Starting with this speech, explore how Shakespeare presents ambition in Macbeth.
In Shakespeare’s eponymous tragedy, ‘Macbeth’, it is quickly established that Macbeth and
his wife, Lady Macbeth, have high aspirations and an unquenchable desire for power – a fatal
combination. The intentions of these characters and the intensity of their pursuit varies as
the action unfolds, though ultimately it is their ambition that spurs them to commit
indisputably heinous acts. Instead of nurturing their ambition and using it to succeed, it
becomes each characters’ hamartia, and arguably the cause of Lady Macbeth’s tragic demise
and Macbeth’s gruesome defeat. This is Shakespeare’s warning against the consequences of
unchallenged ambition.
The soliloquy in the extract is delivered by Lady Macbeth in act 1 scene 5, after she learns of
the witch’s prophecies in a letter from Macbeth. Instantly, she begins to fear that Macbeth’s
“nature… is too full of the milk of human kindness”. This striking phrase clearly conveys the
extent of her “vaulting ambition” as she quickly disregards any moral obligations in favour of
coercing Macbeth into committing what was considered the wickedest crime of all: regicide.
The natural noun “milk” reveals her view that feminine attributes are a hindrance to success.
She intends to persuade Macbeth to allow himself to be consumed by ambition so that his
heroic conscience cannot inhibit her wicked aspirations. Undoubtedly, it is her steely ambition
that takes her beyond redemption. Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth’s painful descent beyond
redemption to warn his audiences of the corrupting nation of unchecked power. Her use of
the adverb “too”conveys that Macbeth doesn’t possess the unscrupulous disregard for
“kindness” that she believes is necessary to kill Duncan. Her own sinful ambitions clearly play
upon the Jacobean fear of damnation. Furthermore, her autonomous plans subvert the
accepted gender roles of the patriarchal society at the time. It is likely that Shakespeare
presented Lady Macbeth as a persuasive force of evil to warn against the dangers of unnatural
women with power and ambition.
Despite being introduced as a brave hero, Shakespeare immediately established Macbeth’s
hamartia and presents him as ambitious, focused and fixated on becoming king. In opening
of the play, Banquo observes that Macbeth “seems rapt”. Here, the captivated adjective,
“rapt” highlights that Macbeth’s mind is rapidly being consumed by the witches’ tempting
prophecies that state he will become king. Interestingly, this adjective means ‘spellbound’,
which could be a reference to the witches. Potentially, this reiterates their control and implies
that Macbeth’s hamartia is a product of their power. In addition, the quote implies that
Macbeth is already becoming obsessed with his “vaulting” ambitions, making him seem
volatile and dangerous and foreshadowing his heinous acts against the king. Realising that
Macbeth is already losing control would instil great fear in a Jacobean audience. Shakespeare
could be highlighting Macbeth’s fatal flaw so strongly in the exposition in order to foreshadow
his downfall in the denouement of the play and send a clear message to the audience: those
with ambition to overrule the king will fail. This lesson is likely influenced by the context of
the gunpowder plot in which Guy Fawkes and his associates plotted to kill king James I and
failed – as Shakespeare is writing for king James I, he could be using Macbeth as a warning to
the audience against attempting to break the great chain of being.
, Shakespeare’s message that ambitions has the power to corrupt a character is reinforced later
in the play when Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are discussing regicide. In the Rising action, Lady
Macbeth is driven by ambition as she defiantly questions her husband by asking him “what
cannot you and I preform upon the unguarded Duncan?”. Here, Shakespeare’s use of an
interrogative sentence not only conveys that Lady Macbeth is an immensely powerful woman
as she unconventionally questions her husband, but additionally highlights the extent to
which her ambition has tainted her. Moreover, the vulnerable adjective, “unguarded”,
throws into relief that her ambition is fuelling her desire to commit heinous acts, even on the
defenceless king. This would make the audience detest Lady Macbeth as she has allowed her
ambition to control her to the extent that she is willing to commit regicide. In Jacobean
England, people believed in the ideology of the divine right of kings: the king is chosen by god.
Therefore, murdering the king defies God’s will.
When Macbeth allows himself to be consumed by his morally corrupt ambitions, he is
stripped of his male bravado and left weak and paranoid – a pitiful fate for an accomplished
war hero. Lady Macbeth suffers an equally miserable downfall, with her sins resulting in
terrible psychological penance. Shakespeare punishes these characters for the way that they
allowed their unchecked ambition to lead them to kill their king. He likely did this to appease
king James I and to dissuade his audiences from challenging natural orders.
Starting with this moment in the play, explore how Shakespeare presents the attitudes of
Macbeth and Banquo towards the supernatural in this extract.
In Shakespeare’s eponymous tragedy, ‘Macbeth’, the themes of witchcraft and the
supernatural are of critical importance. Cleverly, Shakespeare employs the character of
Macbeth and his literary foil, Banquo, to show contrasting reactions to interactions with
supernatural beings in the exposition of the play and foreshadow Macbeth’s gruesome
defeat. Their contrasting reactions serve to present the audience with a noble and loyal
response to the supernatural through the character of Banquo and the ruthless, disloyal
reaction from Macbeth. As the action unfolds, Macbeth’s attitude has a devastating impact:
he faces the unravelling of his mind as consequence for placing trust in the supernatural.
Shakespeare uses the witches to explore how man must resist sin and influence from the
supernatural – Macbeth’s painful descent beyond redemption serves as a stark warning for
the audience against meddling with evil beings.
Both Macbeth and Banquo are both portrayed as deep thinking, reflective and ambitious
characters in the play. After having received the prophecies, they are both affected by the
supernatural, however, Macbeth is tempted by the truth of the prophecies and acts upon the
information whereas Banquo is more concerned about the implications of colluding with
advocates of the devil. Banquo demonstrated his awareness of the implications of the witches
tempting Macbeth with one truth when he tells him “the instruments of darkness tell us
truths”, in regard to matters of “deepest consequence”. This metaphor conveys that the
Witches are tools who carry out foul deeds on behalf of evil. Here, Banquo could be warning
