Macbeth Key Theme: Ambition

• Ambition in Macbeth: How does Shakespeare present ambition in Macbeth?

  Ambition in Macbeth is not about the characters' determination to succeed towards a goal. Ambition in the play as a negative character trait: not just a desire to achieve something, but an unnatural desire to achieve something at any cost. Shakespeare has Macbeth speak the lines “vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself” in Act I, Scene VII. By choosing the verb “Vaulting” (jumping over), he suggests that to fulfil his ambition to become king, Macbeth must overcome any obstacle that stands in his way. This obstacle is King Duncan, and the only way to remove this obstacle is to murder him.

  To murder a king was a shocking, unnatural act in Jacobean England but Macbeth is prepared to commit regicide to realise his ambition. Ultimately, the cost he will pay for his ambition is his own life.
• What are the elements of ambition in Macbeth?

  • Ambition is Macbeth’s fatal character flaw, his hamartia:
  • In tragedy, a tragic hero must have a tragic flaw
  • In Macbeth, as in most tragedy, the tragic hero’s hamartia is the cause of their own downfall:
  • Macbeth’s ambition to gain, and retain, the throne leads to him committing more and more evil acts
  • Other characters seek revenge for these acts of murder
  • Macbeth’s own conscience also begins to terrorise him
  • His death is a result of own mental disintegration and avenging heroes: he is killed by Macduff
• • Shakespeare is also presenting a morality play to the audience:
  • The play is a warning against those who seek to undermine — or overthrow— the rule of a rightful king
  • Shakespeare may also be suggesting that those unaccustomed to orundeserving of power will be destroyed by it
  • Shakespeare suggest that kings are legitimate rulers, but ambitious tyrants are not:
  • If you are consumed by ambition, or hubris, you must prepare to suffer terrible consequences