Everyone has ambition regardless of age or culture and it can lead to success or failure. The play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, presents the rise and downfall of tragic and renowned hero, Macbeth, as he listens to the prophecy of the Three Witches saying he will be king of Scotland and plots to murder King Duncan for the throne. Eventually, the nobles find out Macbeth’s evil deeds to rise to power and will retake the throne back to its rightful owner, Malcolm, King Duncan’s son.
The consequences of ambition impact both Macbeth and lady Macbeth are regrets for murdering, mind slowly deteriorates from guilt and death of many innocents including Macbeth and his wife One consequence of ambition that impact the characters is regretting the actions. Macbeth unable to forgive himself and regrets his actions immediately after murdering King Duncan at his own party. After killing King Duncan by intoxicating the guards with wines, Macbeth immediately regrets his action by stating “What hands are here? Ha, they pluck out mine eyes.
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red. ” (Act II, Scene 2). This shows that Macbeth feels great remorse and guilt for killing his king as he states “What hands are here” showing that he is unable to figure out his own hands since they are soaked with Duncan’s blood. He then talks about how his hands will turn the whole sea red after dipping them in the ocean and how the god of the sea, Neptune, will not be able to wash his blood off his hands.
Duncan’s blood taints Macbeth metaphorically and literally. By saying this speech after killing King Duncan shows that Macbeth is not evil but he is tempted by the evil and selffulfilled his own prophecy with his own ambition. Another example of Macbeth’s regret for King Duncan and take the crown is him talking to Seyton. As Seyton and Macbeth discuss about the English army marching towards Dunsinane, Macbeth states “My way of life/ Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf,/ And that which should accompany old agel As honor, love, obedience, troops of friend,/l must not look to have, but in their stead” (Act V. Scene 3).
This quote symbolises Macbeth regrets since he states “fall’n” which can be interpret as regret or some kind of failure. The usage of “the yellow leaf” also symbolizes some kind of downfall that will result in death or it can symbolize how Macbeth have fallen like the yellow leaves fall in the autumn. He regrets that since he is tainted from killing King Duncan, he is unable to live until “old age” with “honor, love, obedience and troops of friend”.
Later on, Macbeth will regret his actions after hearing the death of his wife by saying life is nothing and meaningless and everything he did is naught. However this is not the only consequence of ambition for Macbeth. Another consequence of ambition that impact the main characters is mind becomes worse and worse from feeling guilty. Macbeth’s mind slowly deteriorates from guilt after murdering King Duncan and his best friend, Banquo while Lady Macbeth’s mind is unable to hold the guilt for plotting to kill the King.
While partying with the lords after the murdering Banquo, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost and screams “Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee. /Thy bones are marrowless; thy blood is cold;/ Thou hast no speculation in those eyes/ Which thou dost glare with. ” (Act III, Scene 2). During the party, Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo moving towards his seat thus prompting Macbeth to yell at the chair however only Macbeth can see the ghost of Banquo leading to some suspicions by the nobles and lords.
The ghost of Banquo is manifestation of Macbeth’s guilt since he is the only person that can see that ghost which can be interpret as Macbeth’s mind is slowly deteriorates from the build up guilt inside his body and mind. This shows ambition can lead to guilt because in order to secure the throne for himself, Macbeth sent out men to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance however since Macbeth is a good person, his conscience makes him feel guilty about the murders. Another example of how ambition can lead to guilt is shown by Lady Macbeth.
The concerned gentlewoman explains Lady Macbeth’s situation to the doctor saying “Why, it stood by her. She has light by her continually/ ‘Tis her command/… It is an accustomed action with her to seem thus washing her hands/I have known her continue in this a quarter of an hour. ” (Shakespeare Act 5, Scene 1). This shows that Lady Macbeth is also feeling guilty about plotting to murder Lady Macduff, King Duncan and Banquo with sleepwalking symbolising that she is unable to have peace since sleep equals peace.
The candle Lady Macbeth holding symbolizes the hope in Lady Macbeth’s unstable mind which is very ironic since she asked the darkness to come in while they were plotting to kill King Duncan. “It is an accustomed action with her to seem thus washing her hands” shows that Lady Macbeth is feeling the guilt as she continually washing her hands every night, trying to wash away the blood of her victim away even though she did not kill King Duncan herself.
This scene also let her servants know Macbeth’s bloody rise to power because Lady Macbeth confesses all the crimes that she and her husband to relieve the stress and guilt on her mind. However these are only the only consequences of ambition in The Tragedy of Macbeth. The last of consequence of ambition that impact the main characters is death. Macbeth’s bloody rise to power ends with the death of many innocents including his wife and himself. While fighting with Macbeth, Macduff drags him off the stage and later enter with Macbeth’s head saying, “Hail, King! for so thou art.
Behold where stands/ Th’usurper’s cursed head. The time is freell see thee compassed with thy kingdom’s pearl,/ That speak my salutation in their minds, whose voices desire aloud with mine. ” (Shakespeare Act 5, Scene 5). This shows blind ambition leads Macbeth into his death with him being slain as a tyrant since Macbeth ordered people to be killed in order to secure and take the throne for himself. His ambition results in many people killed starting with King Duncan, Banquo, Macduff’s entire household combined with his unstable mind will eventually lead to Macbeth’s downfall.
Th’ usurper cursed head” can show how ambition change the once noble to “cursed” since he always think about the throne murdering countless people. He trades his humanity to ensure the throne and keep the prophecy alive and this can be seen when he orders murderers to attack Macduff’s household after hearing that Macduff goes to England. Macbeth sends murderers to kill Banquo since he is also there when the three witches present Macbeth’s prophecy and he knows that Banquo is suspicious about the foul play for the throne.
Another example of death as a consequence of ambition is the death of Lady Macbeth. While talking to Macbeth about the English troops arriving at Dunsinane, Seyton tells Macbeth after hearing a woman’s scream, “The Queen, my lord, is dead. ” This is another example of ambition leads to death however Lady Macbeth commits suicide unlike Macbeth being slain by Macduff. Lady Macbeth is unable to hold all the guilt inside her and with her husband cares about the throne more than her, she feels isolated thus commits suicide.
There are several clues that lead to Lady Macbeth’s downfall such as washing her hands over and over and sleep walkings. These are all the signs that Lady Macbeth have gone mad thus killing herself to find her own peace. These are all the consequences of ambition inside The Tragedy of Macbeth. The consequences of ambition that impact both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are regrets for murdering the King, mind slowly deteriorates from guilt and death of many innocents including Macbeth and his wife.
Macbeth unable to forgive himself and regrets his action immediately after the murder of his own king. Macbeth’s mind slowly deteriorates from guilt after murdering King Duncan and his best friend, Banquo while Lady Macbeth’s mind is unable to hold the guilt for plotting to kill the King. Macbeth’s bloody rise to power ends with the death of many innocents including his wife and himself. Blind ambition can often result in many consequences but good ambition can lead to success.
