Macbeth(The Scottish Play)

Humanities
Heather
Idol
5/13/15
Macbeth (The Scottish Play)
      The most cryptic, but also the strongest mood of men is ambition. To be a man, you must possess a heart full of everlasting ambition, because it is the bridge that connects to your future. But ambition can be the two sides of the same coin. It will lead to glories if you use it humbly. It can also lead you to destruction if you abuse it or use it audaciously. It is all about the choices between the methods. In Williams Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, Macbeth used to be a loyal general who uses him own blood and spirit to fight for his country. However, after listening to the prophecy of the evil witches and the persuasion of his wife, his ambition started to change. He becomes overflowing with outrageous appetites, and he also becomes bloodier. Therefore, although the witches and Lady Macbeth influence Macbeth, by encouraging evil, in fact his own "ambition" is what leads him into the dark world of destruction.
      The prophecy of the witches and the persuasion of Lady Macbeth contribute to Macbeth's changes. At first Macbeth is still a loyal guy. He uses him own blood to protect his homeland, but unluckily, the pernicious witches find Macbeth and give a prophecy which makes him change. They said “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you, thane of Glamis!” “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you, thane of Cawdor!” “All hail, Macbeth, the future king!” Macbeth fully trusts their predictions, because the witches not only talked about the future but some facts that already happened to Macbeth as well. However, the witches are not the only element that changes Macbeth’s ambition. Lady Macbeth is also the person who keeps irritating the evil side of Macbeth. She is so voracious to gain power in order to be the queen. She insults Macbeth that he doesn’t deserve to be a man. She says “If you weren’t a man, then what kind of animal were you when you first told me you wanted to do this?” She affronts the manhood of Macbeth that truly hurt the heart of Macbeth, but also lights up his evil ambition. Macbeth changes, he said, “Now I’m decided, and I will exert every muscle in my body to commit this crime.” He lost his pristine mind; it became toxic instead. That evil mind and his ambition will lead him into destruction.
      On the other hand, Macbeth would not be irritated by Lady Macbeth if he did not have ambition himself. He is a great man full of ambition and his own point of view of the world. When Macbeth was still the general in the war fighting against Macdonwald. “Brave Macbeth, laughing at Luck, chopped his way through to Macdonwald, who didn’t have time to say good-bye or shake hands before Macbeth split him open from his navel to his jawbone and stuck his head on out castle walls.” This is not what a normal person can do. This can only be done by a loyal and brave general, who loves his country and respects his king. He must be ambitious and unafraid of death. There is also a place that shows Macbeth has ambition before LM influences him. After hearing from the witches, Macbeth is so excited for the future to come, he said “It’s just like what they said—now I’m the thane of Glamis and the thane of Cawdor. And the best part of they predicted is still to come.” He cannot be excited without his ambition. And that is also what leads him into destruction after gets persuaded by Lady Macbeth.
      After suffering from making the choice of killing the king, Macbeth gets motivated by his strong ambition. He killed the humble king Duncan, and he has no chance to wash out his
bloody murderer’s hand. However, he was also bloody before he killed the king. He was covered in the blood of his enemies, but that was the blood of honor and pride. Now, he is covered in the blood of evil and antagonism. He has stepped too far into the darkness of blood seeking. It just like a flowing river. Once you step in, the waves will only push you to the end where is full of deadly reefs. Macbeth didn’t realize this principle because of his strong ambition. His ambition makes him point his dagger to his loyal friend Banquo. If he knew “The dead will have its revenge,” he wouldn’t have done that. He sees the ghost of Banquo. He starts the life of fear. He also wants to know what happened to him. But, the lords that honored Macbeth has left. The only group of people that Macbeth trusts are the witches. So, he stepped into the trap that the witches had already made for him once more. He can’t help himself anymore. His ambition has taken over his mind. He is not a human anymore. He becomes a zombie, controlled by the infected mind which has the thirst of blood. He wants to kill everyone who fight against him. There is only one ending for this kind of tyrant, death.    Macbeth gets killed by Macduff. His ambition totally destroyed him.
      “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player. That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” This is spoken by a desperate hero. He lost his hope of living, and he doesn’t care about the life and death around him. He used to the great general of Duncan, he had many loyal friends. But he lost them by being a tyrant. It is difficult to enjoy a hero who is also a villain. If he understood that this world is full of chances, for the people full of ambition and hope like him, he would never stop trying and do the best to earn the opportunity instead of
taking risks and choosing the way that his conscience tells him not. That is how to be a true man.