Ambition is a human trait that pushes us to achieve a goal. So the question remains is the trait of ambition a good trait or bad trait when looked at through the eyes of human society? Pick one side and defend your reasoning as to why ambition is either good or bad. Make sure to cite examples that are found in our society and the play of Macbeth to support your answer.
If you have a last name that goes from A-L you will argue that ambition is a good trait.
If you have a last name that goes from M-z you will argue that ambition is a bad trait.
Remember ladies and gentlemen, I am looking for a discussion!
Have fun!
I feel that human ambition is bad. It can cause people to do things they would never normally do, in order for them to achieve something they never have before. In the play, Macbeth's ambitions drive him to kill his own cousin the king! Not only that but they also drive Lady Macbeth to plan the whole thing as well. So not only has Macbeth's ambition tainted his own mind but also the mind of his wife's. Ambition is to focus on something you with to attain or achieve in the future. Ambition narrows your mind and can cause you to only think about that one thing, ignoring the present and the things around you. Ambitions can cause you to destroy anything in your path that may hinder or stop you. For example your boss has announced he will be promoting someone and increasing their salary. You've been working at this company for 10 years and you want it. You've been working towards this promotion the entire time you've been at the company. However your closest friend and colleague is in very bad debt and this promotion could save his home and keep him and his family off the streets. You know he's going to be picked for the promotion and because of your ambition you sabotage his work in order to obtain the promotion yourself. He ends up being fired and is now homeless, but what does it matter? Through your ambition you achieved your goal. Most people in society would agree with me when I say if your a person like that, you are a scum. Most people who have read Macbeth have similar thoughts towards him. He's supposed to be this honourable, strong, and trustworthy warrior and yet he murders the king in his sleep in order to obtain the crown. The king, his own cousin. If this were to happen in todays society he would be considered a coward, a traitor, a murderer, and scum. He would have no honour. He would go to jail and die there.
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree. The problem with your promotion idea, is selfishness. Two people could go for that promotion with the same amount of ambition. It comes down to the persons' other traits. Let's say one was an only child, and the other had many siblings. The only child is going to be more selfish, seeing that they haven't had to think about another sibling. The one with siblings on the other hand, would be more naturally aware of others more in need around them, and therefore would surrender their ambition to selflessness. In Macbeth's situation, you just have to give him a break. I think any guy with a wife as crazy as L. Macbeth would fall to their manipulation.
DeleteSelfishness may play a role in the scenario but what you have to remember is that, without that ambition for the promotion there would have been nothing to be selfish about in the first place. The reason that Macbeth fell to Lady Macbeth's manipulation is also because of ambition. It would taste a lie to say it wasn't what he wanted. It was ambition and the idea of becoming king that drove him to agree with Lady Macbeth and to follow through with her plan. If he had no ambition to be king, he wouldn't have agreed to L. Macbeth's plan. Lady Macbeth wasn't crazy either, she was just very ambitious as well. She wasn't afraid to do what was necessary in order to achieve her goal. Even if it meant killing the king. Ambition is just bad.
Deletebut if the boss of that company had not had any ambition there would be no company and both of those people wouldn't have jobs ambition isn't bad beacause without a reasonable amount of ambition you wouldent get any where
DeleteTanner i agree with you because if the boss didnt have an ambition then the company would have never been made. But if he hadnt made the company then some other person with more ambition probably would have made the same company.
DeleteI agree Dion but i also disagree. Ambition is a two way street its good for some things and bad for others. I agree with you when you said that ambition makes people do things they normally wouldnt do most of the time which can be a bad thing but in other way of thinking of it, it can be a good thing. Ambition being a good thing can make people reach out and achieve there goals in life and it gets them to do the things they have been pro-longing to do. On the other hand though i agree that it is a bad trait as well but like i said its a two way street just like everything else. in other peoples eyes it can be classified as a good thing but others may think the complete opposite.
DeleteI agree with Tanner and Alex, you need the ambition to succeed, I mean imagine life without it. we would still be caveman but even they had ambition.
DeleteAmbition is a trait that becomes bad when there is too much of it. There is always a feeling of wanting more when it comes to ambition. Being overly ambitious causes one to set higher and higher goals and refuse to fail unless that goal is achieved. Ambition made Macbeth want something he could not have. It consumed his thoughts and led him to commit a terrible crime. Once you have achieved your goal, you will set your sights on something bigger and better and try to achieve that goal. In the play, Macbeth is Thane of Glamis and is rewarded Thane of Cawdor for his efforts in the war. The weird sisters’ prophecy made Macbeth sure of his future as king and his ambition pushed him to try to fulfill the prophecy himself, rather than let chance crown him king. The prophecy made Macbeth realize he could be so much more and ambition drove him to murder the present king, who became no more than a mere obstacle blocking his way to glory. It clouded his judgment and Macbeth could not decipher between what was right or wrong as long as the prospect of being king continued to be a temptation. Though becoming king seemed impossible, Macbeth was determined to fulfill the prophecy and resorted to murder. Ambition is a trait that can lead a person to stop at nothing and do unthinkable actions. His ambition made him think in extremes. For example, Macbeth, knowing that Duncan was king and planned to give the throne to his son, immediately jumped to murder as the only solution. He already accepted what he believed to be fate and was determined to do anything to achieve his goal. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth is equally ambitious. She reflects that if her plan is successful, all their ‘nights and days to come give solely sovereign sway and masterdom’ (1.5.76).She wants power and is willing to murder Duncan as long as it promises Macbeth the position of king.
ReplyDeleteIn our society, we will always remember Hitler as one of the most terrible people in history. He envisioned a world where everyone met a specific standard and he decided to achieve his goal by purging the world of Jews, homosexuals, or anyone who opposed him or didn’t meet the set standard. Similar to Macbeth, Hitler also came from a place of power. As leader of the Nazi Party, he had power to influence his people and have them obey to his demands. Once he knew the extent of his power, he abused it and controlled his country. Hitler’s ambition to create a master race was what drove him to commit outrageous acts.
I agree with everything you said. Unfortunately your whole argument was based on an excessive amount of ambition. Most agree that you should never have too much of a good thing. Ambition fits this philosophy perfectly. I think anyone can agree that Hitler had a little too much ambition, to make an understatement.
Deletei disagree yes hitler was bad and fueled by an over excessive amount of ambition but look at the allies if they didn't have ambition why did thye stand up to hitler and so nao your wrong and we are going to stop you if they didn't have ambition they woudn't have done that they would sat in bed and said oh well its ok he'll stop eventually but they diddn't sday that they realized what he was doing and they stopped him beacause they had the ambition to do that
DeleteI believe that ambition has the tendency to get out of hand. Having large goals isn’t a bad thing, it’s just that sometimes, people dream too big and because of their ambition, they still attempt to achieve it. Ambition is bad because one can easily get lost in it and imagine something that they can never achieve, and that causes you to set impossible goals. In Hitler’s case, he used it to benefit himself, and not the greater good.
