How the Ambitions of Macbeth and Commodus Leads to their Inevitable Downfalls Ambition, “a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work” (Google). The characters of Macbeth and Commodus within William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth and Ridley Scott’s movie Gladiator, both display ambition in its worst form. Macbeth and Commodus shared a very similar route to power after being swallowed by ambition; both characters gained their seat on the throne through deception, family, and murder. Firstly, One tool used by both characters was their different ways of deceiving their peers to get what they want. Macbeth’s first act of deception was much like Commodus’; they both killed the King of their respective countries to try and take the crown for themselves.
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
Basic ambition is not essentially good or bad, but simply is. However, Promethean ambition, which involves a human pretending to be God. Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, significantly open up a sentiment of ideas regarding Promethean ambition. William Shakespeare introduces Macbeth as a combatant hero, who becomes king by altering God’s plan. When Victor Frankenstein is astray in his studies he isolates himself from human society.
The urge to be seen as perfect is a desire commonly found among humans. However, even some animals are not immune to such desires. A bird trying to attract the best mate in the forest by creating a perfect nest will fight to the death for a twig that it believes will make its nest excel beyond the rest. The bird will even go so far as to break the incubating eggs in a nest if it contains an item that the bird wants as its own. Similarly, in humans, there are characters that strive for perfection primarily based on self-satisfaction, rather than the well-being of others so much so that they begin to weigh ideology above humanity.
To conclude, ambition is a powerful force. It can be fueled by visions of power and lead people to change. This is best seen in MacBeth's character dynamic character. He changes from a good person, to someone who will kill anyone in his way to
In Macbeth, Shakespeare writes about a man named Macbeth, who has a very strong ambition to be the the king of Scotland. His credulousness led him into believing the prophecy from the three witches without thinking rigorously. Because of this prophecy, Macbeth is willing to do everything he can to gain the throne, even to the extreme of murdering someone. Shakespeare uses syntax, similes, and personification to convey the evolution of Macbeth’s insanity.
Ambition alone cannot be a tragic flaw, but when that characteristic controls someone to perform actions that lead to their downfall, then their ambition can be seen as a weight that holds them back from becoming a successful hero. Macbeth and Hitler are led to do terrible things because of their ambition, which sets them up as villains to be killed later in their lives. Macbeth’s ambition led him to kill King Duncan so he would assume the throne. Later, Macbeth killed other potential heirs to the throne, such as Banquo and an attempted murder on Banquo’s son, Fleance (Shakespeare). Hitler did something similar by assassinating any political opponents in his way to become chancellor, and later Führer, as well as killing or imprisoning anyone who spoke negatively of him or threatened his cause for world domination (“How Did Adolf Hitler Happen?”).
The meeting that I attended this week was Narcotics Anonymous (NA). NA is a fellowship that includes men and women who struggle with addiction. The members of the group are supporters or recovering addicts, and the purpose is to maintain complete abstinence (Narcotics Anonymous, 2017). Prior to attending the group, I was not informed about the group and was uncertain of what to be expected. Unfortunately, the night that I attended was not a traditional session, as they were celebrating the milestones of a few members.
In today’s society many people possess strong ambition when it comes to getting a job, following a passion and being immensely successful in life. Having an abundance of aspirations can have both successful and faulty outcomes depending on the situation and how individuals respond to the circumstance. For example, in the play **Macbeth written by Shakespeare, a prime example of an excessive amount of ambition is displayed through both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s actions. Essentially, Macbeth becomes power hungry and goes on a rampant killing spree that causes Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to be overcome with guilt. They both contain an excessive amount of desires due to their ultimate goal being for Macbeth to be crowned king.
Is it not weird how ambition for power corrupts one corrupt and leads them to their destiny? Ambition for power is lust which tempts one to be corruptive to acquire and protect it. However, in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, it is evident that ambition for power ultimately leads to corruption when Macbeth’s ambition for power causes the assassination of King Duncan, when Macbeth’s ambition for power compels him to execute those who obstruct his inheritance to the Scottish Throne, and finally, when Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to assassinate the people who impede his Kingship of Scotland out of lust for power. Macbeth’s ambition for power is the root cause to King Duncan’s assassination.
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.
What drives apparently good men to become ruthless, ambitious, jealous and greedy? We see an example of this in the play “Macbeth” performed at Pop Up Globe, directed by Tom Mallaburn, was written originally by the well-known author, William Shakespeare. Macbeth is based upon a big tragedy, where the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, inevitably were forced to do evil things due to their ambition; taste the sweetness of victory and then downfall again. Although the play was written by an English author, Shakespeare smartly sets his story based upon the idea of ambition, a concept that relates to all of us, no matter where we are from. We have to admit that in our minds, the concept of power and ambition is linked to men.
What is ambition? Ambition is the determination to achieve one’s goals. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare the protagonist, Macbeth, possesses ambition, which led to his downfall. In the play Macbeth’s ambition is driven by prophecies from witches and his wife’s aspiration. Ambition caused Macbeth to commit multiple homicides and after those wrongdoings Macbeth is left with nothing.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a dramatic play in which many people are murdered and tensions run high. The duo of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth pounces onto every opportunity to become the hierarchy. They have two quite different personalities, but over the duration of the play, the personalities switch over. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth is manipulative and Macbeth is scared and guilty.
Ambition is a natural part of human existence, every person has it at least a little. It is when ambition grows too large and takes control of us that it becomes dangerous. It becomes obsessive and soon nothing will stop the person obsessed. Just by looking around at our world today, one can clearly see the results of unchecked ambition. Unchecked ambition can be destructive to a society and cause the society's downfall.
