Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Is Lady Macbeth More Ambitious Than Macbeth?

Good Essays
454 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Is Lady Macbeth More Ambitious Than Macbeth?
Is Lady Macbeth more ambitious than Macbeth? Lady Macbeth has more ambition than Macbeth. When Lady Macbeth has received the letter from her husband, Macbeth, telling her about the three witches’ prophecies and the future king Macbeth, she decides to make it come true immediately. Macbeth who is loyal man and unwilled at first, but unfortunately gets convinced by Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is cold-blooded person as she thinks to regicide Duncan right after reading Macbeth’s letter. In the other hand, Macbeth is a brave soldier, a powerful man and also shows great loyalty. “I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none,” meaning that it is the power to put responsibility before selfishness. It tells us that Macbeth is too generous to kill King Duncan without good enough reason. He is born loyal. However Lady Macbeth convinced Macbeth to commit a dark act. He became indecisive and confused which eventually lead him to murder Duncan.
Lady Macbeth would do anything to fulfil her ambition where Macbeth has ambition but he is indecisive and afraid of the consequence that will come after murder of Duncan. She is stubborn because she encourages Macbeth to regicide. When Macbeth backs out, refusing to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth accuses Macbeth for being a coward. She also says he is not a man if he doesn’t murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth assures him that they won’t fail if they have courage. Definitely this is not exactly true and never right. This shows Lady Macbeth is desperate to fulfil her needs.
Macbeth is the one who kills King Duncan and he is the one who goes mad over his ambition. Macbeth is the one who decides to murder everyone who he thinks it will be a threat in the future. It is clearly not Macbeth’s fault that made him mad over power. The three witches are responsible as well but Lady Macbeth is the reason that made Macbeth chooses to decide Duncan and fulfil his needs.
The fact that Macbeth was unwilling to murder King Duncan showed us that he has the ambition but knows what is right or wrong. He was brave, smart and showed real loyalty in the beginning of the act and at the end where he regrets all his actions. And later in the act, Macbeth wishes that Lady Macbeth was still alive so he could blame her for all the actions. Lady Macbeth’s ambition is almost opposite to Macbeth’s. She is the type of person who is willing to achieve anything to fulfil her ambition. Lady Macbeth is the one who made all situations possible and it shows us that Lady Macbeth clearly has more ambition than Macbeth.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In my opinion Lady Macbeth is more responsible than macbeth for Duncan's murder. even though macbeth is more of the aggressive since he is the one who actually killed duncan, he had no intention of killing the king until his wife started harassing him. in act 1 scene 7 Lady Macbeth say "that made you break this enterprise to me? when you durst do it, then you were a man." In that quote she is basically saying he wont be a man until he kills the king.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They persauded Macbeth to kill people only because they wanted to be benefited. they were selfish and not worrying that they would soon turn Macbeth into a crazed lunatic The witches delighted in chaos and toil. They did not tell Macbeth what to do but they simply showed him what can happen through their prophecies and the apparitions they showed to Macbeth. Macbeth could've been a perfect target for them to bring about this chaos. Macbeth is a strong soldier, he has killed enemies in war, and perhaps the witches knew his true nature("by the prickling of my thumb, something wicked this way comes..."). The extent of their influenced is demonstrated through their predictions, they are temptations and a form of flattery which Macbeth eventually gave into. On one hand, Lady Macbeth has the far greater influence because she is Macbeth's wife and they share a passionate relationship together. Just like the witches she flatters him, but this time it is a direct flattery and a direct temptation towards him. As far as Macbeth being changed into a diffrent person, he himself is responsible for his own actions. The final decision lies within him and this was demonstrated when he carried out the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth acts as the catalyst for Macbeth. Macbeth realised that he would have to commit regicide (stars, hide your fires; let light not see my deep and black desires), but he was unwilling to do so. Lady Macbeth changes his mind by attacking his manhood, despite the brave acts he has commited as a soldier. She also flatters him shamelessly. The murder of Duncan sets Macbeth on the trail of evil, as he didn't consult his wife when he killed Banquo and Macduff's family. He didn't even care when she commited suicide. The witches represent the Three Fates in Greek Mythology. they connotate destiny, fate, etc. They delight and thrive in chaos and toil. In my opinion, the witches represent the primeval human emotions of hate and wickedness. They are all that is…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lady Macbeth's Crimes

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages

    First of all, Lady Macbeth instigates and incentives Macbeth to commit murder Duncan to achieve their ambition. Lady Macbeth, the only one female in Macbeth. She is a prime woman that always ask her…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    For starters Macbeth eager desire to be king causes him to kill King Duncan. Macbeth killing the king shows his ambition because he keeps enduring with the process of killing the King Duncan even though he had doubts. With the many doubts that Macbeth had such as he would not be loyal or he would be caught and killed he reassured himself and persevered through his thoughts to accomplish killing the king. Lady Macbeth has a variety of events that shows her ambition in this play. In the play Lady Macbeth prays to invite spirts to help prepare her for the actions that she has commit. Lady Macbeth shows how ambitious she is because she prays asking for her emotions to be removed and to be filled with cruel spirts to help her accomplish planning for the event of killing the King so that Macbeth can become…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A quote which really defines Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's ambition regarding power is "Power does not corrupt men; fools; however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power" George Bernard Shaw. Lady Macbeth is more ambitious in terms of gaining power then Macbeth is and that Lady Macbeth will do almost anything to gain power, even evil things that she normally wouldn't do. This is shown when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth learn about the witches' predictions, then roles in the plans to murder king Duncan in order to gain power and then finally after the murder, Macbeth doesn't want to finish the plan making Lady Macbeth angry and causing a chance they might get caught and gain no power at all.…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Is Lady Macbeth Evil

