Ambition's Impact In Macbeth

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Ambition’s Impact “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”(John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton) . However, for some men, the idea of having power at all or entitlement to something is enough to turn them from being great men to power crazed cowards. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a man’s ambition leads him to abandon all morals in a vain bid for the throne of Scotland. Through Lady Macbeth, Malcolm, and Macbeth, Shakespeare exemplifies that unchecked ambition can lead to madness, controlled motivation can lead to success, and being power hungry leads to unnecessary violence towards others. One cannot blame the actions of the main character, Macbeth, solely on Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is a cruel woman who acts on instinct rather than considering…show more content…
He knows how to motivate someone, which is a sign of a good leader. He feels that he has a right to the crown, being the rightful heir to King Duncan. Malcolm wants revenge for Macbeth killing his father, and Macduff helps Malcolm by turning his rage into controlled motivation. Immediately after King Duncan’s death, Malcolm forgets all his moral values, and becomes more like Macbeth than Malcolm wants. When Macduff gets news of his family being killed Malcolm tells him to “dispute it like a man”. (IV.iii.221) Malcolm then comes back to his ethics and he begins to understand Macduff’s hurt, but he tells Macduff let “be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief convert to anger; blunt not the heart, enrage it.” (IV.iii.230-231) Malcolm attempts to motivate Macduff into action, so that Malcolm can get his revenge as well. Malcolm is young and he does not understand the meaning of a family to a man. It is a man’s safe haven, and is a man’s soft underbelly that is supposed to be left out of disputes involving another man. The ambition of Malcolm to kill Macbeth is great, yet he does still have a heart and feelings for other human beings; a stark contrast compared to…show more content…
He is a merciless king who kills all in his path to the throne of Scotland; this ambition leads to unnecessary violence towards others. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a courageous, battle proven hero. During the opening scenes of the play, the audience has no idea that such a change of character could happen. Macbeth is convinced into his first murder, being King Duncan, by his wife, Lady Macbeth. The devil, or the evil spirits, take up many disguises, one of which is through Lady Macbeth. Our tragic hero does not realize that every murder will come back to haunt him. We begin to see the slippery slope Macbeth slides down as he promptly kills his best friend, Banquo, and attempts to murder Banquo’s only child, Fleance, without any outside influences. He was content killing his closest ally because he worries about the witches prophecy that “the seeds of Banquo’s kings, rather than so, come fate into the list, and champion me to the utterance…” (III.I.70-73). Even when you believe Macbeth cannot be any worse he slaughters Macduff’s entire family when he hears Macduff has fled to England; he said that he would “give to the edge o’the sword his wife, babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line”. Macbeth does this in the hopes that it crushes Macduff, and in turn, crush the uprising. However it ends up motivating him through the conversations Macduff has with

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