Macbeth Ambition Research Paper

When looking at the desire within humans that gives people the desire to achieve, the desire known as ambition, is ambition the ingredient that is necessary to completing the sweet recipe of success, or is it the drop of poison that causes the ill will of others when ingested? According to William Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, it appears that ambition can, in fact, be both. In the story of Macbeth, Macbeth is a Scottish general who served under the King Duncan, who ruled Scotland at the time, but Macbeth aspired to be the King of Scotland himself and thanks to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth murders King Duncan and eventually becomes king, but from thereon is when Macbeth is to meet his downfall. In the gist of the story, ambition was what brought …show more content…
In describing her own husband, Lady Macbeth states that Macbeth “is too full o’ the milk of human kindness…” (Shakespeare). Metaphorically speaking, Lady Macbeth is describing that Macbeth is too soft in his mannerisms and that he is a kind man. With such a statement, she is not complimenting her own husband; rather, the great kindness Macbeth wields is seen as a nuisance in the path for him to claim the throne of Scotland in her eyes. Further in Lady Macbeth’s lines, she then says “That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false…” (Shakespeare). Once again, Lady Macbeth emphasizes the good nature of Macbeth and how Macbeth does not have the will to claim the throne through vile methods, vile methods like murder for example. However, if Macbeth was such a kind and pure soul, albeit with questionable ambitions, how did he become King of Scotland? The answer is revealed when Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to return to her so she can “chastise with the valor of [her] tongue All that impedes from the golden round” (Shakespeare). When Lady Macbeth then tells Macbeth that she will be the one to convince him, she then confirms her intentions to the reader in that she, too, is after the throne, and is willing to do what the situation requires for her own husband to become king. As a result, from Lady Macbeths …show more content…
The factors of which Macbeth had to consider were how Macbeth would get close to the king, which was not a grand issue, for the king was “here in double trust…” (Shakespeare). What Macbeth meant by that statement was that Macbeth was trusted by the king because Macbeth was a subject and a guardian to the king, leaving little suspicion for Macbeth to be blamed if the king were to die. Although Macbeth would not be an immediate suspect for the murder, that reason alone was insufficient in convincing Macbeth to commit the crime. What troubled Macbeth in taking the throne from King Duncan the most was the sorrow King Duncan’s death of which, “…Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind” (Shakespeare). How could Macbeth possibly be a successful ruler if his subjects were to keep their focus on their grieving for wonderful King Duncan? The death of King Duncan would be a grand tragedy and Macbeth was well aware which added to his hesitation of stepping up to be King of Scotland. Last, but not least, what truly contributed to Macbeth’s cautiousness was his own self-awareness of how large of an influence the ambition for the throne had upon him, for he had “no spur To prick