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lady Macbeth is greedy and ambitious. When Macbeth is considering not to go through with Duncan's murder Lady Macbeth says, “...Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire?” (1.7.42-44). Lady Macbeth is making Macbeth feel guilty and like a coward, because he is considering not to go through with the murder. She is going make Macbeth kill the king, because she…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story of Macbeth, an inherently good man who is slowly poisoned by the evil acts he commits to further his ambition, is a classic Shakespearean tragedy. Macbeth is first seen as a loyal, brave man, but as the play progresses, he begins to be overtaken by his darker side, partly due to the encouragement of his wife, Lady Macbeth. As Macbeth rises to power and gains the title of King of Scotland, both he and his wife become increasingly unhappy and feel extreme guilt for the murders they have taken part in. The play culminates with both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth dying, showing that evil actions have their consequences. However, though both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth were responsible for evil in the play, the witches (who told Macbeth that he would be king one day) were the ones who initially planted the seed of ambition and violence inside Macbeth. The witches are most responsible for the evil in Macbeth due to the fact that Macbeth would not have committed the murders if the prophecy had not been told.…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth is an ambitious and ruthless woman who desires power and status. She appears stronger and more callous than Macbeth as she manipulates him to assassinate Duncan. However, as the bloodshed continues, her guilty conscience becomes more affected than Macbeth’s. Unlike Macbeth, who grows insensitive to the murders that he has committed, she descends into madness and (apparently) commits suicide as she becomes less capable to withstand the horrors of her crime.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lady Macbeth Comparison

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both posses greedy and ambitious attributes. So far we have learned that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are very ambitious to gain kingship. At the end of Act I, Lady Macbeth uses her conniving manipulation skills, and then as a last resort uses her seductive manipulation skills to persuade Macbeth to follow through with the plan to kill the king. This proves that she is greedy because she will do anything in her power to get something she wants regardless of other people. Macbeth is ambitious in a different way.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeths Ambition

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Macbeth’s character is a clear example of how ambition corrupts man’s personality. After a brief period of hesitation, he finally decides to take the infamous way of murder in order to make his political desires come…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is Macbeth A Tyrant?

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Shakespeare wrote many works of literature that covered many different topics. In Macbeth, one of his main topics was ambition. Macbeth was driven by ambition causing him to commit his first murder. He then begins to commit other crimes including murder again in order to cover up for his other crimes. Eventually, Macbeth is seen as a tyrant that loses his life for it. We assume that Lady Macbeth also goes crazy but in reality she is plotting and calculating. Her greed and conscious begin to weigh heavy on her and she ends up committing suicide. Proof of this is when Lady Macbeth says, “It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without the illness should accompany it.” (N.p., n.d. Web Dec 2015). Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to become king so badly that she pushes him to commit murder so that he may become king. He ends up giving in to their ambition by killing Duncan after Lady Macbeth belittles him and makes him believe she will leave him. Although…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the beginning Lady Macbeth is viewed as very controlling, strong, and certain. “First, she has very little regard for her husband's humanity and actually derides him for being "too full o'th' milk of human kindness” (Thompson 1). This shows how cold Lady Macbeth is, as milk is the food of new born children, she is implying Macbeth is too much like a kind child to murder anyone. Once Macbeth has the courage to tell her he does not want to continue with the murder she rallies, calling him a ‘coward’, saying that if he could murder Duncan ‘he were a man’. This to Macbeth, a proud and mighty warrior is a deep insult, and he soon is convinced that he will carry out the murder.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth was a noble and loyal man, who would never harm his King. If it wasn't for the influences of the witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth, he would have lived happily as Thane of Cawdor, an honorable title in itself. The downfall of Macbeth was ignited by the actions by those around him, mainly, and eventually, his ambitions took over. Macbeth never had the intention of killing his king, but was ultimately persuaded that it was the correct thing to do. With his wife’s cajoling, and the three witches’ foretelling of his future Macbeth, will stop at nothing to gain position as King of Scotland.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the opening of the play, Lady Macbeth acts as an extremely manipulative individual who essentially controls her husband's actions. This is evident through the plot and ultimately the death of King Duncan. From the beginning, as soon as she has word of the witches’ prophecies, she starts plotting Duncan’s murder. Lady Macbeth targets Macbeth’s weak mind and his lack of initiative, “Art thou afraid to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would. (3.7.35-44)” Through intimidation and criticism , Lady Macbeth orchestrated Macbeth’s transformation into a monster. Initially Macbeth was portrayed as a noble person and an independent thinker. He was a loyal subject of Duncan and a friend to Banquo. However, his desire to be king proved to be another flaw that Lady Macbeth exploited. His ambition was his downfall as he would do anything, including committing murder, to become king. In essence, the quote introduces a pivotal theme of the play:…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth in the beginning of the play is a noble, humble and honourable person who, without question would sacrifice his life for the liberty of his King, Duncan. As the play progresses he attitude towards life in general changes completely, mainly due to the pressure that Lady Macbeth inflicts on him. However, Lady Macbeth has quite a surprising personality as she is not the stereotypical Elizabethan woman. Lady Macbeth is expected to be fragile, meek, innocent and comforting but in this unusual circumstance Lady Macbeth would very much rather “dashed the brains out” of an infant child. This is plain evidence to suggest that Lady Macbeth is of no stable condition. In addition to this surprising fact Lady Macbeth is cunning and bloodthirsty. She demands Macbeth in Act one, Scene Five to “look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”. It is very common for a man to demand a female to pursue tasks but for a woman to demand a man, especially of something like sacrilege, is very unusual. This could mean two things, Macbeth is weak and is unable to depict his own decisions or/and that Macbeth is mentally deteriorating. Macbeth reason with Lady Macbeths orders in his soliloquy in Act one, Scene seven and from the things he…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays