4.1.1
Power & Ambition
Unambitious Macbeth?
Unambitious Macbeth?
At the start of the play, Macbeth does not seem to be very ambitious. His wife, Lady Macbeth, is much more ambitious for him than he is for himself.
Macbeth's perspective
Macbeth's perspective
- At the start of the play, Macbeth does not seem to be ambitious.
- He is already a thane, so he has some social status. He does not seem to want more.
- When he is given the title, ‘Thane of Cawdor’, he is surprised.
Lady Macbeth's perspective
Lady Macbeth's perspective
- Lady Macbeth is more ambitious for her husband.
- She believes he deserves more than he has, but that he is too nice for his own good. She thinks he won’t go after power: ‘Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promis’d; yet do I fear thy nature, / It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way’ (1,5).
- Lady Macbeth thinks Macbeth does have ambition, but he is too good, gentle and kind to go after what he wants: ‘Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it’ (1,5).
Significance of ambition
Significance of ambition
- Shakespeare links having ambition with evil and committing evil deeds.
- Some people think that Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to murder King Duncan because of her own ambition.
Significance of Macbeth's Ambition
Significance of Macbeth's Ambition
Macbeth's growing ambition eventually causes his downfall. He becomes paranoid as a result of his ambition.
Significance of damnation
Significance of damnation
- At the time the play was set, people believed in heaven and hell.
- If someone went against God’s will, they would be damned (condemned) in the afterlife and punished in hell for all eternity.
- This was often seen as more frightening than allowing harm to happen to you while you were alive.
- Once Macbeth has damned (condemned) himself by killing King Duncan, nothing he can do will save his mortal soul.
- He might as well pursue all his ambitions and kill anyone who gets in his way because his punishment by God has already been decided!
Paranoia
Paranoia
- After the death of King Duncan, Macbeth cannot cope with what he has done (perhaps his religious guilt comes into play here).
- He becomes more and more paranoid. The price of fulfilling his ambition was not worth it: ‘I have liv’d long enough. My way of life / Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf, / And that which should accompany old age, / As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, / I must not look to have’ (5,3).
- Macbeth lists all of the things he should have had in later life, like an honourable reputation and many friends. He has lost everything by going after the crown.
Causes downfall
Causes downfall
- You could argue that ambition causes Macbeth's downfall.
- Macbeth’s ambition changes his life from good to horrific and causes his death.
- It is caused by the outside force of the witches’ prophecies.
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth make huge errors in judgement as they allow their greedy desire for power to overtake them.
- The audience can see their bad choices building up throughout the play, and they know that it cannot end well for either character.
- Therefore, the tragic mood of the play starts as soon as Macbeth meets the witches in Act 1 and gets worse until he eventually dies in Act 5.
1Literary & Cultural Context
2Plot Summary
3Characters
3.1Macbeth
3.2Lady Macbeth
3.3Other Characters
3.4Grade 9 - Key Characters
4Themes
4.1Themes
4.2Grade 9 - Themes
5Writer's Techniques
5.1Structure, Meter & Other Literary Techniques
Jump to other topics
1Literary & Cultural Context
2Plot Summary
3Characters
3.1Macbeth
3.2Lady Macbeth
3.3Other Characters
3.4Grade 9 - Key Characters
4Themes
4.1Themes
4.2Grade 9 - Themes
5Writer's Techniques
5.1Structure, Meter & Other Literary Techniques
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