Have you ever done something you regret? Do you know why you did it? For the most part, people have regretted at least one thing in their life if not hundreds of decisions they have made. And for the most part, these people did these actions in order to get ahead in life. The invisible and mysterious force behind this is called ambition and is the thing that drives people to become successful and achieve their goals. However, there is a darkside to ambition causing the downfall of many great leaders, CEOs, and even just regular “Average Joe” people. A great example of the negative effect of ambition on a person is in the tragedy, “Macbeth”, written by William Shakespeare. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a brave and loyal Thane to King …show more content…
This is evident after the murder of Duncan with Macbeth yelling at the top of his lungs, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable as this which now I draw. Thou marshall 'st me the way that I was going and such an instrument I was to use” (Act 2.1, 33-43). From this illusion, one can see Macbeth is feeling very confused and isn’t sure whether he should kill Duncan or let him continue to be a good king. However, the dagger is telling him otherwise, telling him that he should follow where it leads, do what it does, and if he does then the dagger will end up with Duncan’s blood all over it. What the audience can get from this is that the dagger is representing Macbeth’s evil intentions/desires, as well as his ambition to take whatever he wants. Furthermore, after the death of King Duncan, Macbeth states that, “there’s daggers in men’s smiles” (Act 2.3, 164). This is when Macbeth’s ambition took over and he was able to kill Duncan in order to achieve his goals at whatever price. It reveals that many people “mask” their true identity or emotion behind a fake smile, but are actually someone completely different, which relates back to the “Fair is Foul” and “Foul is Fair” and appearance versus reality. In this case, Macbeth is first introduced as as a noble man, but he smiled through his dagger and became a tragic hero. In conclusion, the arrival of a dagger or blood in the plot, usually meant Macbeth’s ambition was growing and growing and his hunger for more hadn’t stopped as well as Macbeth’s descent from a noble and brave soldier to a tragic
Humans are lazy. They like to do everything the easiest way possible unless there is a reason for doing it the hard way. Ambition is the reason individuals do anything in the world whether for personal gain or to help others. However sometimes people are put in the shooting range when someone goes all in with ambition. In Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" Shakespeare develops the idea that people can use ambition in different ways such as changing the world, gaining power, and overthrowing the corrupt.
One way ambition is presented in a negative way is by Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is one of the most ambitious character who wants to achieve power and can do anything to achieve it. Just after she received the letter from Macbeth she is obsessed with power. Lady Macbeth is really ambitious to become the queen as she convinces Macbeth to kill the King she does this by questioning Macbeth on his
Macbeth hallucinates a vision of a bloody dagger pointing him in the direction of the king, and interprets it as a sign to go through with the murder; however, he goes back on his word a moment later, doubting its significance: “Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight? or art thou but / A dagger of the mind, a false creation, / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (Shakespeare II.
When ambition is overlooked, it has the ability to become extremely dangerous. Macbeth from Shakespeare is a clear example of this. As he rises to power, he becomes more and more of a threat to those around him, killing those he was once loyal to. Destruction when ambition goes unchecked is present throughout the play because of Macbeth’s strong desires that ultimately lead to the deaths of Duncan, Banquo, and nearly Macduff. The death of Duncan was the first corrupt act stemming from Macbeth’s ambition.
He feels as though it is urging him to fulfil his desire to become king. Page 45, Act II, scene ii, "Your shape is as real as my own dagger, which I now draw from its sheath. You lead to in the direction I was going (i.e, to Duncan 's room)."Macbeth interprets the dagger as a sign that he shall proceed with his wicked crusade. Consequently, seeing the chimera of a dagger before the murder inspired Macbeth to kill and inherit the
Macbeth, by Shakespeare, is a story of a great warrior named Macbeth who was told by three witches that he would become king. This prediction makes him think it is justified to kill the current king and once he is king he believes that he is invincible. In Macbeth, many symbols are used such as a dagger that isn’t there, hallucinations of blood, and ghosts to show the overwhelming guilt that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have over the murders to highlight the theme that guilt can drive people to insanity when kept in secret. First of all, Macbeth is alone and has decided that he is going to kill King Duncan. All of a sudden he sees a dagger but can’t feel it and says, “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still” (Shakespeare 2.1.35).
