macbeth is a play centered on ambition

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macbeth -ambition

macbeth is a play which i centered on ambition. consider this statements truth with reference to the text

a critic has once compared macbeths asides and soliloquys as "dark riddles on the human mind" . i believe that the charachter of macebth is used as center point for these stylistic tools, which are cleverly employed by shakespeare in order to allow us an insight into the affects that power and ambition can have on the human mind, aswell as how it can provide us with an altered perception of reality.

this ambition is introduced to the eponymous charachter macbeth through prophecies which are deivered to him by the three witches. one by one they echo eachother "thane of glamis""thane of cawdor" and "macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter". this is when macbeth, who is a lready thane of glamis, is given the first glimpse of what he could become. however he does not take these prophecies very seriously at first, not trusting the equivocal nature of these "imperfect speakers".yet, when he is given the title thane of cawdor shortly after, by king duncan, and althogh at first he atempts to rejects this, we quickly see his interest spark, and his ambitions grow. however Banquo, who we have seen to be macbeths counterpart in battle, was also given a prophecy by the witches. he was told that his children would be kings and yet, he does not celebrate his prophecies, as he advises macbeth that "oftentimes to win us to our harm, the instuments of darkness tell us truths". although these two men have been portrayed through rumor and shared iambic pentameters, it seems as though there comes a divide in judgment when given the prophecies. perhaps this is because banqou is the stronger moral charachter ,who does not let ambition cloud his judgement. macbeths nature however seems altered almost immediatly after the prophecies have been given and his ambition sparks. His mind immediatly jumps to crude and unnatural thoughts of regicide whose "horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs", and thus we begin to see the immoral affects ambition and desire can have.

the indecent affects of the ambition which we have seen cast over macbeths character are also clearly seen to affect his wife aswell. immediatly upon recieving the letter in which macbeths tells her about the prophecies and his new title, we see her turn , with little indecision, to "spirits that tend on mortal thoughts" asking them to "unsex her" and "fill me from the crown to the toe, top full of direst cruelty". she immediatly transforms into a cruel and manipulative woman who has completely abandon her femininity in order to be filled with the power to blackmail her husband into murdering there king, completely drivin by her desire supremacy. she spurs him on by threathening him telling him he is not a amn and comparing him to milk,babies, and other feminine images. she even tells him he must kill the king as she has "given suck, and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me:i would, while it was iling in my face, have pluck'd my nipple rom his boneless gums, and dashedthe brains out, had i so sworn as you have done to this".these unnatural actions are furthered through macbeth murdering the king and then framing his soldiers,in order to become king himself and fulfill the prophecies, and although he is plagued by figments of his own imagination caused by the guilt of his actions, his ambition continues to spur him on to murder banqou, his best friend and partner on the battlefield.he does this in order to make sure banquo does not threaten his place on the throne as he has suspicious that macebth " play'd most foully for't". clearly the ambition that has brought him this far still holds him in a tight grip.

as the play nears its end we see the ambition which have taken over macbeth truely ravage his mind, twisting his perception of reality and sending him into a frenzy of bad decision and ill-judged bravery. AS act 4 begins we see macbeth turn to the witches for help, seeking them out in order to know more about the prophecies while completely disregarding the warnings from banquo and indeed his own concions.it seems as though the ambition which was first introduced by these supernatural figures, has now consumed him nd brought him back to them in order to secure himself in this righteous position he has been seeking throughout the play. another example of macbeth losing his elff-control and his grip on reality is during act 5. we see him become so completely fixated on the prophecies which console his desire to become king, that he doesnt seem to be able to rasp the reality of the situation and the danger he is in ,as the army led my malcom and macduff approaches his castle.instead he remains in the castle, overcome in the belief that "none of woman born shall harm macbeth" and that he shall not be vanquished until"great birnam wood to high dunsinane hill shall come against him". it is undeniably obvious to us as an audience at this point that the ambition and purpose which once motivated macbeth has finally taken complete reign over macbeths judgments.This is a clever irony employed by shakespeare, as in the past we have seen the ambition urge macbeth to control everything around him out of fear of failure, for example, murdering banquo in order o cover up the regicid and keep himself safe.now however we see that the ambition has consumed him completely, and while it has complete control over him, he no longer has control of the situation around him.

it has become clear to us as an audience by the final act, that the ambition which macbeth found within the prophecies has been the cause to all of his axctios, and hence has eventually taken over him, but we also see how macebths weak moral codes in comparison to banquo, have allowed this ambition to lead him to dishonourable desicsions and completely change his comcept of reality.

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