Monday, July 4, 2016

Which quotes illustrate Macbeth's ambition?

At the beginning of Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth lists a number of reasons why he should not proceed with the plan to kill Duncan: among others, Duncan is his kinsman, his king, his guest; further, he is such a good king and full of virtues.  However, Macbeth finishes by saying,


         I have no spur          To prick the sides of my intent, but only          Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself         And falls...

At the beginning of Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth lists a number of reasons why he should not proceed with the plan to kill Duncan: among others, Duncan is his kinsman, his king, his guest; further, he is such a good king and full of virtues.  However, Macbeth finishes by saying,


         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)


In other words, despite all of the reasons that Macbeth has not to murder Duncan, the one reason to go forward with the plan is his enormous ambition, which leaps far over everything else.


Not only this, but almost from the first moment Macbeth heard the Weird Sisters’ “prophecy” that he would be king, it has occupied his thoughts. He finds that he wants the title quite a bit. After he’s been made Thane of Cawdor, he says to himself, “Glamis and Thane of Cawdor! / The greatest is behind” (1.3.125-126). In other words, now that the first part of the Sisters’ statements has come true, the best part of what they predicted will follow. Despite the fact that Macbeth’s becoming king might involve something tragic happening to his friend, kinsman, and king, he is simply too excited and ambitious about the inevitability, in his mind, that he will sit on the throne for him to consider how it might happen.


It doesn’t take him long, however, for him to get around to the idea of murder once he learns that Duncan has named his own son, Malcolm, as his heir to the throne. He says,


         Stars, hide your fires;
         Let not light see my black and deep desires.
         The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be
         Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. (1.4.57-60).


He asks the stars to put out their lights so that no one will be able to see the terrible thing that he wants so passionately. He will not let his eye see what his hand is doing, but he is still going to do whatever it is that makes him afraid to let his eye watch. In other words, he’s going to kill Duncan. He feels kind of badly about it, but not badly enough to top his ambition.

No comments:

Post a Comment

What is the Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, and Falling Action of "One Thousand Dollars"?

Exposition A "decidedly amused" Bobby Gillian leaves the offices of Tolman & Sharp where he is given an envelope containing $1...