DeleteAmbition stops people from living in the moment and instead, causes them to focus on possible future events so that once they succeed in their goal, they don’t feel satisfied with their achievement and seek for a bigger and better prize. I think that ambition can turn bad when your only motivation is the image of successfully achieving your goal and not thinking about the means to get there.
I do agree that the allies were ambitious, but I feel that they were motivated by something other than themselves. The allies in the war were motivated to defeat Hitler and he was the external force that drove them to fight.
An ambition is a desire for an achievement. Ambitions are usually thought to be good, but they can also be bad. For example, murder is bad, and the reason for the murder of Duncan, was Macbeth’s ambition. After the witches told Macbeth that he would become king, Macbeth became very ambitious towards the goal of receiving the crown. At first his ambitions were good because he thought that he could gain the crown all by himself, but then when he realized he couldn’t, his ambitions caused him to think of murder. His desire to be king was so strong that he needed to do anything to get there. His ambitions were so prominent, that he carried out the murder of the previous king to gain his spot.
ReplyDeleteFrom a societal point of view, the first thing that came to mind when I was thinking about bad ambitions, was the Illuminati. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a conspiracy theory. It’s a theory that many famous celebrities got to become so famous, by joining the Illuminati and selling their soul to the devil. The Illuminati is mostly known to have brought fame to very famous singers one of them even being Michael Jackson. These celebrities were once not famous and had a strong ambition to become famous. Celebrities not only want to be famous, they want to be successful and once they get a taste of fame, their ambitions grow. So, in other words, some celebrities have a desire for fame that is so bad that they are willing to sell their souls to the devil to make it further in their career.
I agree. The prophecy promised Macbeth so much, and he could not bear the thought of losing the crown. Ambition made Macbeth impatient and careless with his actions. He did not want to sit by, helpless, while Duncan announced his son as heir to the throne. When Banquo admits to have been thinking about the weird sisters and saying
Deletethey have showed some truth,’ Macbeth merely replies that he ‘think not of them’ (II,i). Macbeth’s ambition and thoughts of obtaining power led him to lie to those around him, including Banquo. Macbeth’s ambition caused him to commit murder, and that in turn caused him to become haunted and guilty of his actions. Macbeth is slowly being brought down by a single flaw, ambition.
I like your example of the illuminati. It really shows the extent some people will go to gain fame and not lose their position in society. A similar example can be shown in athletes. Some athletes dream of winning and getting a gold medal that sometimes they take steroids so that it will boost their chances at winning. They got lost in their ambition that they couldn’t bear the thought of losing. Maybe seeing their competition allows them to lose some hope, but their ambition to win causes them to overlook the fact that they could lose everything if they get caught. Ambition can lead a person to become reckless and make hasty decisions.
Ambition... a desire for a goal? I believe that ambition itself is a good and positive trait, it is a trait we all share, at least we should. Ambition is the yearning for a specific goal, so perhaps would it make sense to think that maybe when ambition is the... cause of something bad.. its really the goal that has? Your ambitions do not effect your goals, your goals effect your ambitions. A good example from our society, that has sort of just popped into my head is The Chamber Brothers Gang. They were a gang in Detroit in the 80s, at the time they were known as some of the most feared coke lords, they all had extreme skills. If they had invested all their amazing ambitions into starting a business or something along those lines, they would have been extremely successful, if their goals hadn't lead them in the wrong direction. In Macbeth it is quite obvious that Lady.M has manipulated Macbeth to use his ambitions to be king to follow through with actually killing is cousin. Overall, i think that ambitions are great and drive you to your goals.. what ever those may be.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a good point that goals affect your ambitions, but I disagree with you that its the goal that makes the ambition bad. I think that people can have a good goal, but the ambitions cause the person to reach that goal in a bad manner.For example a person could have a goal to get perfect on a test and they are very ambitious about it. Its not a bad goal or anything, but the person's ambitions could turn bad. Maybe they studied really hard for it, but when they got in the test it was hard, but they still wanted to do good; their ambitions were still high. So maybe because their ambitions were so high, it causes them to cheat because they really want that good mark. So in other words, a goal doesn't have to be bad to make the ambition bad.
DeleteI totally agree shelby! Ambition is a good trait that makes people over come fears and to do there life time goals. I believe it is a positive trait as well because without i personally cant see myself being where i am now without it. Ambition is the one thing that has made me go for stuff and reach out and wanting to try new things.
DeleteFirst off, I'd like to say that I love now more than ever that my last name is Hodgkinson. Ambition is one of the single most important traits one can have. Without ambition, our world would ooze of boredom. No music artist would sit through a painfully tedious recording session, no film or television director would heave through hours of planning and debate to reveal their creations, and there wouldn't be any professional sports to watch seeing that no one would practice to become the best. Not even Shakespeare would have even wrote this play without the ambition to do so. There have been many things that my friends and I have got hyped up about in the past, and have never pursued them. Those moments are the most regretful. If Macbeth didn't have the ambition for L. Macbeth to toy with, she would spend the rest of her life making Macbeth feel stupid and regretful for not taking action. No matter how bad the situation is, not completing a goal will be more regretful than playing it safe. Many humans have avoided this by adopting the ambition trait.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%.
DeleteI think having ambition is healthy, it separates us from those who follow and those who lead.
You need ambition no matter what you believe, or else this world would be a senseless meaningless place to live in
I actually disagree with this. Yes, ambition has helped us accomplish many things. But who says that everything we do is a result of ambition?
DeleteTake Shakespeare, for example. There is absolutely no evidence that every play he ever wrote was a result of ambition.
For there to be ambition, there has to be something to strive for. Was Shakespeare necessarily striving to be the best playwright this world has ever seen? He could have simply written plays because he loved writing them, and sharing his work with other people. And, of course, the pay was probably quite decent as well :P
Ambition, I find, has been used as a word to describe wanting to do just about anything. You don't have to be an ambitious person to do things; you just have to do them. One does not have to have the ambition to be a great scientist to discover something new; there are accidental discoveries as well. And some people simply make discoveries or do great things because they love what they do, not because they want to be the best at them.
I totally agree. Ambition is what has driven me to go from a lonely couch potatoe to a lonely couch potatoe with a $20,000 flying scholarship. Without ambition I wouldn't have sat through 5 years of ground school, a grueling scholarship exam, and the hardest interview of my life. Because of ambition I get to be one of 40 people in the whole province to do this. Ambition is the most important tool to live your dreams.
DeleteHaha yes, ambition is a weird thing in some cases. Tessa, I agree that Shakespeare may not had ambition, but what I failed to mention was the middle class working world. They are the steam engine of our society. I think it's safe to say that over half of them are in it for the money. Money is what drives ambition. Money is power; royalty is power. In this sense, Macbeth's goals and our society's goals are the same when bit down to the bone. Ambition is what the majority has and is what's holding us together.
