Macbeth Ambition Flashcards
“to be king stands not within the prospect of belief, no more than to be Cawdor.”
but then 30 lines later…
“And for and earnest great honour, He bade me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor.”
“to be king Stands not within the prospect of belief , No more than to be Cawdor.”
- “not within the prospect of” tells us the he thinks it’s impossible
- kings are appointed by God and cannot be forcibly removed
- to do so is transgressive and goes against the Great Chain of Being
-being “king” and “Cawdor” is obviously linked in Macbeth’s mind due to the prophecy of the witches
but then 30 lines later…
“And for and earnest great honour, He bade me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor.”
“Thane of Cawdor” gives the Weird Sisters prophecy immediate credibility
- if one is possible, so is the other
- now all of a sudden, his ambition feels possible
“Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more.”
“Speak, I charge you.”
“stay” and “speak” are imperative verbs
- arrogant
- revealing of his inner desire for power
- innate?
“imperfect”
- adjective implies he doesn’t understand
- or an awareness than they might be equivocating
- his ambition makes him open to be manipulated
- his fatal flaw is his “hamartia”
alternatively, his ambition his overpowering and blinding
- makes him desperate to hear more
- loses reason and rationality
- “takes the reason prisoner.”
“that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all”
“that but this” means if only
- he wants the murder to be the end of it and wants to be King right away
- doesn’t want to face the consequences of his actions
- fears the reaction of the wider world if he was caught
- he knows things won’t end well for him
“I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’other”
“o’erleaps”
verb is characterising his intention to kill the king as a horse that needs a “spur”
-however his only “spur” is his ambition itself
-adjective “vaulting” indicates that he can only jump too far (“o’erleap”) and fall
as a whole, this complex metaphor highlights how he is stuck between not acting and doing something that will lead to his peripeteia
-therefore his ambition (“spur”) is only his hamartia
“look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t.”
the simile/metaphor is a reference
- after the gunpowder plot, James I had a coin with a serpent among flowers
- warning people that you can easily be decieved if you are not careful
“serpent” is a biblical reference to adam and eve disobeying God
-Lady Macbeth being Eve and Macbeth being Adam.
“flower” is pretty
-telling him to appear endearing
-but cunning, sly and unpredictable on the inside
-duplicitous
because shes him as a “book where men May read strange matters”
“book” and “read” suggests he is too open
-an honest man
-ironic that she sees this as a flaw,
-therefore reminds us that she believes success only comes with evil
“Thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it”
- he doesn’t lack ambition
- he lacks “illness”
- which is evil desires and nastiness to kill Duncan
- illness is contagious and can be passed around
- implying that Macbeth doesn’t have the ability to influence those around him in a negative way
- but Lady Macbeth does.
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen.”
“foul and fair”
- juxtaposition foreshadows the conflict he will have within himself.
- choice of morality or evil
- imitating the equivocal language of the witches
- “fair is foul and foul is fair”
- reminds us that he is already manipulated by the witches as he is already internalising their language
- Jacobean audience may be concerned as at the time there was a great fear of the power of witchcraft
“not”
- new experience
- there will be a change in him under the influence of the witches
“we have scotch’d the snake, not kill’d it”
- at a point of no return
- “I am in blood/ Stepped in so far”
“scotch’d”
-injured
“snake” is a metaphor
- if you injure a snake, it becomes more violent and defensive
- therefore the person attacking becomes more vulnerable
- snake will seek revenge
- Macbeth is saying that he hasn’t eradicated everything he needs to
- he believes there will be repercussions if he doesn’t destroy everything that comes in his way
- destructive, sadistic, desensitised
- paranoid, irrational and relentless
“full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!”
“dear”
- adjective refers to his wife affectionately
- seeking comfort
- in a vulnerable state
“full”
- no room for any other thoughts
- complete turmoil and remorse
“scorpions”
- metaphor for his dark thoughts
- hyperbolic
- saying his thoughts are poisonous and painful
- he can’t bear to think
- his mind has been corrupted
- suggesting it was innately good?
- tainted
Shakespeare’s message:
- “scorpions” refer to the consequences of your actions
- if you relentlessly chase after your unchecked ambition, you will suffer
- warning the audience
- this is the beginning of his peripeteia
“Both of you
Know Banquo was your enemy”
Macbeth Act 3 Scene 1
When he was talking to the murderers
“know”
- indoctrinating, gaslighting
- imposing what they feel onto them
- telling them what to think
- learnt this skill from L. Macbeth
- clear parallels between them
“Your spirits shine through you”
“Resolve yourselves apart”
Act 3, Scene 1
“shine”
- boosting their morale by using positive language
- extolling the murderers
- imitating the way L. Macbeth got him to murder Duncan
“resolve”
- control and guidance
- much like Lady Macbeth
This is very different from when Macbeth started to crack in the next scene
‘full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife”
Act 3 Scene 2
“What’s to be done?” - L.Macbeth
“Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck […] Come seeling night”
”?”
- question?
- sense of doubt
- need for guidance
- panic
- no longer pragmatic and methodical
- unusual dependance on Macbeth
“Be” “come”
- imperative verbs
- he is in control and guiding her
- shift in the power dynamic
- nearly flipped
