Macbeth's Growing Ambition example essay topic

Macbeth by William Shakespeare connected to the quote "Human nature is a mixture of the sham and the true, of kindness and cruelty, of means and generosity - of good and evil". There is a quote that was stated, unknown by whom or when, but is incredibly imperative to one of the most influential manuscripts in the modern English language, the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare. This quote, "Human nature is a mixture of the sham and the true, of kindness and cruelty, of means and generosity - of good and evil". This quotation conveys many key aspects of the play, and the characters within the literature. The theme taken from this quotation can be the understanding that each individual has a varying nature, based upon the situations they may encounter during life's journey.

In a more elaborated light this quotation can be broken down into the basic motto's of living. Each being in the world has one or the other of these qualities. Some are basic traits that remain through life, while are secondary traits, which can be changed. The environment that a person can be a part of can greatly effect their secondary traits, and can influence their choices, making them either kind and generous, or cruel and evil. As for the main character in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, he is a first-rate example of this quote. The anonymous quote connects with the play through powerful reason and example of the corruption of both ambition and superiority within Macbeth, and his wife as well.

Both characters deal with many conflicts, both internal and external, which portray the same view as the quotation. They each have their basic life plan and with that they had made due, however with a sudden new influence, they begin to turn against everything they once had deemed worthy for their life. In the play there are many ironic moments as well, that are dealt with during many of Macbeth's life altering decisions which effect his present and his future greatly because of his growing ambition. Throughout William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth's growing ambition becomes corrupted by his wife, who effects his choices and changes his life.

It's quite ironic in itself that Macbeth is so easily manipulated by others, while he is perceived as a great, strong, powerful warrior. There are many examples of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth changing from who they were, into the corrupted, power hungry, ambition-twisted characters that they end up becoming. In the play Macbeth, most of the choices made by the characters and scenes present the strong irony that lies within the literature written by William Shakespeare. In one of the very first scenes of the play, Macbeth is cherished by King Duncan for his brave conquests during battle.

This reveals hints of irony, as soon Macbeth questions his own King. Through the lines of the Captain, who managed to make it back from battle to report to his king, illuminates this situation full of irony. He says, "For brave Macbeth (well he deserves 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; Which ne " er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unsealed him from the nave to th' chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements". These lines prove how highly Macbeth was held in the kingdom, as he was thought to be strong and powerful.

In the battle he is defined as a courageous warrior, who fights his way to the enemy's leader, Macdonald, and in turn cuts him from the stomach to the nose, and removes his head, which is placed out for all to see. This is quite ironic because it illustrates the theme of his strengths, while he later is planning to kill his king and is so easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne. With the quotation, this proves without a doubt that in each human, their nature is truly a mixture of good and evil. Everyone believes Macbeth is strong and loyal, yet later on he shows that he is both weak and easily misled by his own ambition. This most definitely explains the quote and explains how Macbeth is such a mixture of good and evil, and can be so quickly turned against everything that he was.

Following with this idea, further in the play, Shakespeare proves once again how ironic Macbeth's situations have become and just how wonderfully they portray the theme of the quotation. Another example in this ironic play write is found in the very end of Act three. King Duncan's murder has now taken place, and mass confusion and blame of murderers has set in. During a dialogue between Macduff and Ross, irony leaps out of the page, conveying the many images of potent thoughts and ironic wording. They both begin talking of what has happened, and what is to happen now that King Duncan has been killed. It's starts with MacDuff who says, "They were suborned.

Malcom and Donal bain, the King's two sons, Are stol'n away and fled, which puts upon them Suspicion of the deed". That ironically works just into Macbeth's plan, as blame will be moved away from him and onto the King's sons who have ran away. It is followed with Ross saying", 'Against nature still! Thriftless ambition, that will ravin up Thine own lives' means.

Then 'tis most like The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth". These lines are so powerfully true of the situation and the irony of it to come, for Macbeth. It immediately picks up with extreme intensity and irony when it describes the wasted ambition that will eat away at their lives, talking about the two sons, but ironically the real murderer, Macbeth, will be the one faced with the guilt that will grow within him making him weaker. Ross also says, that now this leaves Macbeth to be the ruler of the kingdom, to be king. This connects with the quotation because it depicts the inner side of Macbeth, and how his once noble and honorable traits and personality have been twisted by his ambition into a cruel, evil leader.

