Macbeth Unchecked Ambition Essay

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Humans have an instinctual desire for what others possess. However, when these desires are acted upon, it can lead one to stray from their true human character. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, greed and ambition cause characters to deviate from principled behaviour to an evil nature. Ambition freed from moral guidelines may fulfill one’s desires, but at the cost of distancing oneself from their true personality. Each character’s ambition results in selfish tendencies and causes them to focus on futile wants, which poorly reflect what truly matters in life. Within the play, paranoia, guilt, and loss of innocence are direct consequences of unchecked ambition and evidence of the deterioration of one’s essence. Heightened paranoia indicates that …show more content…

His ambition corrupts his judgment and rationality, leading him to make impulsive decisions out of desperation to secure the throne. Paranoia, in the wake of unchecked ambition, drives Macbeth to an unstable mental state as he attempts to remove evidence of his past crimes. After committing regicide, Macbeth is filled with the paranoia of being overthrown as king, causing him to be overly suspicious of others. Unlike Duncan’s heavily debated murder, Macbeth chooses to kill Banquo and Fleance with fear as his only motive. Deciding to murder his best friend for the temporary satisfaction associated with power is evident when Macbeth states, “Our fears in Banquo / Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature / Reigns that which would be feared / … / My genius is rebuked, as it is said / Mark Antony’s was by Caesar” (Shakespeare III.i.53-62). Alluding to Mark Antony’s betrayal of his friendship with Caesar, Macbeth contrasts his violent nature to Banquo’s good character and he recognizes that his decision to murder Banquo is immoral and solely based on fear. Macbeth’s paranoia of Banquo is a disease that disfigures his true nature and transforms him into a tyrant. Paranoid thoughts in the wake of immoral crimes contribute to the destruction of the human character and exemplify the treachery caused by excessive ambition and …show more content…

In reality, these feminine qualities can help maintain a level of innocence and internal goodness. Lady Macbeth, unaware of the dangers of casting off her feminine attributes, loses her purity and innocence in favour of indulging in her greed and ambition. By embodying a lack of femininity, she no longer possesses compassion and instead nurses aggression and violence, thus leaving herself open to immoral actions. This is depicted through her statement to Macbeth: “I have given suck, and know / How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. / I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums / And dashed the brains out” (Shakespeare I.vii.62-66). Through this quote, Shakespeare hints at the loss of femininity and innocence Lady Macbeth once possessed when she was a mother. The audience is introduced to Lady Macbeth the moment her ambition is sparked by Macbeth’s letter, which hides her previous empathetic and loving nature. Unlike Macbeth, where we bear witness to his character before and after his ambition takes over, Lady Macbeth is only depicted following her corruption of innocence. This falsely portrays her as completely evil, when in reality she suffered from the same character change as Macbeth. Although her innocence was corrupted faster than Macbeth’s, the dangers of unchecked ambition and the destruction it can have on the human character remains

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