Stephanie Johnson

Literary Analysis

January 8, 2020

Macbeth Literary Analysis

The story of Macbeth revolves around one word: ambition. Through two main characters,

Shakespeare’s play Macbeth portrays how ambition change within a person. His work on these

characters also shows that the same ambitions between individuals can still lead to different

reactions and consequences. Shakespeare crafted each character’s story in a way that depicts the

complexity and versatility of ambition. Additionally, his work in the characters shows how

ambition can overpower a person’s conscience, those feelings of desire can be overpowered by

morals, causing many internal conflicts within the characters.

One character that shows the internal conflict of morals versus ambitions is Macbeth

himself. In his first conversation with the witches, they address Macbeth as Than of Cawdor and

predict he will be a future king. When Macbeth hears what the witches addressed him as he is

first confused. He questions them how he is the Thane of Cawdor when the original is still alive,

oblivious to the promotion. Hearing of the promotion, later on, Macbeth is shocked that the

witches' were correct. Macbeth then wonders that since the witches’ prophecy was correct so far,

then he will probably be king. As he wondered how he will be king, murder crosses his mind,

saying “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man That

function is smothered in surmise...” (1.3.140-142). His reaction to the accuracy of the prophecy

shows that he is a man who’s very hungry for power. However, during the first act, his

motivation to kill for power wasn’t strong, and other emotions overpower his desires. He states
that the desire to kill Duncan shakes him, saying “If good, why do I yield to that suggestion

Whose horrid image depth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs...” (1.3.

135-137). Macbeth’s consideration of murder is low until he talks to his wife.

When Lady Macbeth appeared in Act 1, her desire for power was less conflicting and

much stronger than her husband’s. When she says “Yet I do fear thy nature. It is too full o’th’

milk of human kindness,” (1.5. 16) she acknowledges that his morals and dedication to the king

can hold himself back from becoming king himself. She is aware that Macbeth is ambitious but

still has good in his heart, and this concerns her. Because of her worries, she plans the murder

and pushes Macbeth to do the assassination. When Macbeth tries to give himself a reason to kill

the king, he cannot think of one. In comparison to when he found out the witches’ prophecy

might be true, Macbeth’s view on killing the king was now the opposite; by saying “I have no

spur to prick the sides of my intent...”(1.7. 25) he doesn’t have the motivation to murder

anymore. When he tells his wife his thoughts, she is angry. Her ambition to be a ruler has not

changed, unlike her husband. She starts questioning his masculinity, asking him“ Wouldst thou

have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem,

Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would’ like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?”(1.7. 41-45). This gives

Macbeth the motivation to go through with the assassination. During the plan, Lady Macbeth is

very bold and criticizes her husband when he is hesitant. However, when she says, “Had he not

resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t” (12-13) she shows that her ambition could be

limited by her morals and that such morals can overpower her desires as well. After killing the

king, Macbeth has changed. For now, his desires to be king are overpowered by guilt. In

contrast, his wife is still unfazed and her desire to be queen is still strong.
 After some time, Macbeth’s desire for power increases again. After blaming the

chamberlains for the king’s death, he kills them instantly, having little to no remorse. At this

point, his ambition increases even more and overpowers his guilt. Once named the new king,

Macbeth begins to ponder over the killing of Banquo and Banquo’s son, since he is the only

threat to Macbeth’s place as king. When he was thinking about the killing of Duncan in Act 1,

Macbeth’s good nature overpowered his ambitions, making him hesitant to assassinating the

previous king. Compared Act one, Macbeth in act three is now less concerned about losing lives

and more concerned about himself because his desire to stay in power is taking over his

conscience. When he says, “Grapples you to the heart and love of us, Who wear our health but

sickly in his life, Which in his death were perfect.” (3.1. 108-109) it shows that his ambition has

taken so much control over his mind that he thinks he needs Banquo to die. However, his guilt

does take control of his consciousness at some points, like when Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost at

the dinner and Macbeth starts yelling, saying “Prithee, see there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say

you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too” (3.4.69-70). In Act 5, it’s shown that Lady

Macbeth’s emotions are overpowering her conscience, causing her to sleepwalk. While

sleepwalking, she sees blood on her hands and says she cannot get the blood off. This shows she

feels guilty for some of the deaths that led her to be queen. In the first act, her ambitions were

greater than her emotions, but in this act, her emotions are descending her into madness.

Throughout the play Macbeth’s ambitions slowly grew, making him feel less guilty about

his murders. However, Lady Macbeth was the opposite. She was not hesitant to kill from the

beginning, but later on, her guilt made her lose her mind. Though they had the same goal in

mind, Macbeth and his wife had such different reactions to achieving their goal, and different

consequences after reaching it.

 There is a motive behind everything. Loyalty can quickly change to unfaithfulness when

power is involved. In Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth who is Thane of

Cawdor, drastically changes from a loyal fighter under King Duncan to a deceiving, murderous

tyrant who seeked power indefinitely. He had strong ambitions to become king, which the

witches reveal when Macbeth and Banquo meet with them. His wife, Lady Macbeth, also played

a huge role in helping Macbeth plot the murders of anyone that could potentially take his place

as king. He didn’t act on it until Lady Macbeth encouraged him to and reassured him that by

killing them, it would give him all the power he desired. His anxiety grows throughout the play

along with him pushing people away because of his guilt which eventually led to him

hallucinating his victims come back to life. Macbeth’s final testing comes when Malcolm orders

his troops to camouflage their movement by carrying boughs from Birnam Woods in their march

toward Dunsinane and from Macduff, whom he faces in combat and reveals that he was “from

his mother’s womb / Untimely ripp’d,” that is, born by cesarean section and therefore not “of

woman born.” This revelation, the final fulfillment of the witches’ prophecies, causes Macbeth to

flee, but he is prompted by Macduff’s taunt of cowardice and order to surrender to

meet Macduff’s challenge, despite knowing the deadly outcome.

Macbeth returns to the world of combat where his initial distinctions were honorably

earned and tragically lost. The play concludes with order restored to Scotland, as Macduff

presents Macbeth’s severed head to Malcolm, who is hailed as king. Malcolm may assert his

control and diminish Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as “this dead butcher and his fiendlike queen,”

but the audience knows more than that. We know what Malcolm does not, that it will not be

his royal line but Banquo’s that will eventually rule Scotland, and inevitably another round of
rebellion and murder is to come. We also know in horrifying human terms the making of a

butcher and a fiend who refuse to be so easily dismissed as aberrations.

At first Macbeth was seen as a reliable, trustworthy man who was trusted by King

Duncan. He was well respected as Thane of Cawdor, but seeked more power after it was

revealed to him by the witches that he would be the next king. It started as dark thoughts at first,

but he didn’t seem to be interested in acting on them. Once the witches hail him as king, his

ambitions to become king grew and his intentions were shifting towards holding the power. He

mentions to his wife what had happened on the mountains when they met with the witches and

Lady Macbeth convinces him more to murder the king to gain his control which took a toll on

Macbeth. Shakespeare made sure to include Macbeth's thoughts and doubts which emphasized

the struggle he had within himself. The use of Lady Macbeth trying to convince him to commit

murder also showcases Shakespeare’s efforts to show the effects of power struggles and

manipulation.