Macbeth: Ambition, Kingship and Guilt
Connect ambition, insecure kingship and recurring guilt, testing how supernatural pressure interacts with Macbeth’s choices.
Prophecy and choice
This lesson studies one connected thread: how ambition connects with kingship, guilt, violence and the supernatural. It does not ask for an assignment plan or response.
What the Sisters actually do
In Act 1 Scene 3, the Weird Sisters greet Macbeth with titles and a prediction. They do not give him an instruction to kill Duncan. The distinction matters because Macbeth himself supplies the image of murder. His aside lets the audience hear this private response while the other characters cannot, so the first imagined violence belongs to Macbeth's thought rather than to a spoken command from the Sisters.
His reaction supports more than one defensible interpretation:
- The prophecy may uncover an ambition that already exists. Macbeth moves with striking
speed from a new title to an imagined murder. - The prophecy may awaken a possibility he had not previously considered. His shock can
register the disturbing arrival of a new desire. - In either reading, influence is not the same as compulsion. Banquo warns that apparently
truthful promises may lead to harm, and Macbeth briefly imagines being crowned "without
my stir". The scene places alternatives beside temptation.
Knowledge before decision
Act 1 Scene 7 makes Macbeth's agency harder to dismiss. His long conditional reasoning weighs consequence, justice and Duncan's trust. He knows that he is Duncan's subject, kinsman and host; he recognises Duncan's virtues; and he names only "vaulting ambition" as the force pushing him past those obligations.
Here is one complete reasoning chain:
Shakespeare first gives Macbeth an aside in Act 1 Scene 3, making the audience privately
aware that he has connected the prophecy with murder. Macbeth's later conditional
reasoning in Act 1 Scene 7 then slows the drama while he lists reasons not to kill Duncan.
When he names "vaulting ambition", the image suggests a force that tries to leap beyond a
proper limit and risks falling because it has no secure landing. The prophecy therefore
changes what Macbeth thinks possible, but his informed deliberation keeps the decision
morally his. This is one defensible interpretation, not the only valid one.
Notice the order of the reasoning. It begins with what Macbeth understands, then asks how the dramatic and language choices reveal that understanding, and only then judges the balance between supernatural pressure and human choice.
Read the passages
Text
Macbeth — Act 1, Scene 3
By William Shakespeare
[1] FIRST WITCH.
[2] All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
[3] SECOND WITCH.
[4] All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
[5] THIRD WITCH.
[6] All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter!
[7] BANQUO.
[8] Good sir, why do you start and seem to fear
[9] Things that do sound so fair?—I’ th’ name of truth,
[10] Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
[11] Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner
[12] You greet with present grace and great prediction
[13] Of noble having and of royal hope,
[14] That he seems rapt withal. To me you speak not.
[15] If you can look into the seeds of time,
[16] And say which grain will grow, and which will not,
[17] Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
[18] Your favours nor your hate.
[19] FIRST WITCH.
[20] Hail!
[21] SECOND WITCH.
[22] Hail!
[23] THIRD WITCH.
[24] Hail!
[25] FIRST WITCH.
[26] Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
[27] SECOND WITCH.
[28] Not so happy, yet much happier.
[29] THIRD WITCH.
[30] Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:
[31] So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!
[32] FIRST WITCH.
[33] Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!
[34] MACBETH.
[35] Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more.
[36] By Sinel’s death I know I am Thane of Glamis;
[37] But how of Cawdor? The Thane of Cawdor lives,
[38] A prosperous gentleman; and to be king
[39] Stands not within the prospect of belief,
[40] No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
[41] You owe this strange intelligence? or why
[42] Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
[43] With such prophetic greeting?—Speak, I charge you.
Notes
Numbers identify lines of this supplied extract, not universal verse numbers.
Text
Macbeth — Act 1, Scene 3
By William Shakespeare
[1] MACBETH.
[2] [Aside.] Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor:
[3] The greatest is behind. [To Ross and Angus.] Thanks for your pains.
[4] [To Banquo.] Do you not hope your children shall be kings,
[5] When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me
[6] Promis’d no less to them?
[7] BANQUO.
