One of the biggest themes in Macbeth is ambition. Before Macbeth was given the prophecy, he was a noble and loyal to the king but once Macbeth found out that he would become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland he acted to it with greed. Although Macbeth acts with greed he doesn't think about killing the king at this time but is influenced by Lady Macbeth later on which cause him to kill Duncan.
To the left you can see an image of Macbeth and the 3 witches. This image shows us that Macbeth is King of Scotland but only became king because of the 3 witches' prophecy. The dagger is the bloody dagger that he used to kill Duncan and shows violence and blood. The face of Macbeth suggests that he feels powerful, ambitious and determined to keep his kingship. Act 1 Scene 7 is one of the most important scenes in the play as it is the last time Macbeth will be good as after this he is influenced to kill Duncan, become king and continue his kingship by killing more people. Macbeth starts to think about why he has no need to kill the king, he says "I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/And falls on the other." When Lady Macbeth hears this she becomes enraged and starts calling him a coward and questions if he is a man. She also says that all the pity she has for her husband about not killing Duncan would make her kill her own child as it suckled her breast. This influences Macbeth to change his mind and kill Duncan because of this wife's will. After this Macbeth continues his ambition and kills Banquo in order to keep his kingship but the murders start to make Macbeth feel guilty. He then decides to visit the 3 witches again to hear another prophecy. The witches give Macbeth 3 apparitions. The first apparition: "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough." The second apparition:"Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn/The power of man, for none of woman born/Shall harm Macbeth." After hearing this Macbeth know that all people are born from a woman so Macbeth becomes overconfident and think that he can't be beaten. But in the end we find out that Macduff isn't born from a woman but was "Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb/Untimely ripped" a fitting way to end the ambition of Macbeth. Copyright Shaun Javellana
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