Macbeth

Kenneth Oommen

Mr. Brook

ENG3U

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The Unchecked Ambition Of Macbeth

Although Lady Macbeth has a lust for power, it is Macbeth's unchecked ambition that causes their downfall. Ambition of a person can become both evil and goo, but it is all depends on the type of the purpose or the goal they wanted to get. Here, in this Scottish play, Macbeth's His ambition makes him a murderer and a mad person.

Macbeth choose killing when he is faced with a choice of either killing Duncan to become the king or abandon his ambition of becoming the king.

Macbeth was so ambitious to become a king after the witches said that he will become the King of Scotland. After that in his mind when Macbeth faces with the choice of choosing either killing Duncan to become the king or just quitting his ambition of becoming a king, he chooses to kill Duncan as his vaulting or unchecked ambition changed his mind to do so. In Act 1 Scene 7 Macbeth says:

To prick the sides of my intent, but only

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself

And falls on th' other (Act 1 Sc. 7, p.41).

Even if he doesn't want to kill anyone, his unchecked ambition for the power makes him to kill even his own keens.

The lust, and greed of Macbeth make his ambition even more worst. After killing Duncan he feels more confident to do anything for the title as a king and his greediness has increased which accelerates his ambition even more which makes him to betray his own friend Banquo. He knows by hearing the prophecy of the witches that he has to kill Banquo also to become the King of Scotland.

After killing Banquo and Duncan, Macbeth is more ambitious to become the king of Scotland and finally after he becomes king, he becomes mad by seeing the ghost of Banquo. He is saying in the Scottish play that he is overleaping from one to another due to the unchecked ambition for the power. In the play, he says

The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step

On which I must fall...