Preview

What Is Ambition In Macbeth

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1146 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is Ambition In Macbeth
Is there a limit as to how far someone should go to get what they want? Is there justification in killing, lying, or stealing to achieve something one may desire? Each person has their own moral incentives and upbringings yet excessive ambition may affect or lapse one's moral standards and beliefs. Ambition is the drive and determination everyone has in order to achieve their goals. Whether someone chooses to do this consciously, and refrains from harming others, or vice versa, can only be determined once the action is completed. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth fights to accomplish his goals, immersing himself with his motivation to take over Scotland and become King. Macbeth’s performance on the battlefield allowed …show more content…
His eager and impatient schemes for power and influence led to an overwhelming guilt that ended in self-reproach and shame. His drive to become king instigated actions he would never have done if achieving his goal wasn’t so concrete and tangible. Ambition alone can occasionally be a good thing, helping one to reach their end goal, but when that motivation is taken over the edge and makes one feel guilty and weak willed it is often considered a fatal flaw. Shakespeare does not give Macbeth the opportunity to enjoy what he achieved, proving that it is more satisfying to attain your goals fairly than to obtain them through malicious and corrupt actions. When Macbeth realizes the only to achieve the throne was to kill Duncan, his first defiling act was committed, leading to shame and remorse: "How is’t with me, when every noise appals me? What hands are here!...No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red” (Act II, scene II, line). The color green symbolizes Macbeth’s remorse and disdain towards his actions, showing that his ambition led to destruction of his personality and self awareness. The murder of Duncan was the beginning of Macbeth’s path to self destruction and moral corruption.
Macbeth had a fatal flaw: His lack of inner conscience and vulgar desire for power led to his destruction, from the inside out. Greed corrupted his stability and actions, while guilt subdued him into remorse and disdain. Although Macbeth did reach his goal of becoming King, he did it not only as a cost to himself, but to those around him who suffered as

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The Bard of Avon saturates the pages of the tragedy Macbeth with ugly feelings of ambition - unprincipled ambition which is ready to kill for itself. Let's thoroughly search out the major instances of ambitious behavior by the husband-wife team.…

    • 1959 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Act 3, Macbeth’s ambition is portrayed apparently by his decision to kill Banquo. Lady Macbeth has brought that ambition to Macbeth strongly before in Act 2. In Act 2, Lady Macbeth shows her control over every decision Macbeth makes. However, in Act 3, the audience can see the change in action between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth seems to be more actively gives every decision in his scheme to make his ambition come true, and Lady Macbeth does not control Macbeth’s decision anymore.…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When Macbeth says, "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.", he is talking about the murders and the lies he has to keep up with. "Things bad begun" means that he started off doing wrong when he committed the first murder. "make themselves strong by ill." means that once he continued on murder to maintain the crown things had only gotten worse, and he started to lose his mind with all the guilt he had to live with. A major theme in Macbeth is unchecked ambition, or a strong drive for success that can't be controlled. This theme represents a comment on life because most of us are all caught up on what we want ourselves to become, we would be willing to manipulate other to get to the top.…

    • 131 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    * “Dead butcher” (Act V, Scene 9) - Metaphor of the butcher, Macbeth killing so many people, brutally…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is a thin line between greed and ambition in the tragedy play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. Many people, who seek success, crave power, recognition, and money.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Additionally, ambition can also cause havoc when it gets in the way of human nature. IN Shakespeare's "Macbeth", the titular character dreamed of being king, and would do anything to make his dream come true, including murder. Macbeth's ambition caused many people to lose their…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Watch as Macbeth drives himself insane trying to claim the throne. He hears that the Thane of Cawdor died and he could become king. The Thane of Glamis develops an ambition to be king and kills Duncan, who is already the king. Killing Duncan drives Macbeth insane, and eventually, he loses all feelings towards life or death and goes numb. Since Macbeth’s ambition is to become king he is willing to do anything, but because of this, he begins to go psychotic by the end of the play.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One’s ambition can over power them and cause them to act differently. Macbeths ambition over powers him and controls who he really is not. “The prince of Cumberland! That is a step on…the eye fears when it is done, to see.” (1.4.311) Macbeth knows that killing Duncan is not right because he states, “…it’s necessary to hide his black and deep desires.” The ambition that Macbeth is portraying is careless. Macbeth’s ambition led him to only focusing on one thing and it was the throne. He became…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people have hopes and goals that they would like to accomplish. They may desire powerful positions or jobs, while others may desire prosperity and riches. This is known as ambition, the spell binding force that leads people towards success. However, ambition may result in harmful acts to get their satisfaction. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, is described as a very loyal and noble soldier. As the play progresses, Macbeth’s character dramatically changes because of several different factors. These factors influence Macbeth greatly and cause him to make numerous bad decisions. The influence of the witches’ prophecies, the influence of Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth’s blind ambitions are the most important factors that lead to Macbeth’s tragic deterioration.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Is Macbeth's Ambition

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages

    After the three witches, or weïrd sisters, tell Macbeth about his future of becoming king, he became fixated on the sense of his head being adorned with the crown. While it was not his intended idea to kill the king, he does so in order to satisfy his desire to have the crown on his head. While Macbeth may have felt guilty of his deed, his ambition led him to slay the lives of more innocent people in order to keep his objective from failing. In fact, Macbeth’s aspiration to rule without the pressure or the questioning of others gave him the motivation to murder his best friend, Banquo. Macbeth states, “Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall Who I myself struck down. And thence it is, That I to your assistance do make love, Masking the business from the common eye For sundry weighty reasons” (Act 3, scene 1 Pg. 89 Shakespeare). Macbeth was so determined to remove any threats to his reign that he became daring enough to hire someone to murder his friend and his family. Macbeth’s ambition took control of the situation, and because Macbeth needed to satisfy his ruthless desire, he preformed the immoral act of murder. As Napoleon Bonaparte once stated, ambition can be used for good or bad acts, depending on the values that are influencing these motivations. Macbeth, seeing the only way to become king was commit murder, was motivated and so determined to take the…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While reading the play Macbeth it becomes clear that ambition can be both beneficial and destructive. Throughout the play Macbeth has a great ambition to kill Duncan. The determination and hard work he has to kill Duncan is very powerful. Mac beth says “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight?”(Shakesphere63) Macbeth…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth Blind Ambition

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the tragic play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth begins as an honorable man and heroic soldier who proves his value to king Duncan. However, a witches prophecy that Macbeth will become king plants a seed in his mind that begins to control his thinking and actions. Macbeth's ambition to be king blinds him from his morals, leading to tragedy for all.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ambition can be described as a dangerous quality but also a desirable one because it sets our goals and helps lead us to where we want to be. Macbeth and Mark Zuckerberg are both ambitious in their own ways to achieve their goals. They both have the right mindset, motivation and lack the negativity to not do so. Both Macbeth and Mark went through a lot to reach their goals and they were both ambitious in doing so, but the real question that comes to mind is “what is the true cost of ambition”?…

    • 1661 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Often times, people set goals for themselves to accomplish. These goals create great desire and ambition which fuels all action. However, when the ambition in question becomes uncontrollable, the outcome can be negative. The excessive and uncontrollable ambition of Macbeth, the brave warrior in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, leads to his downfall. This uncontrollable desire for power leads Macbeth to lose his morality, identity and his friends and family. With little care for the journey, Macbeth neglected all consequences which leads him to his death.…

    • 198 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lady Macbeth and Macbeth create their own tragedy by inciting ambition, and power-hungry obsession that fatalistically corrupts their minds. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth begins the downward spiral with her ambition, pushing Macbeth into wanting to become King. Macbeth then becomes obsessed with becoming King and gaining and maintaining power. These situations lead to both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s corruption, and ultimately, their deaths. In the characters of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates that unrestrained ambition and the dogged pursuit of power have severe consequences.…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays