MB - AMBITION

intro

shakespeare presents ambition in macbeth as an inherently destructive trait, in line with jacobean religious beliefs ; that God gave one their place on earth, so an attempt to transcend what was preordained was the worst sin. Thus, Shakespeare uses ambition as the hamartia of the central protagonist - perhaps to demonstrate the negative and fatal effects of regicide.

1

ambition is presented as a transgressive desire (goes against nature)

* MB's unease about killing D - "**we'd jump the life to come**" - understands the repercussions of regicide (he would be unable to repent for his unforgivable crime) - wouldnt be able to go to heaven after committing "deed" - goes against GCOB/DROK
* killing king is against **"use of nature"**
* macbeth is fully aware of the harmful repercussions of his actions, yet his insatiable ambition is his main priority.
* reinforced with personification of “**horrid image doth unfix my hair/And make my seated heart knock at my ribs”**, which suggests that by so much as toying around with the thought of becoming king, Macbeth’s external and internal, physiological and psychological selves are disturbed.

**“we’d jump the life to come**” - macbeth soliloquises his desire. The dynamic verb “**jump**” implies an overwhelming craving to leap forth, unrestricted - supposedly to more successful times. This becomes ironic later in the play , as macbeths ambition is the root of his demise. The notion of a “**jump**” perhaps could allude to Macbeth’s intention to “cheat” his way up the hierarchy by regicide and deceitful means: the framing of Duncan’s sons to ensure his own coronation.

2

ambition requires a sacrifice in character - "**art not without ambition, but without the illness that attends it"** - 'he cant have his cake and eat it'

* LM believes he cannot achieve "**greatness**" due to his fear
* shown through use of caesura during LM talk
* one side of the sentence represents the aspect of macbeth that holds MB back "art without ambition" - he has the drive yet "**without the illness that attends it**", cannot achieve greatness without ill - "f**air is foul, foul is fair"**
* **"what thou wouldst higly" that wouldst holily**" - the antimetabole used portrays his inner conflict as he battles with morality and ambition
* ((repetition of words in reversed order).

3

ambition is the hamartia for MB - leads to his downfall

* ambition and guilt are directly proportional
* as he becomes more ambitious he loses control over his conscience, becoming almost indenial
* **"o full of scorpions is my mind"** the metaphor emphasises that his stress and paranoia constantly 'attacks' him
* **"know know my deed, twere best not to know myself"** - loses a sense of his identity due to his guilt, wants to rid himself of all the paranoia - yet it consumes him
* MB states that **"to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus"** - MB is never happy with what his ambition brings him he is tormented by "**paranoia**" and is never **"safely thus**" in his position, always wanting what he doenst have
* ultimately leads to his downfall.

-

* macbeth entices LM with his ambition **“greatness is promised”**
* accepts that evil of regicide and the impossible chance of becoming king,
* **“to be king stands not within the prospect of belief, no more than to be cawdor**” - he knows its impossible to become king
* although later on, he becomes “**thane of cawdor”,** which gives credibility to the witches’ prophecies, so mb believes that he can become king (associates them at the same level)
* **my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical**” - its a dream cannot happen
* “t**hat is a step on which i must fall down or else o’erleap for in my way it lies”** (talking about malcolm”
* physical obstacles, needs to pass by, represents steps in GCOB
* NATURE DISTURBED BY GCOB BEING DEFIED BY MB’s AMBITION
* **“dark night strangles the travelling lamp”**
* ***“ear*****th was feverous”**
* **“strange screams of death”**

**“chimneys” “blown down”**

ambition as dangerous

shakespeare uses ecclesiastical imagery to warn the audience of how dangerous macbeth’s ambition will become. The metaphor of a **“poison’d chalice”** - a chalice is a vessel for drinking blessed wine - is an oxymoron that shocks and scares contemporary religious audiences as they realise the magnitude of desecrating such a sacred object. This alludes to the belief in the Jacobean Era of divine order of society and hence that regicide was not only high treason, but a betrayal of god . This image effectively demonstrates the potentially cataclysmic contagion that insatiable ambition brings to society and nature .



* NATURE DISTURBED BY GCOB BEING DEFIED BY MB’s AMBITION
* **“dark night strangles the travelling lamp”**
* **“earth was feverous”**
* **“strange screams of death”**

**“chimneys” “blown down”**

macbeth ambition quotes

“against the use of nature”

“we’d jump the life to come”

“horrid image doth unfix my hair/and make my seated heart knock at my ribs”

“art not without ambition but without the illness that attends it”

“what thou wouldst highly, that wouldst holily “

“o full of scorpions is my mind”

“to know my deed, twere best not to know myself”

“to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus”

“greatness is promised”

“stars hide your fires let not light see my black and deep desires”

to be king stands not within the prospect of belief, no more than to be cawdor”

“murder yet is but fantastical”

* **“dark night strangles the travelling lamp”**
* ***“ear*****th was feverous”**
* **“strange screams of death”**

**“chimneys” “blown down”**

“poisoned chalice”