Ambition and power

• Tragedy


  A play that must have a tragic hero as its protagonist
• Tragic hero


  The protagonist of a tragedy
• Tragic flaw (hamartia)


  A character flaw that leads to the downfall of the tragic hero
• Hubris


  Overconfidence in one's own ambitions, a common tragic flaw in Ancient Greek tragedies
• Macbeth


  The tragic hero of the play, whose tragic flaw is ambition
• Punishment of tragic heroes in Ancient Greek tragedies

  Tragic hero is punished by the gods for their actions resulting from their hamartia, often leading to the protagonist's death
• Macbeth's ambition


  He is punished by Shakespeare in a Christian context
• Macbeth abandons his morals and is corrupted by his ambition
• Macbeth commits regicide, the murder of his best friend, and the murder of women and children
• Macbeth is condemned to death at the hands of Macduff and to Hell for eternity
• Lady Macbeth is also ambitious, and her punishment is suicide
• Shakespeare is presenting a morality play to his Jacobean audience: allow yourself to be morally corrupted and act against societal norms and you will suffer the consequences
• Divine Right of Kings

  Kings derived their authority from God, and therefore could not be challenged
• Macbeth committing regicide


  An act against God
• Regicide


  A mortal sin, meaning dying without the grace of God and being condemned to Hell
• A Jacobean Christian audience would have understood regicide as a mortal sin
• Duncan is referred to as a "king"


  Macbeth, once he ascends the throne, is frequently called a tyrant
• Kings


  Bring harmony to their kingdom, in line with God's plan
• Tyrants


  Bring only chaos and disorder
• The play ends with a legitimate ruler - Duncan's son and true heir, Malcolm - becoming king
• Shakespeare's intention


  Upholding contemporary views about kingship
• Shakespeare's intention


  Suggesting that those unaccustomed and undeserving of power will be destroyed by it
• Shakespeare is suggesting that kings are legitimate rulers, but tyrants are not