Ambition plays an important role in the everyday life, it drives the humankind to have a desire to achieve one’s goal. All things considered ambition has both positive and negative qualities depending how it is achieved, which can lead to one’s success or one’s downfall. When selfishness plays a role in ambition, it can cause wrongful acts to take place, for instance, a literary example of ambition is displayed in the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. The play mentions how the protagonist is portrayed as the tragic hero named Macbeth, a noble general of Scotland who is admired by many for his bravery, was encountered by three witches who told Macbeth he was going to be the Thane of Cawdor and abolish any threats in his way to become the king of Scotland, creating him to become anxious to discover more about his destiny. Macbeth’s eagerness leads him to attempt to fulfill the three prophecies by murdering for the kingship. Macbeth starts to suffer from a guilty conscience causing him to go ludicrous which leads him to his tragic demise. Some consequences of Macbeth’s ambition result to
Throughout history many leaders have had large amounts of power that eventually led to their fall because of poor decisions that were influenced by others. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth is a nobleman to King Duncan. During this play Macbeth has a chance to take the place of King Duncan. When Macbeth’s wife Lady Macbeth finds out she soon gets involved in immoral ways. Shakespeare is trying to show that people that have a chance at power can be manipulated into doing wrong things by those around them causing their downfall.
Throughout the years, ambition has been essential for individuals since it helps us set our objectives. By having an ambition, they are setting up a goal. In addition, the feeling of success that an individual receives is great once the goal is achieved. Also having an ambition, whether it’s a small or large one, indicates that you have a value in life and that you want to become better. Ambition is important for some people because it helps us set our goals. Without goals, one's life can be a mess because they don't have any plans and they’ll most likely end up winging it. Although having an ambition can lead to success, it may also lead to downfall. This is due to the thoughts or actions of an individual. In his play The Tragedy of Macbeth,
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth is introduced as a courageous, noble hero of Scotland, who has bravely defeated the Norwegians. The play begins with three witches discussing Macbeth’s fate of rising to power. Shortly after, Macbeth encounters these witches and learns the prophecies. He becomes obsessed with the idea of fulfilling his destiny to be king and is willing to overcome anyone who becomes a threat to his kingship. Macbeth’s downfall and corruption is due to the witches prophecies and equivocations, his wife’s manipulations and scheming, and ultimately his own ambition and tragic flaw of always resorting to violence.
Act 1 Scene 3, Macbeth hears from the three witches that he will be thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and the future king. “...to be king/ Stands not within the prospect of belief,”(1.3.74-75).This quotation shows that Macbeth does not aspire to become king. On my slide, I incline to
His easily impressionable nature causes him to not form his own thoughts, but rather listen to the words of Lady Macbeth and the three witches. At the point of this play the audience can note the change in Macbeth's character. Macbeth's first murder was a trying experience for him, however after the first murder; killing seemed to be the only solution to maintain his reign of the people of Scotland. Through this ambition Macbeth is able to organize these murders without a drop of remorse. This lack of remorse is his shrill that pushes him to continue with his evil conspiracies. This conveys Macbeth’s character at the beginning to be a misrepresentation because for him to have killed Duncan who was his king and cousin as well as Banquo a friend and man who he fought alongside in the war is not the actions of a noble man. However, he first acts on his ambition in (2.1) when Macbeth makes his “is this dagger before me” speech; he acknowledges that what he sees is not real, but through this vaulting ambition he visualizes the dagger as sign that he should kill Duncan. After he kills Duncan it is apparent that his
In this world, there are many people who always dreamt to become the person that they really wished for and they will do whatever it takes to achieve their dream. In this tragedy, Macbeth dreams to become the king of Scotland but the only way to take the crown is
Shakespeare utilizes the Weird Sisters as the embodiment of evil and temptation to convince Macbeth, a virtuous but flawed man, to commit evil deeds through the deceitful predictions of his future. The theme of appearance versus reality is demonstrated through the Macbeths’ deceitful plan to murder King Duncan, and the consecutive deeds and lies that take place to conceal their guilt. As Macbeth rises to power throughout the play, ghostly apparitions and blood hallucinations plague the couple. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are so overwhelmed by their guilt and paranoia, their judgment is clouded by the weight of their guilt that they carry, which leads to the demise of the reign of
Shakespeare positions his audience to witness the fall of a man, from a position of power to tyranny. To maintain his power, Macbeth commits a series of murders to protect himself. As he commits brutal murders, he becomes amoral and anti-humanitarian and reaches a point of no return, which eventually leads him to corruption. The playwright epitomise these through hamartia, peripeteia and anagnorisis. Ambition empowers Macbeth to face guilt, greediness and great oppression. His excessive ambitious motivation of becoming king leads himself to his own downfall.
Macbeth’s murderous intents first begin when the weird sisters tell him of a prophecy stating that he will be king. However, in order for that to be true, the current king, Duncan, would need
In Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, had many different characteristics, but the one that surpassed all others was his ambition. As the story progressed, there are many examples that can be seen where his ambition has influenced his perspective on right and wrong. His ambition consumed him to a point where he was more monster than mortal as seen when he went on a murdering spree. He then lost people of Scotland’s favor and they rebelled against him leading to his death. While ambition may not necessarily be bad, his blindness to the consequences caused it to become a pernicious trait.
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 of this quote, as demonstrated in his elegant tragedy, Macbeth. A tale of a thane named Macbeth and his 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. After betraying and brutally murdering several fellow royals, Macduff eventually returns the favor, taking Macbeth's life, restoring the Order of the Universe. Through this play, Shakespeare proves how harboring too much ambition is the root of selfishness, which lends itself to
“A man with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace” stated by Maxx Mitchell. This statements describe the people will have some trade off in order to pursue something they have to give up on something. However the goal is really choice could lead to different consequences either positive or negative. This make me remember one of Shakespeare plays is Macbeth described as a tragic character his action is been influenced by his wife. Shakespeare believes that ambition, when taken too far leads to our destruction as shown through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, however after he has realize what he has done it. He has notice it was too far to turn back, so he continues his murderous, bloody path.
The play begins when Macbeth returns home after a battle for the defense of Scotland and King Duncan. On the way, he and his friend Banquo meet the three witches, and then the drama moves to a military camp, where the Scottish King Duncan hears the news that his generals,
A play that I have studied which explores the important theme of ambition is Macbeth, a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The Thane of Glamis receives prophecies from three witches, which Macbeth tells. However, the king must be killed for these prophecies to be fulfilled. Shakespeare uses characterisation and soliloquies to help us understand this theme. We are shown how ambition affects Scotland as a whole – we see how Shakespeare demonstrates how this can deeply affect characters and relationships between both couples and friends.