DeleteI agree with Brent, ambition is the force that pushes human beings so we can enjoy everything we have today. Ambition is the strong sense of achieving the goal. Though you might say it'll pushes us too far sometimes, but nothing is perfect, even a trait. The question now should be which point of view are you looking at it. In some cases, ambition is really bad. For example, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth killed the king because they want to be one. But that's only the VERY few cases in the world, and that's why Macbeth is so well known, no one will want to read a book if it's talking about something we see everyday. What we see everyday is pretty much the good part of ambition. For example, students study hard for a good mark, our parents work hard to get us a better life, etc. People around us used their ambition to make the world better. We can't just put ambition as a bad trait because the rare extreme case we see. We should look at it as in general case. If ambition is bad in general, then the killing will never end according to Macbeth and Lady Macbeths' way of achieving their goal.
DeleteI disagree with ambition because we choose to achive our goals. Lots of people say that they are going to achieve there goals which in reality thats not going to happen because we all are lazy in the inside of us. Thats why people dont achieve their goals. Are ambition is our parents because they force us to do well in school and out of school. in macbeth the ambition is lady macbeth because she is the one that was to be crowned more than macbeth. She forces him to do it by using very hurtful words. In the inside of macbeth he was scared and afraid of killing his cousin. So macbeth didnt have any ambition of killing king Duncon. This is why i disagree with ambition.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your point. I think you have it completely wrong. Ambition is the motivation to achieve our goals and with ambition and effort you can achieve them. Sure everypony has a bit of lazy in them but it doesn't mean that we can't have ambition and it also doesn't have to be our downfall. It's also not all about parents want us to do well. Don't you want to do well in school and get a good paying job when you get out of here. If I get my way I'll be halfway across the country the day after graduation. I want to do well not because of my parents but for me. Also your point on MacBeth isn't entirely accurate. Sure Lady MacBeth wants the crown a lot but MacBeth wants it too. He's a warrior at heart, he likes the spoils of war and the titles and glory he gains from it all. He did hav ambition for killing Duncan, he wanted power for himself too.
DeleteI'm pumped that my last name starts with a B.
ReplyDeleteI think ambition is a great trait. Ambitions separates the people who hang back and accept whatever they get, and the people who strive for more.
This is a prime example of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself.
If Lady Macbeth hadn't stepped up and planned the murder of Duncan, Macbeth wouldnt have become king for decades after.
Ambition doesn't always have to mean murder, it just means to strive forward to create your own life. You are what you give in, and without ambition to do things, you would never accomplish anything.
Even if Lady Macbeth had jumped the gun and rushed to the more drastic approach, she is only fighting for something she wants. Just as kings had long before their bloodline became solidified. They had to fight for the privilege of being called king.
I agree with Brent completely, some put down ambition saying it ruins lives and evil people get born from it. Yes that may happen, but those are extreme cases of ambition. I think a little ambition is completely healthy.
Macbeth may not have gotten to be King if it were not for what his wife did. But then again, perhaps it was truly Macbeth who made it all happen by sending his wife the letter explaining the prophecy in the first place.
I don't agree that if Lady Macbeth hadn't stepped up and planned the murder of Duncan, Macbeth wouldn't have become king for decades after. We don't know what would have or wouldn't have happened if the circumstances had been different. Similar to how people compare one person who drank milk to a shorter person who didn't. We don't know what would have happened if neither had drank milk, both had drank milk, or if the shorter person had drank milk and the taller person hadn't. The reason ambition isn't good is because it causes people to go into tunnel vision. They don't notice the things around them. So yes a person may not have meant murder but because their ambition grew it caused them to become more and more narrow minded. Causing the circumstances to change and what was once just a harmless ambition has become the only thing they care about. Something they will do anything to achieve. No matter the cost. Ambition is to strive for something better in the future, but the question is what is wrong with the present? Why not be content with what you have and not what you don't have. Why be greedy?
DeleteBecause Duncan already had an heir, had he died soon.
DeleteAmbition to become a better fighter, will that turn into tunnel vision?
I can't see it happening because I know you're a good person dion.
Ambition is completely healthy, and is needed in this world. We need ambition people to lead and shape this world for us that won't
Yes, Duncan had a heir but we still don't know what may have happened. Maybe they would have got sick and passed away or sliced some part of their body, which would in turn become infected and die that way. The problem is we don't know what would have or could have happened. My ambitions to become a better fighter could turn to tunnel vision. Not sleeping, neglecting homework and studies. Those are things I could end up doing for my ambition. Those things aren't good for my own personal health but don't make me a bad person by societies standards, do they?
DeleteI HIGHLY doubt you would let it go that far.
DeleteAs humans ambition is already hardwired into us, ambition to be the best we can, to get what we want. which isn't a bad thing.
Not sleeping, neglecting homework and studies aren't due to ambition, those are other traits coming into play.
It doesn't make you a bad person, no.
Ambition has the power to make us do crazy things. Maybe not at first murder but maybe cheat on a test to get that reward for your parents for an A, and then maybe steal some shoes so you can run faster and make the provincial team. The thrill we get from ambition can slowly overtake us and make us do such horrible things as murdering someone just so we get what we want. The thrill of getting something you really want can sometimes cause us to do irrational things and have irrational thoughts. No normal person would murder their king in their own house but since the forces of ambition were so strong, they were able to let Macbeth kill the king. Ambition maybe can be seen as good in small doses but it has the power to control our thoughts and actions which can end horribly.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you sterling. Many things that ambition can cause are very bad. Stealing somethinf for someone to make them like you. Killing someone so that you can gain money or a higher position, I.e. Macbeth wanting to become king and Lady Macbeth wanting to become queen. Or even cheating like you said sterling.
DeleteAll these things could be caused by just a fraction of too much ambition pushing any person over the edge to make the wrong decision.
Yes but those are all extreme cases of ambition, turned to hysteria. which, ambition doesn't cause- you just let it turn to that.
DeleteHealthy ambition is good for all of us, together as a society as well.
Ambition is what this world runs on
The outcome of ambition can be good or bad, however, what you have to do to achieve the outcome is usually bad. For most people, to get, you must take away from something. This "something" can be another person, the planet, or even yourself. An example of taking away from another person for gain, are people who deal hardcore drugs for money, as they take away the others physical and psychological health for copious amounts of cash. An example for taking away from the planet is corporations cutting down trees and polluting the Earth, as they damage the planet for power, money and status. I know people who used to take copious amounts of Reteline and Dexedrine just to keep up with school. For those who don't know what that is, these are drugs that help with ADD/ADHD and they keep you awake and make you lose your appetite, so she suffered from starvation and sleep deprevation, just to excel in school. Now because of it, she needs to go to the doctor every month (around that anyway), just so the doctor can make sure that she's fine. This happened strictly because she was ambitious to to good in school.
DeletePoint being, the end product can be good, but to get to that, chances are you'll have to take from something, thus being bad.
