Eduqas English Literature Component 1 Macbeth Essay Key Quotes & Symbolism on the Theme of Ambition

Fill-in-the-blank practice flashcards covering key quotes, contexts, and analytical points regarding the theme of ambition in Macbeth.

In Act 1, Scene 4, Macbeth reveals his hidden, dark ambition by saying: "Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my __________."

black and deep desires

Macbeth reveals his hidden, dark ambition immediately after hearing the Witches' prophecies and learning that __________ is named heir to the throne.

Malcolm

In his Act 1, Scene 7 soliloquy, Macbeth acknowledges his lack of moral justification, stating: "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only __________, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other."

vaulting ambition

In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth explicitly acknowledges that he lacks a moral justification for killing Duncan; his uncontrollable ambition is his only __________.

motivation

In Act 2, Scene 1, Macbeth speaks to a vision, asking: "Is this a __________ which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee."

dagger

The hallucinated dagger represents the physical manifestation of Macbeth's ambition leading him toward the ultimate crime of __________.

regicide

In Act 3, Scene 2, Macbeth highlights his vicious cycle by saying: "Things bad begun make strong themselves by __________."

ill

Macbeth must commit more atrocities to maintain the power he unlawfully __________.

seized

In Act 5, Scene 1, Lady Macbeth demonstrates the psychological toll of her ambition, crying: "Out, __________ spot! out, I say!"

damned

Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene demonstrates that guilt eventually crushes her assumed __________.

ruthlessness