How Is Lady Macbeth Ambitious

In Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is very ambitious and manipulative. To begin with, Lady Macbeth shows how ambitious she is when she receives a letter from Macbeth informing her about the prophecies that he received from the three witches. The prophecies stated that he will become the Thane of Cawdor and later the King of Scotland. I her eyes she believes that Macbeth should have more. “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be/ What thou art promised” (1.5.14-15). This shows how ambitious she is and how she thinks that Macbeth deserves more. After she reads the letter she decides she is going to manipulate Macbeth into going after the crown. “Hie thee hither/ That I may pour my spirits in thine ear/ And chastise with the valor of my tongue/ All that impedes thee from the golden round” (1.5.24-27). This is an example of how manipulative Lady Macbeth can be.

“That made you break this enterprise to me?/ When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1.7.48-49). Lady Macbeth says this because Macbeth is having second thoughts about killing Duncan. Macbeth then tells her that he is worried that they may get caught or fail. Lady Macbeth reassures him, in an insulting way, saying that they will not fail. “We fail?/ But screw your courage to the sticking-place/ And we’ll not fail” (1.7.59-61). By saying this she shows how power hungry and ambitious she is. Also her ambitious nature comes out when she contemplates killing King Duncan herself. “Had he not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done ‘t” (2.2.12-13). This is an example of how driven she