Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

Macbeth s ambitious goals in his life were the main reason for the destruction of his kinghood. His aspirations were selfish and evil, and he met his destiny at the end of the play. Lady Macbeth is willing to sacrifice all she has for her husband, and the outcome for her is ultimately not good. Being ambitious is usually a good quality for one to have, but when one is overly ambitious or has malicious intentions, one will eventually lose sight of those goals, and will breakdown.

Macbeth s plan for gaining kingship right from the beginning was evil in nature. He figured the only way he would become king was to kill Duncan, the present King of Scotland. This was a very egotistic move by Macbeth. He was going to kill the king of his own country for his own sake. The deed he committed eventually led to his wife s insanity, and his own loss of power. Before he became king, he was granted Thane of Glamis, and he already was the Thane of Cawdor. He could not just settle with what he had. He was power hungry and over ambitious.

Once Macbeth earned the title as king, he to evolve into an evil ruler. His ambition drove him into killing Duncan, a good ruler, Banquo, his good friend, and then the family of Macduff. All of these people were innocent, but they stood in the way of him becoming king, or preventing him from establishing a dynasty. Macbeth s ambitious goals made him evil and that led to his downfall as king.

Lady Macbeth suffered different consequences from her immoral actions. She generated the idea of killing Duncan to get what they both desired. She pushes and pushes Macbeth into doing the deed. Throughout the events of the play, she goes from being Macbeths right wing, to a mere woman, who was not able to provide any help to Macbeth. She becomes ridden with guilt, and the final result is insanity. She is constantly trying to wipe off the blood of Duncan, which she got on her hands, even when she is asleep. She keeps reliving the events that took place the night of the murder. She was not able to kill Duncan, because she said that Duncan looked like her father while he slept, and that she would not be able to kill someone who looked like her father. It was as though she could not forgive herself for what she did.

During the actions of the play, Macbeth and his wife reverse roles. When the play starts out as she is the ambitious one, and he is more on the cautious side. As the play unfolds, Macbeth takes on a stronger character and becomes the more ambitious one. He does not refer to his wife anymore for the courses of action that he takes. He begins to kill all people who might interfere with the security of his kingship. The over ambition of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth was the reason for their breakdown and loss of power. Perhaps if they were patient or even thought the whole thing through before taking any action, Macbeth would have been crowned king anyway. Instead, they tried to take fate into their own hands. Being ambitious is a good quality to have, only if it is used properly.