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Justin Adler
Ms. Bridges
AP English IV- 2
16 November 2012
Ambition: The Tragic Destruction of Macbeth
William Shakespeare in The Tragedy of Macbeth written in the 17th century dramatizes
the tragic hero and Macbeth's tragic flaw of ambition, which ultimately results in his downfall
and eventual death. Shakespeare wrote this play to show how ambitious desires can have
adverse consequences on the human condition. This tragedy follows the true story of a historical
Macbeth, an eleventh century king of Scotland who usurped the throne after killing his
predecessor. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, ambition is Macbeth's tragic flaw that permeates the
dramatic structure. Shakespeare uses manipulative characters to instill a sense of ambition
within Macbeth, releasing his deep desires to rest upon the throne and to mislead him with
ambiguous messages that contain double meanings. This tragic flaw serves to dramatize the rise
and fall of Macbeth as he is consumed by ambition inculcated inside of him by malevolent forces
that manipulate and corrupt his mindset in order to fill him with a false confidence.
Initially, Shakespeare portrays the tragic hero as a kind-hearted individual who is
comfortable and content with his status of nobility. For example, Macbeth has second thoughts
about murdering Duncan, for "golden opinions from all sorts of people" have encouraged him to
"not cast aside so soon" his new title as Thane of Cawdor (I, vii, 32-34). Macbeth believes it to
be unnecessary and dangerous to grasp for the throne since he is content as a honored kinsman of
Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth's kindness and complacency as signs of a weak,
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timid man who should strive for greatness. In fact, Lady Macbeth fears his nature because "it is
too full o' the milk of human kindness" (I, v, 16-18) to be suited for the cruel deed of murdering
Duncan. She, therefore, has to provide a strong impetus for Macbeth to adopt ambitious ways.
Her cruelty and drive is so overwhelming that she essentially transfers some of her wicked
desires to Macbeth's personality. Macbeth "is tempted to the commission of guilt by golden
opportunities" forced upon him "by the instigations of his wife" (Hazlitt 226), making him
subconsciously subservient to her desires. Macbeth begins, around this point in the play, to
conform to his wife's ambitious ways. Her manipulative demeanor is a major contributor to
Macbeth's transforming psyche. The tragic hero usually begins the play with a different outlook
on the world than what he sees at the end, and much of Macbeth's original qualities of kindness,
loyalty, and courage have their roots of change towards the beginning of the play, eventually
fading away completely.
The aforementioned roots of change begin to shape Macbeth's only driving force behind
killing Duncan and usurping the throne: ambition. Macbeth experiences a force of " vaulting
ambition" (I,vii,27) compelling him to murder Duncan. He even points out that he has no other
reason to slay Duncan, for Duncan is his kinsman and honored guest. However, Macbeth's evil
side overpowers his benevolent, reasonable side and causes him to push forward with his dark
deed. Macbeth does not even pretend to be naive in understanding the consequences of his
actions, noting that Duncan's death will not "be the be-all and the end all" (I,vii,5) but will lead
to further misdeeds. His actions will release a figurative manifestation of Pandora's Box, causing
murder after murder in order to retain the throne. Macbeth's ruthlessly ambitious demeanor will
be put to the test as he confronts more and more opposition to his position of authority. As he
travels down this path of fear and trepidation, he begins to lose the qualities of the "wholesome
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order" that make up the "human sphere" (Knights 52), which govern the laws of humanity. The
qualities that Macbeth loses consist of loyalty, trust, compassion, and fellowship; the qualities
that make up a noble leader. Therefore, it is ironic that he seizes the title of King while losing all
the redeeming qualities of a leader. This path that Macbeth now travels on, this path of "vaulting
ambition" (I,vii,27), will lead Macbeth to slay his own king and all others who challenge his
ascendency.
Macbeth's first great challenge on his ambitious journey is the stress he receives from the
task of murdering Duncan and the guilt he feels following Duncan's death. Just prior to the bell
that will summon Macbeth to kill Duncan, Macbeth imagines "a dagger of the mind... proceeding
from the heat-opresséd brain" (II,i,38-39) floating before him. His disillusioned state is brought
on by the overwhelming stress he experiences from the thought of murdering his kinsman. Upon
hearing the bell, Macbeth slays Duncan, and instantly feels deep remorse for the malicious act he
has just committed. Furthermore, he feels even deeper sorrow for the cowardly act of murdering
someone during sleep, "the chief nourisher in life's feast" (II,ii,40), which is supposed to be a
state of sanctity. However, Lady Macbeth once again pressures Macbeth to be cruel and to stick
to the task at hand. She orders him to return the dagger and wash his hands. Without her
incessant behavior, Macbeth may have been paralyzed with shock and solely confessed to the
murder. In fact, it was Lady Macbeth who "brazenly urged her husband on to do destruction
upon the life of Duncan" (Davidson 95) in the first place. Therefore, Lady Macbeth provides the
impetus for Macbeth's ambitious slaughter, and then encourages him to remain calm and levelheaded following the murder. Her own ambitious desires have provided the structure for
Macbeth's own confident journey so far. Having survived his first and most cumbersome trial,
with the help of Lady Macbeth, on his path of ambition, Macbeth is now fully committed to
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retaining his position of authority upon the throne.
Now fully dedicated to and entrenched in a lust for high status, Macbeth turns his sight of
death to Banquo, for he has become so consumed by ambition that paranoia strikes him deep.
For example, Macbeth believes he has "put rancors in the vessel of [his] peace", in his "eternal
jewel" (III,i,19-21), only to set the stage for Banquo's descendants to become future kings.
