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Macbeth Ambition Essay

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Malia Sims Mrs.Godfrey Honors English II Period 4 13 March 2023 The Ambition Within Would you do whatever it takes to be successful by any means necessary if given the choice? In certain aspects of our lives, we crave to achieve something to accumulate success this is known as ambition. Ambition can be an influencing force when it comes to someone’s journey toward their goals. While ambition can lead to prosperity, it can also bring a pernicious impression on an individual's life. When ambition leads to behaviors and decisions that are hostile to one's self or others, it begins to become destructive and unhealthy for the individual, however, they often do not even realize their harmful decisions until it is too late since their ambition is …show more content…

Originally his ambition remains in the back of his mind as various characters continue to persuade him to use it. When the witches bring the prophecies upon him, he lets his ambition slowly take over his mind. The idea of killing Duncan to become king is one that he contemplates back and forth. After Lady Macbeth tells him the plan to kill Duncan for their success, he still suffers immense anxiety and guilt. He goes on to state …show more content…

His statement that he will not yield shows that his ambition has control over his ethical decision-making ability. He would die if it meant that his ambition and ego would remain honorable at all times. His desire to remain triumphant as king ultimately leads to his death. Macbeth's ambition essentially causes him to lose control over his morals which causes his undoing. As stated in Frontiers in Psychology, “Ambition could be regarded as an underlying mechanism that puts values on outcomes, connecting beliefs about personal efforts that stem from internal loss of control to career success”(Ćurić Dražić et al, 2018). Macbeth believes that his personal effort being king is his fate. In reality, it is his ambition that drives him to this point since he ends up losing control while trying to achieve his success of being king. Macbeth continues to portray relentless and uncontrollable behaviors through his efforts to maintain his reputation as king. The ambition that remains in Macbeth throughout the story does not abandon him but controls him and his

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Macbeth doubts his plan to murder Duncan and is unable to motivate himself to take action. There is tension between Macbeth's unwillingness to move ahead with his plan and his acknowledgment that his ambition is leading him down a dangerous path. Macbeth notes, “I have no spur to prick the sides for the intent, but the only vaulting notes ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’ other” (1. 7. 25-29). Macbeth knows that he has lacked motivation and ambition, and he knows that it’s the only thing preempting disasters to come his way as he makes mistakes.

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Macbeth knows that if he wants to become king then King Duncan must die, as he is the main person preventing this from occuring. This quote foreshadows the murder of King Duncan which ultimately results in Macbeth being crowned king since Duncan's sons flee the scene for protection, in order to prevent getting murdered themselves since they're next in line for the throne. This shows Macbeth's ambition because he is willing to do anything to get to the throne and become king even if it means murder. Macbeth even realizes that he is beginning to have “black and deep desires” in Act 1, Scene 4, and this shows his ambitious thoughts to murder the

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Macbeth’s conscience tells him again to resist temptation to gain the crown and not kill Duncan because he is a man Macbeth should defend and protect. Even after this nudge towards moral correctness, Macbeth kills Duncan. He begins to feel intense guilt about his decision, and lives in fear of

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One of the most important factors leading to the downfall of Macbeth was his tragic flaw, ambition. Throughout the play, Macbeth's ambition grows and grows, causing a dramatic change in his character. Initially, he was a kindhearted man with high morals (to the point where his wife had to lead him down this path of destruction), but he quickly transformed into a paranoid and guilt-ridden man willing to kill his former friends for his own safety. After learning of the prophecy from the witches that he might be the king of Scotland, "All hail Macbeth, thou shalt be king thereafter!" only this constant revelation floods his mind, to the point he loses sleep and has hallucinations related to it.

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He ignores wise counsel from his wife, Lady Macbeth, and other advisers who try to steer him towards a more righteous path. Instead, Macbeth chooses to listen to his own ego and inner voice, which leads to disastrous consequences. For example, when he hears the prophecy of three witches that he would become the King of Scotland, he decides to take matters into his own hands by murdering Duncan, rather than waiting for the prophecy to come true through legitimate means. Thirdly, Macbeth's strong sense of guilt and conscience is also a factor in his demise.

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As a result, Macbeth, after being heavily influenced by his wife and his own greed, kills King Duncan. Once he finishes killing the king he feels a huge sense of regret and guilt after committing this murderous act. However, he still achieves his aspiration of becoming king in which he is very possessive of. While Macbeth is king, he reminisces about the original

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Like all of Shakespeare’s other plays, “Macbeth’s” protagonist Macbeth is incredibly successful but suffers from one fatal flaw, his great ambition. His ambition will be the cause of his great success but ultimately also of his downfall. The man’s ambition drives him to seize every opportunity to promote his own agenda. His ambition hurts him the most when he decides to kill King Duncan and Macduff.

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Finally, Macbeth 's greediness and committing murder drives him to experience guilt and causes his mental decline. To begin, when he decides to kill Duncan, Macbeth hallucinates and questions “is this a dagger I see before me” (Shakespeare II.i.33). Even before this murderous act, Macbeth is shown to be affected mentally at the thought of killing. After stabbing King Duncan, he starts hearing strange voices in his mind “[he] hears a crying voice, sleep no more”(Shakespeare II.ii.32-33) suggesting that already regrets the murder. Macbeth considers himself a sinner,“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash...”(II.ii.58-59) and the inability to say “ Amen...”(Shakespeare II.II.24).

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Macbeth is also a power hungry man who would do just about anything to achieve his goal of becoming King. When Macbeth first hears the prophecies from the three witches he instantly became invested with the journey to become king. Similar to Lady Macbeth, nothing was going to come between him and his potential power, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man. That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.52-55). This quote exemplifies how Macbeth’s initial solution to becoming king was murder.

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In Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, had many different characteristics, but the one that surpassed all others was his ambition. As the story progressed, there are many examples that can be seen where his ambition has influenced his perspective on right and wrong. His ambition consumed him to a point where he was more monster than mortal as seen when he went on a murdering spree. He then lost people of Scotland’s favor and they rebelled against him leading to his death. While ambition may not necessarily be bad, his blindness to the consequences caused it to become a pernicious trait.

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To concluded, Macbeth through the whole play you can see his desire rising more and more. The witches’ prophecy dud wrong to Macbeth and made him ending up in a bad place which its death. Ambition didn’t leave anything good him. He committed murders and even lead him to lose everything

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In Shakespeare’s Macbeth the witches informs Macbeth of his fate that he will become the king in the future. Macbeth believes the witches words and Lady Macbeth persuade him to become the king and murder all the people that get in the way. Shakespeare shows us that fate is complicated by our actions, Macbeth will do anything to meet his fate that in the end lead him to his death because of his greediness.

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Macbeth’s ambition is one of the most prominent things that drive Macbeth in the play and truly becomes evident when he hears of the Witches prophecies. When the witches stop talking, he demands to know more. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (I, III, 73-74). This portrays his excessive curiosity on the subject as well as his craving for more desirable prophecies. This ambitious nature and craving for power is also demonstrated only moments after hearing the witches, when he starts formulating a plan to kill Duncan in order to make the third prophecy come true.

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