at the start, Macbeth does not seem to be very ambitious. Lady Macbeth, is much more ambitious for him than he is for himself.
throughout the play, Macbeth's growing ambition = his downfall; becomes paranoid as a result of his ambition.
| macbeth's paranoia
He becomes more and more paranoid. The price of fulfilling his ambition was not worth it: 'And that which should accompany old age as honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have'.
Macbeth lists all of the things he should have had in later life, like 'honour', 'love' & friends. He has lost everything by going after the crown
| ‘I have liv’d long enough...
‘I have liv’d long enough. My way of life / Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf’ (5,3)
This shows how, after the death of King Duncan, Macbeth cannot cope with what he has done (perhaps his religious guilt comes into play here).
| 'I fear thy nature...'
'too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness' (1,5).
This quote shows that Lady Macbeth believes he deserves more than he has, but that he is too nice for his own good. She thinks he won’t go after power:.
Lady Macbeth thinks Macbeth does have ambition, but he is too good, gentle and kind to go after what he wants: ‘Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it’ (1,5).
