The Role Of Ambition In The Elizabethan Era

The Elizabethan Era (1558 - 1603) was a time period centered around the advancement of cultural and artistic expression in sixteenth-century England. William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), an English playwright, wrote a total of thirty-seven plays throughout the Elizabethan Era. Macbeth, a play written by Shakespeare in 1606, discusses the idea of ambition as a central flaw. Shakespeare uses the character Macbeth as an example of how humans are often controlled by their central flaw. In this case, Macbeth is a slave to his unchecked ambition and lets his ambition motivate his actions. Throughout the play Macbeth experiences an identity transformation, he starts off as someone with patience and self-control, and evolves into a person controlled by his unchecked ambition and corrupted by his guilt. Ambition drives Macbeth’s desires, grows, and subsequently leads Macbeth into experiencing a heroic downfall, through suffering the internal consequences of his treasonous actions.

Macbeth’s ambition feeds his desire to become the king of Scotland, resulting in Macbeth considering to murder Duncan and ultimately his ambition takes control and he follows through with

Guilt builds up within Macbeth due to the actions his unchecked ambition convinces him to follow through with, which is why Macbeth experiences a heroic downfall. The transgressions made by Macbeth sparked the beginning of his mind becoming clouded with guilt and unease, because Macbeth knew what he was doing was wrong. When members of a society are guilty, we often choose not to confess, but to further our faulty actions. This continuation of our actions is driven by our need to protect ourselves. Humans are not able admit they are at fault; therefore, are overcome by guilt and stray further away from