Ambition and Corruption in Macbeth

Human society burdens itself with generating organizational systems of rank to distinguish groups of people. Ambition - the quest for power - is a foremost drive embedded in the human spirit that motives men to better themselves. This quest is seen in Shakespeare's tragic play Macbeth with the titular character who strives to achieve and maintain ultimate power. Shakespeare's "Macbeth" is the story of how one man's ambition can lead towards their demise. It tells the story of a man urged by his wife, and told in a prophecy by three witches, that he would one day be King. In order to achieve the prophecy he must murder the present King. Macbeth himself has to deal with his own ambition, fate and deception. Even though there are only a few scenes in which the witches show up, they motivates much of the play's action. There is a supernatural element surrounding them, and it can be examined whether or not the witches are real or if Macbeth is imagining them. Macbeth's mind starts to play tricks on him throughout the play. For instance, he envisions his departed friend Banquo's ghost sitting at the dinner table, and also imagines a floating dagger leading him to the present King. Macbeth explores the corrupting influence of unchecked ambition. Macbeth's unchecked ambition leads him from a once noble man into a heartless man with no morals. The corrupted ambitions of Macbeth lead him to act against his conscious and this leaves him open to be easily manipulated. With power he becomes corrupt, a bloodthirsty tyrant and a victim of his own success. Throughout the play imagery, language and stagecraft are infused to create a malevolent and malicious image of Macbeth. With the influence of Lady Macbeth, he becomes ruthless and his vision is subverted with ambition, nothing will stand in his way.

Macbeth is introduced as a humble and honest leader, however as the play continues his blinded ambition leads him down a dark path in which he loses all moral sense. Initially Macbeth is said to be "brave", "noble" and a "worthy gentleman" who is willing to put his life on the line to protect his kingdom "Thawdor". This all begins to change after Macbeth hears his prophecy and suddenly his ambition to become king alights. Macbeth is influenced so heavily by his ambitions that he loses his original "noble" and "honest" traits and begins plotting the murder of Duncan, "o, never shall sun that morrow see!". This shows the first stage of the corrupting influence of unchecked ambition taking over Macbeth. Macbeth carries out the murder of Duncan and then soon after begins plotting the murder of his close friend Banquo. This reveals that the influence of Macbeth's uncontrolled ambition has now completely taken him over. The influence of ambitions on Macbeth to stay as king completely wipes his mind of all his morals and all things that were once important to him, Lady Macbeth is portrayed near the beginning of the play to mean everything to Macbeth and Macbeth tried to do what he could to please her. However, when Lady Macbeth dies later in the play, Macbeth's only words are "she should of died hear after" as he is annoyed at the fact she died at an inconvenient time. This illustrates how the unchecked ambition that has a corrupting influence upon Macbeth turns him against his once noble and honest path.

In drama, a soliloquy is a convention by which a character alone on stage utters his thoughts aloud; the playwright uses this device as a convenient way to convey directly to the audience information about a character's motives, intentions and state of mind, as well the purposes of general exposition. In Macbeth's soliloquy, Macbeth hesitates because of both pragmatic and moral causes; although, his moral scruples seem to overpower the pragmatic argument. Macbeth is torn between these two issues, and his unique way of deciphering his problems is exhibited in this scene. Macbeth feels that if he were to assassinate the king, Duncan that he better do it soon. "If it were done when tis done, then twere well; it were done quickly". Macbeth feels that if the crime was committed when it needed to be, and if it were done quickly, then he would be safe. This argument is a moral concern toward Macbeth, this is the first thought that comes to his mind, because it is exhibited in the first line of his soliloquy. Macbeth is hesitant to murder Duncan, because he feels that he would be eternally punished in hell for committing such a heinous crime. Macbeth expresses these feeling in "but here upon this bank and shoal of time; we'd jump the life to come". The "life to come", is the afterlife, which would be an eternity of suffering for Macbeth, because of his assassination of Duncan. Thus, making this argument a moral concern and one of Macbeth's overpowering arguments in his soliloquy. Macbeth feels that if he were to succeed the throne from Duncan, the common people would feel a sense of mistrust toward Macbeth. Macbeth expresses these thoughts in "we still have judgment here, that we but teach bloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plague th' inventor". Macbeth feels that the "bloody instructions" are the plans to kill Duncan, and that if he were to go through with those plan, the "bloody instructions" would eventually lead back to Macbeth, "return to plague th' inventor".

Power and corruption are some of the major themes presented in Macbeth. The story deals with these themes by showing us how Macbeth's actions have grim consequences which ensure in poor results, such as Macbeth's complete change of character. In one of the first few scenes of the play, the captain states for "brave Macbeth well he deserves that name", showing us that Macbeth is loyal to the king for killing the villain. The captain's statement also shows that he is a good and well respected soldier in Scotland. Later, Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches who predict that Macbeth will become "Thane of Cawdor and king hereafter". When Macbeth "starts", it reveals that he had already considered becoming king before, but did not take any action because he knew it was morally incorrect. However, after hearing the witches' foretelling that

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