Macbeth Power And Ambition Essay

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Ambition and power were two qualities that, collectively, did not bring about Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth most definitely had a thirst for power, his ambition was strong and ruthless and the world inevitably reciprocated such ruthlessness. Although he had that thirst, it was never quenched, power never did befall Macbeth. Instead of the power and ambition destroying him, it was instead his conscience creating such a fear of absolute power that clashed with his ambition to create such an extravagant surcease.

Ambition took a hold of Macbeth, such that he was willing to hurt anyone in his quest for power and suffer the consequences. Macbeth begins the play as a loyal soldier, bearing witness to the epitome
Macbeth was inherently a good man, with solid morals and a well-established conscience, as is shown by his tentative contemplation of cold blooded murder. “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent” was his conclusion, as it should have been, only to be so easily manipulated by his wife to disregard his conscience. Like Lady Macbeth was to ambition, Banquo was to conscience, as Shakespeare engineered it. Banquo knew of the witches intent to “win us harm” before Duncan was killed, but after he also “fear[ed] [Macbeth] played’st most foully for’t”, henceforth he was the manifestation of morality, and morality made up the fibres of Macbeth’s conscience. Banquo illustrated Macbeth’s subconscious belief that he was an undeserved king, for he had played “foully”. Macbeth’s ambition was what killed Banquo, just like conscience was what killed Lady Macbeth. But, unlike Lady Macbeth’s surcease, which signified the death of Macbeth’s ambition, Banquo’s ghost came back, which meant that his conscience shall never die. This a priori sequence of Macbeth’s internal battle clearly shows that it was ambition and conscience that betrayed