Macbeth
"Macbeth's ambition leads him to believe the prophecies of the weird sisters. It is the belief that brings about his downfall." William Shakespeare's tale of Macbeth is based on deception and ambition. The play opens with the three weird sisters plotting to meet Macbeth upon the heath. Here, they intend to plant the seed of his destruction, their prophecies. Macbeth's ambition to fulfil these prophecies will eventually lead to his downfall. He believes to strongly in them as his ambition to retain the throne begins to takes over his life. When Macbeth is first introduced in the play, he is a very loyal, brave and virtuous warrior who shows little sign of being ambitious. Even after the witches confront Macbeth for the first time, he still doubts the virtue of his vaulting ambition and their promises for his future. It is Lady Macbeth's very powerful persuasion that spurs on Macbeth's ambition. Once the murder of Duncan takes place, Macbeth's ambition seems unstoppable. A desperate man, he relies heavily on the witches' ill-fated prophecies, eventually meeting an untimely and dishonourable death. At the start of the play the audience is given a noble image of Macbeth. The soldier tells t
After the first confrontation with the witches, Macbeth ponders over the three prophecies. Macbeth immediately gets suspicious, so he goes and consults the witches again. He knows that the witches are supernatural and evil and their prophecies cannot be good. He knows that there is no reason to kill Duncan other than ambition: "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other," he reasons. " This urges him to stand up and fight against the opposing army and makes him think that he is invincible. He is obsessed with all the witches' prophecies about Banquo's sons becoming kings. It is clearly evident now that Macbeth is self-destructing. His eventual belief in their prophecies will lead him down the path of evil. Lady Macbeth, however, encourages Macbeth's ambition even though he doesn't want to go ahead of the murder. He has completely deceived himself and is too "charg'd with guilt and sorrow". Although Macbeth's ambition was then spurred by Lady Macbeth's persuasion, he, himself, allowed it to take control of his destiny. This is repeated a little later in the play when Macbeth sees that Macduff had refused to come to his banquet.
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