Essay on Ambition in Shakespeare's Macbeth

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

The play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is based upon old Scotland and this is used as the general time frame. During this time, Monarchy still existed and Scotland is in war with Whales. There are many emotions that arise throughout the play, but the most important of all is ambition. “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” (“Ambition”). The motif of ambition in the play is that being ambitious leaves one blind to certain areas and can drive one insane to reach the intended goal. Numerous characters that showed this trait throughout the play were Banquo, Macduff, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth.

Ambition is a trait that allows people to persistently strive for their hopes and desires. In society, ambition is often categorized by either having a positive or negative connotation. Specifically, when analyzing Shakespeare's Macbeth, it is found that this character trait can very much be supported as a negative quality. Macbeth’s ambition leads him to commit violent murders. Lady Macbeth’s ambition is the driving force for his inevitable downfall. In addition, in the end, Macbeth’s ambition is the source of his downfall.

In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a successful, courageous, noble hero who has just bravely won the war, but as the play goes on, he becomes a tragic hero who destroys himself with his own selfish and wicked ambitions. There were many factors that contributed to the tragedy, such as the witches prophecies that influenced Macbeth’s thoughts and Lady Macbeth's influence and manipulativeness. His selfishness and continuous ambition to stay in the throne, which is demonstrated in the orders to kill Banquo and Fleance also contribute to his downfall. Ultimately, Macbeth’s deep desire and character motivates his ambitions and misguided attempts to control his future which lead to his downfall and destruction.

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, ambition is largely responsible for Macbeth’s downfall because of his intense greed for power along with the ruthless driving force of Lady Macbeth. Without ambition, both Macbeth and his wife would not have been so eager to believe the witches’ prophecies which lead him to his defeat.

Ambition is an important quality which all people possess to some extent. It is vital to have this quality to gain the will to improve and be successful in everything that must be done through daily life. Although this characteristic has its significance, the consequences of an exceeding amount of it are criticized in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. The play follows a loyal soldier named Macbeth who receives a prophecy that tells him he will be king. With a spark of ambition, he tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, and her drive is ignited. Lady Macbeth’s strong ambition is the cause of Macbeth’s ultimate demise because her ambition contributes to his growing unruly behavior.

Even people who are normally decent can be blind by a taste of power. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the play’s namesake and his wife become murderers because they like the taste of their own blind ambition they receive when the witches provide them with information about what their future could be like with Macbeth as king. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth that are completely undermined by their insatiable ambition. Macbeth was at first reasonable enough to keep his ambition in check, however, it became strong and therefore overpowered him. To the contrary, Lady Macbeth was overcome by her ambition from the very beginning. Macbeth is a respected Thane who has shown great loyalty to King Duncan. Unfortunately, being king requires them to kill their cousin and friend, King Duncan. Soon after, Macbeth succumbs to ambition and encouraged by a prophecy and Lady Macbeth, murders King Duncan to take his throne. The ambition of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth by their desire for power and ambition are the focus of the play. By the end of the play, he has become an evil tyrant. The theme of ambition develops throughout Macbeth.

The play Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, is about a courageous Scottish general, who strikes with the prophecies by trio witches and his wife spurs that makes him strive for ambition, which eventually leads to his death. Niccollo Machiavell says “Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied.” An ambitious person chooses different ways to become successful, either good or sinister way, but depending on the situation. As life consists of challenges and perseverance, the more ambitious a person is, the more greedy it becomes resulting in significant changes to nature. Macbeth’s ambition to become a king leads him to murder Duncan and it renders changes in his character as revealed by his imagination, attitude towards the murder and by his relationship with his wife.

Henry Longfellow once said “ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied.” This is displayed throughout the story of Macbeth. Macbeth is so overcome with ambition that he will do anything to reach his destiny, and ultimately craves more power than he can achieve. Macbeth’s blurred perception of ambition costs many innocent lives and inevitably leads to his own self destruction.

Excessive ambition is Macbeth’s key character flaw and it is shown numerous times throughout the play. At the beginning of the play, we can see Macbeth as a loyal and honest nobleman. However, as the production unfolds and the witches plant a seed of ambition in Macbeth, he begins to succumb to his desires. Despite realising in Act 1 Scene 7, that ambition is the cause of disaster (I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other) he is so blinded by this that he neglects to make wise choices. This, not surprisingly, results in Macbeth demise. Many people, even today, are not content with what they have and go to great means to attain more possessions. This lust commonly results in people’s destruction and through the play Macbeth, we can gain and understanding of these dangers, providing a relevance between Shakespeare’s writing and today’s

Macbeth is a tragedy about the corrupting power of unchecked ambition and is what the plot is propelled by. Without the aspect of human desire, Shakespeare’s story would have been stopped short. Macbeth, a successful and courageous general, seemingly content with being loyal, has his conscience sway with the words of a group of tempters or Witches, and ends up killing Duncan after some back and forth, to take the crown for himself. However it should also be considered that he was coerced to commit the deed after his wife, Lady Macbeth threatened Macbeth into it, having her own desires of taking the top. She wished for greater things for her husband and was just as intrigued by the idea of taking the throne as was Macbeth. With analysis, no one person could be completely blamed for the path the Macbeth’s murderous path ran down, but without Macbeth rise and self induced fall, the play would have a considerably different plot.

In Macbeth, ambition is something that was driven by many different factors. Macbeth’s ambition was driven by his love for his wife and also influenced by supernatural factors. Lady Macbeth also has a lot of ambition as, she wants what is best for her husband and will do whatever it takes to get him in the highest position possible. As a reader Shakespeare influences our views and opinions of the characters through stylistic features such as tone and repetition.

In human nature, ambition is a character trait that is most often associated with heroic, strong-willed individuals. To dare to fulfill one’s deepest desires can be perceived as a wonderful characteristic to acquire, but it can result in both positive and negative consequences. In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the tragic hero, Macbeth, is portrayed as a victim of his own ambition which leads him to ruins. A well-respected general in the Scottish army, Macbeth is originally considered a war hero in the eyes of the people. Upon his return to Scotland, he is greeted with a surprise visit from The Weird Sisters, three witches whom speak riddled prophecies regarding his future titles. When it

Ambition plays a major role in Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, and is presented as a dangerous quality that principally influences the characters to do wrong. This play gives off a warning of how ambition can affect people and their actions by its influence on Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. This disastrous story begins with the witches predicting that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland. Hence, Macbeth’s ambition emerges, furthermore persuaded by his wife and also the prophecies that he depended on so well. He murders King Duncan and others and accordingly becomes the new ruler of Scotland. These actions are ones based on the dangers of ambition, thus making it the fatal flaw that causes their downfall.

Predominantly, Macbeth possesses the fatal flaw of ambition which eventually leads to his downfall. Ambition is the desire to do or achieve something in particular. In Macbeth’s situation, he desires to be the king of Scotland and he is overcome by his ambition to achieve this. Macbeth is encouraged by this ambition to do anything that is required of him to fulfill his desire. This is implied when Macbeth states: