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Power Of Ambition In Macbeth

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Ambition is a candle; a leading light with a willpower that guides one to the next light. Yet a wind appears in the opposite direction; making its way to the candle. The strength of the flame will not remain as the wind reflects the malicious change. Poet, William Shakespeare, in his play, “Macbeth”, portrays an intrepid man who loses his humanity and rushes his fate of becoming king; turning into the most hated man in his kingdom. Shakespeare’s purpose is to expand the consequences of leading with an egocentric mentality and depicting the limits of one’s ambition. Shakespeare presents Macbeth in a determined yet conceited tone to express the contrast of his characteristic from the beginning to the end. Therefore, Shakespeare depicts the change …show more content…

As he returns from battle, three witches appear revealing the future predictions that he will become king. After realizing that Malcom, the oldest son of the king, will be next in line, Macbeth decides to kill king. However, he still struggles with the decision as he carries compassion and loyalty to King Duncan. The power of knowledge, in this case, gave Macbeth the upper hand to his ambition which made him wonder what he needs to do to make it come true. Here is where Macbeth’s characteristic develops into a desire to become king, changing his path of just protecting his kingdom to a man who suddenly wants it all. Soon the power of the knowledge fuels into the driven of proving he will be king as his pride is doubted by his own wife. Yet one nudge from Lady Macbeth on whether or not is was increases his ambition and fuels his pride to finally kill King Duncan. Macbeth’s character is now evolving into a man who will do anything, even harming others, just to get to his goal. This emotion takes a toll on him as it is now the wind that blew out what was once an innocent, courageous candle; leaving him alone with darkness. This affects the play as now of now those around him are no longer safe and the faith of the kingdom will soon experience …show more content…

Macbeth characteristics of greed and ambition are examples of what is seen as good desire that can easily turn negative because of the person’s true intentions. Shakespeare applies the change and the contrast of Macbeth’s characteristic to amplifies his theme of how ambition is sane until harm becomes an outcome and a prize belongs to those who play their cards right; not to those steal them. Although ambition can be good, this play set an excellent example for young readers when ambition can turn into greed which will allow them to be cautious of how they thrive for their

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Macbeth’s greed takes over him as he chases a fool’s dream. Macbeth's ambition leads him to secure his power; he overlooks his guilt and focuses on doing whatever it takes to hold onto his authority. Shakespeare demonstrates, in a variety of techniques, how just ambition alone can bring down the even the greatest of men. “There is something wrong with a individual’s character if opportunity controls their loyalty.” Sean Simmon’s the writer of this quote explains how blinded someone can be when given certain opportunities which can be directly related to the character Macbeth.

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When the story begins, Macbeth truly is a “peerless kinsman” to the king (1.4.66); however, as the story progresses others refer to him in this way only because they are oblivious to his true desire” (Balwan 3). As Balwan states, Macbeth has as significant change due to the so call “power” of being king. While Macbeth transitions to a new form of character, he isolates himself from Lady Macbeth. As the power increases, Macbeth is determined to kill.

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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.

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The Destructive Force of Human Ambition In Shakespearean time and within his plays, ambition was viewed as a downfall in character and a defiance to human nature. In today’s world, ambition is viewed as a respectable attribute in both males and females. Yet, In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the destructive force of ambition transcends time. Although centuries apart, Macbeth, a noble who wants to seize the position of King, and Tonya Harding, a figure skater who wants to win an Olympic gold, are two examples of ambition, its misuses and consequences.

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Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ and Oliver stones ‘wall street’ set in distinct time periods, explore the concept that one’s longings for ambition can become overpowering and eventually lead to one’s moralities being recognised. The texts both illustrate that greedy ambition will lead to one’s downfall, that ambition causes people of weak character to behave corruptly to attain their goals, and that ultimately ambition comes with a price. Firstly, in Macbeth ambition is portrayed as seductive yet ethically destructive, in the text both characters who are frail are charmed to pursuing their ambitions at the cost of their own humanity. In ‘Macbeth’ this is shown through the protagonist and how the ambition due to the influence of the witches takes over the like of Macbeth.

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Playwright, William Shakespeare, in his drama, Macbeth, warns about the dangers of how ambition can lead to devastation. His purpose is to demonstrate how greed can drive a person to abandon their morals, and he adopts an unhinged tone in order to affectively shock his audience to its severity. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses apostrophe, symbolism, and foreshadowing to show that desire for power can lead one’s own destruction. Throughout the drama, Shakespeare uses apostrophe as a way to communicate a character’s emotions to the reader; he does this with Macbeth as well as Lady Macbeth, and while both instances portray how desire for power can lead to the loss of a person’s integrity, it is during Macbeth’s monologue that the reader is able to understand the internal conflict that takes place in a struggle for power.

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Dreadful Decisions When one has ambition, their goal is to achieve it not thinking about the consequences. Hoping that everything goes as planned. In the fictional play, The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth, a general in the Scottish army, has the desire of being king of Scotland in the eleventh century. While Macbeth makes the move of becoming king, he does actions that later on haunt him as soon as he becomes king.

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MacBeth is the main character in Shakespeare's MacBeth and rightfully so. He is the character that changes the most and has the greatest impact on the story. MacBeth is the one whom the tragedy is placed on, and because of this it is his story. MacBeth's dynamic character changes throughout the play driving the story forward and showing the theme of visions of power create ambition in individuals. The first point that has to be explained is MacBeth's dynamic character.

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The fact that Macbeth believes the witches’ prophecies are not evil nor good foreshadows how he will go on to kill any other person standing in his way to more power. His ambition blinds his mind to make him even think about ruthlessly committing a murder. This forceful way of gaining power will only lead Macbeth to become a “tyrant” in Scotland and his “fantastical” desires of killing Duncan and receiving the crown will lead Scotland to failure. Under Macbeth’s rule, Scotland seems to be in a terrible condition. With distrust among the people, there is tension all within the country, as Macbeth’s totalitarian regime had rendered the prosperity of Scotland.

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Macbeth, assassinating the King in order to gain power, utilizes his power to manipulate and influence those around him for his own benefit. The play demonstrates how within all of humanity, the selfish search for power and control is present. Macbeth has an ambition that overpowers his morals which demonstrates how corrupted a leader with that view can be. Macbeth provided me with the reflection of my own ambitions and to what extent they are at. Being a senior high school student applying to a university, competition is inevitable, but to what extent am I willing to satisfy my ambition remains in question.

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As the saying goes ‘There is no fire like lust, no grip like hate; there is no net like delusion, no river like craving. ”When comparing The Lion King， the most notable Disney cartoon in the 19th century and Macbeth which is the greatest tragedy written by William Shakespeare together, it is accessible to find out that the word ‘ambition’ is a clue through out both Macbeth and The lion king . In these two stories it seems both Macbeth and Sacar’s desire of becoming the king all get out of hand and lead to an unfavorably consequence. Both of them reveal the same truth that ambitions will definitely cause suffering because it can never be completely gratified ，beyond that the feeling of inferiority and weakness must make one turn into short

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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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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.

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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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Macbeth and Lady Macbeth wanted to be powerful so bad that they were willing to compromise their morals in order to be successful. The actions of the Macbeths prove that ambition ultimately takes over all

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