Ambition is an awesome trait to have. Without ambition nobody would get anything done. All of the great works of the world would never have been constructed because nobody said "hey I'm going to grow up and build something the world will remember me for." Without ambition human kind would never have gone to the moon or flown. If they didn't have the ambition and want to go for it and explore new possibilities we would still be living in caves playing with sticks and rocks. Ambition drives change and change is the driving force that continues to improve our society and quality of life. In the play MacBeth has ambition. He want to go out and be this great hero and get the big title and all that. His ambition drives him to be this amazing warrior that is both loved and respected across the entire country. Ambition is great!
ReplyDeleteI actually disagree with this. Ambition is not the only reason why we do something. There are other driving forces. I'll use your moon example to explain what I mean. Sure, ambition was a reason that humankind wanted to go to the moon, but it wasn't the only one. What about curiousity; wanting to know exactly what the moon was like once and for all? Curiousity is a driving force behind many of man's discoveries, and it has nothing to do with ambition.
DeleteI agree with Tessa on this post, because going to the moon did not only involve ambition, it did, like she pointed out above, involve other traits like curiosity and wonderment, and maybe even the feeling of just accomplishing something. But, I do think that ambition is overall a bad trait because it causes corruption in the main stream of people. Sure it can push people to do the things that are in the history books as seen as good, but how may people suffered and died because of the ruler or dictator that made them accomplish what only they were recognized for? I'm just saying that ambition causes corruption in society.
Deleteyeah yeah curiosty is great and all, but it doesn't get you billions and billions of dollars in space craft stuff.
DeleteI believe curiostly may spark the initial interest, but it is ambition that truly drives it home. You could live your whole life being curious, but that would never serve you unless you acted upon it and drove to it.
They stand hand in hand.
I can name many things that are driven by ambition, many good things.
Cancer research, terry fox, to become the first black president of America and start many new and historic things.
Without ambition, where would we as the human race be now?
I disagree with you Tessa. Ambition plays a big role in humankind. People want to see what the moon looks like. Sure, I will say that it is curiosity. But, what is the force that made them to reach their goal? I think it is ambition because it is the desire for achievement. When you want something, you will be willing to work hard and nail it. I think in this case, curiosity would be the beginning and ambition will be the humankind stretches their limit to accomplish it. I think if one needs to done a good job on something, one must has some ambition in it because ambition would help us to achieve our goal.
Delete@Layla
DeleteOh, I don't know about curiosity not being a strong, driving force. Us humans are curious by nature; the amount of time and thought that goes into our speculation about the afterlife is proof of that. Maybe curiousity doesn't necessarily lead to the massive, flashy discoveries like what's on the moon (then again, someone consumed by curiousity might be willing to create an entire project around it), but many scientific discoveries have come from curiousity. I know that if someone, even a strong authority figure, were to leave me in a room and tell me NOT to look at something, and tell me I would be punished if I did, and rewarded if I didn't, odds are, I would probably look at that object, no matter what it cost me. Curiosity is a strange thing; we have the tendency to want to know as much as possible about a situation, no matter what the cost.
I can't answer your question, obviously, because ambition exists, and it is a part of our everyday lives. But if ambition didn't exist, would nothing honestly get done? Even without ambition, we still have to survive and provide for our families. I am not saying that ambition is not an important part of our lives. But what I am saying is that humankind could survive without it; there's no reason why we couldn't.
@Stanley
Sure, the people who wanted to see the moon were probably quite ambitious. But haven't you ever been consumed by curiousity, and wanted to know something really badly. If you act on that curiousity, is it ambition? Not necessarily. And like I said before, some people simply accomplish things because they love them so. Like Beethoven, who probably didn't anticipate being a massive success, and simply loved music. Obviously, ambition is important, but it is not the be all, end all, of life. And when there is too much of it, things can end badly.
Ambition is what makes you strive to be better, to go forward when you feel like it's impossible. Ambition is what makes you take that extra step each day, to do that something extra. Without ambition, people would sit around each day and not have any goals or the ones that do will do nothing to achieve them.
ReplyDeleteSociety is full of ambitious people who are living their life to the fullest and taking every chance they get.
Athletes for example, why do they train so hard even though they know only a minuscule amount of people reach the top? It is because they want to improve to be better, so that by the end of the day they can be a better person, whether to learn from one another or gain experience and maturity through matches.
Without ambition we would probably not have light, in which Thomas Edison worked days and sleepless lights to give us what we take today for granted and one of the most important fundamentals in human society, light. For people who work hard with that level of determination, wouldn’t you call it an ambition?
Ambition is not only an overmastering desire; it can be a cherished desire. Nowadays, people are saving children from 3rd world countries by giving water, education, and shelter to the poor children from places, such as Congo. Ambition here can be defined as the ambition to make the world a better place, to help people less fortunate than you.
In the play, ambition is the exact element that has driven Macbeth into becoming such a brave and worthy warrior. Indeed, he has lived his life to the fullest at this point, in which he has won many great battles, earns many honors and praises (Thane of Glamis and Cowdor), and certainly has the king’s trust. It is also his ambition that makes his fanciful dream of becoming King come true later on. And being a king is certainly an interesting journey in life!
I don’t think ambition makes people strive to better, Beverly. Although it might push people forward, it motivates people in a foul way that will lead them to punishment. And I disagree with your example of athletes. Athletes train hard is not because of ambition but the desire to become stronger. Ambition is more like the deep and dark desire that provoke people to do illegal things in order achieve their goal instead of working hard to improve, like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth killing Duncan to become king and queen. Moreover, ambition is definitely not a cherished desire and the example of saving children does not come from ambition, but more like caring and love. If ambition is a cherished desire, then how come it can tempt people, like Macbeth, to commit serious crime, like assassination? Therefore, ambition is a foul thing for sure, though I do agree with the part that it is ambition that drives Macbeth to success of growing to a brave and worthy warrior at the beginning. However, later on, it is because of ambition that started Macbeth’s downfall.
DeleteI agree with you, Carla, that ambition is a deep and dark desire that provoke people to do illegal things in order to get what they want. However, that is only if that ambition is fueled by greed and lust for power, it will of course become a destructive force that ultimately does irreparable damage to him/herself and to others. Not all ambitions are like that. It depends on who is in grasp, but the trait itself is generally good. Yes, I agree that most people fall because of their ambition: in the play, ambition is Macbeth's tragic flaw. However, he was a honorable and respectful lord before his ambition dominates his mind. If within that ambition, there is compassion and wisdom, it will surely be a powerful source of good.
DeleteI agree with you that Macbeth was an honorable and respectful lord before his ambition dominates his mind. But this just proves that because of his ambitions, he turned into a greedy and unfaithful man and committed murder of Duncan. Also, if there is compassion and wisdom in ambition, I doubt that ambition will turn into a powerful source of good because Macbeth did possess these traits. If he didn’t, then how can he be so famous and well-respected, “for brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)” (Act 1, scene 2)? And how can he obtain the thane of Glamis and Cowdar? Well, ambition, being Macbeth’s tragic flaw, is definitely a bad trait by bring a fair warrior into a foul murderer.
