Preview

Ambition And Greed In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
218 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ambition And Greed In Macbeth By William Shakespeare
Greed is like an ocean - it can pull you under and make you drown. Poet and playwright, William Shakespeare, in his play Macbeth portrays how ambition can lead individuals to their downfall due to their selfish actions. Macbeth, the main protagonist, lets his ambition get the best of him, causing him to commit several heinous deeds such as murder. Through Macbeth’s egocentric actions, the audience realizes how internal desires such as pride, ambition, and greed can lead to complete impairment when ambition goes unchecked. Macbeth’s journey to his self destruction may have been commenced by his inner ambitions, but it was ignited by his pride. Once hearing about the witches prophecy that he would one day become king, Macbeth fabricated

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Although ambition is typically described as a positive quality that promotes the betterment of oneself and success in an individual’s life, an overabundance of ambition soon leads to the opposite effect. This lack of self-control over one's desires eventually leads that person losing their sense of morality and caution, which results in their demise. This is the case in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, in which the titular character’s over-ambitious nature leads him to sacrifice his honour in order to pursue his goal of becoming the king. His greed transforms him from a morally upright noble into a despicably ruthless villain. This dramatic change in character is shown through his many soliloquies and asides that reveal his innermost thoughts of initial doubt, but by the end, his arrogant and foolish personality. Through the tale of this tragic character, Shakespeare suggests that ambition without self-control is a harmful quality that leads to the corruption and the downfall of a once righteous person.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is a thin line between greed and ambition in the tragedy play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. Many people, who seek success, crave power, recognition, and money.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Watch as Macbeth drives himself insane trying to claim the throne. He hears that the Thane of Cawdor died and he could become king. The Thane of Glamis develops an ambition to be king and kills Duncan, who is already the king. Killing Duncan drives Macbeth insane, and eventually, he loses all feelings towards life or death and goes numb. Since Macbeth’s ambition is to become king he is willing to do anything, but because of this, he begins to go psychotic by the end of the play.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people have hopes and goals that they would like to accomplish. They may desire powerful positions or jobs, while others may desire prosperity and riches. This is known as ambition, the spell binding force that leads people towards success. However, ambition may result in harmful acts to get their satisfaction. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, is described as a very loyal and noble soldier. As the play progresses, Macbeth’s character dramatically changes because of several different factors. These factors influence Macbeth greatly and cause him to make numerous bad decisions. The influence of the witches’ prophecies, the influence of Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth’s blind ambitions are the most important factors that lead to Macbeth’s tragic deterioration.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When Macbeth says, "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.", he is talking about the murders and the lies he has to keep up with. "Things bad begun" means that he started off doing wrong when he committed the first murder. "make themselves strong by ill." means that once he continued on murder to maintain the crown things had only gotten worse, and he started to lose his mind with all the guilt he had to live with. A major theme in Macbeth is unchecked ambition, or a strong drive for success that can't be controlled. This theme represents a comment on life because most of us are all caught up on what we want ourselves to become, we would be willing to manipulate other to get to the top.…

    • 131 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A knight’s moral code, that is taken by heart, is to always protect and serve. The Tragedy of Macbeth by Shakespeare is a tragedy about how a knight is stuck in between loyalty and ambition. Three witches tell Macbeth he would become Thane of Cawdor and later king. Once Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth pressured by his wife, begins to see his future as king, but realizes he has obstacles in the way. Pressured by Lady Macbeth, the three witches, and his ambition for the throne, Macbeth commits murder under trust and treason.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Author Criss Jami once said, “Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction” (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4860176.Criss_Jami). With this quote he explains that, oftentimes, truthfulness can be more misleading than dishonesty. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play about ambition and greed. After hearing prophesies from three witches that he will be king, Macbeth becomes a power hungry killer who annihilates anyone standing in his way. The women in Macbeth’s life are deceptive and give him a false sense of hope and security which he uses as fuel for his selfish plans. The misleading…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth Ambition Analysis

