Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
Life and death of macbeth
Macbeth's character analysis
Macbeth's character analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Life and death of macbeth
Macbeth's character analysis
Macbeth's character analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
The Destructive Force of Human Ambition In Shakespearean time and within his plays, ambition was viewed as a downfall in character and a defiance to human nature. In today’s world, ambition is viewed as a respectable attribute in both males and females. Yet, In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the destructive force of ambition transcends time. Although centuries apart, Macbeth, a noble who wants to seize the position of King, and Tonya Harding, a figure skater who wants to win an Olympic gold, are two examples of ambition, its misuses and consequences.
Dreadful Decisions When one has ambition, their goal is to achieve it not thinking about the consequences. Hoping that everything goes as planned. In the fictional play, The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth, a general in the Scottish army, has the desire of being king of Scotland in the eleventh century. While Macbeth makes the move of becoming king, he does actions that later on haunt him as soon as he becomes king.
Impact Of Ambition on Self and Others Ambition is often defined as the driving force that pushes individuals to overcome or attain the impossible. Possessing the character trait is a milestone in one's path to success. However, ambition can become one's doom. It can corrupt individuals, impact their relationships or build a ruthless force leading them to catastrophic failure. Consequently, Shakespeare, in his play Macbeth, which features the conquest of a Scottish nobleman to become the king of Scotland, articulately highlights how ambition can be dangerous to both an individual and others around them.
Ambition is defined as the desire to do or achieve an objective. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli and in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, ambition that breathes power will elude glory, create consequences, and even cause death. In The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli dedicates an entire chapter to discuss princes that come to power by crime. Machiavelli says, “Yet it certainly cannot be called “virtue” to murder his fellow citizens, betray his friends, to be devoid of truth, pity, or religion; a man may get power by means like these, but not glory.
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.
Ambition is defined as a strong desire to achieve something. Ambition is normally a really good thing to have, because it motivates you to reach a goal that you have set. But in this case, Macbeth had way too much ambition and so he was willing to go to any length to reach his goal, which was to become king. Another reason why Macbeth’s ambition is bad is because he wants to be king for the wrong reasons. The reason he wants to be king is not to make Scotland better, or change some things he feels are not right.
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.
Macbeth is the Shakespearean play that features the triumphant uprise and the inevitable downfall of its main character. In this play, Macbeth’s downfall can be considered to be the loss of his moral integrity and this is achieved by ambition, despite this, Lady Macbeth and the witches work through his ambition, furthering to assist his inevitable ruin. Ambition alone is the most significant factor that led to Macbeth’s downfall. The witches are only able to influence his actions through Macbeth’s pre-existing and the three witches see that Macbeth has ambition and uses it to control his action. Ambition alone is displayed throughout the play to be the most significant cause for Macbeth’s downfall.
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.
Ambition has a major role in the play Macbeth. One of the main things for a character such as Macbeth. Ambition lead him to commit the murder of Duncan, and losing Everything he had. In the beginning of the play Macbeth celebrated as he was brave soldier as he rewarded. He becomes the thane of Coward, as predicted by the three witches.
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.
Ambition is a candle; a leading light with a willpower that guides one to the next light. Yet a wind appears in the opposite direction; making its way to the candle. The strength of the flame will not remain as the wind reflects the malicious change. Poet, William Shakespeare, in his play, “Macbeth”, portrays an intrepid man who loses his humanity and rushes his fate of becoming king; turning into the most hated man in his kingdom. Shakespeare’s purpose is to expand the consequences of leading with an egocentric mentality and depicting the limits of one’s ambition.
Blind Ambition and Greed The play “Macbeth”, by William Shakespeare illustrates many themes through the characters from the beginning to the end of the story. But the main central theme introduced is Ambition and Greed. As the play goes on we read how Macbeth permits his Ambition and Greed to dictate the outcomes and tragedy’s that occur to himself and others.
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.