Although the words “victim of fate” and “victim of ambition” hardly seem to fit Macbeth’s character, there are certainly elements of both fate and ambition involved in his life. While Macbeth seems to always have a desire for a king, it is not until he meets the three witches and hears their prophecies that the group moves and the ambition comes to light. In this encounter with the witches, various instances of both fate and ambition shape Macbeth’s behavior and the events of the play. At the end of the play, although Macbeth is affected by his wife’s ambition and the prophetic voice of the witches, and although fate is not necessarily kind to him, his ambition is the force of ultimate downfall.
Macbeth in 1, 3, to the three witches, says “stay imperfect speakers, tell me more” (Shakespeare 1.3.70) about the future Thane of Cawdor and the King of Scotland. From this it is immediately clear that the words of the witches incited his desire and aroused his sense of ambition, so that “once the witches promise him a crown, he can no longer silence the voice of his ambition” (Bloom. 24). He asks the witches, wanting to tell how these events come about. Macbeth chose not to trust the witches, but he trusts and is fixated on their words and what they want for him. In contrast, “Banquo, [who] can control ambition” (Thrasher 93) is offered a comparatively fatal message and does not use it for ill will, which shows that people control their fate through the power of their actions. .
Macbeth further proves that he is ambitious after Duncan names Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland. In this context, Macbeth says, “That is the step, / in which to fall, or in the forest, / for it lies in my way” (1.5.49-51). These lines show just how ambitious Macbeth is, and that he knows that he will have to use excessive force to achieve the end of his kingdom. With such thoughts, Macbeth more than truly considers killing Malcolm, because he is also an obstacle to Macbeth’s ambition. Brian Vickers and J.P. Kemble would obviously agree since they state that “Macbeth does not mediate the deaths of Banquo and Macduff through his personal fear of them, but because that ambition gives him envy, this hatred” (433). . For this reason Malcolm’s flight to England proved a wise move.
Another example in which Macbeth displays his ambitious nature is through his letter to Lady Macbeth. He knows that he will challenge himself to the necessary thing to become king, even if he is not enough to carry out his business. As for literally telling Macbeth the prophets, when Macbeth changes his mind about killing, Lady Macbeth reminds him of the idea of killing Duncan, if not herself reason, idea to be his own, saying “What then was the beast, / that you break me in this undertaking?” (1.7.48-49) Although Macbeth may regret writing letters to his wife at different intervals throughout the play, or the weight the letter carries, he is certainly ambitious to write in the first place.
Some time later in the play in year 3, i, Macbeth kills Duncan and becomes king, he considers the witches’ prophecies again. He decided that Banquo and Banquo’s son Fleance, in in to protect the crown “and give [himself and Lady Macbeth] full security” (McCall 49). At this time, without the help of Lord Macbeth, Macbeth ambitiously arranges and succeeds Indeed, Macbeth wants his wife to be completely unaware of his plan and insists, “Innocent of knowledge, dear Chuck,/ Till you praise the deed” (3.2.48-49) Additionally, Macbeth proves that he is in control of his actions conspirators, when he says, “Evil projects strengthen themselves from envy” (3.2.58). This methodical plan to kill Banquo and Fleance proves what Lady Macbeth believes about her husband. According to McCall, Lady Macbeth already has ambition, she just needs to have something evil to do what must be done (21). And as Edward E. Foster asserts, by killing Duncan to obtain the crown “the possibility [that] has been said before (par. 10). It seems that Macbeth is the most learned wicked man by the previous murder of Duncan.
Macbeth shows a continuous intriguing nature with each visitor he makes to see the witches. In fact, “the man who comes” at the end of the story is “a man given to evil” (Scott 61). Macbeth, who visits the witches in IV, 1, is so bold and ambitious that he says “even if the whole world is dissolved in consequence, he will answer certain questions” about his future king (61). Fate may be the cause of Macbeth’s origin with witches, but it is his own ambition that makes him seek them out. Furthermore, as it is said in Foster’s commentary, which is entitled “Macbeth”, “the witches in the play do not control their behavior. Therefore, when Macbeth continues to demand prophetic information from the witches, he has only himself to blame for his actions.
