Exam (elaborations)
A grade 9 exemplar AQA GCSE essay on the title 'Explore how Shakespeare presents ambition in Macbeth'
This grade 9 essay can be used to revise ambition in Macbeth for AQA GCSE English Literature.
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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.
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