Macbeth Positives And Negatives

Ambition: the Positives and Negatives
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth begins with three witches echoing “fair is foul and foul is fair,” (I,i,12) which is exactly how we first see the play’s main character, Macbeth. Macbeth is told by the witches that he will one day become king. The fair and valiant warrior, Macbeth, puts himself above all others and turns to a path of darkness, murdering the existing king for power, then ruthlessly killing anyone else seen as a threat to his reign. Eventually, the evil Macbeth is ousted by Macduff, a man who puts Scotland above all else. Both men, while total opposites, have one thing in common; their actions are driven by their ambitions. The characters ambitions shape who they are, and who they are to become.
Macbeth is originally seen as a noble warrior; a man that “deserves [his] name, disdaining fortune with his brandished steel.” (I,ii,19-20) He has risen up through the ranks to become Thane of Glamis and is well liked by the king. While his benevolent actions have certainly led him to a position of power, they appear to be directed to a more noble cause. This all changes when the witches tell Macbeth that he “shalt be king.” Macbeth realizes that “chance may crown [him]” without him needing to do anything. (I,iii,151-152) If the witches are correct, it is his fate to become king; there is nothing else he needs to do. While Macbeth could have followed in his good friend Banquo’s footsteps and simply decided to let fate take its course, he does
Macbeth’s ambition has made him king, but this is not enough for him. The witches have prophesized that Banquo, not Macbeth, will father the line of future kings. For Macbeth, this is a problem. he feels that he has a “fruitless crown… thence to be wrenched” by Banquo’s “unlineal hand.” (III,I,64-66) Macbeth sees Banquo as a threat so large that he hires three separate murderers to kill him and his son. Unlike the first murder, Macbeth shows no emotion when he orders Banquo killed. His ambition to father future kings outweighs the life of his friend. Ultimately, Macbeth’s ambitious actions catch up with him, and he is