Banquo was told by the witches in Act I that he will father a long line of kings, and since
Macbeth's prophecy came true, Macbeth fears that Banquo's prophecy may also be true.
Therefore, Macbeth vows to murder Banquo and his son, Fleance, simply to retain a possible
future place as king for a future son of his; Macbeth vows to murder a former friend. Macbeth
does not just murder Banquo but begins murdering nobles around Scotland who oppose his claim
to the throne, causing "each new morrn" to begin with many a "new orphans cry" (IV,iii,4-5) as
Macbeth's paranoia grows exponentially. He eventually decides to massacre Macduff and his
family after his revisit to the three witches, for the witches told him to beware the Thane of Fife.
This dire decision turns out to be a crucial mistake because Macduff becomes enraged upon
hearing of his wife and son's death and eventually exacts revenge on the tyrant from Inverness.
By slaughtering all those who oppose him, Macbeth stands to "emphasize this conflict of fear
and ambition" (Campbell 129) that cannot be exercised without disastrous results. If Macbeth
desires to be successful through ambitious means, he must not exhibit fear but rather courage.
However, the Witches' warnings, due to their ambiguous double meanings, give Macbeth
courage but also leave him fearing those he is warned of. Becuase of his paranoia and macabre
personality, the forces of good, Macduff and Malcolm, begin to mount against him, causing him
to reflect on his power-grabbing journey.
Just before Macbeth reconsiders and regrets his relentless climb to the top of the
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hierarchy, he experiences a strong boost of false confidence perhaps exalting him to his most
arrogant state of being throughout the entire play. After hearing that no man born of woman
could harm him, Macbeth invites Macduff to live, for "what need [he] fear of thee" (IV,i,82)
since it is impossible for Macduff to not be born of woman. However, as is revealed later in the
play, Macduff was not technically born of woman, but instead he was delivered by a C-section.
The witches/apparitions purposely mislead Macbeth with favorable, ambiguous messages that
contain double meanings to instill within Macbeth an air of false confidence. For instance, the
witches/apparitions duped Macbeth once more by revealing to him that he "shall never [be]
vanquished" until "Birnam Wood... shall come against him" (IV,i,92-94), prompting Macbeth to
believe he is essentially immortal. But what Macbeth did not know was that the actual forest
itself did not have to move but rather appear as if the wood was traveling up the hill towards his
castle. Soldiers, disguised as trees and bushes, stealthily crept up Dunsinane Hill to make it
appear as if the Great Birnam Wood was moving later in Act V. Macbeth even fits the definition
of false courage as described by Aristotle: "ignorance of what [is] rightly to be feared"
(Campbell 127), such as the ignorance Macbeth displays when disregarding the witches
warnings. Now feeling invincible, Macbeth feels he can take on all challengers or opposition to
the throne. He is so arrogant in his belief that when an army approaches his castle, he develops
no battle plans and only intends to stay in his castle as a stronghold. Macbeth's aura of false
confidence peaks just prior to his ultimate downfall, a detail Shakespeare did not unintentionally
produce, which serves to embellish the death of the tragic hero.
Sorely distraught, due to the suicide of Lady Macbeth and the approach of armed troops,
Macbeth realizes that his ambitious pursuit has consumed his life and essentially rendered his
impact on the world obsolete, contributing to his downfall. Macbeth realizes that he has had his
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fifteen minutes of fame and is leaving no impact on the world, for he is "but a walking shadow"
(V,v,24) that only focuses on ambition and trivial matters. He set out to become king and
accomplished his goal through any means necessary, yet he receives no satisfaction from his
achievement because in the end, his elevated status has brought nothing but opposition and fear.
He has gained no redeeming or self-enriching qualities from his experience but only frivolous
material items, such as a crown and kingly robes. As a king, Macbeth hoped to be remembered
by his countrymen, but instead will be "heard no more" (V,v,26) since he will simply be replaced
by the next king. He will eventually be long forgotten in the hearts and minds of the people of
Scotland. Macbeth believes during his lust for power that any gain in higher status would be
fulfilling and satisfy his wildly ambitious mind. However, there is "that central irony of losing in
gaining" (Knights 53) because as Macbeth gains power, he loses his redeeming qualities, his
supporters, and eventually his life. Macbeth, therefore, does not benefit from his triumphs, but
instead he is crippled by them. He loses all his loved ones, making him look the part of the
isolated tyrant towards the end of the play. By the end of the play, Macbeth has become aware
of his severely over-ambitious exploits and discovers their disastrous effects far too late to
prevent the fall of himself: the tragic hero.
Without the lessons learned and obstacles of life presented in Macbeth, the disastrous
consequences of unchecked ambition would not be so profound to our society today, for not
many pieces of literature emphasize the downfalls of man's ambition better than Macbeth.
Essential to presenting these disastrous consequences is a tragic hero, in this case Macbeth, who
can display a total transformation of character due to an eight-letter word: ambition. This total
transformation of character over the course of the play is facilitated by outside malevolent forces
such as Lady Macbeth and the three witches, who provide manipulative messages that urge
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Macbeth to continue his self-destructive path of ambition. Therefore, the outside forces led
Macbeth to his "dusty death" (V,v,23) by filling him with desires that would tempt any man.
These desires certainly did tantalize Macbeth, transforming him, over the course of the play,
from a courageous soldier into a fragile stage tyrant, completely destroyed by the power of
"vaulting ambition" (I,vii,27).