Ambition In Macbeth

Words: 644
Pages: 3

Ambition The article “Is Ambition Good or Bad?” written by Neel Burton, defines ambition as attempting to achieve some excellence or accomplishment. It first includes the want for success, and second, the drive and willpower to achieve this success even in the face of danger and disappointment. Neel Burton emphasizes the psychological and philosophical ideas of ambition. Not all ambition is taken in a good way. In the Shakespearean play, Macbeth, ambition plays a large role in establishing a theme that ultimately leads to a downfall, in which Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his ambition. Ambition helps the reader to understand the character development of Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth and his wife have strong ideas of ambition that can be mistaken for greed, hope and …show more content…
In the article it states, “…aspiration, which has a particular goal for object” (Burton). Lady Macbeth’s ambition can be mistaken for aspiration. She aspires to have the crown for her husband. This can also lead to greed. “…excessive desire for more than is needed or deserved, not for the greater good but for one’s own selfish interest” (Burton). Lady Macbeth is greedy for her husband to have the title of King. She is selfish and only wants the title for herself to be a higher-class citizen. She should be happy for her husband who already has the title of Thane of Glaims and Thane of Cawdor, for Macbeth actually earned this title from all of his hard work, and ambition, as a solider. As for Macbeth, his ambition can be spoken of in the same sentence as hope. He is more hopeful that he will receive the crown because as the article puts it he has “the desire for something to happen combined with an anticipation of it happening.”(Burton). He is in anticipation of it to happen because the witches have told him three prophecies, of which two have already came true. He believes in fate is his is to become