The Impact Of Ambition Not Checked By Morals On Others In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth

As ambition becomes an increasingly wanted commodity with today's youth for the fear of failure constantly at the corners of their vision and being very real and imminent in today’s capitalist world. With the philosophy/theory wildly considered to be, that the harder one works, the more success they will meet. With not many (if any at all) talking about the importance of having a balanced life which requires a checked ambition. To not let close relationships be negatively impacted by one's ambition instead putting time and effort into the maintenance of a healthy relationship. William Shakespeare explores the dangers of ambition in Macbeth showing the affect it could have on close relationships if not moderated by one's morals through the relationship of Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. A once an honorable valiant soldier in a healthy loving relationship to a tyrannical king with a dead wife both with a fatal flaw. With him first letting the possibility of what he could be, cloud what he already was and had. Leading him to prioritize himself and his safety as a king over anything and everything. In Macbeth, Shakespeare explores how unchecked ambition can lead to the detriment of close relationships through Macbeth prioritizing himself as king, letting the expectations that people have for him change the way his morals, the potential that he has leading him to risk everything that he once cared about for his safety, disregarding Lady Macbeth’s. 

Expectations have a way of skewing with reality and making one compare what is to the fantastical expected result, and when one thinks that they could have way more it more often than not leads them to the table of discontentment. The grass is always greener on the other side is a common saying that is used to remind one how not to forget to count their blessings because even though the allure of what is not theirs seems “greener” than what they currently have, there are no perfect yards. This can be seen in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth when Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth to go through and claim what the witches had given them. At first, Macbeth was resistant to the thought of him committing such a grievous act, him being written as such a person with such high moral ground. He balks at the “easy” way at first saying “We will proceed no more in this business. He hath honored me of late, and I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people, which would be worn now in their newest gloss” (I, vii, 31-34), this line gives the audience hope that the honorable Macbeth will reason with himself and stick to his moral values, not to be confused that he does not want the position, he just decides to look at the approval from the king and the new title that came with it and came to the conclusion that he was content on the side of the fence that he was on. But after a few well-placed stabs at his masculinity by his wife, the part of him that saw what he could be, broke out and remained in control for the rest of the play. It is very important to note that while Lady Macbeth goads him into it, he was never fully against the idea, he was thinking about it right after King Duncan pronounced Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland. He saw what the witches had promised and that picture of himself stayed with him and his more primal instinct did support this deed. After Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide and go through with killing the then Scottish King, Duncan, almost instantaneously the deed began to haunt them with Macbeth's hallucinations and inability to sleep. And for Lady Macbeth to say ‘Naught had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without content” (III, ii, 6-7)  which shows the complete 180 that she had compared to the power-driven women that manipulated her husband to do the treacherous deed. This leads to her questioning if the price to fulfill Macbeth's potential was worth the hell they were living in. The killing of Duncan was like a crack in the foundation of their relationship that was never taken care of properly, leading to their entire relationship collapsing.

The thing that one finds the most important in their life, they tend to want to keep the safest, even willing to forfeit their life for it.  In close relationships most of the time there is a natural instinct to keep the other person safe which is understandable and visible throughout the writing of Macbeth, the couple is as a partnership with both people having a good deal of say in what their counterpart was doing but as the play progresses it is easy to see the drastic shift in Macbeth from one that is completely open with his wife to one that not only hides but seeks to find the safety of his kingship above the safety of his wife. With him saying, “To be thus is nothing but to be safely thus” (III, i, 47-48) his insecurity is shown through his irrational actions that Lady Macbeth does not know how to respond to. His view of happiness and his life quickly shifted once the thing that he prioritized and found the most important did. His life became “how can I do the best thing for myself?”, when it used to be “what is the best thing for us?”  He continues with “We have scorched the snake not killed it She’ll close and be herself whilst our poor malice” (III, ii, 15-16) the quest for whom he could be was quickly changed to how he could somehow save the kingship for himself and his children; even though while he was exalted to be king, his former best friend was prophesied to be the father of many kings. His wife is left on the back burner and while he is trying to protect his new stove, she begins to burn 

Where ambition goes selfishness quickly follows because the thing about ambition is that at a certain point pure ambition, and one's moral code will clash and a choice has to be made. In the case of Macbeth, it was not a very “clear” choice, it was not something that was done intentionally. It started with small decisions that accumulated to a point where the audience could no longer recognize him as being the same valiant soldier to whom they were earlier introduced to. When the Macbeth from the beginning of the play (being the great soldier that fought for his country with no hesitation) is juxtaposed with Macbeth in Act 5 (a king that does not care how bad that country is beginning on the road where it is unsavable) the difference is clear. This difference also helps the audience understand how Lady Macbeth was able to kill herself without any sorrow from her husband, “She should of died hereafter; there would have been for such a word” (V, v, 17-18)  the absolute monotonic diction of the reaction gives for an example how much his quest to stay as the king was worth more than grieving for his once close wife. When he heard the shouts of the gentlewoman crying over his wife's death and said “As life were ‘t. I have supped full with horrors, direness familiar to my slaughterous thoughts cannot start me.” (V,v, 13-15). He was free from the demons that came with killing Duncan (and more) while his wife was so enslaved to them, and she could not live with them, the disconnect is clear. 

Following the prioritization of being king, his unlocked potential, and safety kingship, William Shakespeare explores the dire consequences of unchecked ambition on close relationships through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. With Macbeth’s ambition not reigned in by his ability to reason and control himself resulting in the deterioration of a once healthy, loving relationship. With him jeopardizing Lady Macbeth’s safety for a more secure grip on the crown and him going so far to prioritising himself over his wife and their relationship. With it all starting with him letting his possible future cloud and eventually take over his vision. The “success” that he eventually received was not without a cost and serves as a warning to Shakspere’s audience. He uses Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship to let the audience go on a journey to explain his view on ambition with no limits. That while ambition in and of itself is a good and helpful thing in the world it can (like many good things) can be changed and distorted into a quality that brings overwhelming negative consequences into ones life that leak into their personal and even professional relationships. A reminder that ambition that is not checked with ones moral code more then likely a not the best course of action in ones relationship.