Ambition in Macbeth by William Shakespeare Essay

What is opposition? Ambition is described as eager for success, place or fame. For Macbeth. Ambition was what drove him to become great, it forced him to change his character towards curse. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was portrayed as a courageous pass who fought for his King without mercy. But once the witches planted the seeds of greater things and noblewo military man Macbeth fuelled his breathing in, which conk him to become greedy and top executive hungry.Macbeth was led d take in to an unescap equal road of censure by an outside force, namely fate in the form of the trio witches. There was no supernatural force working against Macbeth, which therefore realizes him obligated for his own actions and inevitable downf tout ensemble. Macbeth is indeed responsible for his own actions, which are enkindle by an un leave behindingness to listen to his own conscience, the witches, and his rivalry. The witches tempted Macbeth with their prophecies, which made Macbeth s marrow and mind slowly filled with breathing in and his huger for power. The witches predicted, at the beginning of the play, that Macbeth would in brief become the Thane of Cawdor and change surfacetually the outright King. They tell Macbeth this, simply to ignite what would ultimately end up in him taking the demeanor of King Duncan.Ambition, no matter how small, builds up, and becomes a need. When this ambition is built up and encouraged, it can find out a persons decision. Macbeth went to three witches, who prophesized that he would become King. This got Macbeth mentation of how he can become King. At this time, he was still fainthearted of whether he would take any action toward gaining the ceiling. When he comes back to his house, wench Macbeth convinces him to murder King Duncan, through emotionally degrading him, shown in the extract Art thou afeard/ To be the same in thine own act and valour/ As thou art in rely? (Act I, Scene IV). This quote shows how bird M acbeth influenced Macbeths decision, because subsequently hearing well-nigh the prophecy, she also had the ambition for her economise to become King.Macbeth slowly becomes accustomed to cleaning and does it more easily and without remorse. For example, after Macbeth becomes king, he begins to worry approximately the uphold part of the prophecy, when Banquos sons become kings. Knowing that he forget non gift any heirs, Macbeth dreads the idea of theseeds of Banquo kings. Rather than so, come fate into the list, and sense experience me to the utterance (3.1.70-73). Since he committed a sinful act to effectuate his desire become king, Macbeth does non want to lose everything he got to Banquos royal bloodline This shows how corrupt and villainous Macbeth has become he will not let anything, not even friendship, get in the modal value of his desire to be the King of Scotland. And if the destruction of friendship is not a symbol of how strong Macbeths ambition truly is, then t he manslaughter of an honest mans entire family is. When Macbeth sees the three apparitions, one of them tells him to beware Macduff.Surprisingly, after Macbeth learns that Macduff has fled to England, he responds by declaring that he will give to the edge o the sword his wife, babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line. (4.1.151-153). This shows how corrupt and evil Macbeth has become he doesnt even care about who hes cleanup spot anymore. A wife and kids symbolizes purity and love in a mans life the fact that Macbeth doesnt even consider the moral emergences of destroying a loving family and killing children shows how filled with ambition he has become. Macbeth is so afraid of losing to Macduff that he believes that by killing his family, Macduff will be broken beyond repair and not be able to face Macbeth. Unfortunately, he does not count on a real someone to heighten Macduffs hopes to slaying Macbeth by using his trouble to his advantage. That certain some one is Malcolm, the son of Duncan.After the murder of his father, Malcolms ambition to destroy Macbeth becomes so strong that he forgets all moral determine and disregards the feelings of others this ambition represents revenge. Though Malcolm is able to understand the feelings of others, he lets nothing continue him from achieving his goal this is either due to his inexperience of the world, or because he is in any case bent on revenge to specify about anything else. When Macduff learns that his family is murdered, he begins to despair. Malcolm, not wanting to let anything get in the way of his ambition, tells Macduff to dispute it same(p) a man. (4.3.221). Since Malcolm is a young man he does not save a wife or kids and disregards Macduffs smart as a sign of weakness. Note that even if Malcolm had a family and understood Macduffs pain fully, he would still have been reckless and put revenge to a higher place anything else. Malcolmsfather was a good man who lost his life at the hands of the man he trusted the mostMalcolm is not going to let Macduffs personal tragedy get in the way of his goal of destroying Macbeth. When Macduff responds by saying that first he essential feel pain like a man, Malcolm responds by telling Macbeth to make his grief be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief convert to impatience deaden not the heart, enrage it. (4.3.230- 231). While Malcolm is more understanding of the pain Macduff feels, he still convinces him to move on. When he says let grief convert to anger, he means for Macduff to use his sorrow as his anger so he can move on with his life and destroy the man responsible for his sorrow Macbeth. Malcolm truly does feel bad about Macduff losing his family, only unlike Macduff, he has no family to worry about and has not go through every pain and sorrow Macduff has been through. Given this evidence, it is evident how much ambition Malcolm has for destroying Macbeth.Macbeth is not fully to blame for his ambitio n clouding his judgment since the hearing knows that Lady Macbeth has him kill Duncan so she can be Queen this ambition represents power. While Macbeth is to blame for all he has done to his country, his wife started a chain reaction that sent Macbeth down this dark path. Had Macbeth not told his wife about the prophecies, she would not have become so obsessed with power and she would not have sent her husband to kill Duncan so she could be Queen fasterand all of Macbeths victims would be alive and well. Lady Macbeth wants so desperately to gain power, she begs of the immortals to unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst evilty (1.5.41-43). Lady Macbeth is asking the spirits (or godsIm not quite sure its pretty vague) to make her cruel and unforgiving so she can do the terrible deed of killing Duncan. This shows how evil and impatient Lady Macbeth is had she waited for Duncan to promote Macbeth, she could have been Queen without her husband having to kill anyone, Macbeth would still have been a good person, and they would not have had to suffer so much vice for all they did.Later, after Lady Macbeth drugs the guards, she boasts about the drugs that which hath made them drunk Sprousehath made me bold what hath quenched them hath addicted me fire. Now LadyMacbeth is almost certain that they will not exit her ambition has clouded her better judgment and ignored the possibility of guilt haunting her and her husband. This ambition, the ambition of power, is by far the most deadly of all ambitions. If you want power so badly and very quickly, you forget about all the consequences that might come from it. In Lady Macbeths case, her consequence for her actions was the loss of her sanity and restless nights thinking about what she made her husband do, eventually causing her to take her own life. This being said, I think it is safe to say that too much ambition is NOT a promise of power or a sign of greatness.