Key Quotes Ambition and Power Flashcards
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, only vaulting ambition” Macbeth, Act I, Scene VII
Macbeth is saying that it is his own ambition that is his only motivation to murder King Duncan
This soliloquy comes as Macbeth is deciding whether to kill King Duncan or not
ANALYSIS
Shakespeare has his protagonist, Macbeth, clearly state his hamartia (“ambition”) to the audience
It is implied that there is no other motivation for Macbeth (“no spur”)
Shakespeare could be suggesting that Macbeth’s fatal flaw (“ambition”) overcomes all of his other, positive character traits
Later in the same soliloquy, Macbeth says this ambition “overleaps itself” (trips itself up), suggesting Macbeth is aware on some level that he is doomed if he commits regicide
“When you durst do it, then you were a man” Lady Macbeth, Act I, Scene VII
Lady Macbeth is suggesting that only if Macbeth commits the murder of King Duncan that he could be considered a real man
This comes after Macbeth has expressed doubts about the plan to commit regicide
Analysis
Lady Macbeth is attacking Macbeth’s masculinity
It would hurt Macbeth’s pride; in the Jacobean era, manliness would have been equated with strength, so here Lady Macbeth is calling Macbeth weak
It is an example of role reversal: Lady Macbeth, unusually for a woman, is manipulating and dominating a man
As a woman, Lady Macbeth’s power is in her skills of deception and manipulation
“Life […] is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” Macbeth, Act V, Scene V
Macbeth is suggesting that although in life lots seem to happen, ultimately, it is meaningless and without purpose
This powerful soliloquy comes after Macbeth is told of the death of Lady Macbeth
Analysis
This is an example of nihilism: a belief that life is pointless (“signifying nothing”)
For a largely Christian Jacobean audience, this rejection of God’s plan and the suggestion of a rejection of Heaven and Hell, would have been shocking
However, it is also a moment of pathos: the audience, despite his blasphemous words, would still feel sympathy for a once noble general who has lost his wife
It perhaps also represents a moment of anagnorisis: a tragic hero’s realisation that all his actions were for “nothing” and that he will be defeated