DeleteIn human society, I think the trait of ambition is good for a certain amount, not too much and not too less. What does ambition do? It is like to motivate a person to aim for something that will stretch his/her limit to reach it. Without it, life would be boring and lack of challenges. One will not success if he/she does not have ambition in life. However, I must say enough ambition is enough. As everyone is happy, one’s ambition is good.
ReplyDeleteIn the play, because of Macbeth’s ambition, he wins every impossible battle and gloriously gains people’s trust. However, it is not easy to be a thane. I think every successful person all had some difficult time suffering especially in the process of starting at the beginning. A way of surviving this situation is that one needs ambition to keep fighting. For example, the most famous inventor in the world, Thomas Alva Edison. His greatest invention is light bulb. It was not easy to make a light bulb. Edison used over 9000 ways to just let it light. At that time, he was going to give up, but his ambition had stopped him, and after years of hardworking, over 10,000 attempts, Edison made it.
The existence of ambition let our world move forward a big step into industries and many other things. Ambition will improve us into a better people, and that is why ambition is good for human society.
In the past = horse-drawn carriage, footwalking, carts.
Nowadays = motorcycle, cars, airplane, train.
I agree with you that yes, we need ambitious in life. Everyone’s heart must have ambitious; it’s either tiny bit or a lot. However, too much ambitious is a bad thing. As one hold ambitious in mind, it will grow as you proceed, which eventually will turn out to be a disaster. Many people who posses ambitious, ended up doing stupid things, just like Macbeth. His desire of wanting to be crowned has lead him committed murder to his own cousin. One’s ambitious exceed more and more when one’s desire increases. Human are selfish, we all think and do things for our own purpose. We do to gain power. Even the best successor, could become the worse because doing something stupid. Just like the play’s theme, “fair is foul and foul is fair”. Macbeth was a wonderful, strong and trustful man. However, his ambitious has take over his mind, leave him with only pain and guilt in the end. Moreover, the example you made, I do not agree with you. The inventors in the world they only have the courage in them, and confident that makes them keep going. Ambitious is a different case. You could use business as an example. Business needs ambitious to become success. Ambitious is described as a strong desire for success and achievement. If one is in business, desire Is needed, however, if one is inventing something, they only will have the belief of success that keeps them moving forward.
DeleteAmbitious could be either good or bad, depends on the purpose of one’s desire. However, if one did something stupid, one’s life might get ruin. So be careful, too much ambitious could be dangerous.
Carey, you said ambition is defined as a strong desire for success and achievement. Yet, like you, people often overlook the word "determination". Yes, ambition is a STRONG desire that OFTEN leads people to do stupid or even evil things; however, it is not in every cases. Not every people who posses ambition will end up doing stupid things.
DeleteAnd wanting to achieve success typically requires determination and hard work. You said the inventors only have the courage and confidence and THE BELIEF OF SUCCESS. Ambitious kicks in this situation, too. If one only holds beliefs, but is incapable to put his/her wishes in actions, then one cannot even invent or discover great new things (that possibly may have a positive impact on the world). One also needs that ambition, that drive, that desire of success. It's just like dreams with no effort included is merely empty talk. We all need a level of ambition to keep us motivated from working toward our dreams, even though it is just a little bit of ambition. Therefore, in general, I really don't believe ambition is an evil trait. In the play, if Macbeth continues to think that "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me Without my stir" (Macbeth Act 1, scene 3, 137–144), then he will never become King.
Yes, beverly I agree with you that everyone have ambitious somewhere in their heart. We all need ambitious in order to make our lives full of interesting challenges. However, there are a lots of cases where people ended up doing stupid things. Eventhough, my role is to prove ambitious is unfavorable traits, but i personally believe that ambitious is neither good nor evil. Because it may be good or bad ambition, but the thing in itself is neutral. It depends on one's intention and how one applies it. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare imply ambitious as evil, in order to lead Macbeth to his downfall. In reality, how one uses ambitious to acheive their desire, will be determine wheather it is good or bad. Therefore, i do not disagree with either you or the others.
DeleteOne who possesses the trait of ambitious, will either ended up fair or foul, due to their motivation and action. However, in my opinion, I believe that ambitious will lead to one’s failure, which is a bad thing. In the play, Macbeth himself was so lost in his ambitious that it leaded him to his downfall. At first he never thought of becoming the king, but after meeting with the 3 evil witches. The prophecy had awake his ambition. In Act 1 Scene 3, “if chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me without my stir”, he was over confident that he thought without having him to do anything, the King will crown him. However, after he found out that Malcolm will be crowned as the next King, he was furious and stated that “this is a step on which [he] should fall down, or else overleap, for in [his] way it lies.” This is where everything started to grow. His raging ambitious with a crazy wife, they had done something unforgiving. They had killed their own cousin, King Duncan. Macbeth has committed a crime for his selfishness wanting to achieve his desire. This is horrible. Moreover, ambition could head to a path of destruction. Deep down in Macbeth’s mind, there was something that is eating him alive. He was nervous of every part of the plans, fearing it would fail, fearing to kill, fearing of all of it. The more ambitious make one behaves, the more guilt will get into one self. Guilt is defined as “a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.” This has just proved that ambitious is a bad characteristic for someone to own. Besides, in real life there are tons of examples that showed how one’s ambitiousness could wreck one’s life. For instance, the previous governor of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian, he was a selfish, greedy guy that was ambitious of wealth, who committed this treason that causes economy to decline. For paying his crime, he was put in prison for the rest of his life. In conclusion, over ambitious will cause trouble to one’s life. And one could either gain or lose. I say this is because, in business ambitious is needed, in order to be successful. Yet, too much of it, may guide one to do something dumb. Just like Macbeth, and a lot of political situations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on how Macbeth has too much ambition and ends up doing wrong things, such as killing King Duncan. However, I disagree with you that when you said, “I believe that ambitious will lead to one’s failure.” Ambition is a motivation that will improve us into better people. Let make a very simple example, a guy wants to be a film star, but how can he get it?
DeleteHe needs some kind of feel to let him get better at it. Well, it is ambition. If a person needs to success in life, one’s got to have ambition.
I think it is just the matter of how many ambition one has in a particular situation. One needs to control one’s ambition in order to success.
Too much ambition is not good for one, but enough is the best.
I like your examples about Macbeth and Taiwan’s president.
I totally agree with you, Carey. Your ideas of too much ambition will ruin one’s life is very true. This is especially shown in your example of the previous governor of Taiwan. His ambitions had leaded him to forever imprisonment. But, Stanley, I don’t think ambition is the good motivation that improves people’s characteristics… because I see ambition as a foul earnest desire that induces people to commit bad things, like crimes (Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ended up killing Duncan in order them to become king and queen). Also, the example of a guy wanting to be a film star, I don’t think that’s an ambition (foul), I think it’s just a longing desire (fair). Ambition is more like in business; for example, the boss really craves for more money that he secretly started trading illegally. He just commits a crime because of his ambition. That’s terrible. Therefore, ambition is bad for people and it’s really hard to control one’s ambition in order to success.
DeleteAmbition, longing, desire are synonyms, which basically means they have the same meaning. And people tend to emphasizing that business men have ambitions. Because of their unethical or "evil" actions due to their desires for profit and money? I think what the guy who wants to become a film star requires is truly a little bit of ambitoin. Like Stanley said, he needs some kind of feel. He needs to strive to become better than what he was and what he did before. He knows he will have to improve. His ambition will goad him on. Therefore, ambition in this case is the desire for personal achievement. It provides the motivation and determination necessary to achieve a particular end or condition.
DeleteI agree with you. I think, for the most part, ambition is bad. In most cases, ambition is for people who seek to benefit themselves. Their desires continue to grow and they can never be satisfied. I believe ambition is set very much in the future. It causes a person to ignore everything in the present until their goal is achieved and even then they will not feel fulfilled. Ambition will continue to grow as well as the desire. In Macbeth, Macbeth does not feel complete unless every aspect of the prophecy is granted. Macbeth does not feel happy with being Thane of Glamis and Thane of Cawdor and is hungry for more. He and Lady Macbeth focus on the future promise of being crowned king which produces feelings of impatience and longing that overcome their morality and good judgment.
DeleteWhen I first read the
ReplyDelete"If you have a last name that goes from A-L you will argue that ambition is a good trait.
If you have a last name that goes from M-z you will argue that ambition is a bad trait."
instuction I was pretty upset. The first time I read it I thought it was my first name but then I read it over and realized it was my last name..not that it mattered because my initials are K.K.
:( I wish we had a choice on argueing on the "good" and "bad" sides of this D; oh well.
Ambition is really important in Macbeth. Even though Lady Macbeth scares the hell out of me I cant help but think she's pretty awesome for going that far to get what she wants. Without her ambition to become a powerful queen she wouldnt be the unique creepy character she is. With her strong ambition she was able to get past her womanly feelings and attack her husbands masculinity which caused him to kill the king, thus getting her exactly what she wanted. Keeping in mind that back then thats pretty amazing for a woman in her time! If the Oprah show existed back then shed probably be on it :D!
Without ambition we wouldnt have made all the electronic or medical advancements we have today. People have goals (whether its for the benefit of themselves or the benefits of others) and its their ambition that drives them the achieve those goals :) and in the most part it drives our world forward.
For example. We wanted to get to places faster so we made boats, used horses, made trains,cars and planes!
We wanted to communicate with people that lived far away, we wrote letters, trained birds to deliver them, created telephones (and continue to upgrade them), created text messaging and email.
Ambition is a good thing because it can advance our life and drives us to reach our dreams.
another example: I had the goal to finish writing this and argue ambition was good. Without ambition I wouldnt have achieved my goal and its good that I did.
:D!
I personally think that ambition is good because it gives you a sort of "drive" to do something. In the play macbeth, ambition is a big part of what makes it a good play because macbeth has the ambition to become king but he dosent actually have the guts to kill the present king. His wife lady macbeth on the other hand has the drive that macbeth needs to become king, she offered to kill the king after macbeth said that he didnt want to do it. In everyday life today i think more ambition is needed because there are so many people in the world that want to do things but they dont do anything about it. All in all i think that people need to have more ambition in there lives to go and achieve there goals in life.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with what Cory said. Ambition is a good trait when it gives us the “drive” to accomplish a goal. Yet, I must mention that there are many ways to achieve success. Some say that ambition is bad because during the process of achieving success, sacrifice are made, and some take advantage of others, etc. But that’s not all the cases. Some people are hardworking with great determination, thus their process of achieving success may not involve those terrible process mentioned above. (As for those who are being treated unfairly, I think they should at least act upon their ambition to change the situation, or else they become people who “want to do things but they don’t do anything about it” as Cory mentioned.
DeleteI disagree with both of you. Because ambition is a feeling you only get if your not feeling lazy. And that will help to achieve things that no ordinary person will achieve in the future. Like trying to go pro for a sport, the odds in that are one in a million.
DeleteI disagree with Cory and Judy. I think ambition does give a person "drive" to do something, but it's not ambition alone. It could be someone's determination to do something or it can be someone's passion for something they like to do. A goal can be accomplished without ambition if someone has a strong passion for what they do. If a strong passion exists, then that alone can cause a person to reach their goal. Ambition is not the only thing that gives a person "drive" to do something.
DeleteI think ambition, although important, is in general bad. As we look at our past, where has ambition gotten us? Almost everywhere is the answer. We as humans are now capable of flight, have cures to diseases, education, and gave us fortune. However, what is the cost of ambition? What have we thrown to the fires to achieve all this? Usually, the cost of ambition is much higher then the actual achievement. The pyramids, monuments of dead Pharaohs, would have never been built without the whip of slavery. The great wall would have never been built without the overseers instilling fear into the workers. Land would have never been gained without the slaughter of men and women in war. Without his ambition, Macbeth would have lived on and would have retained his trust of his allies. Thus, the product of ambition is good, but the process can be a very terrible thing.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that the product, or result of ambition is good but the process could be terrible. I agreed with the above statement, but I would still stand for the point that ambition is generally good. Without this desire for success, or to achieve a goal, people would live as if they are zombies; no inventions are created, no improvements being made, and no work being done. Indeed there are tons of cases when overflowing ambition leads to terrible ways during the process of achieving success. However, overflowing ambition also comes with becoming more selfish, not taking on advice from others, and blinded for power. (Macbeth started to be careless, not taking in advice/warning from Banquo, and then he’s blinded for power to kill Banquo for it.) The reason for ambition to become Macbeth tragic flaw is because when his ambition is overflowing, he lost his power of control over his own thoughts. He was under the influence of the witches’ prophecy, and manipulated by his wife at the same time. He used to value the morals when his ambition is keep at a “healthy” level, that he would be a brave warrior that wins the Kings trust. Thus, I say that ambition is good, but not when it’s overflowing.
DeleteI agree with you Judy, however, you need to realize that all of what it takes to push someone's ambition to the peak of madness is just that: a push. Before hearing of the witches' prophecy, Macbeth had no desire to betray the King, as he had no reason to, thus he was a loyal subject. However, after hearing of the prophecy, which was just them talking (they didn't show him visions or any actual proof), he immediately went from loyal subject to treacherous. Without the "push" from the witches Macbeth would have never done it. Even today, I know several people who would do terrible things if they had the chance (or at least thought so).
DeleteI believe that ambition is a good trait. It's one of the most important trait of human beings that keeps us improving. Although people might say ambition is bad because it lets others down and sometimes we'll end up with something horrible. But without ambition, we would never have a chance to enjoy the technology we have now, the great design of clothing, or even the very basics human behavior we have. Without ambition, we'll not even try to improve ourselves and end up like every other animals. Ambition is a unique human trait that is so important in every stage in history, even now! It's the reason why human are different from animals and the power of improving oneself.
ReplyDeleteHank i totally disagree with you. Ambitious is NOT a trait that describe as the power of improving oneself. It is define as a STRONG DEISRE for sucess and acheivement. It is not amitbioun that leads human to improve oursleves. It is our brain, knowledge, curiosity that keeps us moving forward. The example you came up about dsign of clothing is not ambitioun. It's creativity. Also, basics human behavior is not ambitioun as well. Human behavior is what we borned with. Without ambition, our lives will have no excitment. Ambition is a characteristic that makes us try new challenges. Like, in business, we have to have ambition in order to be sucessful, to improve into higher level. It is a trait that could be either good or bad. However, in Macbeth, it is a evil trait that put Macbeth down. The awake of his ambition, had leaded him to do terrible things, killing his own cousin, the King Duncan. Moreover, ambition will end up turning into guilt. Guilt is a horrible feeling that could destory one's mind. That's why a lot of cases, too much ambition has lead one's path to doom. For example, the taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian was ambition of wealth. Ended up seretly taking citizen's tax money. Now, he has been sentenced to jail for his rest of his life. Therefore, how one apply ambition will determine wheather it could be good or bad. So i believe ambition is neither good nor evil.
DeleteI totally disagree with you, Hank. Ambition is definitely not the most important trait that keeps us improving. It is the craving desire that provoke people to do foul actions. Also, the technologies we have now are not invented from human’s ambition. It’s just the curiosity of science that leads new discoveries in technology, not ambition. Moreover, in “Macbeth”, ambition has clearly shown itself as foul desire by Shakespeare expressing it as “black and deep desires” (Act 1, scene 4). Plus, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ended up murdering the king because of their dark ambition of wanting to become king and queen. It’s the mad desire for more power, more wealth that made them act violently. Lastly, because of ambition, our history is full of bloodshed. Leaders of countries trying to take over the others in order to gain more landscape, wealth, and power had marked so many deaths in our social text book. How do people change to have the capability of killing people when you never had?
DeleteI think the cause must be over-ambitions. Therefore, ambition is not a good, or important, or unique human trait and also it’s certainly not the power of improvement.
I disagree with you; ambition is an important trait in human because there are many different times and reasons you need ambition. For example, you need it in your career, your future, and yourselves. If you want to be a writer or artist, you would need ambition to accomplish this goal; because you simply want to do it. When you want something, you will be willing to work hard to nail it. These are the phenomenon of ambition. And also, when you have ambition, more things will seem possible to do it. I think having ambition will help you accomplish your goals and dreams.
DeleteI disagree with you. Ambition is a bad trait in human. It brings people foul dreams and actions. Though it does motivate them to work hard, it guides people to success in a bad way that provokes people to violate laws. Ambition is not the trait that make you become what you want; except, it is a trait that brings downfall for you, like Macbeth. His tragic trait is ambition. Furthermore, I think ambition is used in a bigger objective of gaining fame, power, wealth, or honor; rather than working hard to achieve a simple goal like writer or artist. Nevertheless, it is true that having ambition makes things more possible to do. Yet, that’s how people include an option of breaking laws in order to accomplish their goals with the wider possibility that ambition gives. Therefore, I think ambition does not help people to obtain their dreams.
DeleteI can’t deny that there are SOME cases when ambition becomes overflowed and leads to terrible ways of achieving success, but I must agree with what Hank mentioned as it is a trait that keeps us improving. I would say that ambition is what gives us motivation to achieve a goal; however, how a person control over his/her ambition and the ways they choose to work toward their goals is influenced by other factors besides pure ambition. Carla mentioned the “black and deep desires” (I, iv) as foul desire Macbeth has, and I would agree that it is indeed a dark and foul act for him to murder the king, but there are many other factors that contribute to the assassination. For example, the prophecy from the weird sisters only tells Macbeth that he’ll become the king without how he’ll be crowned. He is also under that influence of Lady Macbeth’s persuasion, and manipulation. Lastly, he made the wrong judgment that leads him to lost control over his temper and result in overflowing ambition. (He changed his mind of waiting to be crowned right after he heard Malcolm becomes the Prince of Cumberland.) Thus, I stand for the point that ambition is a good trait, but one may lose his/her control due to overflowing ambition and an overheated brain.
Deletewell yes people do things they aren't suppose to do to reach what they want, and sometimes it is brutal. But without the ambition, what can we possibly do? In Macbeth, Macbeth wouldn't be as great as it's written without this trait at the first place, because he would never want to win the wars and therefor he will fail. It's his "strong desire for sucess and achievement" that pushed him towards victory. If we don't have the strong sense of getting better, how would we have so much great things we are having? Think about Eddison, he barely sleep or eat when he's finishing light balls. If he didn't have ambition he would never do this kind of things. For us, if we don't have ambition, why would we even try to finish our homework? why would we go to school? because we want to pass this course so badly, and maybe get into a good university by getting a good mark. Without ambition, we are just some moving subjects what don't know where to go or what to do. We'll have something we want, but we'll never be able to keep our will power going on for long.
DeleteI completely agree with you Hank. ambition allows you to reach your goals, whatever they may be.
DeleteAmbition... what is it? It is the earnest desire for some type of achievement, like wealth, fame, honor, or power. It is usually thought as good because it motivates people to strive for attainment (fair). However in reality, ambition only causes selfishness and blinds one’s mind with cruelty (foul). Because ambition contains foul dreams, the only future for over-ambitious people is tragedy, just like Macbeth. At first in the play, Macbeth was a brave, faithful warrior with little greed for position. However, after hearing the three witches’ prophecy of him being king in the future, he began to crave for more power. He even thought of killing the king, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical” (Act 1, scene 3). This greed or ambition is exactly the tragic flaw of Macbeth and because of it; he fell into the hands of evil and died horribly. Also, this ambition had later caused him to actually murder the king and then it turned into hallucination and guilt to hunt his soul, “or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (Act 2, scene 1). Moreover, even Shakespeare uses foul description in Macbeth’s dialogues to describe ambition. For instance, “Let not light see my ‘black’ and ‘deep’ desires” (Act 1, scene 4) presents us that the ambitions in Macbeth is sinking deeper and deeper into mankind darkness.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the crazy and cruel actions and speeches of Lady Macbeth in the play all originated from her over-ambitious mind of wanting to become Queen. Immediately after reading Macbeth’s letter (Act 1, scene 5), she began to plot the assassination of the king. She even worshiped devils, hopping them to “unsex her” (Act 1, scene 5) so she could substitute Macbeth to kill Duncan. In addition, she used words like, “live a coward in thine own esteem”, “dashed the brains out” of their newborn baby, and “screw your courage to the sticking-place” (all from Act 1, scene7) to attack her own husband physically and mentally so he could have the guts to execute Duncan. These deeds are definitely not from a woman back in Shakespeare’s era. It is because of the extreme ambitions that revolutionized Lady Macbeth’s viciousness.
Lastly, Adolf Hitler, the leader of the NAZIS party in German during World War II, demonstrates a perfect example of ambition is foul. He was formerly a politician. Yet when he became the chancellor of Germany, his ambitions grew crazily. He was not satisfied with his dictatorship in Germany anymore in 1934. He started the invasion of Poland in 1939 for his goal of seizing Lebensraum for Germany, which end up beginning World War II. He tried overruled other countries with war (foul) in order to achieve his ambition. Additionally, he even blamed the innocent Jewish people for committing unreasonable crimes and persecuted them. Just because of Hitler’s stupid ambitions, the violence battlefield had caused many bloodshed and deaths (foul). And many people had lost their only families in the war.
As a result, ambition is the origin of tragedy. It is absolutely not positive because it only brings misfortune. Therefore, it is a bad human trait.
The word “ambition” is being defined as “a strong desire (and determination) to achieve success, typically requiring determination and hard work.” (Google) Thus, I would agree that ambition is a good trait which provides us with motivation to achieve a goal in our lives. We all have a level of ambition that keeps us motivated to work toward the goal we’d like to achieve, whether it’s fame, wealth, power, etc. One without any ambition would find their life dull and boring because they lack the desire to work toward a goal, and they also lack the joy for accomplishment. Moreover, lack in ambition leads to lack in motivation. This result in the person becomes unable to perform certain tasks because he/she has absolutely no interest and desire to do something.
ReplyDeleteFor example, if someone decides and determined to become a professional in a certain field, he/she will be motivated to achieve his/her goal through various ways. Such as, study broader and deeper content than others, practice again and again, try to figure out new ways of doing things, and even improving his/her weaknesses. Without ambition, people would never thought of the above or even have a goal to work towards. Therefore, ambition is a good trait that motivates people.
Although ambition has helped us, as a species, to advance, it is, in essence, a negative trait. This is demonstrated both in our society and in the play Macbeth.
ReplyDeleteIn Macbeth, the many downsides of the ambition trait are demonstrated in the title character, Macbeth himself. They are also demonstrated in his wife, Lady Macbeth.
From the beginning of the play, “noble Macbeth” (Act One, Scene 2, Line 75) has been established as a character of valor and great worth. A powerful warrior, who is also the Thane of Glamis, he is very renowned in his society.
After winning a large and important battle, a heroic deed which is discussed with much excitement by the king, Macbeth meets three witches who plant the very seeds of ambition in his head. They hail him as first, the Thane of Glamis (which he already knows he is), then the Thane of Cawdor, and finally, the King.
When Macbeth later finds out that he has been given the title of the Thane of Cawdor, rather than being satisfied with this, he starts thinking about being king. For him, it is not enough to be one of the best. He has to be the best. And it is this driving ambition to be the greatest that actually spurs him on to kill his own cousin, King Duncan.
The problem with ambition lies not with the trait, which is basically a drive to be something higher and better than one’s current position in life. The basic problem, in fact, is this: ambitious people, at their worst, can never have enough.
Another example of the downfalls of ambition portrayed in literature is that of “The Fisherman’s Wife.” In this tale, a fisherman catches a magic fish, who agrees to grant him three wishes. The fisherman, a humble, unambitious man, has no idea what to do with these wishes. On the other hand, his wife certainly does! She asks for many things, which include a nicer house, a castle, and finally, the breaking point: to be the queen of the moon and the stars. At the end of the story, the fisherman and his wife are back where they started, all because the overly ambitious fisherman’s wife wanted more than she deserved and/or could handle.
In society, we experience a problem with ambition similar to both of the stories described above. Those with it don’t know where to stop. They keep climbing higher, and higher, pushing other people aside to achieve their goals. And even when they are incredibly high up, and where they initially aimed to be, they still aren’t content.
Take the fast food industry, such as McDonalds, for example; they are making massive profits. They could afford to make food healthier for us, and to treat their animals better. But they are making too much money to even consider doing that. The same goes for large corporations and companies who dominate many areas of our lives. They are ambitious, and they want to stay at the top, so they keep pushing.
In conclusion, the basic problem with the trait of ambition is that it tends to be steeped in greed. It pushes people to do horrible things to achieve unrealistic or unreasonable goals. An overly ambitious person will never know true happiness, for they cannot be satisfied by any normal means.
I agree with you Tessa that although ambition is a valuable trait, it can be bad in too many cases to count. If you were to look back in time, we wouldn't be living as comfortably here today without ambition, yes, however, to get to this point the world has suffered more wars and conflicts to even count. The cause is ambition, leaders trying to make names for themselves in history books, or trying to bring their nation to glory, or for wealth and greed. Not only that but a lot of technology derived today came from warfare. We wouldn't have microwaves today if Hitler didn't hire some ambitious scientist to make a weapon to kill people in trenches(I kid you not). Another good point you make is that people who are highly ambitious are never content with what they have. An excellent example is Macbeth, where even if he is the Thane of Glamis AND Cawdor, (which is already so much), he still wants to be King and is willing to murder his cousin for it.
DeleteGlad for once we're on the same side Tessa :D
Ambition is a trait that pushes us to achieve our goal correct? Yes, it can be for a "good" outcome in the eyes of the beholder but there can be many things overlooked by this ambitious character. This person trying to achieve said goal may ignore some simple steps that every person should make before making a decision on something. What ambition can cause people to do is forget such things like "Who does this benefit other than myself" and "how will this affect me after" or "is this helping or hurting those around me". All of these important questions we should be constantly asking ourselves are so much easily ignored when we have ambition to achieve our personal goals (as seen with macbeth killing the king). You may think you aren't like this and may be that perfect being out there but if you had the ability and ambition to achieve your goal these questions can easily slip out of your head. The reason being because to stop and think about those questions already adds time to achieving our goal and in most cases we would have to revise our plans to fit that criteria which would add even more time to achieving our goal. But since we even have to force ourselves to even think about those questions in our actions we make every day the drive of ambition can cause us to completely forget about what is good for that around me the just focus on myself. Agree? Disagree? anything you want me to clear up, I want to discuss this!!
ReplyDeleteIn my eyes, ambition causes corruption no matter who has it. Anyone that gains too much ambition will therefore gain corruption and become overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the things that they feel that they NEED to accomplish. Trying to accomplish all of these things that their ambition drives them to do, will make them choose the wrong decisions and cause even more corruption around them. They say that the fish rots from the head. The head in this case, being the first person to get overwhelmed with ambition and feeling the drive that pushes them to succeed. The head then proceeds to cause rot in the rest of the fish, in this case being the rest of man kind. The first person gains his corruption from making the wrong decision and lets say kill a king. Then afterwards makes the people around him, maybe being the kings sons, to make a poor decision in the whole mess of the kings death. And they decide to run away. Then the people investigating think the sons killed the king because they fled the scene. And therefore the corruption carries on, throughout there community and society.
ReplyDelete