Elyse Eisen 1
Elyse Eisen
Walker (3)
English III
15 Oct 2010
Song Analysis: Ambition and Greed
In Macbeth, the characters show their true values and goals, leading to decision
making that greatly affect each person. Throughout the play, greed, power and ambition
caused Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, striving to become king and queen, to commit
treacherous deeds to get what they want. These decisions then haunt Macbeth,
transforming his life. This theme is evident in the song “Roll Away Your Stone” by
Mumford and Sons. Lady Macbeth’s personal ambition and desires influenced her more
powerful role over Macbeth, belittling him and being the stronger, more commanding one
of the two. “Animal” by Neon Trees relates to the deceptiveness of Lady Macbeth
throughout Macbeth. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth show that their desire for power
and greed influence the decisions they make and will eventually lead to their downfall.
After the Three Witches prophesies claiming that Macbeth will become Thane of
Cawdor, Macbeth reveals his desire for power and position in Scotland. Macbeth’s quote
,”Stars, hide your fires!
Let not light see my black and deep desires,”(Shakespeare) is
similar to the Mumford and Sons lyric, symbolizing a man’s determination to get what he
wants, directly correlating to Macbeth’s ambition to obtain the title of Thane of Cawdor.
“Stars hide your fires, For these here are my desires, And I won't give them up to you this
time around. And so I will be found With my stake stuck in the ground, Marking the
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territory of this newly impassioned soul.” (Mumford And Sons)
Macbeth’s character develops throughout the play, at first opposing murdering for
the throne, but after easily being manipulated by Lady Macbeth, kills Duncan. But, as
time goes on and Macbeth’s anxiety builds, he becomes colder and his conscience more
easily justifies the need for murder. Though he committed treacherous acts and murder,
Macbeth feels guilt and remorse due to his actions. After Macbeth murders King Duncan,
he sees a bloody dagger before him, as well as after Banquo’s murder, he is haunted by
Banquo’s ghost. In “Roll Away Your Stone,” the ideas of haunting and ambition are
prevalent, and how destructive too much desire and ambition can be. “Darkness is a harsh
term don't you think and yet it dominates the things I see.”(Mumford And Sons) Macbeth
is haunted by what he has done, and thinks is unable to wash his hands of the deeds he
has committed, unlike Lady Macbeth, who has easily dismissed King Duncan’s murder
as a necessary act to forward her goals. Macbeth is unable to fathom that he would be
able to sleep away the murder he has committed. “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and there
Cawdor Shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!” (Shakespeare) After
murdering King Duncan, Macbeth becomes worried, thinking that now everyone will
find out about his treacherous act and will therefore seek revenge. He then goes on a
killing spree, annihilating those who could potentially hurt him in the future. “It seems
that all my bridges have been burned” (Mumford And Sons) relating to Macbeth killing
off the people in power and becoming suspicious of every person around him.
Lady Macbeth is the stronger force in the relationship between Macbeth and
herself, showing that she is the wiser and more practical of the two when she instills and
conceptualizes the murder of King Duncan. Her dominance over Macbeth is evident
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throughout the play, constantly berating him for not being man enough. After the murder
of Duncan, Macbeth is dumbfounded by his wife’s ability to clear her conscience and
wash Duncan’s blood off of her hands, while feels as if his hands will never be clean of
his wrongdoing. “You're killin' me now. And I won't be denied by you
, The animal
inside of you.”(Neon Trees) “Animal” by Neon Trees describes a man manipulated and
how he and his significant other are coconspirators in disastrous deeds, like Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth. “It's us that made this mess
Why can't you understand?
Whoa, I
won't sleep tonight.” (Neon Trees)
While Macbeth is haunted with ghosts and apparitions, Lady Macbeth is
composed, clear-headed, and wisely making up excuses for her husband’s insanity. Lady
Macbeth cleans up after Macbeth, righting his wrongs and fixing what he carelessly
doesn’t do. She drugs the guards, smears the bloody daggers from Duncan’s murder on
them, and plants the weapons in the drunken guard’s hands so it would seem as if they
were guilty of murder, doing so only after Macbeth carelessly brought the daggers with
him after the murder. When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, Lady Macbeth covers
Macbeth’s lunacy by claiming that these fits came about occasionally. “O proper stuff!
This is the very painting of your fear: This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said, Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts, Impostors to true fear would well become
A woman's story at a winter's fire, Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself! Why do
you make such faces? When all's done, You look but on a stool.” (Shakespeare) Lady
Macbeth is proven to be prevalent over Macbeth, pushing her ambitions and wisely
leading Macbeth to execute what will make both of them more powerful. “Here we go
again
We're sick like animals We play pretend
You're just a cannibal
And I'm
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afraid I wont get out alive.”(Neon Trees) Lady Macbeth and Macbeth scheme and plot
their way to power and committed murder and treason.
The songs “Roll Away Your Stone” by Mumford and Sons and “Animal” by
Neon Trees highlight the key aspects of Macbeth; such as the themes of ambition, greed,
power, and manipulation. Macbeth murders King Duncan for power, and becomes
paranoid from his malicious actions that he keeps murdering to attempt to cover what he
has done. Lady Macbeth manipulates and dominates Macbeth, often questioning his
masculinity and is deeply determined. Haunted by what he has done, Macbeth sees
remnants of his wrongdoing and is driven crazy by these things. Lady Macbeth and
Macbeth are both ambitious people, who did anything to obtain more power and become
King and Queen, but the deeds committed eventually do cause the downfall of both
people.
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Works Cited:
Mumford And Sons. “Roll Away Your Stone.” Sign No More. Island Records, 2009
Neon Trees. “Animal.” Habits. Mercury Record, 2010
S h a k es p e a r, W il l i a m . Ma c b e t h . Spar k n o t e s , 2 0 1 0 . W eb . 2 4 O c t
2010.<http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/characters.html>.