[8] That, trusted home,
[9] Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
[10] Besides the Thane of Cawdor. But ’tis strange:
[11] And oftentimes to win us to our harm,
[12] The instruments of darkness tell us truths;
[13] Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s
[14] In deepest consequence.—
[15] Cousins, a word, I pray you.
[16] MACBETH.
[17] [Aside.] Two truths are told,
[18] As happy prologues to the swelling act
[19] Of the imperial theme.—I thank you, gentlemen.—
[20] [Aside.] This supernatural soliciting
[21] Cannot be ill; cannot be good. If ill,
[22] Why hath it given me earnest of success,
[23] Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor:
[24] If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
[25] Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair,
[26] And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
[27] Against the use of nature? Present fears
[28] Are less than horrible imaginings.
[29] My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
[30] Shakes so my single state of man
[31] That function is smother’d in surmise,
[32] And nothing is but what is not.
[33] BANQUO.
[34] Look, how our partner’s rapt.
[35] MACBETH.
[36] [Aside.] If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me
[37] Without my stir.
Notes
Numbers identify lines of this supplied extract, not universal verse numbers.
Text
Macbeth — Act 1, Scene 7
By William Shakespeare
[1] MACBETH.
[2] If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
[3] It were done quickly. If th’ assassination
[4] Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
[5] With his surcease success; that but this blow
[6] Might be the be-all and the end-all—here,
[7] But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
[8] We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases
[9] We still have judgement here; that we but teach
[10] Bloody instructions, which being taught, return
[11] To plague th’ inventor. This even-handed justice
[12] Commends th’ ingredience of our poison’d chalice
[13] To our own lips. He’s here in double trust:
[14] First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
[15] Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
[16] Who should against his murderer shut the door,
[17] Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
[18] Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
[19] So clear in his great office, that his virtues
[20] Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
[21] The deep damnation of his taking-off;
[22] And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
[23] Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin, hors’d
[24] Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
[25] Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
[26] That tears shall drown the wind.—I have no spur
[27] To prick the sides of my intent, but only
[28] Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
[29] And falls on th’ other—
Notes
Numbers identify lines of this supplied extract, not universal verse numbers.
Reading the play
Study all five acts of Macbeth, following the action from service and prophecy in Act 1, through regicide in Act 2 and insecure rule in Act 3, to tyranny and resistance in Act 4 and defeat in Act 5. Check act, scene and speaker when selecting whole-play evidence; line numbers can differ between editions.
A crown without kingship
Ambition helps Macbeth obtain the title of king, but the play separates possession of the crown from the practice of good rule. Macbeth's kingship is organised around keeping what he seized. That need for security turns political power into repeated coercion.
The play's internal test of a ruler
| Figure and moment | Conduct in office | What the contrast allows us to judge |
|---|---|---|
| Duncan in Acts 1-2 | He rewards service, exercises lawful authority and inspires loyalty, but he also misreads treachery and governs a violent state. | Legitimate does not mean flawless. His trust and lawful status make Macbeth's betrayal more serious without making Duncan perfect. |
| Macbeth in Acts 3-4 | He fears Banquo's heirs, employs murderers, seeks supernatural certainty and governs through threats and killing. | Holding the title cannot create justice, security or freely given loyalty. |
| Malcolm in Act 4 Scene 3 | During his test of Macduff, he names justice, truth, temperance, steadiness, mercy and courage among the qualities suited to a king. | The scene supplies a standard against which Macbeth's conduct can be measured, while Malcolm's test reminds us that political judgement is difficult. |
Act 3 Scene 1 turns Macbeth's victory into failure through the "fruitless crown". The adjective makes the crown sound unable to produce a secure future: Macbeth has achieved the visible object of ambition but cannot control succession. His fear of Banquo's heirs then generates another murder, showing how an illegitimate claim to power produces fresh violence in an attempt to defend itself.
Kingship as public conduct
The banquet in Act 3 Scene 4 is more than a private episode of fear. Macbeth begins by recognising ranks and places, so the event is a public performance of order before Scottish nobles. Once Banquo's murder and the Ghost interrupt it, Macbeth cannot sustain that performance. Other characters need not see the Ghost for the political damage to occur: they can see their king lose command of the ceremony and Lady Macbeth end it.
A production might make the Ghost visible, invisible or embodied through another staging choice. The secure interpretation does not depend on one design. In every case, the banquet places Macbeth's unstable inner world in front of the people whose confidence a ruler needs.