After realizing the severity his plan to succeed the throne, Macbeth reveals his hesitancy towards killing King Duncan, and it is at that moment that he calls out to a “dagger of the mind” which symbolizes his guilt and temptation to carry out the evil deed (2. 1. 39). Inevitably, Macbeth’s desire for power outweighed his moral integrity, and he carries out the murder of King Duncan, beginning the slow spiral of his own demise mentally and physically. Shakespeare uses this apostrophe as a way to highlight the importance of the idea of murder and how easily its concept can be corrupted by greed. Before being told he would be king, Macbeth was content with
Ambition is a strong source of hope and strive for many people, and this ambition can lead to both good and bad results. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare shows how the main character, Macbeth, and his strong ambitions can be led astray by outside forces as well as his own feelings for greatness. In the play, Macbeth is a strong warrior that is respected by all, but throughout the play, he is influenced by the evil around him and ultimately turns into an ambitious monster that craves power as well as the throne. Through his ambitions, Macbeth turns corrupt and slowly becomes so evil that even his guilt feeds his ambitions. Ambition can be a good sense of strive, but when influenced and supported by the wrong people, it can also be used as a
In one part of the scenes we can furthermore see through Macbeth 's words and ego. In this case Lady Macbeth was manipulating Macbeth into thinking he was less of a man for not Killing The former king to have the throne all to himself. In this scene you can see how insecure Macbeth truly is, he wouldn 't of needed to prove anything to anyone if he already knew he was manly. Readers could further understand Macbeth 's change in thoughts, by taking a further look into his goals, consequently
Ambition has led to the success of hundreds of people, senators, celebrities, directors and more. Ambition is defined as a driving force to do something great, to become recognized in a certain field. It leads people to work hard and to do better than their current best. It 's found in everybody, it could be someone trying to beat their high score or becoming class president. Having too much ambition can force someone to do negative things in order to reach their goal.
The voices he hears that threaten: “Macbeth shall sleep no more” indicate a relationship between guilt and madness. Therefore, the manifestation of the dagger suggests that he feels guilty because of his attempt to murder Duncan. There are three major transitions of thought. First, he contemplates about the dagger’s existence; the second is the invocations of dark images; finally, there is the bell that cuts off Macbeth’s contemplations. The transitions between topics indicate that while Macbeth feels guilty for the murder, his determination makes him ignore
Another way in which she tries to settle Macbeth is by reminding him of the “air-drawn dagger” that appeared in front of him but was not real. Lady Macbeth could have left Macbeth to make a fool of himself at the banquet, but instead with her tender heart she rushed to help him even after all the wrong he had
Macbeths guilty conscience makes him unable to play the ‘true’ role of a villain of the play. Macbeth begins to see ‘false creations’ before murdering Duncan; the image of a floating dagger taunts Macbeth’s senses. Macbeth is devoured in his anxiety he starts to hallucinate the crime before going through with it. Macbeth is unable to dispose thoughts of his guilt and doubt, which prevents him from being stuck at the point where it is too late to turn back, yet the fear of his nature prevents him from turning completely into a ruthless coldblooded
The road to a fatal outcome can be observed through many different qualities but excessive ambition is one of the main downfalls for most of us in society. Evil motivation due to uncontrollable and unnecessarily high ambition produces difficult obstacles in our lives. We could also become blind to making the right and moral decisions when our ambition is unrestrained. Additionally, all of the paths and routes for immoderate ambition leads to destruction and disorder. Another important note to keep in mind is that chaos and complications will be rooted from not only extravagant ambition but also poor decision making.
The dagger points to Duncan 's room and appears to be covered in blood. This encourages Macbeth to commit the crime of killing the king. Shakespeare is showing the audience that what Macbeth is about to do is evil and catastrophic which will change the whole course of the play. Moreover, his hallucination of the floating dagger signifies Macbeth’s confusion and he can no longer distinguish between his imagination and reality, which is why he firmly believes that the dagger is a sign to commit the