious has no compassion left because of his morals deteriorating. Without compassion people often commit bad deeds. Shakespeare illustrates this idea of morals deteriorating with this quote using word choice and symbolism: “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 and deep desires:... Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” (1.4.50-55). This is Macbeth’s words after Malcolm was named heir to the throne. Notice how Macbeth calls Malcolm an it. “For in my way it lies.” Macbeth is no longer referring to Malcolm as a human being, he is referring to Malcolm as a problem in Macbeth’s path. When one sees another person as an obstacle to overcome often the person has no empathy or compassion for the other person. He no longer sees that one is a person a human being like him which leads to the deterioration of morals. Macbeth no longer cares what is done to Malcolm he only cares what the outcome is of Malcolm being in his path to get the crown. Macbeth is at the point where he is anticipating how to overcome Malcolm to remove him from his path. Note how Shakespeare uses eyes in a symbolic matter: “Which the eye fears.” Eyes usually represent the window to one’s

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