Ultimately, Macbeth proves himself better suited to the battlefield than to political intrigue, because he lacks the skills necessary to rule without being a tyrant. His response to every problem is violence and murder. Macbeth is never comfortable in his role as a criminal. He is unable to bear the psychic consequences of his actions. This easily compares with the quotation and how Macbeth is such a mixture of things such as kindness and cruelty, good and evil.

Even as Macbeth is doing all this, he faces many conflicts both with his wife and himself, which makes the guilt grow even more, and pushes him to do these unthinkable deeds. In William Shakespeare's play, the main character, Macbeth, is challenged by his wife, who is a deeply ambitious woman lusting for power and position. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to murder King Duncan and seize the crown. This causes Macbeth to be in great conflict with what is right and wrong, but he eventually persuades himself that it is a hunt for ambition that pushes him to kill the king. As Macbeth decides to do so, he says aside, "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".

Macbeth is telling himself not to express his deepest desires; that he wants to kill the king for his crown, as he says "stars hide your fires". He continues to utter these thoughts, that he does not want his eyes to see what his hand will do, yet he will still do so anyway. By saying that, Macbeth is openly stating that he knows it is wrong to murder Duncan, but yet he will still do it for his greed and for his own ambition's sake. This inner conflict portrays the concept that even though Macbeth knew it was wrong, he still persuades himself to do it, with the persistent force of his wife. Through the quotation this shows how easily Macbeth is manipulated and how he goes from being good to evil because of the conflicts he is up against from both his wife and himself.

As well as showing another side of Macbeth, this quote he speaks displays his inner make up and the mixture of his traits, and how they changed based on his journey to fulfilling his ambition's destiny, or so he thinks. He also struggles with the external conflict of his wife's greedy intentions. Lady Macbeth creates intense conflict with Macbeth by challenging his manhood. She is prepared to do practically anything for the power of having a husband as king, and because of that, she puts incredible pressure on Macbeth. In the next lines, Lady Macbeth explains her willingness to give up anything for the crown. She states that, "The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements.

Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, Stop up th " access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visiting's of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between Th' effect and it. Come to my woman's breasts, And take my milk for gall, you mud " ring ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature's mischief. Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry 'Hold, hold!' " These lines are so immensely important to the play, and to Macbeth's choices that lead him to killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth is clearly willing to do whatever is necessary to seize the throne. Her strength of purpose is contrasted with her husband's tendency to fluctuate between his decisions.

This also illustrates that Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth and that her ambition will be strong enough to drive her husband forward. At the same time, the language of her speech touches on the theme of masculinity, "unsex me here... Come to my woman's breasts, And take my milk for gall", Lady Macbeth says as she prepares herself to commit murder. The language suggests that her womanhood, represented by breasts and milk, keeps her from performing acts of violence and cruelty, which she associates with manliness. Further on, that relationship between masculinity and violence will be deepened when Macbeth is unwilling to go through with the murders and his wife tells him, in effect, that he needs to "be a man" and get on with it.

This is, in laymen's terms, the last straw for Macbeth, and he finally follows through with the murder. Macbeth's actions connect with the quote simply through the theme that the conflict between his wife's greedy ambitious words, call Macbeth to doing what he might not ever have done in other situations. It shows how both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have this underlying mixture of good and bad within them, but they cannot overcome the temptations of a powerful force that draws their attention to the glamor of the throne. Overall, William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, thus far connects in many ways with the quotation, "Human nature is a mixture of the sham and the true, of kindness and cruelty, of means and generosity - of good and evil".

The conflicts and ambition of Macbeth and his wife lead to the murder of their king, because of their hunger to be in power. Throughout this play irony is also represented, and the use of the quotation helps to portray the main idea of greed and ambition mixed in as their true selves and personalities. It can be easy to give in to greed, and even easier when someone is prompting you to do it. Then mixing in your own inner ambitions, it creates an evil variety of traits that can conjure thoughts in the mind that may not have been a normal thought in different situations..