Ambition Flashcards
Ambition - trying to justify the murder
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself” Metaphor likening Macbeth to a steed demonstrates his ambition as the driving force for killing the king. He’s aware that there’s no reasonable justification for murdering the king - only his ambition. His intent opposes the great chain of being.
“If good why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs” - imagery to emphasise to the audience hiw shocking his ambitious thoughts are - even to Macbeth himself. Prophecies have triggered a dormant quality that Macbeth possesses - ambition. This quality is so powerful that his body faces abnormal occurrences - a result of contradicting his morals and beliefs.
Ambition now leading to Macbeth killing his own friend
“To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus” - giving into his ambition and murdering Duncan has not brought him peace but rather has left him more paranoid and anxious. Reveals how ambition has set off a chain reaction and continue to commit violent crimes in order to maintain his power
Killing Banquo and Fleance - designed to shock readers. Macberh’s ambition has corrupted him. He no longer questions his behaviours with reason - thus proving his morals are gone. His unchecked ambition is demonstrated by a series of murders each more shocking than the previous - he is even willing to kill his own friend and their child all because of ambition
Cause of stepping too far into ambition
“I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er” - macberh’s ambitoj to keep the throne leads him to declare he is not worried about anything other than this safety and desires. He will do whatever he needs to. Imagery of him crossing a river of blood highlights that to Macbeth, it is easier to keep killing than to go back to what he was. He is willing to do anything to fulfill his ambitions
Murdering lady Macduff: pointless murder - to a Jacobean audience where society is patriarchal and women are not seen as strong and powerful enough to pose a threat - this plot highlights just how far Macbeth has fallen from the valiant hero he once was to a man blinded by ambition that has turned him into an evil monster.
“Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf, and that which should accompany old age” - juxtaposition of these two images highlights how much he’s given into ambition, he had many of the things he now lacks back in act 1
