Macbeth Ambition Essay

Macbeth: Ambition Overriding Character The playwright Macbeth is a deep dive into a fictional Scottish kingdom in the 11th century. It portrays a Thane, Macbeth, and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is visited by a trio of witches, who tell him he will become the Thane of Cawdor, and king soon after. Macbeth is deeply affected by these prophecies as the first comes true. He decides he must kill the current king in order to make the second prophecy true. This begins a downward spiral of Macbeth losing control of his rational thoughts because of his ambitions. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth allowed his ambitions to override any other moral values he had, therefore leading to him losing everything rather than achieving his ambition.

Although ambitious, he doesn’t let his ambitions override his morals. Immediately after the witches gave their prophecies to Macbeth, he said, “Stay you imperfect speakers. Tell me more.\By Sinel’s death I know I am the Thane of Glamis.\But how of Cawdor?” (1.3.73-75). Macbeth is clearly intrigued by what he has just been told, as anyone would be. While Macbeth is intrigued by the prophecies, he doesn’t suggest he is going to do anything out of character. His ambitions can be seen yet again later in the act. For example, Shakespeare wrote, “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step\on which I must fall down or else o’erleap,\For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;\Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.55-58). In this quote, Macbeth reveals that he wants to become king. At this point in the play, viewers and readers are able to infer that Macbeth is a very ambitious character. However, he does not suggest that he will do anything immoral just

This can be seen in Act III, when Macbeth decides he must kill Banquo, along with his son, to avoid another of the witches’s prophecies. He says, “The seeds of Banquo kings.\Rather than so, come fate into the list,\And champion me to th’ utterance” (3.1.75-77). Banquo is a very close friend of Macbeth’s; however, once receiving the prophecies, he became scared of Banquo because he and his son, Fleance, hold a threat to his title as king. Therefore, Macbeth comes to the conclusion that the only way to ensure Fleance or any other of Banquo’s future sons could become king is to have them both killed. This proves immoral because Macbeth decided to kill his good friend in order to achieve his ambition. This is not the only time Macbeth chooses ambition over character. Before Banquo’s murder and Fleance’s attempted murder takes place, Macbeth decides not to tell Lady Macbeth about it. The following excerpt is from a conversation between Macbeth and his