On the other hand, while the ambition that leads Macbeth to commit the first murder and to commit the following murders is very certain, it is also in a way strange. After all, it is an odd twist of fate that allows Duncan to be in his guest house that very night. Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband and decides to kill herself. Indeed, “Lady Macbeth rejoices” (McCallum 21) at the news of Duncan’s arrival, and feels that this is an opportunity not to be missed (21). Furthermore, William Hazlitt says that Macbeth is “tempted by golden opportunities to commit guilt”, and this can be attributed to Duncan’s accidental vision.
In addition, since Lady Macbeth had killed Duncan herself, as she said, Macbeth had been very little with the murder, and had not felt the need to feel guilty in this murder. However, Lady Macbeth is apparently moved by Duncan’s likeness to her father, saying “Unless he was like / To my sleeping father, I would not have done” (2.2 12-13). The lack of this action on Lady Macbeth’s part forces Macbeth to kill Duncan himself, which could be the catalyst for the rest of the murders.
If Macbeth is a victim in any of this play, he is the victim of his wife’s ambition and the witches’ early prophecies. After all, it is the wife who, “often questioning her strength” (Bloom 24), provokes and manipulates Macbeth into killing Duncan when he seems unwilling to do so. In one of the last conversations between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth before Duncan’s murder, he says, “Unless you had this, that you value the ornament of life, and think you live in fear?” (1.7.42-44) And then he uses the guilt of treating Macbeth when he adds that if he knew the kind of cowardice Macbeth would become a man, that he had killed any child who had given birth to a nipple from the boned gums / by pulling out the boned gums” 1.7.58-59). Additionally, “Lady Macbeth plots Duncan’s murder, arranges Duncan’s servants for the murder, and keeps apparitions when the murder is discovered” (24). Although Macbeth is ultimately responsible for his actions, the attack and personal challenge from his wife more than likely leave him feeling as if he has little choice but to commit murder. The witches’ oracles slide into tyranny, and from Macbeth’s first encounter with the witches, “prophecy galvanizes ambition.” However, as John Elsom says, “so far as man is in charge of fate, the main argument of Macbeth is in which the prophetic the power of witches suggests that all human history is predestined, yet Macbeth himself conspires in his own destruction” (par. 13). At the end, then, Macbeth’s own ambition rises.
Finally, although Macbeth is not so much a victim as a perpetrator, he is certainly affected by fate and ambition. He is ambitious enough to kill people for what he wants and he is fateful enough to be pushed into his position by his ambition in a few negative circumstances. Although ambition seems to have been a part of Macbeth, elements of fate encourage him to do things he would not otherwise do. In the end, the instances of fate and ambition finally end in his case.
Works cited
Bevington, David. The Complete Works of Shakespeare 5th ed. New York: Pearson
Longman, 2004.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Bloom Notes: William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. New York:
Chelsea House, 1996.
Elsom, John “You Forgot Shakespeare: Ignore Western Societies”
Feudal Origins.
Views Resource Center. Gale Birmingham Public Library (AVL). Apr 5 2008 ;=gale&userGroupName;=bpl50399&version;=1.0.
Let it be cherished. Edward, E. “Macbeth.” Masterplots, Second Revised Edition (1996). Literary
Reference Center. EBSCO Birmingham Public Library, AVL. Apr 5
455&site;=lrc-live>.
Hazlitt, William. Macbeth Character Analysis at Absolute Shakespeare. 1 Jan
2005. 8 April 2008. http://absoluteshakespeare.com/guides/essays/macbeth_characters_essay.htm.
McCallum, Alistair. Macbeth: The Leader Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2001.
Scott, Robert Owens. Barron Commentaries book eight: William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Ed.
Michael Ver. New York: Barron’s Educational Series, 1984.
Thrasher, Thomas, E. Understanding Macbeth. San Diego: Bright Books, 2002Vickers, Brian, and J.P. Kemble..” Chapter 285: J.P.Kemble, in defense of Macbeth 1786.” 430-
435. Routledge, 1995. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO Birmingham Public Library, AVL. 6 April 2008 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=
true&db;=lfh&AN;=17374687&site;=lrc-live?
