MACBETH THEME OF AMBITION Key quotes plus analysis

MACBETH – THEME OF AMBITION Key quotes plus analysis

MACBETH Two truths are told As happy prologues to the swelling act Of th’imperial theme (1. 3) Macbeth speaks these lines as he realizes that the witches’ prophecy (that he will be Thane of Cawdor) has come true. He immediately starts to wonder whether this means that their third prophecy (that he will become king) will also be true. The eagerness with which he turns to this idea suggests that he finds the possibility appealing, even though he also realizes he would have to commit a terrible and violent act in order to achieve the position. These lines hint at Macbeth’s ambition and foreshadow his later actions even though, at this point in the play, he seems to refuse to consider acting upon it.

MACBETH Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires. (1. 4) “Stars hide your fires” is personification. The stars are being asked to give Macbeth darkness, as he is ashamed of his deed “black” connotations of evil “deep desires. ” Alliteration – highlighting how thoroughly his ambition pervades every fibre of his being.

MACBETH 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) The passage describes the tension between Macbeth’s unwillingness to move ahead with his plan, and his acknowledgement that his ambition is leading him down a dangerous path. He was happy being the King’s loyal warrior, but this ambition is pushing him – but he suspects it will be his downfall.

MACBETH False face must hide what the false heart Doth know(1. 7) The ambition to be king is growing and leads Macbeth to deception. He must act the loyal and welcoming host, putting on a genial face whilst hiding the truth of what is inside - the evil desire to become king at any cost. Including murder. Repetition of “false” emphasizes how treacherous and deceitful Macbeth is.

MACBETH - corruption "Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!” (2. 2) Macbeth’s paranoia grows. He believes he has "murder'd sleep. " Sleep, he argues, ought to bring physical calm in the same way that prayer soothes the spirit. But in his case, the ability both to pray and to sleep has been cancelled. Macbeth is haunted by the knowledge that he will never again rest easy in his own bed. Also sleep represents peace and innocence – Duncan was innocent. Macbeth has killed innocence so will gain no more peace.

MACBETH - corruption “I am in blood stepped in so far… As the play progresses Macbeth becomes more and more embroiled in evil. He considers his situation and realises that he cannot stop now – he is in too deep.

MACBETH - corruption “To be thus is nothing, But to be safely thus. ” His paranoia is growing still, ambition has corrupted him so much, that he feels to be settled in his mind he has to kill Banquo. Being the king alone is now not enough – it is “nothing”. He must be in a secure position is more important now.

MACBETH - corruption “Fleance…must embrace the fate Of that dark hour” Macbeth, now corrupted by his ambition, has ordered murderers to chase down Banquo and kill him to prevent him discussing his suspicions about Macbeth – Banquo was his friend and fellow soldier. On top of that, as his son Fleance rides out with him, but Macbeth is clear when he indicates to the murderers that Fleance must not survive as a witness.

Lady MACBETH - ambition “Thou wouldst be great Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it” (1. 5) Lady Macbeth speaks these lines as she reflects on her husband’s character. She knows that Macbeth is capable of ambitious dreams, but she thinks that he is unwilling to display the ruthless behaviour necessary to achieve those dreams. These lines reflect Lady Macbeth’s own philosophy of power, in which only individuals who are willing to set their morality aside will rise to greatness. “illness” in this context is used to represent this.

Lady MACBETH - ambition “I may pour my spirits in thine ear And chastise with the valor of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round ” (1. 5) Having read the news of his prophecy, Lady Macbeth’s ambition becomes clear and, fearing her husband’s innate goodness, she wishes him home so she can fill him with her unwavering sense of purpose. Her ‘valor’ suggests her bravery exceeds her husbands in this matter and that she will let nothing prevent her husbands succession to the throne.

Lady MACBETH - ambition “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, Stop up th’access and passage to remorse, …” This monologue reads like a spell – as if she herself is a witch (only mimicking it. She is not a witch) She calls on unholy spirits to remove any feminine goodness or kindness from her so that she can proceed with the plan. She wants no “access” in her body where pity or “remorse” might seep and weaken her resolve.

Lady MACBETH - ambition “When you durst do it, then you were a man. ” She taunts her husband provokes his masculinity by questioning his bravery. She wants to fire him into a strong resolution to commit the murder. “Screw your courage to the sticking place and we’ll not fail. ” She taunts her husband then encourages him to be brave. She uses powerful words to convince her husband that they will succeed.

Lady MACBETH - ambition “Give me the daggers. . . I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, For it must seem their guilt. ” Macbeth, shocked by his act, carries the dripping daggers from the King. LM is not shaken by the blood or the murder. She remains clear in her resolve and plan. She takes the daggers back into the King’s chamber then seems almost proud when she returns and her: “…hands are of your colour. ” She shares her husband’s guilt with her bloodied hands.

Lady MACBETH - corrupted “Out, damned spot; out, I say. One, two, —why, then ’tis time to do’t. Hell is murky…Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? ” (5. 1) • Spoken by Lady Macbeth as she sleepwalks towards the end of the play. • Earlier in the play, she possessed a stronger resolve and sense of purpose than her husband was the driving force behind their plot to kill Duncan. When Macbeth believed his hand was irreversibly bloodstained earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth had told him, “A little water clears us of this deed” (2. 2. 65). Now, however, she too sees blood. She is completely undone by guilt and descends into madness. • Her inability to sleep was foreshadowed in the voice that her husband thought he heard while killing the king—a voice crying out that Macbeth was murdering sleep. • And her delusion that there is a bloodstain on her hand furthers the play’s use of blood as a symbol of guilt. • “Hell is murky, ” she says, implying that she already knows that darkness intimately. The pair, in their destructive power, have created their own hell, where they are tormented by guilt and insanity.

Lady MACBETH - corrupted “all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh!”. ” Her guilt is so absolute that she smells Duncan’s blood on her skin. It is so ingrained that no sweet smell could remove the tang of blood. The repeated ‘oh’ highlights her desperate anguish. Her ambition, once so strong and unyielding has now corrupted her soul and broken her spirit.

Lady MACBETH - corrupted “The queen, my Lord, is dead. ” Unable to deal with her guilt, beset by nightmares and continuing ghosts of the murder she was actively involved in, Lady Macbeth commits suicide. The corrupting effects of ambition lead her to her ultimate, pitiful end.