Tragic Ambition
Julius Caesar once wisely reckoned, "If I fail it is only because I have too much […] ambition." The playwright William Shakespeare, if alive today, would earnestly confirm the truth in this quote, as demonstrated in his elegant tragedy, Macbeth. A tale of a thane named Macbeth 's quest for the throne, his life quickly spirals downward as he wholeheartedly believes and acts upon the prophecies revealed by the Weïrd Sisters regarding his fate. As he brutally murders and betrays several fellow royals, Macduff eventually returns the favor, taking Macbeth 's life, restoring the Order of the Universe. Macbeth and his wife are prime examples of how harboring too much ambition is the root of selfishness, which lends itself to
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Hyperbolizing the situation, he declares that the entire ocean would not remove the blood on his hands, which metaphorically represents how this blemish will forever mar his conscience. Appalls, ha, pluck, and no are a few words used to declare his fear and desperation. This diction conveys his anxiousness and inability to put this killing behind him, as he is paranoid of anyone discovering the true killer of the king of Scotland. His tone of speech also conveys this as he asks himself a rhetorical question, a sign of his deteriorating mental stability. Also declining in her mental stability is his wife, Lady Macbeth. Though she hides her emotions significantly better than Macbeth, she too is suffering greatly from this crime. In her sleep, she mumbles, "What need we fear? Who knows it, when none can call our power to account? […] O, O, O!" (5.1.39-41, 55). In this passage, Lady Macbeth initially tries to comfort herself by telling herself nobody will discover their heinous acts, but then her true feelings come to light as she screams "O, O, O!", releasing built-up stress caused by Macbeth 's atrocious behavior. This sleepwalking, especially her screaming, exposes the dangerous side of Lady Macbeth, where fear grips her mind. Words such as none, fear, and her desperate screams of "O, O, O!" all demonstrate her paranoia. Even her tone implies her deep angst as she plods around half-asleep. Lady Macbeth discloses her terrified emotions through her subconscious state, uncovering underlying fears. As the book concludes, so does this cycle, as their fears
This scene features Lady Macbeth speaking to herself; expressing her thoughts out loud. She speaks of killing Duncan: “The raven himself is hoarse/ That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan” (45-46). She then calls upon the spirits to assist her in murder (47-51). Shakespeare uses words with negative connotations, such as “hoarse”, “croaks”, “cruelty”, and “blood” (45-50).
Shakespeare wrote the narrative of “Macbeth”, a story about a Thane faced with ambition and life’s choices. In this narrative, the greediness of power comes into play, and Macbeth wants power. He would do anything to become King of Scotland, in order to do this he must kill King Duncan. Will he kill an innocent man for power? The speaker is Macbeth, who is expressing his feelings and truths of this journey to becoming king.
What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our pow'r to accompt? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" (Mac.5.1.29-33) Lady Macbeth is trying to scrub the blood off her hands while in a conscious state. She thinks she has blood on her hands.
Blind Ambition and Greed The play “Macbeth”, by William Shakespeare illustrates many themes through the characters from the beginning to the end of the story. But the main central theme introduced is Ambition and Greed. As the play goes on we read how Macbeth permits his Ambition and Greed to dictate the outcomes and tragedy’s that occur to himself and others.
In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, the reader can clearly note the decline in Macbeth’s mental state. As the play progresses one can undoubtedly see Macbeth’s mental state degrading as his thoughts become increasingly dark, anxious, desperate, and laced with insecurities. Shakespeare’s writing effectively conveys Macbeth’s state of mind by using various literary devices, imagery, as well as the presence of Lady Macbeth to provide contrasting thoughts to that of Macbeth, allowing the reader to clearly observe and understand Macbeth’s state of mind throughout the scene. By using literary devices, Shakespeare is able to convey the thoughts of Macbeth in a way that is easy for the reader to understand. As the scene begins to advance, Macbeth, talking to his wife, begins to outline the object of his declining mental state through a metaphor, “We have scorched the snake, not killed it.”
