Though Macbeth's ambition is primarily considered his tragic flaw, it does help him in positive ways throughout the course of the play. Most specifically and obviously, he does become king. By all accounts, including the words of Duncan himself ("O Valiant Cousin! Worthy gentleman!" Act 1, Scene 2), Macbeth is a well respected, honorable man. King Duncan promotes him to Thane of Cawdor without hesitation. This leads readers to believe that his advancement is a...
Though Macbeth's ambition is primarily considered his tragic flaw, it does help him in positive ways throughout the course of the play. Most specifically and obviously, he does become king. By all accounts, including the words of Duncan himself ("O Valiant Cousin! Worthy gentleman!" Act 1, Scene 2), Macbeth is a well respected, honorable man. King Duncan promotes him to Thane of Cawdor without hesitation. This leads readers to believe that his advancement is a positive track Macbeth might have enjoyed even without the witches' intervention.
His ambition, while positive to a degree, does make him an easier target for the influence of the witches. It's a human trait to have desires, and, often, our level of desire can blind us to some of the negative aspects of the desire or to the dangers of the methods we might use to obtain that which we desire. The witches had an easy mark with Macbeth because he wanted to advance so desperately; he was willing to accept their words and actions without question or critical thinking. He didn't imagine any possible negative consequences, which, had he analyzed, would have been obvious to someone with Macbeth's intelligence. He essentially got caught up in the moment, almost an individual mob mentality, and the witches were able to capitalize on his blind following, his blind ambition, without much effort.
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