The contrast with Malcolm should still be handled carefully. Malcolm's "king-becoming graces" are spoken inside a deceptive test, not delivered as a simple checklist by an already proven perfect king. The scene nevertheless gives the play a vocabulary for legitimate rule: power should be disciplined by justice, truth, mercy and concern for the country, rather than used only to protect its holder.
Read the passages
Text
Macbeth — Act 3, Scene 1
By William Shakespeare
[1] MACBETH.
[2] Bring them before us.
[3] [Exit Servant.]
[4] To be thus is nothing,
[5] But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo
[6] Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
[7] Reigns that which would be fear’d: ’tis much he dares;
[8] And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
[9] He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour
[10] To act in safety. There is none but he
[11] Whose being I do fear: and under him
[12] My genius is rebuk’d; as, it is said,
[13] Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. He chid the sisters
[14] When first they put the name of king upon me,
[15] And bade them speak to him; then, prophet-like,
[16] They hail’d him father to a line of kings:
[17] Upon my head they plac’d a fruitless crown,
[18] And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,
[19] Thence to be wrench’d with an unlineal hand,
[20] No son of mine succeeding. If’t be so,
[21] For Banquo’s issue have I fil’d my mind;
[22] For them the gracious Duncan have I murder’d;
[23] Put rancours in the vessel of my peace
[24] Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
[25] Given to the common enemy of man,
[26] To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!
[27] Rather than so, come, fate, into the list,
[28] And champion me to th’ utterance!—Who’s there?—
[29] Enter Servant with two
[30] Murderers.
[31] Now go to the door, and stay there till we call.
[32] [Exit Servant.]
Notes
Numbers identify lines of this supplied extract, not universal verse numbers.
Text
Macbeth — Act 3, Scene 4
By William Shakespeare
[1] The Ghost of Banquo rises, and sits in Macbeth’s place.
[2] MACBETH.
[3] Sweet remembrancer!—
[4] Now, good digestion wait on appetite,
[5] And health on both!
[6] LENNOX.
[7] May’t please your Highness sit.
[8] MACBETH.
[9] Here had we now our country’s honour roof’d,
[10] Were the grac’d person of our Banquo present;
[11] Who may I rather challenge for unkindness
[12] Than pity for mischance!
[13] ROSS.
[14] His absence, sir,
[15] Lays blame upon his promise. Please’t your Highness
[16] To grace us with your royal company?
[17] MACBETH.
[18] The table’s full.
[19] LENNOX.
[20] Here is a place reserv’d, sir.
[21] MACBETH.
[22] Where?
[23] LENNOX.
[24] Here, my good lord. What is’t that moves your Highness?
[25] MACBETH.
[26] Which of you have done this?
[27] LORDS.
[28] What, my good lord?
[29] MACBETH.
[30] Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake
[31] Thy gory locks at me.
[32] ROSS.
[33] Gentlemen, rise; his Highness is not well.
[34] LADY MACBETH.
[35] Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus,
[36] And hath been from his youth: pray you, keep seat;
[37] The fit is momentary; upon a thought
[38] He will again be well. If much you note him,
[39] You shall offend him, and extend his passion.
[40] Feed, and regard him not.—Are you a man?
[41] MACBETH.
[42] Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that
[43] Which might appal the devil.
[44] LADY MACBETH.
[45] O proper stuff!
[46] This is the very painting of your fear:
[47] This is the air-drawn dagger which you said,
[48] Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws, and starts
[49] (Impostors to true fear), would well become
[50] A woman’s story at a winter’s fire,
[51] Authoris’d by her grandam. Shame itself!
[52] Why do you make such faces? When all’s done,
[53] You look but on a stool.
[54] MACBETH.
[55] Pr’ythee, see there!
[56] Behold! look! lo! how say you?
[57] Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too.—
[58] If charnel houses and our graves must send
[59] Those that we bury back, our monuments
[60] Shall be the maws of kites.
[61] [Ghost disappears.]
Notes
Numbers identify lines of this supplied extract, not universal verse numbers.
Text
Macbeth — Act 4, Scene 3
By William Shakespeare
[1] MALCOLM.