In order to deceive those around them, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he should appear the way that people expect him to look; innocent. She explains how he must pretend to be virtuous, while hiding his devious ways. She understands that he would not have done this own, so she decided to take charge of the situation and tell him how it must be done. As the king starts making his way towards them, she says, “He that’s coming / Must be provided for; and you shall put / This night’s great business into my dispatch, / Which shall to all our nights and days to come / Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom” (1.5.78-82). She completely takes control of the preparations needed for the murder to take place that night, knowing that she is the only one who will do it the way she wants it.
Instead of going along with Macbeth’s new plans to murder more people, Lady Macbeth attempts to dissuade Macbeth, telling him that he “lack[s] the season of all nature, sleep,” trying to get Macbeth to go to bed as opposed to plotting and then carrying out his plans of murder (3.4.142). By trying to stop Macbeth from murdering more people, it is clear that despite wanting to be evil and feel nothing, her sense of guilt is too strong for her to
As Lady Macbeth continues to hide her “weak” attributes by displaying a stronger shell, she also reveals her sense of ambition. Although Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both seek power, it is obvious that power is what drives Lady Macbeth. From the second she knew about the witches’ prophecies, she made it her goal to become King and Queen. When she creates a plan to murder King Duncan, Macbeth shows he is nervous, Lady Macbeth finds this problematic and asks him to “project a peaceful mood, because if you look troubled, you will arouse suspicion.” (1.5.63-65).
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth Macbeth’s descent into madness is a major theme in the story. Throughout the play we witness him try to reach his ambitions, but also witnessing his descent into madness. What caused this descent though? Macbeth had many influences in his life telling him where to go and what to do. His wife, Lady Macbeth telling him to chase after his ambitions, and the three witches supposedly prophesying that his ambitions will be reached.
She was also calling Duncan and his guards defenseless while in the vulnerable state of sleep. Lady Macbeth is taking advantage of their vulnerable sleep to kill Duncan. When the Lady Macbeth commits the murder of Duncan, guilt fills her mind. Sleep, which should be her most peaceful time of the day, now becomes “a great perturbation in nature,” full of anxiety and torture. Her hallucinations while sleepwalking build her growing insanity, and she has completely lost grip of reality.
Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking complaining about the blood on her hands and if they were going to be clean again, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean? No more o’ that. You mar all with this starting.” (5.1 36-38). This evidence shows Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking in her room, and a doctor and her gentlewomen are watching her.
"Eat our meal in fear and sleep / In the affliction of these terrible dreams / That shake us nightly" (3.2.17-19). This depicts that Macbeth is fearful, paranoid, and plagued with nightmares that will eventually lead him towards insanity. Additionally, in Act 5 it says "Rise from her bed, throw her night-gown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon't, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep" (5.1.5-7). The motif is also effective in the quote because Lady Macbeth is acting like she is awake when she is actually asleep.
He tells her he can't get the murder out of his mind. Lady Macbeth listens impatiently to her husband and tells him "These deeds must not be thought of these ways. So, it will make us mad." (Act 2, Scene 2, Page 25 Line 33-34) She is basically saying to Macbeth, stop thinking like that or you are going to make yourself crazy.
Later in the story, a gentlewoman accounts Lady Macbeth’s sleep struggles and describes how she has “seen [Lady Macbeth] rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her... And return to bed...while in a most fast sleep.” (5.1.9) This sleepwalking begins to take a turn for the worst when the doctor notes that Lady Macbeth’s situation is “Not so sick.. As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies that keep her from her rest.”
Effects of uncontrolled Ambition There are many ways of conveying massages, the use of the short stories, play and the artwork however has been the dominance means for a long time. Shakespeare is well known in the art of presenting his ideas in the play form. He wrote many interesting books and plays Macbeth being one of them. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare presents a monarch with a fine general knight who wins every battle he leads (Wilson, 2015). However, in spite of the titles the knight possesses, the hero in the play is ambitious of being more power.