Macbeth's Unchecked Ambition Essay

The Danger of Unchecked Ambition in Macbeth Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, demonstrates the fatal effects of naked ambition through the tragic story of Scottish general Macbeth. The play opens with an introduction to the Weird Sisters, a trio of witches who present a prophecy to Macbeth. It is revealed that he will become Thane of Cawdor and eventually be made King of Scotland, even though the country’s current King is alive and well. Macbeth writes to his power-hungry wife, Lady Macbeth, about his encounter and she responds with an elaborate plan for her husband to obtain his “rightful” title in any way possible. The ambition that drives Macbeth throughout the plot eventually leads to his own tragic demise.

The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare explores the concepts that belong to ambition as well as kingship. The play happens to be about Macbeth, an existing Scottish nobleman who happens to be motivated by his aspiration to become king. Scotland happens to be where it takes place. The play demonstrates how ambition becomes unchecked as well as how power corrupts. Macbeth happens to be an existing person who happens to be consumed by desire.

Throughout life, following a moral compass is crucial and should control ambition, no matter what golden opportunities arise. Reality might have moments where ambition seems the better choice, but ceaseless ambition causes harm. Shakespeare’s Macbeth alludes to the question: as long as the final goal is achieved, should morality matter?

Macbeth has fully evolved to a guilty and evil character, who only seizes harm on others. As Shakespeare evidently demonstrates courage in the play, Macbeth stands alone, ¨But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder.¨(4.1.85) As Macbeth is receiving his prophecies, he comes to the realization that if he kills Macduff he will be able to sleep at night.

Scotland rested on this man’s shoulders, and in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth let that responsibility crumble him into a weak-minded knight, blindly following his only motivators, Envy, Wrath, and Greed. Macbeth envies his friends and people above him, this leads him to strive for and create lethal actions against people he loves, This is not only due to himself, but Lady Macbeth as well, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth with fluency and no hesitation at all, proving that Lady Macbeth suffers from pride. At the point in which Lady Macbeth gets the idea in Macbeth’s head that he can have power, he starts to push away and repent his friends, for the simple fact that they are more powerful than him, he cannot separate the idea of personality from his strive for perfection in himself, that perfection which he will never reach. The primary factor of

A man, goaded by his wife, murders time and again to satisfy his hunger for power, slowly driving himself into insanity through his ambition. Ambition, both a blessing and a curse, lead Macbeth to a series of betrayals and murders of and by those closest to him. Conspiring with his wife in Act 1, Lady Macbeth had convinced Macbeth that by killing Duncan, King of Scotland, he could become the next King. He and Lady Macbeth planned the whole thing; who they would frame, how they would get past the guards, which one of them should be the one to do it, and how would they hide the knives once the deed had been accomplished. At the last second, Macbeth appeared to have a change of heart, but then his wife taunted him, insulting his manhood.

Despite his reservations, Macbeth’s ambition to attain his desires becomes greater than his moral compass or regard for the after-life, causing him to not only carry out the murder of the king and attain the crown, but destroy any friend or foe that threatens his newly acquired power. Macbeth’s ambition to maintain his powerful role as king clouds his judgement and leads to his disastrous end as his murderous actions to maintain his ambition have irreparable consequences, so powerful, that those opposed to Macbeth overcome and destroy him. Due to Macbeth disregarding his hesitations and acting on his ambition to become king, he has to consolidate his power, ridding himself of powerful forces he believes threaten his reign as king, going to extreme measures to make sure this is achieved, no matter how violent or irreparable the damage. After coming to the decision to murder King Duncan regardless of the consequences, everyone around Macbeth knows there is some kind of foul play, but Macbeth, being the murderer, is not the main suspicion for

Lady Macbeth is stating how she wants the spirits to strip her way of her femininity, which is commonly associated with a warm, caring, and motherly nature, and instead make her more masculine which symbolises the cruelty she wholeheartedly craves to have, as she doesn’t want to be seen as weak, and craves to have extreme power over Scotland. Despite the play clearly setting her character as one to despise, she is still a human being not an evil force. Her guilt, and humanity catches up to her later on when she is bedridden with uncontrollable regret, despite wishing for heartlessness and brutality she is faced with empathy, humanising Lady Macbeth's character and once again bringing light to how no one human is just capable of evil or good, we all can embody both conflicting ends of

His descent into tyranny and paranoia has alienated those who were once loyal to him. The realization that his power rests on a fragile foundation becomes evident when Macbeth receives the news of Lady Macbeth's death. His reaction is a poignant reflection of his emotional detachment and his realization that his ambition has cost him dearly. He mournfully remarks, "She should have died hereafter", illustrating the hollowness of his victory and the loss of his only source of

Macbeth’s impatience for power leads to drastic actions. He murders the king in the belief that “this blow might be the be-all and end-all” (1.7.5). This assassination could never “trammel up the consequence” (1.7.2-3), as Macbeth believes, but only leads to more trouble. Although Macbeth seizes the throne, Macbeth had to betray his loyalty to the king whose “virtues will plead like angels” (1.7.18-19), and his morality has paid the price. Macbeth has now lost all sense of what honor is by using such dishonest ways to become king.

And quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!” pg 69, Act three, scene four Macbeth has completely lost it at this point. He's murdered innocent children, women and men all because he's paranoid of every little possible threat. After

At this point, he is still respected by his peers and seems fit for the job. However, Macbeth starts to feel the weight of his actions and the guilt of his crimes starts to pile up. This is shown through the lack of sleep that is starting to develop in both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth also starts to become frantically paranoid as time goes on. He perceives everyone as enemies and starts to resolve his issues with murder.

She is malicious not only in words but also in her intent. Her sole object is to obtain power and wealth, with its attendant treasures. Lady Macbeth lacks humanity and regrets that she was not born as a man. She understands that power and violence are synonymous with manhood and bravery. Additionally, Lady Macbeth interests’ and ambition, override her love for even her husband, Macbeth.

She desires the ability to murder Duncan, a skill her husband does not possess. Lady Macbeth’s selfish ambition for power served as a catalysis for Duncan’s death. She exploits Macbeth’s submissive personality to obtain the position of

Lady Macbeth pursued her goal of becoming queen, destroying everything in her path to get what she wanted. It did not matter to her what she had to do and she used many different methods to achieve her goal. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth demonstrated that obsession, ambition, and madness caused destruction when moral restraints were cast aside. Lady Macbeth is very unlike her husband.