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Shakespeare's Macbeth: Ambition And Greed

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Macbeth Macbeth is the story of a couple who are overcome by ambition and greed. Macbeth lets his wife’s strong desire for power get the best of him, and the progression of his emotions throughout the play are very interesting to observe. Lady Macbeth is a very big influence on Macbeth’s actions and is arguably the reason that they both ended up dying sooner than they could have. Lady Macbeth drove Macbeth into a very dark and anxiety filled state of mind, and the progression of his unbecoming is very prominent towards the end of the story. Throughout the story, a new side of Macbeth is revealed through his actions and emotions as he undergoes the anxiety of being put under pressure not only by his wife, but himself. Lady Macbeth is the …show more content…

As time goes on, Macbeth makes a complete character change. Someone who was once content with his life was suddenly bloodthirsty and hungry for power. In a critical essay, literary critic Arthur Kirsch writes, “When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are together, we see the murderous conjunction of "frozen conscience and hot burning will" that composes Macbeth's "great passion of fear and fury" (Kirsch). Kirsch also goes on to say that Macbeth represents the decomposition of a man, and discriminates the synapses of the hero’s turns of thought and emotion. Macbeth undergoes a complete character change, and the constant state of anxiety he is put under when he accepts the crown is just intensified when he begins to deal with the guilt he feels from killing not only the leader of a nation, but some of his own people …show more content…

The beginning of the play shows the person he used to be, and as time progresses, under the influence of his wife Macbeth begins to slowly unravel. Apparitions and hallucinations begin to take control of his mind, and Macbeth can no longer be called the same man he was at the beginning of the play. Macbeth is truly a tragedy that focuses mainly on the hardships of many people in the play, although Macbeth’s mental breakdown is a constant throughout the play that is a very powerful and unsettling

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