Themes
by Colin Flynn
Ambition:
Ambition is one of the many key themes in the story of Macbeth. It plays a role in a plethora of results that were caused by Macbeth, including his most important decision. This is when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide to kill Duncan, so he can claim the title of king. When the witches told Macbeth that someday he would become king, he took the task upon himself to make sure this would happen. Lady Macbeth found out about this prophecy, and found that by killing Duncan, she would be the wife of the king. Therefore, her ambitions and Macbeth’s led to the murder of Duncan, so they could hold the highest possible power. Once Macbeth becomes king, he refuses to give up this power, destroying everybody and thing that gets in his way. A few examples of this would be the murder of Banquo, Macduff’s family, and Young Siward. Ambition helps Macbeth become king, but it also hinders his reputation, causing him to be a tyrant. In addition, this also brings Macbeth’s downfall.
Guilt:
In the play Macbeth guilt leads to many bad things, including the death of Lady Macbeth. Over the course of the play Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are the causes of many horrible deaths, and once they start to realize what they have done guilt takes control. Near the end of the story Lady Macbeth starts to sleepwalk. While sleepwalking she blames herself for killing all these people, and finally due to her guilt she kills herself while sleepwalking. Guilt is a main theme because it can control your life. After all of these killings, guilt started to build up in both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and got the best of Lady Macbeth.
Power:
Once Macbeth became king and heard the prophecies, he believed that he was invincible. Then Macduff came along and killed Macbeth, to take control of Scotland. In general having power can be a good thing, but having too much is a bad thing. Due to the prophecies that the witches told Macbeth, he gained a false sense of security, this leads to his downfall. The theme of Power tells us that once a person has too much power, they become full of themselves. This creates the false sense of your security which leads to your inevitable downfall.
Ambition is one of the many key themes in the story of Macbeth. It plays a role in a plethora of results that were caused by Macbeth, including his most important decision. This is when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide to kill Duncan, so he can claim the title of king. When the witches told Macbeth that someday he would become king, he took the task upon himself to make sure this would happen. Lady Macbeth found out about this prophecy, and found that by killing Duncan, she would be the wife of the king. Therefore, her ambitions and Macbeth’s led to the murder of Duncan, so they could hold the highest possible power. Once Macbeth becomes king, he refuses to give up this power, destroying everybody and thing that gets in his way. A few examples of this would be the murder of Banquo, Macduff’s family, and Young Siward. Ambition helps Macbeth become king, but it also hinders his reputation, causing him to be a tyrant. In addition, this also brings Macbeth’s downfall.
Guilt:
In the play Macbeth guilt leads to many bad things, including the death of Lady Macbeth. Over the course of the play Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are the causes of many horrible deaths, and once they start to realize what they have done guilt takes control. Near the end of the story Lady Macbeth starts to sleepwalk. While sleepwalking she blames herself for killing all these people, and finally due to her guilt she kills herself while sleepwalking. Guilt is a main theme because it can control your life. After all of these killings, guilt started to build up in both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and got the best of Lady Macbeth.
Power:
Once Macbeth became king and heard the prophecies, he believed that he was invincible. Then Macduff came along and killed Macbeth, to take control of Scotland. In general having power can be a good thing, but having too much is a bad thing. Due to the prophecies that the witches told Macbeth, he gained a false sense of security, this leads to his downfall. The theme of Power tells us that once a person has too much power, they become full of themselves. This creates the false sense of your security which leads to your inevitable downfall.