In society, humans are never satisfied. They always want more from themselves, from others, and from the world around them. People use ambition to make this happen by challenging fate and striving for what they desire, which could result in good or bad outcomes. Ambition is a desire for change, which can either cause success or destruction in a person. People who are influenced by ambition can achieve great things, whereas others, who are tempted by these desires, and will do anything to achieve them, may be destroyed. The latter is the case in William Shakespeare’s dramatic tragedy, “Macbeth”. In Shakespeare’s play, “Macbeth”, the theme vaulting ambition is portrayed because it leads to Macbeth’s eventual downfall and destruction, and …show more content…
At the beginning of this play, and before his ambition takes over, Macbeth is a noble, honest man who is portrayed as an honorable man. He devotes himself to serving Duncan, the Kind of Scotland, especially when he fights a battle for his country, which portrays him as a hero. This all shows how he is loyal and honored within society in the beginning of the play, but that takes a sudden turn. The three witches give prophecies that claim that Macbeth will be king, which sparks Macbeth’s ambition. He wants to vault ahead, test fate, and become king without waiting for his time to come. These ambitions begin a tragic downward spiral for Macbeth in which he could never recover from as it leads to his destruction. His mind becomes filled with evil and lies, and his desire for power becomes increasingly large. Macbeth exclaims, “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down or else o’erleap, for in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done, to see” …show more content…
He even kills innocent people in order to keep his position. Originally, Lady Macbeth was the one who fueled Macbeth into killing Duncan, but after, Macbeth becomes the puppet master of his own life. He begins to take care of anything else by making his own decision, such as murdering Banquo, which Lady Macbeth did not have a say in. He does this because he wants to remain in power. Also, Lady Macbeth’s influence in the beginning of the play resulted in the new Macbeth as well. Lady Macbeth claimed, “Thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it” (Shakespeare 31), which was a lesson that became stuck in Macbeth’s mind. He forever feels that the way to achieve what he desires is to use ambition and attain it on his own. He becomes obsessed with reigning as King, as he will do anything to stop whatever comes his way. Ross says, “Alas, poor country, almost afraid to know itself. It cannot be called our mother, but our grave, where nothing but who knows nothing is once seen to smile; where sighs and groans and shrieks that rent the air are made, not marked; where violent sorrow seems a modern ecstasy. The dead man’s knell is there scare asked for who, and good men’s lives expire before the flowers in their caps, dying or ere they sicken” (Shakespeare 151). This shows that Macbeth had