MACBETH AMBITION Flashcards
“deep and “black desires”
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Shakespeare demonstrates in his play that overwhelming ambition leads to loss and suffering. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth end up dead, and prior to their deaths they are less powerful and less happy than they were at the beginning of the play. However, while desire for power ultimately corrupts both characters, it also drives the plot
“my thought whose murder yet is but fantastical”
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. Many people in Elizabethan and Jacobean times believed in the Divine Order, or Great Chain of Being, as it was alternatively called. According to the Great Chain of Being, everything in the universe has a specific place and rank in order of their perceived importance and spiritual nature. Rocks are at the bottom of this chain, and God is at the top. The King is the highest ranked earthly being. This order, as the name suggests, was believed to be divinely ordained. Anyone trying to rise above their rank was therefore believed to be going against God. Thus, in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. ambition was equated with sin
“a dagger of the mind, a false creation” (A2.S1)
evoke visceral reactions from the audience and are visual representations of his guilt
Macbeth’s insatiable ambition is his tragic flaw.
Macbeth is willing to give up everything to become king. Ambition is seen as corrupting and causes Macbeth to lose his nobility and ultimately become intensely violent. representation of the devastating psychological consequences of pursuing one’s ambition without any regard for morality.
The murders that he and his wife commit cause both to grow mad with guilt to the point he begins experiencing visions of the bloody knife which shows how the consequences of his ambition has caused him mental distress and near insanity.
written in 1606, at the start of the Jacobean period. At that time, societal status was intensely important. A rigid class system and intricate social hierarchy meant that people, particularly those belonging to the upper echelons of society, valued titles highly. This explains partly why, when told he will potentially become the Thane of Cawdor and then a king, Macbeth takes this incredibly seriously. A lot of the tension in the play is caused by a battle over names and titles, as many of the characters are ambitious and keen to increase their social standing
Modern Western society with its individualistic values treats ambition as a good quality. In contrast, in Jacobean and Elizabethan England ambition would have generally been treated as a dangerous quality to possess
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself // And falls on the other” (A1.S7).
personification
He compares his current situation to horse riding; ambition is the metaphorical spur he, the rider, uses to motivate his horse i.e. make his plans a reality).
However, as he notes, a horse rider may overestimate their ability when trying to clear an obstacle and consequently fall down. Macbeth’s admission foreshadows his tragic end. admits Macbeth’s character flaw, excessive ambition which he cannot control
battles with moral conscience
knows regicide is an act against God—-> sin to kill god’s representative
MA- do not believe that King and Queen is representative of God, christiantity is different compared to 1606
after gunpowder polot
sends politcial propoganda warning of those who might see to murder a morally good king like King James 1
“Gainst nature “(A2.S4). Ross
Upon discovering Duncan dead in Act Two, it’s implied that Duncan’s children are the murderers
Duncan’s children are going a “[a]gainst nature” in killing their father, simply in the pursuit of their supposed ambition. The audience is obviously aware that it was in fact Macbeth who killed Duncan; so it questions whether it is also against nature for Macbeth to kill someone he respected and was indebted to, just in the hope of fulfilling his ambition. Ross’ exclamation also implies that ambition is an unnatural phenomenon that is equated with sin
He justifies all his actions in Act Three, arguing that they’re “For mine own good” (A3.S4).
It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness // To catch the nearest way.
SOLILOQUY
Alongside the three Witches’ prophecy, Lady Macbeth is seen as the other motivator of Macbeth’s ambition to usurp the crown. She relentlessly criticises his actions and lack of masculinity, and it is her attitude which arguably leads him to kill Duncan. However, this ambition contributes to her own insanity and she eventually commits suicide. Similarly to her husband, when Lady Macbeth first hears of the Witches’ prophecies, her mind immediately jumps to murder. She has both the ambition and the confidence to act on her desires, but doubts her husband’s capacities to do so—> emasculates him (ironic cannot say murder uses euphemism (nearest way)
pt 2 “It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness (metaphor) // To catch the nearest way.”
SOLILOQUY
Shakespeare may have chosen to have her say these words when she is first introduced to the audience in order to foreground the fact that Lady Macbeth’s defining trait is her ambition. In contrast, we are introduced to Macbeth when he is in battle, which might have suggested to Jacobean audiences that he is brave and noble (at least superficially or initially so)
Lady Macbeth can be seen as the ultimate catalyst for the plot, spurring her husband to commit murder.In the above quote, Shakespeare implies that Lady Macbeth believes that you can only act on your ambitions and achieve greatness when you sacrifice or ignore their moral compass.
Evil is equated with “illness” in this quote. Lady Macbeth’s words suggest that she believes pursuing one’s ambitions generally necessitates doing evil deeds; evil and ambition are intimately linked
“pours her spirit into [his] ear” (A1.S5)
After Macbeth receives the Witches’ original prophecy, he is not satisfied or resolved to act on it and seeks his wife’s counsel.
Lady Macbeth, as a woman, would’ve been socially pressured to appear less ambitious and encouraged to hide her desires. However. while Lady Macbeth only encourages her husband to carry out Duncan’s murder and does not herself commit it. she can be viewed as more ruthless and single-minded in her ambition than Macbeth.
she directs his actions all the while persistently questioning his manhood. Thus. while she uses gender norms to shame Macbeth into committing murder, the power dynamic between them is uncommon for the day - a wife would have been expected to be submissive and accepting of her husband’s orders. In a reversal of this. Lady Macbeth wields power over Macbeth and directs his actions. For this reason and as well as due to her ruthless ambition, Lady Macbeth would have been viewed as a masculine character. A Jacobean audience might have been inclined to view her particularly negatively on the assumption that she is untrustworthy because she does not conform to accepted gender norms.
“blanched in fear”
pale with fear due to this revenge unsettled spirit although he mocked the servant for his “goose look” —. hypocrite
Ambition is the play’s central theme and guilt is its result. Macbeth and his wife are tormented by guilt, so much so that their sanity is undermined. The apparition of Banquo’s ghost to Macbeth in Act 3 Scene 4 may be interpreted by a modern audience as a psychological phenomenon (repressed guilt - a mind unhinged by guilt) however, Jacobean audience were more familiar with and less sceptical about supernatural phenomena and therefore might have been more likely to view the ghost as real).
hallucination of ghost -> troubled mind–> guilt will never leave him even if he murdered people who threatened his position
LM excuse = “and hath been from his youth” -> habit of his since youth normal——> IRONIC becuase she sleepwalks and hallucinates the blood from her hands because of repressed guilt
Macbeth excuse “ i have a strange infirmity” claim he is seeing ghost because of suffering of fits since childhood to conceal murder of Banquo - deceptive which makes JA despise Macbeth because of lying and murder of an innocent friend
“Will all great // Neptune’s ocean wash this blood /Clean from my hand? // No, this my hand will rather // The multitudinous seas incarnadine”
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Blood is another motif in Macbeth which vividly symbolises sin, and thus is intimately connected to guilt
Macbeth committing by murdering Duncan is indelible; it will not wash away. In fact, he declares, in dramatic, Latinate language, it is more likely to spread, turning the oceans red
However, at the beginning of the play, blood does not symbolise sin and therefore imply guilt. Instead, it represents Macbeth’s loyalty and bravery as a soldier. Macbeth is introduced by an army captain, who declares that “Like valor’s minion, carved out his passage” (A1.S2). In convoluted and gruesome language, the captain thus describes how ruthlessly
Macbeth executes - this is meant to be a commendation and a sign of his valour. Later in the play, Macbeth changes from “noble” (A2.S3) to a “butcher” (A5.S8) and an “abhorred tyrant” (A5.S8) and his hallucinations of blood represent his guilt. Thus, blood is a complex symbol and its changing meanings mirror Macbeth’s changing character.
