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Ambition Theme In Macbeth

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One theme that is present in Macbeth is ambition. This theme becomes evident when the witches give the prophecies to the Macbeths and they do everything they can in order to fulfill their desires. The first account of when Macbeth allows his ambition to overwhelm him is when he kills Duncan. In ActⅠScene ⅶ, Macbeth is contemplating whether or not to kill the king by listing out the reasons against and he discovers that ambition is his only motivation to kill. He says “I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself / And falls on th’other”(ActⅠScene ⅶ) Macbeth has enough self-awareness to realize the dangers of killing the king yet his temptation to complete the prophecy is too strong. Another example of ambition is when Lady Macbeth plans the murder of Duncan and continually urges Macbeth to do it in order to fulfill the prophecy and desire. Lady Macbeth puts aside her reasoning and lets her temptation run her actions. Ambition is what drives the both of them to commit such atrocities. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth wanted to be powerful so bad that they were willing to compromise their morals in order to be successful. The actions of the Macbeths prove that ambition ultimately takes over all …show more content…

The two themes work together to teach the audience that when ambition is unchecked by moral considerations it leads to disaster. The first example of this was when Macbeth killed Duncan. His better judgment told him not to yet his ambition overrode him and in result the night was faced with numerous encounters of chaos including the Earth shaking as if it had a fever. After this first endeavor, Macbeth continued to disregard his morals and let his desires run his actions. In doing so, he murders Banquo and faces an unnatural ghostly consequence. Ultimately these two themes work together to prove that obsession, desire, and ambition turn into chaos and

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Macbeth’s jump to murder illustrates the depth of his greed clouding his rational judgement. Shakespeare spotlights the hold greed can take on a righteous individual to emphasis the need for self control. Secondly, Macbeth, jealous of the prophecy stating Banquo “Shalt get kings” Macbeth fears he wears a “fruitless” crown, Macbeth orders the murder of his friend to

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Macbeth’s greed takes over him as he chases a fool’s dream. Macbeth's ambition leads him to secure his power; he overlooks his guilt and focuses on doing whatever it takes to hold onto his authority. Shakespeare demonstrates, in a variety of techniques, how just ambition alone can bring down the even the greatest of men. “There is something wrong with a individual’s character if opportunity controls their loyalty.” Sean Simmon’s the writer of this quote explains how blinded someone can be when given certain opportunities which can be directly related to the character Macbeth.

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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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When in a relationship, one's quest for power, can result in an endless effort to satisfy this desire, producing a tragic outcome. In the tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare explores how greed and ambition has an influence on one’s actions, leading to the occurrence of a tragedy. In the case of Macbeth, greed and ambition results in Macbeth becoming a highly manipulative, and dangerous individual. The dominant status Lady Macbeth owns, allows her to influence Macbeth into committing harmful acts. When Lady Macbeth’s dominant status begins to deteriorate, Macbeth begins to mature, gradually becoming the more dominant individual within their relationship.

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As the play continues, Macbeth's desire for the throne amplifies, ultimately leading him to murder the king and manipulate those around him to secure his maintained his crown. The prophecy becomes self-fulfilling as Macbeth's ambition drives him to carry out terrible acts, which in turn causes his descent into tyranny and, eventually, his tragic downfall. Through this clever foreshadowing, Shakespeare illustrates the corrupting nature of ambition and

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Both greed and power, if not controlled, can lead to destruction. Throughout William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses both characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to demonstrate how ambition can change one’s personal relationships. As in the beginning of Act 1, Scene 7 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do not share the same ambition, and it is because of this that their relationship lacks love and affection however through the use of persuasion and other means, Lady Macbeth is able to get Macbeth to pursue her ambition. This not only changes their relationship drastically but it also changes Macbeth’s attitude towards ambition. Throughout the play, Shakespeare shows us through Macbeth, the possibility for ambition to eventually turn into greed and how the lust for power may corrupt us.

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The reader is able to see this through Macbeth’s contemplation on whether or not he should kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth's lust for power and Macbeth’s final yet selfish decision. The overall comparisons are able to demonstrate the harmful physical and psychological effects of power throughout a community. As a result, the reader can learn from both Queen and Shakespeare that one's evil pleasure and desires can be a result of one's destruction all

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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.

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In his greed, or desire to fulfill the prophecy, Macbeth murders several people, including King Duncan and Macbeth’s own friend Banquo. As he is trying to talk himself out of murder, he says, “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’er leaps itself and falls on the other” ,(Act 1 Scene 7 Shakespeare 62). Then Macbeth realizes that greed is his only motivator, yet he continues to pursue the thrown. The theme ambition plays a big role in Macbeth testing Macbeth disloyalty. Macbeth said to himself, “Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires”, (Act 1 Scene 4 Shakespeare 48) “Stars, hide your fires” is personification.

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Macbeth’s ambitions influence him to attain his desire for power. This ambition drives him to become reckless for the sake of reaching his goals. This recklessness leads to the murder of Duncan- the first in a line of murders Macbeth commits to reach his power. These murders represent Macbeth’s gradual loss of morality.

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Lady Macbeth is power hungry for the throne and she will do anything to achieve her goal. Her pleasure of having the thought of killing Duncan is revealed. These murderous thoughts that run through her mind shows how desperate she is to acquire power. Although it is the beginning of the play, her dark ambitions sets a dark tone for her character in the play. This coincidentally adds to the assurance of Macbeth’s prophecy which is that Macbeth will become king, but King Duncan is still alive.

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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.

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Macbeth’s ambition is what is causing him to intervene with his prophecy and pursue his goal (rather than leave it to chance). In a way, it is Macbeth’s own “black and deep desires” that make him kill in the first place as the witches never tell him to do so. Furthermore, apart from ambition, it is Macbeth’s own weak will and moral system that causes him to do the actions that result in his downfall. Macbeth’s weak will is undeniable and is illustrated before killing Duncan. “I have of spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/And falls on the other” (I, VII, 25-28).

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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.

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Macbeth we see him use ambition as a motif to show how when unchecked it can lead to moral decay. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seek the throne and all of its power which leads to their destruction. In Act 1 Scene 7 Macbeth comes to terms with the fact that killing Duncan is simply a move for power with no moral backings, “ I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’ other-”. Although Macbeth begins to realize that he is committing murders and destroying lives for power there is nothing stopping him. Unfortunately Lady Macbeth was overcome with the guilt of what she had done that she took her own life.

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