Amy Rodriguez
2B

William Shakespeare's Macbeth, is a Medieval story about a nobleman who had evil ambitions of becoming the King of Scotland. It is evident in the play that both Macbeth, the nobleman, and
Lady Macbeth, his wife, suffer from the same tragic flaw: uncontrolled ambition.This uncontrolled ambition causes them to commit regicide. Although Lady Macbeth coerces
Macbeth to murder King Duncan of Scotland, it is clear that she is, in fact, a victim to her ambition. She suffers greatly by losing her sanity, which ultimately leads to her death. Lady Macbeth is a victim of her uncontrolled ambition.This ambition causes her to push herself and Macbeth to the very edge. She convinced Macbeth to kill Duncan by questioning his manliness. Lady Macbeth shows her negative ambition and ruthlessness while speaking to
Macbeth in this quote:
"Was the hope drunk?...Like the poor cat I' th' adage."
(Act I, Scene vii, Lines 35­45)
In this quote Lady Macbeth is asking Macbeth if he is afraid to kill Duncan, and if he has enough courage to say so. She is asking him if he wants to be king or not, and if he is to be king he must commit regicide. By telling Macbeth this, she is his doubting his manliness, and his ambitions.
She goes further to say that she would make a better man than he:
“I would, while it was smiling in my face,/ Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,/ and dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you/
Have done to this” (Act I, Scene vii, Lines 56­59)
As a result of this verbal abuse and pressure, Macbeth ends up killing Duncan that same night.
This shows us that Lady Macbeth's ambition is greater than Macbeth’s, because while he hesitates and is distrustful of his powers, she never wavers. She needs no supernatural temptations to urge her on. Lady Macbeth would not hesitate to kill to get what she wants. Even though Lady Macbeth does these evil deeds, she is clearly victim to her ambition and, in turn, is racked with guilt.

Lady Macbeth’s guilt over the evil deeds she did because of her ambition soon overwhelms her.She suffers greatly by losing her sanity, which ultimately leads to her death. Throughout the entire play she has had trouble sleeping, but in act 5 she falls mentally ill. She has nightmares of
King Duncan’s murder and tries to