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Ambition In Act 1 Scene 7 In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

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My creative piece will be a painting showing the vital theme of ambition in Macbeth. This theme is best represented at the start of Act 1 Scene 7 in Macbeth’s monologue on whether he should kill Duncan. Additionally, it reflects his actions in Act 2 Scene 2 when Macbeth kills Duncan. The painting will show Macbeth’s hands, the left hand grasping a crown and the right wielding a knife covered in blood. The right hand will have Lady Macbeth’s hand supporting it to show her influence. The knife shows Macbeth’s paranoia once he becomes King, so paranoid that his crown will be taken away that he will kill to keep his crown. Ambition is important in Macbeth because it was Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s strong ambition which made them murder Duncan for the crown. The witches used Macbeth’s ambition as a weapon knowing that it would get the best of him. Consequently, it caused the deaths of both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth and had a huge impact on the storyline. …show more content…

This is shown by the quote ‘Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on th' other.’ The quote personifies ambition and is saying Macbeth needs to leap/vault over obstacles (killing Duncan) to achieve his ambitions. The adjective ‘Vaulting’ symbolises his desire for power which is so strong that it leaps high over normal desires. Moreover, the connotations of ‘falls’ are failing and disaster. Macbeth is aware that he may fail because of his ambitions but he still does the horrible deed. Dramatic irony is employed to inform the audience of Macbeth’s emotions and foreshadows the possible murder of

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Macbeth doubts his plan to murder Duncan and is unable to motivate himself to take action. There is tension between Macbeth's unwillingness to move ahead with his plan and his acknowledgment that his ambition is leading him down a dangerous path. Macbeth notes, “I have no spur to prick the sides for the intent, but the only vaulting notes ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’ other” (1. 7. 25-29). Macbeth knows that he has lacked motivation and ambition, and he knows that it’s the only thing preempting disasters to come his way as he makes mistakes.

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Shakespeare presents the theme of ambition in Macbeth. Ambition is a strong desire to do or achieve something, ambition can also be presented in a positive and negative way. Shakespeare presents ambition in a negative way through some characters who are Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and King Duncan. The reason these characters present ambition in a negative way is because they end up dying. Ambition is also present in a positive way through some characters who are Macduff, Witches and Malcolm these are the characters who survive in the play showing that you can be ambitious but not too ambitious.

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In this metaphor, Macbeth is likening his indecisiveness to kill Duncan to being on the bank of a river and deciding whether or not to cross it. It is thought that this river is supposed to be the River Styx, a Underworld River in Greek mythology, and him crossing it would mean his guaranteed admittance to Hell. In this sense, Macbeth is pondering upon whether or not to act on his ambition, while having a full grasp on the consequences it could bring. In the final act, when Macbeth has completely acted on his ambition, he says something quite interesting: “My way of life Is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf” (5.3, 24-25). What Macbeth is essentially saying is that his life has withered away like a yellow leaf.

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“I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself/ And falls on th’ other”(1.7 25-28). In reality, Macbeth’s ambition is what drives him to murder King Duncan. In fact, ambition, according to Macbeth, may cause people to put themselves first. It is at this point that Macbeth begins his downfall because he has too much ambition to stop the murder. Macbeth’s ambition is out of control and is now beginning to take over.

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In the play, Macbeth is at last in charge of the choices and activities that prompt his destruction. Nonetheless, rather than this contention, we comprehend that Macbeth is not absolutely to accuse on the grounds that his demolition was in a few routes created by his shortcoming to be effortlessly affected by others. The deceptive predictions of the Witches and the influence of Lady Macbeth blurred Macbeth 's own particular judgment. Duncan 's homicide is likewise a variable to consider as it turned into a point where Macbeth trusted that there was no turning back in light of the fact that he had officially crushed the characteristic

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In the tragic play of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare in the Jacobean era during the reign of King James I. Throughout the play, Shakespeare presents the theme of ambition through the character of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, McDuff and appearance vs reality. shakespeare presents the theme of ambition through the character of macbeth. This is shown in the quote ‘’ vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself’’ this quote suggests to the audience that ambition is to overpower and can lead macbeth to commit a sin of regicide. The adjective ‘’vaulting’’ shows how powerful ambition is and can cause macbeth to go out of his limits to kill the king. This would be seen as sinful in the jacobean era because the king was chosen by god and was part of the

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In the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, the author conveys a motif of ambition by utilizing the character, Macbeth. Macbeth seeks answers from the apparitions who can read into the future. The first apparition warns him of Macduff, the Thane of Fife, he reacts by saying, “I’ll raid Macduff’s castle, seize the town of Fife, and kill his wife, his children, and anyone else unfortunate enough to stand in line for his inheritance.” This quote shows that Macbeth’s ambition to be King is leading him to murder endlessly and do whatever it takes to continue his title. After Macbeth murders King Duncan, he starts to become fearful of Banquo, he says, “To be the king is nothing if I’m not safe as the king.

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Introduction: In Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, irony plays a significant role in enhancing the dramatic tension and highlighting the themes of ambition, fate, and deception. Irony, a literary device that involves a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens, is skillfully employed throughout the play. In this essay, we will explore three examples of irony in Macbeth, examining how they contribute to the overall impact of the story. Body Paragraph 1: One instance of irony in Macbeth can be found in Act 1, Scene 3, when the three witches hail Macbeth as the Thane of Cawdor and the future King of Scotland.

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When Macbeth rethinks killing Duncan he says “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other” (25-28). Macbeth has no reason to kill Duncan and admits that Duncan is a good king and that he wants to kill him just to have the power for himself. When Malcom finds Duncan’s body he says this in his rage “Gainst nature still! Thriftless ambition, that will ravin up thine own lives’ means! Then tis most like the sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth” (39-42).

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Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's great tragedies in which he portrays how ambition, when left unmonitored and uncontrolled, leads to greed. Throughout the play Shakespeare highlights the unraveling of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s mental states as they pursue power and control. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is content as the Thane of Glamis and a noble knight. He appears as though he is living a happy life. The first indication that Macbeths life could be changing is in I, iii, 48 - 51 where the witches told him of his predicted future.

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In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described with positive epithets of his nobility and a character who is well loved such as ,”brave Macbeth” , “O valiant cousin”, “well he deserves that name” but as the play continues, he begins to slowly fall into a trap by following his ” black and deep desires” and eventually becomes a “tyrant” something that is detested. Overall, Shakespeare presents ambition as something which can corrupt a character and lead to an inevitably tragic fate for them. Starting with this speech, Shakespeare presents ambition as something that Lady Macbeth needs to complete her desires, Shakespeare utilises metaphors to convey Lady Macbeth’s feelings towards Macbeth , “it is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” the

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362 Words | 2 Pages

Like all of Shakespeare’s other plays, “Macbeth’s” protagonist Macbeth is incredibly successful but suffers from one fatal flaw, his great ambition. His ambition will be the cause of his great success but ultimately also of his downfall. The man’s ambition drives him to seize every opportunity to promote his own agenda. His ambition hurts him the most when he decides to kill King Duncan and Macduff.

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As Macbeth prepares mentally to kill his beloved king, he imagines a bloody dagger much like the one he plans to use on Duncan. He blames this hallucination on stress and tries to push it aside. This is important because it shows that Macbeth's mind has begun to falter but is not entirely gone. This is only the beginning of a long road of bad judgment for Macbeth. The idea of a turning point for the character is suggested.

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882 Words | 4 Pages

Lady Macbeth had ambition towards King Duncan 's assassination, but had macbeth do it for her. Lady Macbeth 's idea to assassinate King Duncan shows the theme of ambition. Her desire for Macbeth to kill King Duncan also shows the motif of blood, it’s used to develop the theme of ambition. For instance, Lady Macbeth states “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised.

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

Macbeth is also a power hungry man who would do just about anything to achieve his goal of becoming King. When Macbeth first hears the prophecies from the three witches he instantly became invested with the journey to become king. Similar to Lady Macbeth, nothing was going to come between him and his potential power, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man. That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.52-55). This quote exemplifies how Macbeth’s initial solution to becoming king was murder.

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