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Ambition And Guilt In Shakespeare's Macbeth

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In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, a minor character named Donalbain accurately described the whole of the play when he stated that “there’s daggers in men’s smiles. The near in blood, nearer bloody” (Shakespeare). This play starts when three old and bearded witches appear to the current Lord of Glamis, Macbeth, as he travels home with his noble friend Banquo at the finish of a war between Scotland and Ireland. They hail Macbeth as the future Lord of Cawdor and King of Scotland, and prophecy that Banquo’s descendants will be kings after Macbeth. Soon after, King Duncan of Scotland awards Macbeth the title of the Lord of Cawdor for his valor and bravery in the just concluded war. Macbeth, along with his wife Lady Macbeth, plots …show more content…

Beginning with Macbeth as a courageous man at the conclusion of the previous war between Scotland and Ireland, everything tumbles downhill when three witches step in, claiming that Macbeth will one day be king. The theme of appearance and reality appears when the witches state the nothing is as it seems, since foul will appear fair while fair will appear foul. This theme continues when Lady Macbeth instructs her husband to look like the innocent flower, but be the snake below it when murdering King Duncan and when Macbeth interprets the witches’ apparitions later as harmless, when reality proves him wrong. The theme of ambition unfolds when the witches first plant the vices seed in Macbeth in their prophecies, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth jointly kill Duncan and cover up their actions, and when Macbeth sends murderers to kill Banquo to secure the Macbeth royalty name. The final theme is divulged when the guilt of Duncan’s death leads to the murder of Banquo. Macbeth’s guilt over Banquo’s death leads to his seeing ghosts, while Lady Macbeth’s guilt over everything leads to her nightmares and suicide. Justice comes to Macbeth when Macduff duels him, who triumphs and decapitates Macbeth, wrapping up the three themes into a blissful ending where Duncan’s rightful heir, Malcolm, sits on the throne of Scotland as king

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