ipl-logo

Macbeth's Ambition Research Paper

531 Words3 Pages

Ambition is a trait that all humans possess. Whether it be in work or personal life, one's ambition can help them climb the ladder of success. In the case of Macbeth, his abundance of ambition proves to be his greatest imperfection and in the end leads him to his downfall. The impact of his ambition is most clearly demonstrated in his killing of the King, the death of Banquo, and Macbeth’s reaction to his wife’s suicide. In the beginning Macbeth already has an excess of ambition. WIth his humanity, his morals, and his values to keep him in check Macbeth is aware of the dangers of his ambition. “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition.” (Macbeth 1.7.25-27) Macbeth says this before the murder of King Duncan. In this instant Macbeth is reflecting on the power of his ambition and how he has no will to stop himself from doing whatever it takes to achieve what he wants to. This uncontrollable ambition that Macbeth has leads him to compromising all of his values and morals by killing Duncan to become King. This is the first instance in the play when we see the true flaw in Macbeth’s excessive ambition. …show more content…

He achieved what he was aspiring to, but it is not enough for his ever growing ambition. Now that Macbeth is king, he must secure his place in power. “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown and put a barren scepter in my gripe, thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, no son of mine succeeding.” (Macbeth 3.1.61-64) This quotation demonstrates Macbeth’s worries particularly on the witches’ promise of Banquo fathering a line of kings. Macbeth’s vaulting ambition to secure his lineage of kings leads him to ordering the murder of Banquo, once again compromising what values and morals he once had for his

Show More
Related
481 Words | 2 Pages

Shakespeare presents the theme of ambition in Macbeth. Ambition is a strong desire to do or achieve something, ambition can also be presented in a positive and negative way. Shakespeare presents ambition in a negative way through some characters who are Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and King Duncan. The reason these characters present ambition in a negative way is because they end up dying. Ambition is also present in a positive way through some characters who are Macduff, Witches and Malcolm these are the characters who survive in the play showing that you can be ambitious but not too ambitious.

Read More
905 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth uses his ambition to chase his dream of being king of Scotland but it affects him in more of a negative way than a positive way. In Macbeth, ambition can be a good thing but at the

Read More
476 Words | 2 Pages

One of Macbeth's most prominent character traits is his ambition. This is shown in his famous soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 7, where he muses about the prophecy that he will become king and begins to consider the possibility of killing King Duncan. He states, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other." (Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7, Line 25-28).

Read More
511 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth has always had ambition, but at the beginning of the play the integrity of Macbeth’s soul was maintained by a balance between all of his other good qualities. This was reinforced in the scene where Macbeth met the three witches and heard his prophecy, about becoming king. When Macbeth discovers hears from Ross that he has been appointed the Thane of Cawdor, it signified that the second part of the witches’ prophecy had come true and therefore allowed Macbeth to believe in the third part of the witches prophecy that he would become king of Scotland. When Macbeth began to believe that he would one day become king, his ambition flared up and presented him with a “horrid image” that made his “heart knock at [his] ribs” (1.3.137; 1.3.138). Macbeth’s ambition had presented him with a surefire way of becoming king--murdering the current King Duncan.

Read More
867 Words | 4 Pages

Ambition is a strong desire to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. Generally, ambition pushes people to go out to fulfill their aspirations in life. On the other hand, too much ambition may lead to terrible consequences. In the play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, a war hero named Macbeth is given a prophecy from three witches, predicting that he will one day become king. After hearing this prophecy, he decides to take his fate into his own hands and murders anyone who threatens his position of becoming king.

Read More
139 Words | 1 Pages

The theme of ambition is a recurring theme in which impacts the overall storyline of the playwright Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. Macbeth's ambition and desire to become king of Scotland is viewed as the driving force of the play. This is presented by Macbeth’s ambition to become king which clouds Macbeth's good judgement and leads to the death of King Duncan. This is also seen with Macbeth's ambition to remain the position as king and secure the throne, motivates Macbeth into killing Banquo. Macbeth’s ambition which is the driving force of the play also blinds him of the true reality.

