Throughout the story of Macbeth, Macbeth’s ambition for power, provoked by his significant other, Lady Macbeth, and the witches’ prophecies consumed his life. At first he committed murder against King Duncan so he could become king himself, but the one murder had a domino affect. Although ambition can be a positive attribute for someone to acquire, Macbeth’s ambition began in Act One and proved dangerous as his death approached in Act Five. In Act One of Macbeth, Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches that tell them three prophecies. One at a time, each witch mentioned a prophecy, “All hail Macbeth, Thane of Glamis! / All hail Macbeth, Thane of Cawdor! / All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (1:3 49-51). What the witches said was …show more content…
She persuades Macbeth into murdering Duncan. Macbeth was reluctant to commit the murder. During Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s conversation he mentioned, “If we should fail?” (1:7 59) and Lady Macbeth replied with a long statement explaining that they will not fail. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth then configured their plan: Lady Macbeth was to make the guards drunk and ring the bell once it is safe for Macbeth to go kill King Duncan. Once Macbeth completed his mission, he went back to Lady Macbeth with the bloody daggers and proudly stated, “I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?” Lady Macbeth became enraged when she saw he had the daggers and told him he needed to bring them back to the crime scene. Macbeth also says how he heard someone scream, “murder!” (2:2 25-26). This is a sign of Macbeth’s dirty conscious. Although Macbeth’s conscious is in this state, it becomes overridden by his ambition for power. Even while knowing killing someone is sinful, he still murders his beloved king and friend, Duncan. Without Lady Macbeth pressuring him the way she did, Macbeth will not gain the ambition and immense strive for power he does
Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (I.3.51-53). The witches' words are a catalyst, fueling Macbeth's ambition and setting him on a treacherous path.
The character of Lady Macbeth played a significant role in Macbeth’s downfall, because by taunting her husband into killing King Duncan, she had led him to a major murder path. Before the murder of Duncan, Macbeth has momentous misgivings. He states, act 1, scene 7 “He’s here in double trust:/ First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,” (12-13). This quote shows that Macbeth didn’t want to kill Duncan because he’s done him good.
Macbeth is also one of the most ambitious character as he does many crimes to achieve the power and become the King. Macbeth’s ambition started when the witches told him about the prophecies because of these prophecies he killed King Duncan and planned to kill Banquo. Before Macbeth killed the King, even though he was really ambitious he still thought before killing Duncan this shows ambition in a positive way. However, he still killed King Duncan this shows ambition in a negative way. The first time Macbeth met the witches one thing they said to Banquo was that his son will rule the world in the fear that someone will take his kingship he tried to kill Banquo’s son.
Macbeth come across the three witches, there they state, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor” (Act 1, Scene 3). In reply to the three witches, Macbeth demanded “stay you imperfect speakers! Tell me more”. With just these few statements announced, Macbeth’s thirst for power and glory arises and is clearly seen.
Lady Macbeth probably thought Macbeth couldn’t pull of the murder without her help. She doesn't stop there though. Lady Macbeth goes even farther by planting the daggers for Macbeth. Something else Lady Macbeth says while waiting for Macbeth is, “Hark!
Finally, the vision of a bloody dagger that emerged right before the murder emboldened Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Prior to murdering Duncan, Macbeth was hesitant about following through with his wife 's merciless task. He doubted that he was able to murder one of his most loyal friends, until he saw the vision. On page 43, Act II, scene I, Macbeth sees the apparition: "Is this a dagger that I see before me with its handle turned to my hand?" Macbeth contemplates whether it is a figure of his imagination prompted on by his already guilty conscience, or a supernatural encounter that is compelling him to do the deed.
The first thing the witches told Macbeth is that he will end up being king of Scotland. “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king
In the play Macbeth, written by Shakespeare himself in 1606, unnatural and ironic events occur. In the play, Shakespeare attempts to show how ambition and contradiction can lead to terrible consequences: for example, by Macbeth trying to secure his place as King on the throne, he ends up not only losing his life but also his place as King. During the play “Macbeth” Shakespeare creates two characters named Lady Macbeth and Macbeth whose relationship is once based off love, later on in the story begins to be based off power. In some situations, women can be the downfall of men as Lady Macbeth is to Macbeth in the play “Macbeth”. Lady Macbeth is power hungry and wants to be king but can’t due to her gender.
The next step the reader sees of Macbeth’s growing ambition is in Act II. Macbeth is writing a letter to his wife informing her of the prophecies made by the Weird Sisters, and also of the King’s intentions to visit their household that evening. Reading this, Lady Macbeth promptly concocts a plan to murder the King in their household. That night, Macbeth tries to draw off the plan, “We will proceed no further in this business” (1.7.31). This shows that Macbeth’s ambition has not become so strong as to kill someone, nonetheless, this does not last long.
Lady Macbeth is power hungry for the throne and she will do anything to achieve her goal. Her pleasure of having the thought of killing Duncan is revealed. These murderous thoughts that run through her mind shows how desperate she is to acquire power. Although it is the beginning of the play, her dark ambitions sets a dark tone for her character in the play. This coincidentally adds to the assurance of Macbeth’s prophecy which is that Macbeth will become king, but King Duncan is still alive.
Because the prophecy decreed Banquo’s sons kings, Macbeth is worried about his legacy not being carried on, and Duncan’s death being for nothing. To prevent killing in vain, Macbeth decided to kill again. This vicious cycle leads to him giving up some of his self control every time he
After killing Duncan, Macbeth’s mental state changes completely. The difference between the moment before the murder and the moment after is that Macbeth’s lack of determination. He feels personally responsible for the murder and wishes it never happened. Thus, he is afraid to look at the dead body and face what he has done (2.2.54-56). His regret of the murder shows the transformation of Macbeth’s attitude: he lets his remorse overpower him to the point of madness.
Macbeth feels his destiny is to murder King Duncan and become the King of Scotland, which is why Macbeth promises Lady Macbeth achieve his destiny. Therefore, Macbeth’s ambition for power leads to the death of King Duncan. Moreover, Macbeth’s ambition for power triggers the massacre the ones who impede him from his pathway to the Scottish Throne. First, Macbeth has murderers kill Banquo to avoid obstructions in his plan to become the King of Scotland. Macbeth tells the three murderers hired: “…
Macbeth chose to listen and accept the prophecy as truth even though he had no proof. Although the witches influence Macbeth they did not suggest to Macbeth to kill the king, he got that idea from his selfish thoughts. After the witches visit Macbeth he goes to his wife about his thoughts of killing the king. Lady Macbeth encourages murder because that’s the only way she thinks Macbeth can become king.
Macbeth is also a power hungry man who would do just about anything to achieve his goal of becoming King. When Macbeth first hears the prophecies from the three witches he instantly became invested with the journey to become king. Similar to Lady Macbeth, nothing was going to come between him and his potential power, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man. That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.52-55). This quote exemplifies how Macbeth’s initial solution to becoming king was murder.