Macbeth's Ambition

Ambition. One of the most controversial topics that critics of Macbeth can talk about. It’s in almost every aspect of the play. Every major character in Macbeth has their own ambitions. The characters that have self-centered ambitions and create violence are some of the more memorable characters in the play. Ordinarily, Macbeth or his wife, Lady Macbeth might come to your mind right away. Although, there is a fair amount of characters that have honorable ambitions as well, such as Macduff. Shakespeare explores all the different angles of ambition through almost a microscopic lens not missing anything. Really showing you what is too much ambition and what the consequences are. There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best sources

At this point in time Macbeth is ambitious in battle and is confident in himself. Nevertheless, it does not exceed an ambition to be the best at battle. After this battle Macbeth and his comrade Banquo come across the witches. This sets in motion the entire story. One of the witches says “All hail, Macbeth to thee, thane of Cawdor” (Shakespeare, 1/3/60) this of course surprises Macbeth, he is not the Thane of Cawdor. Then one of the other witches says “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (1/3/61). This is where Macbeth’s ambition to become the king starts to overcome him, he starts to imagine what it would be like to be king of Scotland. Although, he dismisses it as there is no way he could ever become king. When he is awarded with the title of Thane of Cawdor a couple of moments later he then realizes that his children may be in the next spot to crown. Later in the day, Duncan makes it official that Macbeth will become the thane of Cawdor, he proceeds to tell Malcolm that he is to become the next heir to the throne. Obviously, this maddens Macbeth as now his children will not become kings or queens. In the end this pushes Macbeth’s emotions to just about the breaking point. He is quite upset about this fact, but not upset enough to do anything. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth is red faced mad about this atrocity. Eventually, pushing his hand to kill the king through playing with his sense of masculinity. Once he kills the king his vaulting ambition just becomes more intense this causes him to almost become absolutely insane and commit terrible acts to climb to the top, and stay there. Fast forward a couple of days, after Macbeth has already became king his vaulting ambition to become the king has left one vital piece untouched. Banquo. Banquo was there with Macbeth when the witches gave them their prophecies. Banquo has suspicions that Macbeth was involved with the murder of Duncan so