Ambition Flashcards
Umbrella sentence
Macbeth battles with his conscience as he knows his hamartia: his ambition is morally reprehensible
Topic sentence 1
The witches prediction that Macbeth will be king touches upon his hamartia: his ambition.
‘why do I yield that suggestion whose horrid image does unfix my hair?’
‘I have no spur to prink the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition’
‘stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and dark desires’
‘we will speak further’
‘why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image does unfix my hair’
L= MB’s first thought is one of murder. Adj= ‘horrid’ suggests that MB knows murdering Duncan to achieve his ambition is morally wrong. Vb= ‘unfix’ suggests that the strength of his ambition terrifies him.
‘I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition’
L = metaphor. MB’s ambition battles with his conscience. He knows he has no motive for killing a morally good king.
C = DRK. Act against God.
GPP -warning to those who might seek to murder a morally good king, like James 1.
‘stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires’
L = adjectives ‘black’ and ‘deep’ suggest MB knows his murderous ambition is morally wrong but also very strong.
The stars symbolize the light of heaven – he does not want God to see what he is planning to do, but he is going to commit the murder anyway. Damn soul
Topic Sentence 2
Lady Macbeth knows her husband is ambitious but too kind a man to act upon his desires.
‘too full o’th milk of human kindness’
‘Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it’
‘chastise with the valour of my tongue’
‘too full o’th milk of human kindness’
L = metaphor. LMB feminizes MB; she knows he is ambitious but too kind to act upon achieving his ambitions off the battlefield. Realise manipulate to murder KD D = milk aligns with fem. nurturing qualities. opposite of battle field, hurt masc.
‘Chastise with the valour of my tongue’
L = metaphor. Knows she must be dominant. Valour -> brave. invert gender roles C = patriarchal society D = power vicariously
‘Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it’
L = parallelism emph. he's ambitious but doesn't want to commit callous act and seize throne in immoral way C = GPP propagandist message
Topic sentence 3
Banquo is ambitious for his sons to be kings, but unlike Macbeth, he leaves it to fate.
‘it was said… that myself should be the root and father of many kings’
‘if’ ‘may they not be my oracles as well’
‘it was said…that myself should be the root and father of many kings’
L = metaphor. B hopes descendants will become kings of Scotland. Creates image of a family tree of kings with Banquo as its root. C = Shakespeare was deliberately faltering James I, for whom the play was written, as he was a Scottish descendant of Banquo.
‘if’ ‘may they not be my oracles as well’
L = conditional conjunction suggests questioning and skeptical but leaves to fate L = verb. hopeful but ^^^
Topic sentence 4
Achieving his ambition does not bring Macbeth contentment, and he dies knowing he’ll be forgotten.
‘a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more’
‘a brief candle’
‘I’gin to be aweary of the sun’
‘a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more’
L = extended metaphor: ppl actors, life stage. MB realises he is just a ‘poor player’ with a limited time on Earth and once dead, he will be forgotten. Ambition for nothing, damned soul
‘brief candle’
L = metaphor. Man's time on earth is brief. His bravado mood -> melancholy and nihilistic C/R = strong Christian audience shocked as life has meaning. D = reference to the book of Job which refers to days as shadows
