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Examples Of Ambition In Macbeth

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How Ambitious Are You? Ambition is one of many emotions a human possesses it blinds an individual to all impediment that will not allow them to reach their goal. Here is where this strong desire to obtain something will surpass obstacles to the extent where the individual will commit acts never done before. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are driven by a strong desire to become king. A prophecy was given to them by three witches and that Macbeth will be declared King of Scotland, which led them to commit a never before heard crime of killing a king. As they were both well driven by ambition, Macbeth was more ambitious than his wife because even though she began the brutal plan that would …show more content…

This play has been said to be the darkest play Shakespeare has written. Shakespeare wrote this book and added the evil that was occuring during his era, “Macbeth is a play about evil which is given dramatic shape by the story of the deterioration in sin of a man who has yielded up his soul to the devil” (Jack 178). His ambition created an evil heart that also came to have an effect on nature as the sky and the weather became violent as the crime scene was taking place. It has been said that when the earth becomes dark and violent it is because something brutal is occurring. When the devil tricked Adam and Eve into eating the apple from the forbidden tree, God was angry and changed the weather to becoming violent as he uncovered their eyes and caused them to feel ashamed. Lady Macbeth being compared to the serpent also got Macbeth into following her plan as he got more deep into the dirt she was not able to take the pressure of the king’s murder. Macbeth’s ambition was great to the extent where even the skies and the air around him eventually also got contaminated by his brutal actions. Akrasia meaning an individual will commit a wrongful action regardless of them knowing how bad their actions may be, they still go forth with their action. Macbeth knew that what he was about to do was not just any crime. He had plenty of things going through his head that caused him to lose control of his mind. In the article Mortal Knowledge: Akrasia in English Renaissance Tragedy by Emily Vasiliauskas confirms that Macbeth had an akrasia state of

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1236 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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458 Words | 2 Pages

Because of Macbeth's vaulting ambition, his and other lives are destroyed. Driven by Macbeth's ambition and Lady Macbeth's strong, persuasive words. Macbeth makes a terrible mistake which will destroy the life of someone else. In addition, Macbeth is given a prophecy by three witches to one day become king. This led Lady Macbeth to the idea of killing the king, which later

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559 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth provides a great example that too much ambition is not always a good thing. He does so when he killed King Duncan, Banquo and so many others in order to be King. Macbeth lets the idea of wanting to be king get to him so bad that he doesn’t think twice about committing such evil deeds, including Banquo and the Kings murder. The idea of becoming king first crossed Macbeths mind when three witches approached Macbeth and Banquo, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor.

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510 Words | 3 Pages

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

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455 Words | 2 Pages

Macbeth’s Ambition In Shakespeare ’s Macbeth, I will show that Macbeth's ambition is good because of his behavior in battle and because he served king duncan. bad ambition wanted to be king and was influenced by lady macbeth. Macbeth's ambition is good because of his performance in battle, reputation, murder of duncan, and also subsequent horrid actions to secure his throne In william shakespeare’s tragedy macbeth , i will show that macbeth’s ambition is good because of the the witches prophecies , killed duncan , king of scotland , killed banquo Macbeth’s reputation as a loyalist to king duncan, another way is his reputation how his ambition is good.

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453 Words | 2 Pages

Bill Bradley once stated that, “Ambition is the path to success.” (“Bill Bradley Quotes”) If this is the case, than the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, has proven that no matter how clear that path of ambition is, it can always be ruined by the vices that a person may encounter in life. More specifically, Macbeth proves that greed and power can corrupt those who are ambitious, as shown by the innocent people Macbeth kills and the way his personality changes throughout the play.

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417 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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181 Words | 1 Pages

Macbeth shows a true sense of ambition in his personality which is acted out in a positive manner initially, but overtime becomes cynical. It must be noticed that in the beginning, his ambition is evident through his daring traits. The Captain speaks with Duncan, king of Scotland, about Macbeth’s courageous spirit during war: “For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name), /Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, /Which smoked with bloody execution” (1.2. 18-20). Many people around Macbeth admire him for his bravery and leadership in and out of the battlefield.

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512 Words | 3 Pages

Shakespeare's use of nature throughout the play not only sets the mood but it also shows how human actions can discombobulate the natural order of life. The nature motif is brought up early in the play as the 3 witches first enter on a set of thunder and rain. The dark setting of the witches can be associated with the uprising Macbeth is planning against Duncan, as if the dark nature was to foreshadow Macbeth dark intentions to kill Duncan. Macbeth is the main character whose actions affect nature the most.

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945 Words | 4 Pages

Ambition is defined as a desire that’s strong enough to achieve an objective. You could have ambition and not even know it. It is a constant theme in the Shakespearean Play, Macbeth. Most of the characters like Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and others have ambition glowing in this play.

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Shakespeare uses ambition as a main theme in his play. Shakespeare suggests that uncontrolled ambition is a dangerous quality and can lead to your downfall. Ambition is the desire and determination to achieve success. Ambition is usually a good quality to have because it can motivate you and help you reach your goals, but ambition can also corrupt you and change you completely. The murders, actions, and thoughts of Macbeth are a great example of how ambition can corrupt you and alter the way you think of things.

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698 Words | 3 Pages

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606), “an unruly chaos of strange and forbidden things” (William Hazlitt), introduces us to crucial lessons through examples of how one’s ambitions, when left unchecked can wreak havoc on their life. Macbeth further highlights the consequences of regecide and other evil acts by exposing the array of abnormal affairs associated with guilt. Macbeth displays the consequences of one’s ambition as an array of sacrilegious concepts and events which corrupt his mind, eventually leading to his demise. This notion is expressed through Macbeths’ plot against King Duncan to usurp the throne, a condemned act in the Elizabethan Era as it disrupts the Great Chain of Being and symbolises a rebellious act against God.

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740 Words | 3 Pages

When one thinks of ambition, the general theory is that it can create opportunities, and make people happy. “ ‘Ambition is the root of all achievement,’ declares James Champy... Champy says everyone’s got ‘it’-ambition that is” (Cummings). This general theory can be negated in one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays, Macbeth. Macbeth’s tragic flaw was his immense ambition.

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1498 Words | 6 Pages

Ambition is defined as “a strong desire to do or to achieve something” (Dictionary.com). To accomplish anything, from a simple task to a daunting feat, one simply needs ambition. In William Shakespeare’s iconic play, Macbeth, the underrated danger of this initiative is introduced. Through Macbeth’s murderous rise to power, Shakespeare demonstrates the destructive force of humanity’s ambition, which remains a relevant notion today.

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889 Words | 4 Pages

The play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is about a man by the name of Macbeth, a Scottish General. The play is centered around the prophecies of three witches who tell Macbeth that he will become the king of Scotland. With encouragement from his beloved wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth kills the king, Duncan, and as the witches had predicted, becomes the king. Throughout the play he becomes so paranoid about the murders that he kills all of those who he thinks know. Civil war eventually erupts to overthrow Macbeth and he is killed by the end of the play.

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