How Does Lady Macbeth Influence Ambition

The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is set in Scotland during Macbeth’s reign as king. The play followed Macbeth’s descent into madness as reached the conclusion that he must eliminate any person he felt threatened his power as king. Throughout the play, one can see how the most prominent theme is the influence ambition had on the different characters. In the beginning, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth expressed characteristics that revealed how ambitious they were to obtain the throne of Scotland. As a courageous and violent man who longed for more in life, Macbeth was prepared to do anything to become the new king. Macbeth knew that if he failed there would be deadly consequences, but this did not deter him from murdering the one person who stood in his path to becoming the ruler of Scotland, Duncan. While Macbeth used his courageous and violent nature to acquire his goal, his wife utilized her …show more content…
After learning from the Witches that he could not be harmed by any man who was born of a woman and would not be conquered until the Birnam Wood moved, Macbeth still made the decision to have Macduff killed. Although Macbeth believed that no one could murder or conquer him, he was still determined to secure his authority as king. At the time, Macbeth did not fear Macduff, but wanted him dead for assurance. Soon after Duncan was murdered and Macbeth was named King of Scotland, Macduff fled to England in hopes of convincing Malcolm to return to Scotland to help defeat Macbeth and take his rightful place as king. Macduff wanted to see Scotland free of Macbeth’s tyranny and would stop at nothing to ensure that this would happen. He was even willing to leave his wife and children vulnerable to Macbeth’s wrath. As a result of their actions, one can see how ambitious Macbeth and Macduff were to accomplish their