Literary Analysis Essay on Macbeth

Introduction

Ambition is one of the main themes in Shakespeare's play. Aspiration refers to motivation or a spirit that drives somebody to achieve something he or she does not have at the moment. All people have different ambition in life, and that makes them find means of quenching they're thirsty. Ambition or desire is not evil, though it depends on how one chooses to use to achieve his or dream. There is no harm when a person uses the right procedure to make his or her dream, but there is a negative implication when a person compromises his or her morals only to achieve their ambition. In this essay, I will take the purpose of Macbeth and state whether it emanates from within or external.

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The primary ambition of Macbeth is to ascent into power as the king of Scotland. His ambition for power is derived from internally. Generally, it is good to have the desire to become a leader if you have all that it takes to lead the people in the right way. Macbeth was blinded by his ambition and that I why he compromised his morals (Paul 30). Although to some extent his contributed to his desire for power, he was responsible for the decision he made like plotting to kill Duncan. His morals should have guided him through the process of becoming a King of Scotland.

Macbeth desire to become a king made him make the wrong choices. His internal desire made him forget a sense of humanity and plotted to commit murder. He also chose to do all that is takes to achieve his. To some extent, he went out of his way and deceived those who were close to him to hide his ill motives. Macbeth would have followed the right and legitimate process of ascending into power rather than killing innocent people so that he paves his way into the throne. Besides, Lady Macbeth is driven by the desire to see her husband inherit the throne and that is why she persuades him to go against his moral and kill Duncan since he was a threat to their ambition.

Uncontrolled desire may lead to disrespect. Lady Macbeth was preoccupied with the desire to see her husband become the king of Scotland (Paul 32). Her wife had the guts to manipulate Macbeth to do everything in his power to achieve the throne because of her ambitions. Besides, Lady Macbeth disrespects her husband by calling him a coward when he was hesitant to kill Duncan to pave a way to the throne. Macbeth finally, gave in to demand of his wife to kill them because of his ambition of power.

The witches inspired Macbeth's desire to become a king. Macbeth was impressed by the prediction made by the witches since they said to him that he would become Thane of Cawdor after he had defeated Scottish and Norwegians rebels. They also added that one day he should become a King. Macbeth went ahead and killed Duncan to achieve the promises declared by the witches (Paul 45). Ambitions would overshadow one's morals as depicted by Macbeth. Initially, Macbeth says he would not kill any person so that he can ascend into the throne. Later his compromise his morals by killing Duncan so that he can become a king.

A king should have good qualities guided by good morals. A good king should be brave and of high integrity, unlike Macbeth. Macbeth was not courageous enough since he was overshadowed by his desire to become a king. He also allowed himself to be misled by his wife, Lady Macbeth. Above all, he committed a lot of crime by killing innocent people to become kind. A wise king is always guided by good morals and norms of society. A leader is supposed to safeguard her people by executing justice to those who commit crimes.

Macbeth was unjust to the people of Scotland. He perpetuated crimes in society and accused innocent people who are not guilty. A responsible leader should be mindful of her people. A king would kill his people by conquering the enemies who disrupt peace and harmony in the kingdom. Instead, Macbeth deprived justice to the people of Scotland since he killed Duncan and covered the incidence so that people may not know he was the one who plotted for the murder. Those whose committee offenses like murder should be tried before the court of law, but Macbeth was not decided before the court for breaking the law of the land.

Macbeth was not a successful leader since at the end he lost everything that he had there before. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was presented as a good man according to Duncan. Duncan perceived him as a loyal person since he executed his duties very well when he was a Thane. Later he was driven with lust for power to the extent of crossing lines of his moral. He killed all people who appeared to a source of threat to his desire to become a king. All these evil deeds culminated to his failure as king of Scotland, and he was succeeded by another king (Paul70). Macbeth was termed as a failure he was filled with tumor of guilty for the crimes that he had done to become a king. He did not enjoy even though he was the king of Scotland and that was the beginning of his downfall. Machiavelli theories of leadership did not help Macbeth since he was a failure by following what worked for him rather than acting by what was right and wrong.

A desire for too much power may lead to corruption. Corruption is depicted in the play when Macbeth steps on other people so that he can get into the throne. Machiavelli theory may lead to corruption in the sense that the leader may fail to consider what is right and wrong in their endeavor to pursue their ambition. Some leaders like Macbeth perused what could work for them like killing people who seemed to be a threat of his desire to become a king of Scotland. Lady Macbeth was a co-perpetuator of corruption in the play since she manipulated her husband to do whatever he could to become a king so that he could have full control over the people. In her pursuit, she collaborated with her husband to plot the killing of Duncan. Lady Macbeth was filed with an evil spirit that made to act violently. Violence and unjust is a significant form of corruption in the play which claimed the lives of many innocent people.

According to Shakespeare, both genders play a different significant role in play development. In the play, manhood is defined by the acquisition of power. Lady Macbeth she longed to see her husband in the throne (Paul 46). It implied that men were given the privilege to lead the kingdom, unlike women. Women played a vital role in the community as Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband so that he can do whatever he could to become a king.

Lady Macbeth is daring and ruthless as she confronts her husband when he hesitates to kill Duncan. Besides, she wishes that he could be a man so that he can do it by herself. Men had to be fearless especially when to a pursuit of their ambition according to Lady Macbeth. On the other hand, Lady Macduff was humane as she wonders how Macbeth would have killed Duncan.

According to gender stereotype, ladies are supposed to be kind and respectful to their husband. Lady Macbeth broke such gender stereotype since she was cruel and unkind enough to empower her husband so that he may kill Duncan. According to norms of the society, ladies are not supposed to be involved in the murder, but Lady Macbeth was fully engaged in the killing of innocent lives.

Masculine is responsible for protecting their family. Women were helpless without men in their family since they were afraid of their security according to Shakespeare. Lady Macduff is puzzled how her husband could leave her without defense in the family. The male figure acted as a source of security in the family concerning gender stereotype described by Shakespeare.

Gender stereotype undermined women in society as only men would inherit the throne. Ladies were perceived as weak vessels who can not lead the kingdom - society entrusted men with the position of a king. In case of demise death of the king, his son would inherit the throne. Their daughters would not inherit the kingdom whatsoever. Superiority complex on masculine was evident in the community.

Work Cited

Paul, Henry Neill. The Royal Play of Macbeth: When, why, and how it was written by Shakespeare. New York: Macmillan, 1950. pp.1-76. Retrieved from

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