Ambition can either be to one’s benefit or lead to one’s downfall. In William Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, ambition plays a great role on the characters lives as their actions and ambition shapes their future. Shakespeare showcases how one’s decisions because of their ambitions and overconfidence can lead to their own downfall while examining the actions of Lady Macbeth, King Duncan and Macbeth. To begin, the decisions Lady Macbeth makes to fulfil her ambitions for power leads to her own downfall. Firstly, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into committing the murder of Duncan as it is the only way for her to gain power. When she and Macbeth discuss the arrival of Duncan to their palace, Lady Macbeth says, O, never/ Shall sun that morrow see! / …show more content…
Lady Macbeth responds with, “We fail? / But screw your courage to the sticking place, / And we’ll not fail” (I. vii. 67-69). Lady Macbeth is confident that their plan will not fail but instead be successful, thus, ignoring Macbeths concern. Instead of taking Macbeths thoughts into consideration, she argues by saying “What beast was’t then / That made you break this enterprise to me” (I.vii.53-54). She feels that if Macbeth no longer wants to follow through with the plan, then he should not have agreed with her to begin with. Due to this, she becomes furious at Macbeth and ignores his opinion. Despite the precautions, Lady Macbeths decision to overlook them is what causes her to face the consequences of her distant relationship and also her hallucinations. Lastly, Lady Macbeth voluntarily hides the daggers that are used to murder the King and later on has hallucinations of the blood. While dreaming, Lady Macbeth sleep talks and says, “Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the / perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! Oh! / Oh!” (V.i.43-45). The guilt from the murder is symbolized through the sight of blood on Lady Macbeth’s hands. Due to the sight of blood, Lady Macbeth tries to wash it off in her sleep, but fails. She hallucinates because she took the murder weapons of Duncan from Macbeth and hid them herself. The murder of Duncan negatively impacts the mindset of Lady Macbeth as she has hallucinations of such a horrid image but has no one
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erlaps itself and falls on th’ other-” (Shakespeare 321). Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth portrays many characters with high aspirations that not only shape the plot and action of the story, but also the themes. Additionally, the intentions of the characters and the intensity of their pursuit varies as the action of the play progresses. Throughout The Tragedy of Macbeth, main characters exemplify the positive and negative influence of ambitions through their thoughts, traits, actions, and motivations.
Ambition is often the driving force in one’s life. It can have an extremely dominant impact on not only yourself, but also many people in your surroundings. You have the ability to control if the outcomes either have a lasting negative or positive effect. When a goal requires determination and hard work to complete, personal morals often take a back seat to the aspiration of accomplishing the goal. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it is clear that like many other great leaders, Macbeth exemplifies the necessary leadership virtue of ambition. Macbeth’s ambition does not just drive him to do great things. It in fact controls him. The playwright explores the idea of how an individual’s ambition can cause them to deceive others, make irrational
From the beginning, Lady Macbeth is seen as greedy and prepared to do what her husband will not in order to get what she believes they are destined for. She is more willing to get blood on her hands, even in the most literal sense, so Macbeth will become king and she be the queen of Scotland. To make sure the king's assassination will not trace back to Lady Macbeth and her husband, Lady Macbeth says to her husband, " Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead are only like pictures. It is the eye of childhood that's afraid of a painted devil. If he bleeds, I'll smear the faces of the grooms with it, because it must seem that they are guilty" (Act 2 Scene 2) Lady Macbeth's greediness led her to convince Macbeth to kill, and her to convict others of murder by spreading blood. The cycle of her greed leading to blood spilling, and leading to an increase in power throughout the play had terrible consequences for her mind though. After Macbeth
“I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’ other‘.” William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ explores the central themes of guilt, ambition and power. Yet Shakespeare’s intentions were to suit the expectations and knowledge of the audience in the Elizabeathan society.
Lady Macbeth tries to convince Macbeth to kill king Duncan, so she can live her dream life. “And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man”(Macbeth 1.7.50-51). This quote explains how Lady Macbeth is trying to persuade her husband in doing the death of king Duncan. One characteristic that sticks out about lady Macbeth, Is that she is a smooth talker to whom she knows she can convince in doing what she won’t do. She tells Macbeth what he wants to hear for her own fame. “And we’ll not fail. When Duncan is asleep”(Macbeth 1.7.61). While Macbeth is shocked and frightened about Lady Macbeth’s thoughts. She explains to him that king Duncan’s death will not be known of them, As why they do it while he is sleeping. Lady Macbeth tells him the future they will have if he does her plan. Now Scotland gets turned upside down. Macbeth kills king Duncan against his will. Lady Macbeth talked Macbeth into killing king Duncan so she would not have to live with the quilt of doing the murder. Lady Macbeth’s plan starts to unravel, As they hear a voice from another room. Macbeth is so out of sorts, that he has left the bloody dagger he use to kill king Duncan at the scene of
The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare recounts Macbeth's meteoric rise as a soldier and promising future leader whose megalomaniacal ambition led to his tragic downfall. In addition to Macbeth's ambitions, which initially enable him to be strong leader and soldier, he is influenced heavily by his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the three witches that prophesize his ascent to the throne, as well as warn him of his eventual demise. It can be argued that it is Macbeth's ambition that allows him to succeed in his endeavors, however the goals to which he is working toward influence the results of his hard work. Macbeth's ambitions help him to become a war hero, and as his goals change, his ambitions drive him to become a tyrannical villain.
