Macbeth ambition quotes full#
Macbeth ambition quotes code#

King Duncan orders the death of the traitorous Thane of Cawdor, and Macbeth is rewarded with the title, giving him his first taste of power. Initially, it clear that Macbeth is an honorable man who is repleted by his comrades due to his bravery on the battlefield against the Norwegians An injured soldier reports back to King Duncan concerning “Brave Macbeth”: “For brave Macbeth–well he deserves that name– / Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody execution…” (I.2.16-18). The different motives behind Lady Macbeth and Macbeth revealed in the first act foreshadow their differences of opinion further on in the play.Finally, we see how Macbeth is driven to extremes of cruelty as he pushes his ambition in order to maintain the highest position of the power he can. Although the murder of Duncan is not illustrated in the first act, it is evident that Macbeth will later succumb to the pressure of Lady Macbeth. It is evident that these quotes accurately depict that many of the decisions made by the characters have been influenced by their ambition. The two situations are an example of juxtaposition, illustrating how Lady Macbeth’s tireless and overpowering ambition impacts Macbeth’s decision making. She manipulates and degrades Macbeth until he agrees to follow through with the plan. He decides not to kill Duncan, but his confidence in the decision is quickly diminished when Lady Macbeth walks in. Macbeth concludes that he has no other reason other than ambition to kill Duncan. Shakespeare uses the word “ spur” as a metaphor for other potential motives of the killing. “I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/ And falls on th’ other-” (1.7.25-28)

Macbeth ambition quotes full#

Shakespeare’s diction in “ is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” illustrates how pure and wholesome Macbeth’s ambition and reasoning is in comparison to Lady Macbeth. She concludes that Macbeth lacks ruthlessness, and this will stand in the way of him going through with the plan. Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth’s ambition isn’t enough to execute the killing of Duncan. Thou wouldst be great,/ Art not without ambition, but without/ The illness should attend it” (1.5.16-20). “Yet do I fear they nature / It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way.

Macbeth ambition quotes code#

the more Macbeth is driven to pursue what he and Lady Macbeth call manliness-the more he perverts that code into a rationale for reflexive aggression-the less humane he becomes, until at last he forfeits nearly all claims on the race itself, and his vaunted manhood, as he finally realizes, becomes meaningless' (Ramsey). The words “unsex me” indicate that she believes herself to have more intensity and ambition than men. She is insinuating the idea that she is more of a ‘real man’ than Macbeth is. Her ambition and commitment to killing Duncan is greater than Macbeth’s. Not only does this quote convey Lady Macbeth’s striving ambition, but it also reveals the masculinity motif. “Come, you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/ And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ Of direst cruelty” (1.5.47-50). Macbeth struggles to wrap his head around the idea of killing someone unjustly, illustrating his hesitance. It is evident that Macbeth’s ambition is being restricted by his empathy and logic.

He is completely uneasy murdering Duncan without a worthy enough reason. Macbeth is expressing his concerns about the plan to murder Duncan. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,/ Shakes so my single state of man/ That function is smother'd in surmise,/ And nothing is but what is not” (1.3.152-155). THEME: Although ambition provides the opportunity for one to have control over his/her own destiny, it can often lead him/her to make an impulsive decision.