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Given these points, one can conclude the leading theme in The Tragedy of Macbeth is ambition. Through the examples of characteristics, actions and events, and quotes, one can find that the characters in the play clearly portray ambition, determination, and a strong willed attitude. The reader can also see that all the characters throughout the story provide an absolute depiction of the attribute ambition. The Tragedy…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greed In Macbeth

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The play Macbeth is about a man who meets three witches who tell him about his future. He doesn’t really like what they tell him, so he kills people who get in his way of becoming King. His actions end up catching up with him which results in his death which was a tragedy. Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy of Macbeth because she was convincing, manipulative, and greedy.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greed in Macbeth

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Greed is the excessive desire to acquire or possess more, and it is also one of the biggest creators of tragedy. This is so vividly shown in both the novel The Sun Also Rises and in the play Macbeth. In The Sun Also Rises, this greed is directed toward a person, Lady Brett Ashley. Five men; Mike, Jake, Pedro, Bill, and the Count, are fighting to be with her throughout the book. In Macbeth, this greed is directed toward power as Macbeth wanted to become King, and what he does to become it. However, this greed led to the collapse of each character. Lady Ashley left all five men, leaving them devastated, while in Macbeth; an opposing army overthrew Macbeth. In both stories, greed drives the main character to do something, which is then achieved, but eventually leads to the fall of him. The Sun Also Rises and Macbeth, greed causes the ultimate downfall of the main character.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greed, Guilt, and Grave In the Elizabethan era Shakespeare, a well known playwright, wrote a play about the extents human greed and how guilt eats at the soul. In order to accomplish this feat, Shakespeare tells the story of Macbeth and his quest to become king of Scotland. Throughout The Tragedy of Macbeth Shakespeare illustrates the effects of greed and guilt on two people, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, both of whom react differently to the choices placed before them. Lady Macbeth, once willing to do anything for power, ends the play broken and suicidal due to her inability to cope with the guilt of her actions.…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeths Ambition

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Political ambition undermines man’s loyalty. In the play, Macbeth decides to kill his king because of his ambition for position. At the beginning of the play, he portrays himself as a noble person. He fights in the battle against Norway and proves his loyalty; however, as soon as the witches prophesize that Macbeth “shall be king hereafter” (1.3.53), he is not longer trustworthy. Ambition for power starts creeping into his head. After Macbeth’s internal conflict over whether or not to kill Duncan, he decides to do it quickly (1.7.3) in order to hasten the predictions. He decides to kill the king because he wants to extend his power all over the country by becoming the new monarch. He desires to be more wealthy and respected by the nobility as well as by the common people. Becoming king represents the highest rang in the political pyramid. The act of murdering is the only way to make his dreams come true because Duncan’s fair and prosperous rule over Scotland experience the support of the whole population. As Malcolm…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Role Of Greed In Macbeth

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Greed is the most powerful thing that influences the actions of others. After Macbeth hears about the prophecy, he knows that he is going to become king sooner or later. He gets the chance to kill the king and he does, leaving himself the title of king. Greed took over Macbeth and it even traveled into Lady Macbeth’s head too. She finds out about the prophecy and urges him to kill King Duncan just because she wants power. Greed is a very powerful motivator and can lead to awful…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ambition can be described as a dangerous quality but also a desirable one because it sets our goals and helps lead us to where we want to be. Macbeth and Mark Zuckerberg are both ambitious in their own ways to achieve their goals. They both have the right mindset, motivation and lack the negativity to not do so. Both Macbeth and Mark went through a lot to reach their goals and they were both ambitious in doing so, but the real question that comes to mind is “what is the true cost of ambition”?…

    • 1661 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The main theme of Macbeth is the destruction wrought when visions of reality are blurred by ambition, and it finds its expression in the play’s two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is a Scottish general with undying devotion to the King of Scots, Duncan, and seems incapable of doing wrong. Yet his ambition and desires clouds his judgment. Lady Macbeth has greater determination than Macbeth, but she is less capable of containing the guilt brought by her deeds. With one hand in touch with reality and the other far from it, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare's play Macbeth struggle with ambition, the disregardment of basic human emotions, and personal hatred.…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays