AQA English Literature GCSE

Macbeth: Themes
Ambition
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Ambition

The plot of Macbeth is propelled forwards

by the Macbeths’ manipulative ambition;
both centre their actions around their
ultimate desire for Macbeth to become
king. Both characters exploit those around
them in order to improve their position in
the social hierarchy and are spurred on
by the prophecies of the three Witches.
Ambition is seen as corrupting and
causes Macbeth to lose his nobility and
ultimately become intensely violent.
Nevertheless, both he and his wife suffer
deep remorse and guilt over their actions
- causing Lady Macbeth to ultimately kill
herself. Macbeth in some senses is a https://wellcomecollection.org/works/x7yg6q2t CC-BY-4.0
dramatic representation of the
devastating psychological consequences of pursuing one’s ambitions without any regard
for morality.

Historical context
Macbeth was (most likely) written in 1606, at the start of the Jacobean period. At that time,
societal status was intensely important. A rigid class system and intricate social
hierarchy meant that people, particularly those belonging to the upper echelons of society,
valued titles highly.
➔ This explains partly why, when told he will potentially become the Thane of Cawdor
and then a king, Macbeth takes this incredibly seriously.
➔ A lot of the tension in the play is caused by a battle over names and titles, as many of
the characters are ambitious and keen to increase their social standing.

Modern Western society with its individualistic values treats ambition as a good quality. In
contrast, in Jacobean and Elizabethan England ambition would have generally been treated
as a dangerous quality to possess. Many people in Elizabethan and Jacobean times
believed in the Divine Order, or Great Chain of Being, as it was alternatively called.
According to the Great Chain of Being, everything in the universe has a specific place and
rank in order of their perceived importance and spiritual nature. Rocks are at the bottom of
this chain, and God is at the top. The King is the highest ranked earthly being. This order, as
the name suggests, was believed to be divinely ordained. Anyone trying to rise above their
rank was therefore believed to be going against God. Thus, in Elizabethan and Jacobean
England, ambition was equated with sin.

Macbeth

The entire play explores the titular character’s quest to fulfil his ambitions, which he
describes as: “black and deep desires” (A1.S4). Through Macbeth, Shakespeare explores
whether ambition is useful, and how it relates to fate:

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 ➔ Is ambition useful in any situation?
➔ Or are events just bound to occur regardless?
➔ Two key sources of Macbeth’s ambition are the Witches prophecy, and his
wife, Lady Macbeth.

Effect of the Witches

When Macbeth initially meets with the Witches in Act One. During their meeting the Witches
reveal their prophecies to him. Although they don’t mention murder, Macbeth’s thoughts
jump ahead to the possibility of killing the King: “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” (A1.S3).

Tragic Flaw
One characteristic of Shakespearean tragedy is that all protagonists have a tragic or fatal
flaw (translated from the Greek word hamartia). Characters’ tragic flaws set in action a chain
of events in which felicity is changed into disaster. Macbeth’s insatiable ambition is his
tragic flaw. Macbeth is willing to give up everything to become king. The murders that he and
his wife commit cause both to grow mad with guilt. One reflection of Macbeth's madness is
when he begins experiencing visions of the bloody knife: “a dagger of the mind, a false
creation” (A2.S1), which shows how the consequences of his ambition has caused him
mental distress and near insanity.

Murder
Arguably, it is Macbeth’s ambition which
ultimately leads him to murder Duncan: he
sees it as the only option to continue on his
ambitious path. In the final scene of Act One,
Macbeth admits that it’s only his ambition for
power that leads him to wanting to kill his
King: “I have no spur // To prick the sides
of my intent, but only // Vaulting ambition,
which o’erleaps itself // And falls on the
other” (A1.S7).
➔ He compares his current situation to
horse riding; ambition is the
metaphorical spur he, the rider, uses
to motivate his horse (i.e. make his
plans a reality).
➔ However, as he notes, a horse rider
may overestimate their ability when
trying to clear an obstacle and
consequently fall down. Macbeth’s
admission foreshadows his tragic
end.
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 Upon discovering Duncan dead in Act Two, it’s implied that Duncan’s children are the
murderers, and Ross exclaims: “Gainst nature still! // Thriftless ambition, that will ravin
up // Thine own lives’ means!” (A2.S4).
➔ Therefore, Duncan’s children are going a “[a]gainst nature” in killing their father,
simply in the pursuit of their supposed ambition. The audience is obviously aware
that it was in fact Macbeth who killed Duncan; so it questions whether it is also
against nature for Macbeth to kill someone he respected and was indebted to, just in
the hope of fulfilling his ambition. Ross’ exclamation also implies that ambition is an
unnatural phenomenon.
➔ He justifies all his actions in Act Three, arguing that they’re “For mine own good”
(A3.S4).

Lady Macbeth

Alongside the three Witches’ prophecy,

Lady Macbeth is seen as the other
motivator of Macbeth's ambition to
usurp the crown. She relentlessly
criticises his actions and lack of
masculinity, and it is her attitude which
arguably leads him to kill Duncan.
However, this ambition contributes to her
own insanity and she eventually commits
suicide.

Similarly to her husband, when Lady

Macbeth first hears of the Witches’
prophecies, her mind immediately jumps
to murder. She has both the ambition
and the confidence to act on her desires,
but doubts her husband’s capacities to
do so. This is expressed in her
soliloquy: “Yet I do fear thy nature; //
It is too full o’ th’ milk of human
kindness // To catch the nearest way.
Thou wouldst be great, // Art not
without ambition, but without // The
illness should attend it.” (A1.S5)
➔ This is one of Lady Macbeth’s
most famous quotes, and she says it in
Act One, Scene Five, when we are first
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4.0 have chosen to have her say these
words when she is first introduced to the
audience in order to foreground the fact that Lady Macbeth’s defining trait is her
ambition. In contrast, we are introduced to Macbeth when he is in battle, which might

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 have suggested to Jacobean audiences that he is brave and noble (at least
superficially or initially so).
➔ Lady Macbeth can be seen as the ultimate catalyst for the plot, spurring her
husband to commit murder.
➔ In the above quote, Shakespeare implies that Lady Macbeth believes that you can
only act on your ambitions and achieve greatness when you sacrifice or ignore their
moral compass. She doubts Macbeth’s ability to do this; according to her judgement
he is “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness // To catch the nearest way” or, in
other words, do what (supposedly) needs to be done.
➔ Evil is equated with “illness” in this quote. Lady Macbeth’s words suggest that she
believes pursuing one’s ambitions generally necessitates doing evil deeds; evil and
ambition and intimately linked.

Masculinity
Lady Macbeth, as a woman, would’ve
been socially pressured to appear less
ambitious and encouraged to hide her
desires.
➔ However, while Lady Macbeth only
encourages her husband to carry
out Duncan’s murder and does not
herself commit it, she can be
viewed as more ruthless and
single-minded in her ambition than
Macbeth. After Macbeth receives
the Witches’ original prophecy, he
is not satisfied or resolved to act on
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it and seeks his wife’s counsel.
s/2a/43/7e6b74219543ede731ceca645d12.jpg
Lady Macbeth then “pour[s her]
CC-BY-4.0
spirit into [his] ear” (A1.S5.L24)
and directs his actions, all the while persistently questioning his manhood. Thus,
while she uses gender norms to shame Macbeth into committing murder, the
power dynamic between them is uncommon for the day - a wife would have been
expected to be submissive and accepting of her husband’s orders. In a reversal of
this, Lady Macbeth wields power over Macbeth and directs his actions. For this
reason and as well as due to her ruthless ambition, Lady Macbeth would have been
viewed as a masculine character. A Jacobean audience might have been inclined
to view her particularly negatively on the assumption that she is untrustworthy
because she does not conform to accepted gender norms.

Desire for power

Shakespeare demonstrates in his play that overwhelming ambition leads to loss and
suffering. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth end up dead, and prior to their deaths they are
less powerful and less happy than they were at the beginning of the play. However, while
desire for power ultimately corrupts both characters, it also drives the plot.

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Guilt

Ambition is the play’s central theme and guilt is its result. Macbeth and his wife are
tormented by guilt, so much so that their sanity is undermined. The apparition of Banquo’s
ghost to Macbeth in Act 3 Scene 4 may be interpreted by a modern audience as a
psychological phenomenon, the projection of Macbeth’s mind - a mind which has been
unhinged by guilt (however, Jacobean audience were more familiar with and less sceptical
about supernatural phenomena and therefore might have been more likely to view the ghost
as real).

Blood
Blood is another motif in Macbeth which vividly symbolises sin, and thus is intimately
connected to guilt. In Act 2 Scene 2, Macbeth encounters his wife after murdering Duncan
and asks her a rhetorical question: “Will all great // Neptune’s ocean wash this blood //
Clean from my hand? // No, this my hand will rather // The multitudinous seas
incarnadine”. In other words, the sin Macbeth committing by murdering Duncan is
indelible; it will not wash away. In fact, he declares, in dramatic, Latinate language, it is
more likely to spread, turning the oceans red. Macbeth predicts that his guilt will grow - a
prediction which indeed plays out. Macbeth also hallucinates blood at various points in the
play, imagining in Act 2 Scene 1 “a dagger in the mind”. Addressing this dagger directly,
he says, “I see thee still, // And, on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood, // Which
was not so before”. These vivid images would likely evoke visceral reactions from the
audience and are visual representations of his guilt.

However, at the beginning of the play, blood does not symbolise sin and therefore imply
guilt. Instead, it represents Macbeth’s loyalty and bravery as a soldier. Macbeth is
introduced by an army captain, who declares that “brave Macbeth - well he deserved that
name // Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel // Which smoked with bloody
execution // Like valor’s minion, carved out his passage // Till he faced the slave”
(A1.S2). In convoluted and gruesome language, the captain thus describes how ruthlessly
Macbeth executes - this is meant to be a commendation and a sign of his valour. Later in the
play, Macbeth changes from “noble” (A2.S3) to a “butcher” (A5.S8) and an “abhorred
tyrant” (A5.S8) and his hallucinations of blood represent his guilt. Thus, blood is a complex
symbol and its changing meanings mirror Macbeth’s changing character.

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