Macbeth - Ambition

Macbeth - Ambition

1. Macbeth seems clear that it his ambition that drives his murderous actions, quoted in Act 1 that his sense of ambition is "vaulting".

   • When Macbeth plans to murder King Duncan, his moral code is still evident - it is just "vaulted" by his ambition. We can really see Macbeth struggling with the evil he is about to commit:
     • "Why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair"

2. Macbeth's ambition

   • Lady Macbeth is the driving force that encourages him to overcome his strong sense of guilt and take action against the prophesies.
     • Shakespeare does not give either characters an opportunity to enjoy their achievements - perhaps suggesting that it is more satisfying to achieve your goals fairly than to achieve them through corruption.
       • Macduff demonstrates a moral code is more important in positions of power than blind ambition.
   • Once Macbeth has a taste of power, he's willing to kill anyone (men, women and children) who he thinks might undermine his seat on Scotland's throne. He puts his own desires before the good of his country, and, in the end, is destroyed by that ambition.
   • Macbeth's exceeding ambition, which represents evil, is so overwhelming that in the struggle with it his moral consciousness and better feelings get defeated and leave him utterly wretched. His passion for power and instinct of self-assertion are so vehement that no inward or outward misery could persuade him to relinquish crime, or to advance from remorse to repentance

3. Presented as a dangerous quality which causes the downfall of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth; ambition is the driving force of the play.