Macbeth himself quotes, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting Ambition, which o'er-leaps itself and falls in the other." The words, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition..." shows that Macbeth knows and admits to us that the only reason he does the terrible deed of murdering the king was for his own personal gains. This shows Macbeth has already become a victim of ambition. The words "vaulting" and "o'er-leaps itself and falls in the other" indicates to us that Macbeth wants his desires to jump ahead of itself, as he is very ambitious. However, this also indicates that his ambitious desires can lead him to a possible downfall.
It was his belief in their words, and his own ambitious nature that led to his crimes, and his condemnation. However, it is not only Macbeth’s ambition that condemns him in the eyes of the reader, but also his callous disregard for human life. This mentality was clear when Macbeth organised the murder of his own friend, Banquo, based on fears that Banquo’s sons would succeed him
An example of this is his lack of any legitimate reasons for killing King Duncan and obtaining the throne except for his own ambition and greed to become king. The prophecies that Macbeth receives from the witches seem so true that he relies on the words of these predictions alone, instead of taking action himself to secure the works of the prophecies. Macbeth let his ambition blind him; as did the ruler in “Ozymandias”. Another consequence of ambition is loneliness. Ozymandias and Macbeth had so much ambition that they put themselves above all of their peers and former supporters.
Vernon Campbell Comparative Essay Ambition is a typical demise for those who pursue and gain power. Shakespeare Macbeth and Shelly’s Ozymandias covey the characteristics of over ambitious kings with presumptuous natures resulting in their down fall. A distinctive flaw of ambition is that now and again people can be exceedingly ambitious, or lack ambition. As a person becomes too ambitious it can become too overwhelming and get the better of a them. In the different time periods that they ruled, Macbeth and Ozymandias were very commanding kings.
Discuss how the characters of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Duncan are established in Act I by using textual evidence to support your points. Macbeth: “return to plague the inventor” Macbeth is a person that knows what he must do but is doubtful of it. He is the war hero and got news of his promotion by the witches, who also said he would be promoted further. To make their prophecy come true he must kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth: “unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty” Lady Macbeth is the “true” evil.
Ambition brings about the success and downfall of Macbeth; Lady Macbeth’s ambition got Macbeth started on success, then his own ambition led him the rest of the way to his eventual downfall. In Macbeth it is arguable who has the most ambition throughout the story but also proves too much ambition can be a bad thing. So how much ambition is too
However, Claudius had a chance to make a choice, but since his desires for power and treasures were so overwhelming, he chose the murderous path. Knight states "Claudius cannot be blamed for his actions/ they are [rather] forced on him," (Knight, 6-7) and he argues that Claudius's murderous actions and plot of killing were backed up by self-defense to protect from Hamlet from taking away his throne and love of his life. Knight argued that his human sins of greed and envy foreshadowed his rightful judgment which leads him into these behaviors of wanting everything for himself. Furthermore, Knight claims that Hamlet is "inhuman, whose consciousness is centered on death/ As King of Denmark he would have a thousand times more dangerous than Claudius" (Knight, 9-10) because of the impact of finding out the truth
His Desire to Kill the King Even Before Meeting the Witches 5 4. Conclusion 5 Bibliography 7 ii Abstract In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, elements related to Fate and elements related to Free Will both can be found. But the general view toward this play is that Fate led Macbeth to his downfall. By providing evidence from the text, this article tries to reject this general view by clarifying to some extent the boundaries of Fate and Free Will and showing that the elements related to Free Will seem to have stronger effect on Macbeth than the elements related to Fate. Macbeth is a very ambitious person and in order to be the king, he does whatever he can to achieve this goal; no matter how evil those actions are.
English – How does Shakespeare explore ideas in Macbeth? Macbeth is and will forever remain Shakespeare’s most famous and celebrated tragedy. The play is much deeper than just a tragedy however, with Shakespeare subtly exploring several ideas and themes. His work provides prime examples of many structural and language techniques, including imagery, contrast, dialogue and symbolism. There were numerous ideas explored in the play, including those of ambition and power & authority.
In part of the play, Macbeth even admits to his ambition, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, and falls on the other." As a result, many decisions were influenced negatively. His choice to kill the king was made too quickly, and had begun the snowballing effect of killing innocent people. After the witches had told Macbeth the four apparitions, he felt as though Banquo needed to be killed, since he was in the way of Macbeths becoming king. Other Characters in the play greatly influenced Macbeth.