Macbeth Ambition Quotes
Macbeth Ambition Quotes Quote #1MACBETH
“My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.” (1.3.9) |
After the weird sisters predict that Macbeth will be king, his thoughts turn to "murder," which the sisters have said nothing about. Could it be that the witches' prophesy awakens within Macbeth a murderous ambition that was there all along? Quote #2MACBETH
[Aside]” 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.” (1.4.4) |
By the time Malcolm is proclaimed Prince of Cumberland and heir to the throne of Scotland, Macbeth is willing to push all morality aside. He knows that killing Duncan in order to become king is wrong, which is why he says it's necessary to hide his "black and deep" desires. Here, ambition is portrayed as something dark and ugly. Quote #3LADY MACBETH
“Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature;
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 attend it:” (1.5.1) |
After reading the letter from her husband (which recounts the witches' prophesy), Lady Macbeth's thoughts immediately turn to murder. In her mind, Macbeth must take action if he is to become king. Macbeth, she says, is certainly not without "ambition." The problem, as Lady Macbeth sees it, is that her husband is too "kind" to do what's necessary to achieve "greatness." Quote #4MACBETH
“I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.” (1.7.1) |
As Macbeth deliberates, he realizes that "vaulting ambition" is all that
“My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.” (1.3.9) |
After the weird sisters predict that Macbeth will be king, his thoughts turn to "murder," which the sisters have said nothing about. Could it be that the witches' prophesy awakens within Macbeth a murderous ambition that was there all along? Quote #2MACBETH
[Aside]” 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.” (1.4.4) |
By the time Malcolm is proclaimed Prince of Cumberland and heir to the throne of Scotland, Macbeth is willing to push all morality aside. He knows that killing Duncan in order to become king is wrong, which is why he says it's necessary to hide his "black and deep" desires. Here, ambition is portrayed as something dark and ugly. Quote #3LADY MACBETH
“Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature;
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 attend it:” (1.5.1) |
After reading the letter from her husband (which recounts the witches' prophesy), Lady Macbeth's thoughts immediately turn to murder. In her mind, Macbeth must take action if he is to become king. Macbeth, she says, is certainly not without "ambition." The problem, as Lady Macbeth sees it, is that her husband is too "kind" to do what's necessary to achieve "greatness." Quote #4MACBETH
“I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.” (1.7.1) |
As Macbeth deliberates, he realizes that "vaulting ambition" is all that