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Macbeth - character analysis
How is ambition presented in macbeth as a whole
Ambition in shakespear play macbeth
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Ambition took a hold of Macbeth, so much that he was willing to hurt anyone in his quest to power, without thinking of the consequences of his action. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is seen as a “brave” (I, ii, 18) and “worthy” (I, ii, 26) general, who a loyal subject of the king. Macbeth gives his loyalty and respect towards Duncan, because he believes that “The rest is labor which is not used for you” (I, iv, 50). This was his strong belief until the witches gives him the prophecy and the opportunity to become king of Scotland. Lady Macbeth made herself the voice of this ambition by justifying it and so, in a way she represents Macbeth’s own desire to have “solely sovereign sway and masterdom” (I, v, 77). When he acted upon this ambition
A quote which really defines Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s ambition regarding power is “Power does not corrupt men; fools; however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power” George Bernard Shaw. Lady Macbeth is more ambitious in terms of gaining power then Macbeth is and that Lady Macbeth will do almost anything to gain power, even evil things that she normally wouldn’t do. This is shown when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth learn about the witches’ predictions, then roles in the plans to murder king Duncan in order to gain power and then finally after the murder, Macbeth doesn’t want to finish the plan making Lady Macbeth angry and causing a chance they might get caught and gain no power at all.
Before being transformed into a murderous monster, Macbeth is a model Scottish noble. He shows great loyalty and devotion to both King Duncan and his country in his fight against the Scottish rebels. He also fights with great courage, which he draws from knowing that he serves a good and virtuous cause. He is modest when confronted with his achievements, in contrast to the arrogance that he displays after becoming king. He loves Lady Macbeth, an emotion he will eventually lose by the end of the play. Most of all, he fears what his greed and ambition can lead him to become, and he feels dubious about acting on them.
The main theme of Macbeth-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints-finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious, controlling and domineering. She is the one who encourages him to kill the king, she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself, which shows her determination and persistence."Yet I do 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). Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth’s sudden ambition and she tries to manipulate him into feeling guilty and unmanly for not following through with the murder, by using her husbands emotions, she manages to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan.
Macbeth’s blind ambition leads him to surrender to his dark desires that taunt him throughout the play. Macbeth is frequently tempted to result to the wrongful methods that seem to roam inside of him. In the beginning however Macbeth tends to ignore these desires and depends on chance. He declares “if chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare, act 1, scene 3, 143-144). This declaration by Macbeth shows his initial stand, which is reliant on fate and sin free. Yet as Macbeth’s character develops throughout the play, he moves farther from his dependence on chance and closer to his darker desires. Eventually his blind ambition to become king overp...
instill in him the need to be King. Still, desire is not enough for Macbeth and he is thus driven "to seek certainty as his one objective. He wants certainty from the witches . . . at whatever cost" (Campbell 228). Macbeth, however, is not completely lost yet; honour and justice remain in him, and although it takes him some time to fully consider the consequences of the witches' words on him, he rejects his horrible thoughts of murder and postpones all action: "If chance will have me king, why,chance may crown me, / Without my stir" (I. iii.143-144). For the time being, Macbeth's true essence is in control, that of loyalty and honour.
After a long and hard battle, the Sergeant says to King Duncan, “For brave Macbeth,-well he deserves that name,- disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, which smok’d with bloody execution , like valour’s minion carv’d out his passage till he fac’d the slave;” (1.2.16) . This quote shows that Macbeth is viewed as a valiant soldier and a capable leader. However, it does not take long for the real Macbeth to be revealed- a blindly ambitious man, easily manipulated by the prospect of a higher status. His quest for power is what drives his insanity, and after having been deemed the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth’s ambition can immediately be seen. In a soliloquy, Macbeth says, “Present fears are less than horrible imaginings; my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastica, shakes so my single state of man that function is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.140). Macbeth has just gained more power, and his immediate thought is of how to gain an even higher status as king. He imagines how to kill Duncan, and then is troubled by his thoughts, telling himself it is wrong. This inner struggle between Macbeth’s ambition and his hesitation to kill Duncan is the first sure sign of his mental deterioration. Although Macbeth does kill Duncan, he questions whether or not he should to do so, which is far different from how Macbeth feels about murder later in the play. Macbeth becomes king, and this power leads
Macbeth's desire to become king is strongly supported by his wife, Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is a highly ambitious woman who, like her husband, is willing to do anything to obtain power. Shakespeare uses a series of imagery to vividly portray the desire for power in Lady Macbeth's soliloquy: “Come, you spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/Of direst cruelty!” To achieve her ambition, Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth “to catch the nearest way.” This means she wants him to kill Duncan so that he can become king. However, she fears that Macbeth is “too full o' th' milk of human kindness” to “catch the nearest way.” When Macbeth is reluctant to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth starts attacking his masculinity. “Then you were a man,” she said. Lady Macbeth also uses the power of emotional blackmail to manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan.
Lady Macbeth was “choked with ambition”. Her infatuation to be queen is the single feature that Shakespeare developed far beyond that of her counterpart in the historical story he used as his source. Lady Macbeth persistently taunts her husband for his lack of courage, even though we know of his bloody deeds on the battlefield. At this point in time, with all her will converging towards seizing the throne, she has shown no signs of remorse or hesitance in her actions and hence preventing the events in the narrative from digressing away from imperative themes and climaxes of the play.
Shakespeare depicts the corruptive power of ambition to the audience as the protagonist, Macbeth is led by his unchecked ambition despite acknowledging it. Macbeth's private ambitions are made clear to the audience through his asides and soliloquies. Macbeth who was initially faithful to Duncan and was aware of his ambition, couldn't control it and thus, made him become a murderous tyrant, obsessed with power and full of fear and insecurities. From the beginning of the play, Macbeth had ambitions. This was shown once the witches told Banquo and him the prophecies. Macbeth is left confused but it sparked his ambition. Banquo ponders aloud, 'the instruments of darkness tell us truths, (to) win us with honest trifles,' to then 'betrays in deepest consequence.' Banquo tries to metaphorically explain to Macbeth that the witches only told them some truth so that they could make Macbeth believe them. Unknowingly, Banquo foreshadows Macbeth's decision to betray Duncan and kill him. After this, Macbeth's corruptive ambition and thirst for power thrives. However, prior to Duncan's death, Macbeth was aware of his ambition but his morals didn't fit them. Thus, his initial decision to not kill King Duncan. He had clearly stated that he 'have no spur to prick the sides of my intent,' but it is 'only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other.' Macbeth metaphorically
Political ambition undermines man’s loyalty. In the play, Macbeth decides to kill his king because of his ambition for position. At the beginning of the play, he portrays himself as a noble person. He fights in the battle against Norway and proves his loyalty; however, as soon as the witches prophesize that Macbeth “shall be king hereafter'; (1.3.53), he is not longer trustworthy. Ambition for power starts creeping into his head. After Macbeth’s internal conflict over whether or not to kill Duncan, he decides to do it quickly (1.7.3) in order to hasten the predictions. He decides to kill the king because he wants to extend his power all over the country by becoming the new monarch. He desires to be more wealthy and respected by the nobility as well as by the common people. Becoming king represents the highest rang in the political pyramid. The act of murdering is the only way to make his dreams come true because Duncan’s fair and prosperous rule over Scotland experience the support of the whole population. As Malcom and Donalbain fly to England, he automatically takes possession of the throne. Macbeth displays political ambition first of all because of his wife. After she reads her husband’s letter about his meeting with the witches, she suggests for Macbeth to kill Duncan so she could be queen. At the beginning Macbeth hesitates to talk about such a thing and even lists the reason not to kill: he is his king, his uncle and his guest. Not completely sure about it and victim of his own desires for power he finally accepts Lady Macbeth’s plan for murdering the ruler of Scotland. This decision portrays Macbeth’s dirty morality and easily manageable personality.
Lady Macbeth is the first to strategize a way to kill Duncan. As a character foil to Macbeth she juxtaposes their possession of guilt and ruthlessness, which creates irony and excitement to the play. Originally, she is very power hungry and wants to utilize her husband’s position in status to become queen. Macbeth objects to the plan to kill Duncan because he believes Duncan is Macbeth’s kinsman, host, and an overall virtuous ruler (Act. 1 Scene. 7) and thus feels very guilty for taking advantage of Duncan’s trusting quality towards the Macbeth family. She refers to Macbeth as weak and rebukes his manhood (Act 1. Scene 7.) . As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a character role reversal of their possession of guilt and ruthlessness. The character foil is extant, however Macbeth’s ruthlessness overcomes his guilt, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt vanquishes her drive for power. In addition to an alteration in character foils, Shakespeare introduces situational irony because now Lady Macbeth succumbs to the weakness Macbeth once possessed and Macbeth is the one who is formidable and ambitious. Macbeth’s ability to transcend his guilt exemplifies his struggle for power and reinforces the theme of evil ambition because Macbeth is able to secure the throne and power only by mass
Lady Macbeth and the witches have both planted the seed of ambition inside of Macbeth Because of Lady Macbeth’s wicked behavior, which resulted in Macbeth’s evil transition; he was led to become a murderer. Macbeth should not be held accountable for his actions completely since she is the one who lead him towards committing both crimes. The major theme ambition and greed for power have played a key part in Macbeth’s fall from a great Scottish general to a murderer. People should be content on what they have and not strive for things which destroy a person even if we are influenced. In this case Shakespeare’s thought proving play of Macbeth.
Ambition is an underlying theme throughout Macbeth, it is the tragic flaw in human kind, bound to lead to disaster. In Act 1 scene 7 this is one of the most interesting scenes of the play. This is the last time as we see Macbeth a freeman, he can still make the decision whether he wants to be good or evil. The choices that are preventing Macbeth are committing the murder, fear of the consequences on this earth, variety of feelings of kinship, loyalty, and hospitality he admires Duncan’s goodness as he is not the most moral character but hes power is what urges him on that are motives of good A soliloquy, which is found in Act 1, scene 7, in the lines 1-28, Macbeth debates whether he should kill Duncan. The imagery that is in this speech can be dark and moody for most people. Some examples we hear of imagery are “bloody instructions,” “deep damnation,” and a “poisoned chalice”—and suggests that Macbeth is aware of how the murder would open the door to a dark and sinful world. When the soliloquy ends, Macbeth goes to resolve to not kill Duncan but this only...
Many works of English literature introduce a common theme of ambition to accomplish an assigned task. These oeuvres demonstrate how determination can have a positive or negative effect on any character. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a well-known example, introducing ambition as one of its major themes. Macbeth’s objective to rise in power directly influences his character development, resulting in a tragic ending. Shakespeare uses various effective literary terms to illustrate this main message throughout the play. Some elements include descriptive language to ensure that the audience is able to visualize in the perspective of Macbeth, meaningful symbols that have a strong significance contributing to the theme of motivation, and a very contrasting