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What would be some interpretive observations from Shakespeare's Macbeth?

When one reads Macbeth, one can notice many themes and motifs that are worth being examined thoroughly. I would like to focus on the role of ambition in the play and its impact on Macbeth because it is certainly one of the most important issues that needs to be discussed.


Macbeth's unchecked ambition leads to his imminent downfall because he completely succumbs to it and forfeits his right to be viewed as an individual...

When one reads Macbeth, one can notice many themes and motifs that are worth being examined thoroughly. I would like to focus on the role of ambition in the play and its impact on Macbeth because it is certainly one of the most important issues that needs to be discussed.


Macbeth's unchecked ambition leads to his imminent downfall because he completely succumbs to it and forfeits his right to be viewed as an individual who deserves redemption. His determination to put aside his sense of right and wrong for the sake of fulfilling his ambition to unlawfully become the king of Scotland is evident when he decides to murder king Duncan, who is also his relative, with the help of his wife. He even admits that his unrestrained ambition is the chief reason why he wants to follow through with his plan of murdering the 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.



His perilous ambition leads him to commit many more atrocious deeds (he orders the execution of Banquo, Macduff's family, etc.) and makes him unable to stop. As he gains what he desires, he feels more and more insecure and becomes obsessed with guarding his position as the king at any cost.


In the end, his ambition gets the better of him as he is defeated by Macduff, so the natural order is restored again. The play suggests that good triumphs over evil sooner or later and that any sort of ambition which threatens to disrupt the natural order of things is bound to be eradicated.

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