Unbridled Ambition in Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essays

Unbridled Ambition in Macbeth Where is there a page in William Shakespeares tragic play Macbeth which does non present the selfish virtue of personal opposition. This paper addresses the problem of ambition in the drama. In memorandum Remarks on the component of Lady Macbeth, Sarah Siddons mentions the ambition of Lady Macbeth and its effect Re I have given suck (1.7.54ff.) Even here, horrific as she is, she shews herself made by ambition, but not by nature, a perfectly savage creature. The very use of such a tender allusion in the middle of her dreadful language, persuades one unequivocally that she has real felt the maternal yearnings of a mother towards her babe, and that she considered this action the most enormous that ever required the strength of merciful nerves for its perpetration. Her language to Macbeth is the most powerfully eloquent that guilt could use. (56) Clark and Wright in their Introduction to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare interpret the mai n theme of the play as intertwining with wickedness and ambition While in Hamlet and others of Shakespeares plays we feel that Shakespeare refined upon and brooded over his thoughts, Macbeth seems as if struck out at a heat and imagined from graduation to last with rapidity and power, and a ghost of workmanship which has become instructive. The theme of the drama is the gradual ruin through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man, who, though from the first corrupted by base and ambitious thoughts, yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. (792) In Macbeth as the Imitation of an Action Francis Fergusson states the place of Macbeths ambition in the action of the play ... ...iion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Johnson, Samuel. The Plays of Shakespeare. N.p. n.p.. 1765. Rpt in Shakespearean Tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY Routledge, 1990. Kemble, Fanny. Lady Macbeth. Macmillans Magazine, 17 (February 1868), p. 354-61. Rpt. in Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK Manchester University Press, 1997. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. http//chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin. Siddons, Sarah. Memoranda Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth. The Life of Mrs. Siddons. Thomas Campbell. London Effingham Wilson, 1834. Rpt. in Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK Manchester University Press, 1997. Unbridled Ambition in Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essaysUnbridled Ambition in Macbeth Where is there a page in William Shakespeares tragic play Macbeth which does not present the selfish virtue of personal ambition. This paper addresses the problem of ambition in the drama. In Memoranda Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth, Sarah Siddons mentions the ambition of Lady Macbeth and its effect Re I have give n suck (1.7.54ff.) Even here, horrific as she is, she shews herself made by ambition, but not by nature, a perfectly savage creature. The very use of such a tender allusion in the midst of her dreadful language, persuades one unequivocally that she has really felt the maternal yearnings of a mother towards her babe, and that she considered this action the most enormous that ever required the strength of human nerves for its perpetration. Her language to Macbeth is the most potently eloquent that guilt could use. (56) Clark and Wright in their Introduction to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare interpret the main theme of the play as intertwining with evil and ambition While in Hamlet and others of Shakespeares plays we feel that Shakespeare refined upon and brooded over his thoughts, Macbeth seems as if struck out at a heat and imagined from first to last with rapidity and power, and a subtlety of workmanship which has become instructive. The theme of the drama is the gradua l ruin through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man, who, though from the first tainted by base and ambitious thoughts, yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. (792) In Macbeth as the Imitation of an Action Francis Fergusson states the place of Macbeths ambition in the action of the play ... ...iion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Johnson, Samuel. The Plays of Shakespeare. N.p. n.p.. 1765. Rpt in Shakespearean Tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY Routledge, 1990. Kemble, Fanny. Lady Macbeth. Macmillans Magazine, 17 (February 1868), p. 354-61. Rpt. in Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK Manchester University Press, 1997. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. http//chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin. Siddons, Sarah. Memoranda Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth. The Life of Mrs. Siddons. Thomas Camp bell. London Effingham Wilson, 1834. Rpt. in Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK Manchester University Press, 1997.