[2] But I have none: the king-becoming graces,
[3] As justice, verity, temp’rance, stableness,
[4] Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness,
[5] Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude,
[6] I have no relish of them; but abound
[7] In the division of each several crime,
[8] Acting it many ways. Nay, had I power, I should
[9] Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell,
[10] Uproar the universal peace, confound
[11] All unity on earth.
[12] MACDUFF.
[13] O Scotland, Scotland!
[14] MALCOLM.
[15] If such a one be fit to govern, speak:
[16] I am as I have spoken.
[17] MACDUFF.
[18] Fit to govern?
[19] No, not to live.—O nation miserable,
[20] With an untitled tyrant bloody-scepter’d,
[21] When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,
[22] Since that the truest issue of thy throne
[23] By his own interdiction stands accus’d,
[24] And does blaspheme his breed? Thy royal father
[25] Was a most sainted king. The queen that bore thee,
[26] Oft’ner upon her knees than on her feet,
[27] Died every day she lived. Fare thee well!
[28] These evils thou repeat’st upon thyself
[29] Have banish’d me from Scotland.—O my breast,
[30] Thy hope ends here!
[31] MALCOLM.
[32] Macduff, this noble passion,
[33] Child of integrity, hath from my soul
[34] Wiped the black scruples, reconcil’d my thoughts
[35] To thy good truth and honour. Devilish Macbeth
[36] By many of these trains hath sought to win me
[37] Into his power, and modest wisdom plucks me
[38] From over-credulous haste: but God above
[39] Deal between thee and me! for even now
[40] I put myself to thy direction, and
[41] Unspeak mine own detraction; here abjure
[42] The taints and blames I laid upon myself,
[43] For strangers to my nature. I am yet
[44] Unknown to woman; never was forsworn;
[45] Scarcely have coveted what was mine own;
[46] At no time broke my faith; would not betray
[47] The devil to his fellow; and delight
[48] No less in truth than life: my first false speaking
[49] Was this upon myself. What I am truly,
[50] Is thine and my poor country’s to command:
Notes
Numbers identify lines of this supplied extract, not universal verse numbers.
Guilt and memory
Guilt in the play is not just an emotion named by a character. Shakespeare gives it dramatic form through disrupted prayer, lost sleep, recurring blood language and repeated actions. These patterns show knowledge of wrongdoing continuing after the event; they do not require a modern medical diagnosis.
The murder is heard through its consequences
Duncan's murder takes place away from the audience's direct view in Act 2 Scene 2. Attention therefore falls on Macbeth's return, the sounds around him and his attempt to understand what he has done. He cannot join the prayer with "Amen", hears the cry "Sleep no more" and imagines blood that cannot easily be removed. Spiritual language, imagined sound and the recurring image of blood combine to make guilt a judgement on the deed, not merely fear of being caught.
The scene also keeps choice visible. Macbeth refuses to return to Duncan's chamber, while Lady Macbeth tries to reduce the evidence to practical tasks such as replacing the daggers and washing. Material traces can be moved or cleaned; the scene's language suggests that the deed's meaning cannot be managed so simply.
Memory returns what action tried to contain
In Act 5 Scene 1, Lady Macbeth repeatedly rubs her hands and returns in broken speech to blood, darkness, fear and earlier killings. The action recalls the attempted washing after Duncan's murder, but now the imagined stain persists. Because the Doctor and Gentlewoman observe her, concealed knowledge also becomes a witnessed dramatic event.
This does not prove that Lady Macbeth felt nothing earlier, and it should not be converted into a clinical diagnosis. The stronger claim is textual: repeated gesture and fragmented memory show that practical control has failed to erase moral knowledge.
Context that changes the reading
The historical Duncan died in battle in 1040. Shakespeare's play instead makes Duncan Macbeth's sleeping guest and places the murder inside a relationship of subject, kinsman and host. This source-history difference is useful only because it sharpens interpretation: the adaptation turns succession into a secret violation of trust and hospitality. Macbeth's prayer, sleep and blood language can consequently be read as recognising not just a killing but a corrupted claim to rule.
It would be too strong to say that this proves Shakespeare's private intention or that every original spectator responded identically. The supported point is about dramatic effect: the altered circumstances give an audience more reasons to connect guilt with illegitimacy.
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