Many people believe that being ambitious is always a good thing. However, it is not. Ambition is not an overall bad thing, but it's not 100% virtuous either. Before I could begin my essay, I had to sit and actually evaluate the word itself. Many people have ambitions in life.
Lady Macbeth’s lust for power causes her to ignore possible consequences of her actions. Lady Macbeth gets a letter from her husband that tells her of the witches’ prophecy about Macbeth. As soon as she hears this, she wants Macbeth to kill King Duncan. However, she is afraid Macbeth is too kind to kill Duncan, so she takes matters into her own hands: “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here...
Macbeth feels guilty with blood on his hands after killing King Duncan is paranoid after supposedly hearing voices from the servants making him think he had been caught. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to put the daggers back, yet Macbeth is too scared to. Lady Macbeth then states, using reassurance to tell Macbeth “The sleeping dead are but pictures” This makes Macbeth realise Duncan is dead, which leads to Macbeth becoming more ambitious to be King. The techniques used in these quotes meet the audiences expectations of Macbeth murdering King Duncan by showing how he is ambitious to be
Influence of the tragedy Things influence us and our actions, and then we have people who are influences on our life. Who help us strive for things in life. Good and bad things in life. And if we want it so bad and we try pure hardest to get that one thing we want in life it is called ambition. Ambition is a strange thing
A thane and his wife go through anything to get what they want in Macbeth by William Shakespeare. As Macbeth , and his friend Banquo come back home from a successful battle he encounters three witches who give them 3 prophecies. Macbeth was astonished by the prophecies they gave him, both which became true. As he told the news to Lady Macbeth, his wife, she convinces him to kill the current king, Duncan. Macbeth then proceeds the murder of the King, leaving him as the new king of Scotland.
Macbeth is about play about how inner problems consisting of ambition, guilt and heartlessness. These problems create consequences that can conform any hero to villain. These inner problems are shown through the many themes and symbols that are portrayed throughout the text which also leads to outer problems. Throughout the text, Macbeth displays the conflict between ambition and loyalty, guilt resulting in destructive behaviour and Macbeth’s actions resulting in him being hated by others. Macbeth’s ambition overcomes his loyalty, leading him to commit regicide.
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 one’s essence. Heightened paranoia indicates that the characters have become aware of the dangers of their ambition. Coupled with this, guilt is a consequence of excessive greed and ambition. Although the satisfaction of temporarily fulfilling their aspirations seems to justify their violence, the characters’ conscience burdens them with guilt as an attempt to correct their actions. Unable to adhere to what truly matters in life, characters lose their innocence and purity, which further fuels their ambition and isolates them from the person they should be. Unconstrained greed and excessive ambition results in the deterioration of one’s true human character as manifested in paranoia, guilt, and corruption of innocence.
Adolf Hitler was the political leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, who was misled by his great ambition and power to which he exterminated millions of people that eventually gave rise to the Holocaust. Like Macbeth in Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth was portrayed as a man of power with devotion, who is altered greatly by his deep ambition. Though he was a murderer, he displays a classic example of a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. He is of noble birth and status that has a tragic flaw which resulted in his own downfall due to his excessive pride. Shakespeare succeeds in creating sympathy for Macbeth, as he is aware of his actions and was tormented by his guilt which only brought him pain and suffering. Despite his multiple flaws, Macbeth is a tragic hero, regardless of his nature through his actions and circumstances, Macbeth fulfills the classical definition of the term.
Ben Roethlisberger had the world in the palm of his hand. Already a two-time Super Bowl champ in his 20s as quarterback of one of the most respected franchises in sports, Ben was a hero to Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Unfortunately, his grace came to downfall on several occasions (near-fatal motorcycle crash in 2006, sexual assault allegations in 2008), but shocked his team, fans and city when accused of raping a college student in March, 2010. His ambition toward game and fame caused him to do anything just like Macbeth's ambition toward kingship. Likewise, in Shakespeare play ‘Macbeth,’ the Scottish Nobleman Macbeth is overcome by his own desire. His eventual downfall and destruction was a product of his blind ambition. The kingly ambition of Macbeth began a tragic that could never recover. Macbeth’s noble character is altered when he first meets the three witches. The three witches tell him a prophecy that desire an ambition inside of him, an ambition he did not seek before. Ambition is therefore the driving force of the Shakespeare play ‘Macbeth’. Macbeth is more ambitious than Lady Macbeth because he becomes out of control and forces him to murder again and again to cover up his previous deeds.