Where the theme of Ambition appears in Macbeth
Macbeth
Macbeth wanting to be king
Macbeth ruthlessly killing people in battle
(At first) His ambition to protect King Duncan
Lady Macbeth wanting to lose her feminine attributes so that she can be capable of murdering King Duncan
Banquo who also wants to be powerful
His problem / Hamartia
Describes his own fear about his ambition. He calls his ambition "vaulting", suggesting it is too extreme.
Shakespeare shows this extreme ambition leads to murder and madness for the individual and tyranny for the whole country.
Lady Macbeth shares her ambition with Macbeth as she wants the same outcome.
Lady Macbeth's ambition is too much for her as she eventually loses control over her mind.
Quotes
"Two truths are told as happy prologues to the swelling act of th'imperial theme"
"Thou wouldst be great art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it"
"I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on tho'other
"To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus"
"If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me. Without my stir"
Ambition
Supernatural
Gender
Power
Light VS Dark
Guilt
Lady Macbeth who feels the need to lose her feminine traits.
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The floating dagger
The reason he dies at the end of the play
Great Chain Of Being
The king is chosen by God, and anything that disrupts that creates chaos to the world
People believed things happened above their control
The Witches changing what happens in the future
Only some people believed in free-will and thought they could decide their own fate
Causes him to kill Duncan
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