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Ambition In Macbeth

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William Shakespeare is an english poet who is known as the greatest writer in England. He is also known as the “Bard of Avon”. When Shakespeare wrote “The tragedy of Macbeth” James I had been king for three years. One of the main themes in this story is that having excessive ambition will lead to dangerous events. Shakespeare wrote this story during the reign of two royals, James I and Elizabeth. The story of Macbeth is darker and skeptical during the Jacobean society. The belief of witchcraft was so common around the 1500s and 1600s that King James wrote a book called “Demonologie” and claimed that witchcraft was harmful to society. There was a witchcraft Act that was passed in 1563, it was legal to kill people who were accused of being witches. …show more content…

This story is about a man who is influenced by three witches, their power through the prophecies, compels him to commit crimes to people close to him. They play with his mind and give him illusions that is pleasing to the eye. The three witches appear in the beginning of the story and the mood is gloomy, they tell Macbeth that he will be the first thane of Cawdor and then the king of Scotland. His attitude changes throughout the story as he hears more prophecies. He lies to his friend, Banquo, when he said he never thinks about the witches (Act 2, Scene 1). As the prophecy of being King of Scotland is discovered, Macbeth murders Duncan and then realizes that Duncan’s son, Malcolm, is an obstacle to the throne. (Act 1, Scene 7). Macbeth goes insane and starts killing everyone slowly, framing other people, and covering it up so that it would turn the attention away from him. He did not cover it up very well, he was still a suspect and was blamed for the acts. The three witches tell many prophecies, one of the many, is that Banquo’s heirs will be kings. When this prophecy is revealed to Macbeth, he kills Banquo, but his children will still become kings because they are still alive. There is always a loophole in the prophecies, Macbeth had Banquo killed and believed that his heirs will no longer be king but they can be because they were still

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