Read More
565 Words | 3 Pages

Wyatt Dakken Mrs. Quintus English IV 4-25-24 Macbeth Theme Essay The thought of using ambition isn’t new to the human eye, and in fact it has been around as long as humans have existed. The word ambition has a slightly different meaning to every different person. This creates a different feeling for everyone that has ever been ambitious. They all think they are ambitious, but are they? The play Macbeth shows’s ambition in one way it can be viewed.

Read More
1064 Words | 5 Pages

Ambition can have either a positive or negative affect on a person’s decisions. In most cases, an ambitious person is viewed as someone who is very determined towards achieving their goals. However, the other type of ambitious people are those who have a strong desire to be powerful, usually in a negative and controlling way. These ambitious people tend to have unrealistic and immoral goals, usually in a way for them to gain competence. In Macbeth, written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth is seen to portray these traits.

Read More
434 Words | 2 Pages

“Ambition is but the evil shadow of aspiration” - George MacDonald. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth gets a prophecy from 3 witches that he will become king. Macbeth, out of his ambition and selfish desires to rule, kills the king with the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth goes on a murder spree, but is eventually bested by his rival, Macduff. Ambition leads people to commit violent acts out of their own selfish needs.

Read More
309 Words | 2 Pages

One can achieve anything they set their mind to with a driving force in the quest for success and achievement. With a strong mindset, comes strong ambition. In the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, ambition is presented as a dangerous character trait. It leads to the ruination of the Macbeth couple and triggers a series of sorrowful deaths. In the beginning of the play, the three witches prophesied that Macbeth will become king.

Read More
321 Words | 2 Pages

Macbeth’s ambition, as a significant theme in the book, letting him make the decision to murder Duncan and advance the prophecy of the witches. Even though he feels conflicts about killing Duncan, he admits his reason for murder… When Macbeth is honest with himself, he recognize there is no good reason to kill Duncan but his ambitious mind to power. It is true that supernatural world would certainly tempts him and Lady Macbeth strongly encourages him, but, by his own ambition, it is his “vaulting ambition”,his tragic flaw, that leads him down his path as a tragic hero. At the beginning of the book, Macbeth already had much more honors than others, but obviously, he does not satisfy by the limited power.

Read More
578 Words | 3 Pages

In Macbeth, ambition is presented as a dangerous quality. It causes the downfall of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and triggers a series of deaths throughout the play. Macbeth’s ambition

Read More
1084 Words | 5 Pages

After a successful battle in Scotland, Macbeth, a general in the army, meets with the Three Witches who divulge prophecies for him and his companion Banquo. One of the major ones is that Macbeth will become the king. Driven by ambition, Macbeth does everything in his power to make this prophecy come true, even committing some heinous acts. Being ambitious is a useful trait to have but can easily have a negative impact if exploited. In Shakespeare’s

Read More
287 Words | 2 Pages

In the book Macbeth by William Shakespeare Macbeth's ambition takes control when he starts killing people, that might take his power away, but later on he realize everything he has done and regrets it. Macbeth goes from not showing his ambition to killing his best friend Banquo, to finally realizing all his ambition wasn’t worth it. In the beginning of the play Macbeth has ambition in him but does not show it. When the Witches tell him about the Prophecies.

Read More
455 Words | 2 Pages

Ambition is defined as a strong desire to achieve something. Ambition is normally a really good thing to have, because it motivates you to reach a goal that you have set. But in this case, Macbeth had way too much ambition and so he was willing to go to any length to reach his goal, which was to become king. Another reason why Macbeth’s ambition is bad is because he wants to be king for the wrong reasons. The reason he wants to be king is not to make Scotland better, or change some things he feels are not right.

Read More

More about Macbeth's Ambition Research Paper

Open Document