Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is the tragic tale of a virtuous man, corrupted by power and greed. Ambition is the desire for personal achievement. Ambitious persons seek to be the best at what they choose to do for attainment, power, or superiority.
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, the protagonist’s lust for In Act I, Macbeth shows his ambitious nature when he says, “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step/ On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,/ For in my way it lies” in (Act 1, Scene 4). Here, Macbeth is considering what he may have to do in order to become king now that Malcolm has been named King Duncan’s successor. It is not enough for Macbeth that he has just been named the Thane of Cawdor; now, he desires full authority, He orders the murders of Banquo and Fleance, and then the entire Macduff family all on his own He will do anything to stay in power, and ultimately, all his former allies Finally, at the play’s end, Macbeth faces an uprising and literally His hunger for power and excessive ambition ends up getting Macbeth killed. Had he been content to be the Thane of Cawdor and not thirsted for more and more power, he may have lived a long and successful life, but instead, he lost everything, including his wife and the Macbeth is the perfect example of excessive ambition leading to power ultimately leads to his fall from grace. just as the three witches have predicted. Accord. Later in the play, Macbeth no longer needs his wife’s inciting to do terrible deeds in the name of power. turn against him. loses his head at the hands of the vengeful Macduff respect of others.
How the witches influenced Macbeth to follow his ambition?
The witches in 'Macbeth' are important because they provide Macbeth’s primary call to action. The witches' prophecies also affect Lady Macbeth, albeit indirectly when Macbeth writes his wife about seeing the 'weird sisters,' as he calls them. After reading his letter, she's immediately prepared to plot to murder the king and worries her husband will be too 'full o' th' milk of human kindness' in (Act 1, Scene 5) to commit such an act. Although Macbeth initially doesn't think he could do such a thing, Lady Macbeth has no question in her mind that they would succeed. Her ambition steels him. Thus, the witches' influence on Lady Macbeth only increases their effect on Macbeth himself—and, the entire plot of the play. The 'Macbeth' witches provide the dynamism that has made 'Macbeth' one of Shakespeare’s most intense plays. (Find quotes) Fair is foul, foul is fair.
How does Lady Macbeth encourage Macbeth?
Lady Macbeth's ambition appears unchecked as she is the driving force behind the murder of Duncan. She pursues her ambition with a great determination. She willingly seeks evil to aid her in her objective and asks evil to fill her 'from the crown to the top-full / Of direst cruelty' (I.5.40–1). She asks that no feelings of womanly humanity will upset her ruthless intention of making sure that her husband becomes king – and she becomes queen. The fact that evil spirits have now entered her body allows her to almost force her husband to kill Duncan. The same self-determination, driven by ambition, helps her to keep strong just after the murder of Duncan. At this point, she is Macbeth's crutch, holding him up and urging him on. For the remainder of the play, she is passive in watching Macbeth commit more atrocities while she is driven into madness and despair. It is their tragic fate that both Macbeth and his wife regret the fruit of their unbridled ambition.
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promised; yet do I fear thy nature, / It is too full o'th'milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it. (Act 1 Scene 5)
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Lady Macbeth's determination to succeed is clear here. She is insistent that Macbeth will become King ('shalt be what thou art promised') However, she recognises that he is 'too full o'th'milk of human kindness' and that this could stand in their way. It is interesting that she describes the necessary ruthless streak as an 'illness'. This suggests that even at this stage she knows what she is doing is wrong.
Comparison between Banquo’s ambition and Macbeth’s ambition
Clearly, Banquo and Macbeth are good friends and good soldiers. We see ambition from Banquo when the weird sisters give Macbeth his prophecy. In Act one, Scene Three, he comments to the witches that they have said great things about Macbeth, but what about me, he questions: “ You greet my noble partner, With current grace and great predictions Of having nobility and of the hope to be king, that he seems carried away as well. Only you don’t speak to me.” We can see the respect Banquo has for Macbeth. He addresses him as his 'noble partner.' Clearly, the two are great friends. No doubt, Banquo greatly respects his 'noble partner,' but he is ambitious and desires a prophecy of his own: “If you can look into the future, And say what will happen, and what will not, Then speak to me, who doesn’t beg or is afraid of Your favors or your hateful spells.” In this, we know that Banquo is ambitious. Macbeth begins to fear that Banquo will suspect him as the murderer. Indeed, in Act Three, Scene One, Banquo does begin suspecting that Macbeth has murdered King Duncan: You have it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, As the weird women promised; and, I’m afraid, You played most foully for it. Then Banquo begins to think about his prophecy with hope: “Still it was said, It would not be passed to your children, Only that myself should be the root and father Of many kings. If they told the truth, As their speeches shine on you, Macbeth, Why, by the truths made good on you, Might they not be my prophecies as well, And set up my hopes?” Here we see that Banquo is ambitious even after hearing of Duncan's death. Now, Macbeth has fear of Banquo's knowledge and with good reason. Banquo states that he will not keep quiet: “But I’ll be quiet; no more.” Banquo is thinking about his own prophecy. He is thinking that if Macbeth were out of the way, his children could become king. We do know that Banquo is deeply troubled by King Duncan's death. In Act Three, Scene One, when Banquo hears of the murder, he prays that it isn't so: “Too cruel any where. Dear Duff, I beg you, contradict yourself, And say it is not so.” In this, we can infer that Banquo cared about King Duncan and would not have ever attempted what Macbeth has done. For this reason, Macbeth is more ambitious than Banquo. Banquo was ambitious but of a lesser degree. He would never have committed murder to ensure his son was king.
The passion for the strength of the main characters in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' was examined. We may draw some conclusions from that. First, a person who has a great ambition to do so, but uses evil means, will at last ruin his or her own life. This happened to Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth.Macbeth has a great ambition to be a king as the witches prophecies and supported by his natural event (his rise to power as a soldier).
However, he does not find the best way of fulfilling his ambition except doing an evil way, through a murder. His wife, Lady Macbeth, is also as ambitious as her husband. She always encourages him to do the evil way, for there is no other good chance for them. Then, they carry out the crime together by murdering the king and Macbeth succeeds to be the new King of Scotland. Because of their evil way of fulfilling their ambition, they always live in fear and suffering. Second, the power does not come easily. It must be achieved with all efforts. From this conclusion, we can know that Macbeth wants to gain the power without doing anything to fulfil his ambition, just depending on fate, for, if fate says he is to be a king, he certainly will be, whether he takes any action to the end or not. Third, a person who has done evil ways in fulfilling his or her ambition cannot conceal them forever and he/she will get into great suffering as a result. Macbeth and his wife have done evil ways in fulfilling their ambitions and they cannot conceal their evil deeds any longer and meet their death at last.
Focusing on Ambition throughout the play draws up the conclusion that Ambition is neither a good or a bad thing but too much ambition or too less ambition would be the great downfall.
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