ipl-logo

Macbeth's Ambition In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

853 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis on macbeth

As the play MacBeth transitions it shows MacBeth chose poor decisions as he getting closer to his tragic end. While reading it shows clear examples of MacBeth committing hellish acts for his own gain and ambition to become the mighty king. Even though Macbeth’s fate is tragic he tries to dodge it simultaneously while trying to prosper and become king unworried, while trying to become king unworried MacBeth commits heinous and brutal acts resulting in hamartia to get the best of him, MacBeth’s hamartia is him putting ambition first which causes him to be violent and brutal.
One major factor that influences the play MacBeth is that he knows how devilish his acts are and consequences he still commits them. “To prick the sides of my intent but …show more content…

isions the witches concluded that his own ambition will lead to his tragic ending, as Hecate states “He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear his hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace, and fear and you all know security …show more content…

“She should have died hereafter” (V, V, 17). From this text it screams of MacBeth losing all emotion, him saying this explains clearly he has lost feelings for his loved ones while at the beginning he was this compassionate character. Committing all these tyrannical murders MacBeth realises that all he has worked for and given up was for him. “For mine own good. All causes should give way I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more returning were as tedious as go o’er” (III, IV, 141-144). Traversing through life MacBeth has realized he has stepped into a river of blood seeming as if he wanted to walk back he wouldn’t be able to. After the tragedy of Lady MacBeth, MacBeth comes to a slight realization that the future is inevitable. “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” (V, V, 24-28). Life is nothing more than an illusion, being said MacBeth has been misguided into thinking he was the greatest alive until losing things with meaning. Guided through the play, MacBeth conveys great ambition and solitude. MacBeth makes the fatal mistake of letting his ambition take control creating an effect of hamartia.
MacBeth’s hamartia is him putting ambition first which causes him to be violent and brutal. At the beginning MacBeth

Show More
Related
651 Words | 3 Pages

The play entitled Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth, a loyal and brave thane to the king. When a prophecy reveals he will become king, Macbeth is overcome with ambition and greed. Convinced of this prophecy and the encouragement from his wife, he is able to kill the king and take the throne. Although Macbeth was able to obtain the throne, he was was overwhelmed by power and guilt leading to internal conflict, which suggests that success is not desirable through cheating and corruption and ultimately cost more than its actually worth, Macbeth`s reckless pursuit of killing and becoming the king is representative of the power he has and what he is able to do with the power he's gained; therefore. His relentless ambition for king reveals the guilt behind power.

Read More
819 Words | 4 Pages

While others are the exact opposite when it comes to their personal pride. Certain traits that made Macbeth the way he was through his actions are hamartia, hubris, and peripatetic that brought the fatal ending of Macbeth as the ruler of Scotland. The story of the shortest Shakespearean tragedy happened to hit in Scotland in the middle ages. Macbeth is a cursed play upon theatre’s everywhere.

Read More
1059 Words | 5 Pages

When in a relationship, one's quest for power, can result in an endless effort to satisfy this desire, producing a tragic outcome. In the tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare explores how greed and ambition has an influence on one’s actions, leading to the occurrence of a tragedy. In the case of Macbeth, greed and ambition results in Macbeth becoming a highly manipulative, and dangerous individual. The dominant status Lady Macbeth owns, allows her to influence Macbeth into committing harmful acts. When Lady Macbeth’s dominant status begins to deteriorate, Macbeth begins to mature, gradually becoming the more dominant individual within their relationship.

Read More
636 Words | 3 Pages

William Shakespeare wrote a play called Macbeth, where the main character Macbeth is trying to get the most power he possibly can and kill everyone in his way. Macbeth's actions are caused by strong and maybe small emotions that guide his actions. Emotions like anger, guilt, sadness, greed, and many more. Macbeth’s character is very simple, he is a man that is given a very good opportunity for power and he takes it and doesn’t want to give it up. Macbeth's actions were mostly controlled by greed, anger, and guilt.

Read More
1313 Words | 6 Pages

Both greed and power, if not controlled, can lead to destruction. Throughout William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses both characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to demonstrate how ambition can change one’s personal relationships. As in the beginning of Act 1, Scene 7 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do not share the same ambition, and it is because of this that their relationship lacks love and affection however through the use of persuasion and other means, Lady Macbeth is able to get Macbeth to pursue her ambition. This not only changes their relationship drastically but it also changes Macbeth’s attitude towards ambition. Throughout the play, Shakespeare shows us through Macbeth, the possibility for ambition to eventually turn into greed and how the lust for power may corrupt us.

Read More
974 Words | 4 Pages

This quote highlights how Macbeth’s ambition led him to commit several crimes that he cannot turn back. He is too deep, and there is no return to his previous self. Macbeth’s desperation to hold onto power has driven him to the point of no return, and this quote shows how his transformation is

Read More
700 Words | 3 Pages

William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. It is considered one of its most powerful and darkest tragedies; the play dramatizes the psychological and political corrosive effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to satisfy the ambition for power. Macbeth tells a story of crime and punishment mixed with witchcraft. Covered in the deceitful prophecies of the Weird Sisters, Macbeth decides to assassinate his king and take the crown. Aware of the horror to which he surrenders, he forges his terrible destiny and believing himself invincible and eternal.

Read More
975 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a play that mainly focuses on one common theme of insanity. Macbeth gradually becomes plagued by intense guilt as his desire for power drives him to attain his goals by any means necessary, including committing murder. He kills Duncan in cold blood in order to become King, has Banquo killed by three murderers because he wishes to maintain his position as King, and finally, he has Macduff’s family slaughtered. Each of these occurrences takes place because of Macbeth’s will to be King, or they are a result of his guilt. Nonetheless, they are all completed of his free will, which is what causes him to deteriorate mentally.

Read More
362 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

At the beginning of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ the protagonist Macbeth is described as ‘brave’, ‘noble’ and ‘honourable’, however Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeths desire for power consumes them. Macbeth’s ambition overrides his conscience and transformed his greatest strength into his greatest weakness. Macbeth’s inability to resist temptations that led him to be greedy for power, Macbeth’s easily manipulative nature which allowed his mind to be swayed, Macbeth having no self control and his excessive pride was what allowed him to renew his previously honourable and celebrated title into one of an evil ‘tyrant’. Macbeth is led by the prophecies of the witches after they foretell he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Not only the witches, but also his wife easily manipulate Macbeth as she attacks his manhood in order to provoke him to act on his desires.

Read More
931 Words | 4 Pages

William Shakespeare, playwright of Macbeth, shows the importance that power and corruption can hold on a person’s humanity. In order to prove the true effect of personal gains, he uses the main character, Macbeth, to show how evil people are willing to become. Personal power has the ability to be essential to greatness, but at the same time is able to destroy a person’s true nature. Believe it or not, Macbeth once was a man of honor. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was loyal to King Duncan, a strong military leader, and a respected husband.

Read More
455 Words | 2 Pages

No boasting like a fool; This deed I’ll do before this purpose cool, (iv, ii, 149-153) This shows macbeth's ambition because he is willing to kill kids and a whole family just so he can stay king. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he meet that first requirement which is Hamartia This shows the that Macbeth is very desperate to stay king. By now, Macbeth has changed a lot.

Read More
1015 Words | 5 Pages

Right from the beginning his desires took him over which led to his quick decision of his killing spree and the everlasting effects that coincided with it. Overall, this quote portrays the amount of ambition that he contains and also foreshadows the many deaths in the plot that will eventually lead to his downfall. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth was not just an innocent stand byer during these murders, she was a key pawn in all the action. In fact, she urged Macbeth to kill King Duncan which portrayed her utmost amount of power she held over Macbeth, “O, proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear.

Read More
682 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth is the Shakespearean play that features the triumphant uprise and the inevitable downfall of its main character. In this play, Macbeth’s downfall can be considered to be the loss of his moral integrity and this is achieved by ambition, despite this, Lady Macbeth and the witches work through his ambition, furthering to assist his inevitable ruin. Ambition alone is the most significant factor that led to Macbeth’s downfall. The witches are only able to influence his actions through Macbeth’s pre-existing and the three witches see that Macbeth has ambition and uses it to control his action. Ambition alone is displayed throughout the play to be the most significant cause for Macbeth’s downfall.

Read More
976 Words | 4 Pages

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth, in many cases, is portrayed as being evil. However, his character is not truly the evil force driving the actions of the play. His wife, Lady Macbeth, as well as the witches and their misleading prophecies, are the real driving forces of Macbeth’s unspeakable actions. Macbeth is driven mad by the evil around him, causing him to turn to the violent behavior displayed throughout the many murders of the play.

Read More

More about Macbeth's Ambition In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

Related Topics

Open Document