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.
Shakespeare begins by emphasizing the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, and how Lady Macbeth serves as a foil, eventually leading to Macbeth’s death. For example, when Macbeth is having second thoughts about killing King Duncan Lady Macbeth says, “When you durst do it, then you were a man”. This evidence highlights how unchecked ambition leads to sin and retribution because Lady Macbeth points out the weaknesses of Macbeth, telling him he’s not a man and a coward for not wanting to murder King Duncan. This also showcases how unchecked ambition leads to sin and retribution because most individuals would try to be reasonable with trying to get what they want, how they’re going to do it, and the consequences of their actions. However,
Grant Fleisher Elizabeth Bobbitt LAL 9th The Destructive Nature of Unchecked Ambition: Macbeth's Tragic Downfall Explored William Shakespeare's tragedy "Macbeth" stands as an intricately woven tale of ambition, power, and the destructive consequences of unchecked desire. Set in medieval Scotland, the play follows the tragic downfall of the titular character, Macbeth, a valiant and loyal soldier whose encounter with supernatural forces sets him on a treacherous path of betrayal, violence, and greed. Through the masterful use of soliloquies, dramatic irony, blood symbolism, and supernatural elements. Shakespeare exemplifies the tragic downfall of Macbeth, the play's protagonist, as he succumbs to his relentless pursuit of power and kingship.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have plenty of ambition and this could have been used to better themselves and the people around them. Instead the Macbeths used this ambition for evil and greed. When Macbeth hears his prophetic reading in Act I, scene iii, he is only thinking about himself and the ways his life will become better. Macbeth is instantly curious and begins to plot the death of King Duncan, the first murder of many that will be committed. This shows that he has no compassion or thoughts for others nor the lives that he will be taking.
In Act 1 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth transitions from a noble soldier to a murderer. During battle, Macbeth demonstrates loyalty when he kills the Norwegian Lord who betrays King Duncan. He remains faithful towards his king and never contemplates treason. After visiting the witches, Macbeth develops ambivalence about whether becoming king will require trust in fate or his own free-willed actions. However, Lady Macbeth officially chooses for him as she informs Macbeth that he will need to kill the king to succeed to that title.
Ambition is normally restrained by mortality, rabid actions or ideas introduced by someone’s ambition are shot down by someone’s moral compass. This emotion is expressed by Macbeth after his first encounter with the witches causing him to realize he could become king if he killed Duncan, however, the idea is almost silenced by his internal monolog, pleading in his brain that “Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself / And falls on the other” (1.7). Macbeth in this quote is arguing with his ambition which is pleading for him to not kill Duncan, bringing up how overexpression of Ambition only causes one to fall on himself and fail miserably. This shows how his moral compass is trying to use logical reasoning to leash his ambition and prevent Macbeth from committing a heinous
Many people would consider the term ambitious a compliment. You can look at some of the most powerful and successful people in the world and most all of them contain this envied trait. But there is a point however when ambition, the very thing that takes one to the top, causes an ultimate downfall, an end to a once great power. In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, in relation to Macbeth as a character, Macbeth's ambitious nature further continues my argument. With his already impressive title of Thane of Cawdor, his unexpected desire to become more illuminates that seed of ambition within him.
Ambition gets a bad reputation if harnessed incorrectly. Some effects from being too ambitious can be derived from Shakespeare's play “Macbeth.” Macbeth, the protagonist in the play, was dangerously ambitious due to the three witches prophesizing that he would be the king of Scotland. He went to great lengths to make this prophecy come true such as: murdering King Duncan and his friend, Banquo. Throughout the play, he became greedy, ruthless, and power-hungry.
Shakespeare presents Macbeth as being blinded by ambition and fear that people will stand in his way, both seemingly caused by the witches. Throughout the play the witches seem to enjoy sowing seeds of fear into Macbeth’s mind, even from their first interaction in act 1 scene 3 when they reveal Macbeth will be “king hereafter” it sparks the fire of Macbeth that will fuel him throughout the play and grow stronger as the play progresses. Shown in the extract, as even though the crown is upon his head, he cannot stop thinking about the witches' prophecies, especially Banquo’s. Exhibiting fear and even jealousy illustrated when describing his “barren sceptre” and “fruitless crown”. The ‘less’ suffix in the adjective “fruitless” shows Macbeth’s lack of children, and how he realises he has no meaning to being king, as he will become unimportant in the future.
In the tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare. It's about a soldier named Macbeth who let his greed for power cause him to abandon all his morals. Which brings destruction to the kingdom he seeks to rule. Humans always struggle with the choice of doing what they know is right vs what they want to do. In this Shakespearean tragedy, Macbeth battles back and forth between the choice of doing what he knows is right against doing what he feels needs to be done to achieve his goal.
In the story of Macbeth, Shakespeare presents power and ambition to show the desire Macbeth had of obtaining power, ultimately to demonstrate how much influence The witches and Lady Macbeth had on his actions. Power is something many desire to have although when that desire is fulfilled; many may find that it causes problems later on. The desire for power led Macbeth into a deteriorating state of mind which is what caused him to commit catastrophic acts. During this period in which “Macbeth” takes place, the highest position a male could have was to be a monarch or a king; this was very hard to achieve because of the corruption and status one needed to receive this position, although Macbeth found his way around that.
What is ambition?Ambition is the thing that drives you to achieve a strong desire. You could say MacBeth has the strongest ambition throughout the book , since he kills the king with his own hands and then continues to have people killed throughout the book to reduce any risks of someone over throwing him or finding out the truth on how Duncan was actually killed. Even though MacBeth's ambition is strong , some may argue Lady MacBeths is even stronger , after all she was the one to push him into becoming king. After hearing of macbeths encounter with the witches , lady Macbeth immediately springs into action and begins a plan. Lady macbeth announces on line 39 , “unsex me hear”.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare expressed his ability to display themes using a variety of literary and stylistic features is admirable, especially while keeping the story entertaining and unpredictable. Throughout this play, ambition in both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth was portrayed through the use of many techniques, the most noticeable being foreshadowing and symbolism. Due to Shakespeare’s representation of ambition in this play, the audience was able to put certain personalities on different characters such as the personality of hunger and greed in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare allowed the audience to understand what true ambition looks like and how literary devices can affect this image.
Ambition: The common cause of death Ambition, the source of turmoil in a person's fate, may lead to their deaths. Although Macbeth and Lady Macbeth already have a noble position and are respected by people. They both did actions which would leave great sins on their hands while also losing their morals. In Shakespeare ‘s Macbeth, the ambition for more power has led Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to their deaths. Even though Macbeth has a respectable noble standing, his will for power made him perform traitorous acts.
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.
