desire to be king grows very strong A good man at first he now thinks of killing King Duncan and taking the crown His ambition leads him deep into the path of evil Lady Macbeth s Ambition and Influence Macbeth s wife Lady Macbeth plays a big role in this tragedy She is more ambitious than her husband When she hears about the witches prophecy she immediately wants Macbeth to become king But she knows that Macbeth is too kind to do what is needed So she decides to guide and force him to take the crown She urges they have to act strong like a man When you durst do it then you were a man Moreover she teaches Macbeth to hide his evil intentions behind a smiling face Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under t Because of her strong words and plans Macbeth finally agrees to kill Duncan More Crimes by Macbeth After the murder of King Duncan there is no turning back for Macbeth He becomes a ruthless murderer to protect his throne Because of his overweening ambition Macbeth is now trapped in a cycle of bloodshed He kills his friend Banquo and orders the murder of Macduff s family One trouble comes after another for Macbeth We get this idea from the three witches as they say Double double toil and trouble Macbeth s ambition has made him cruel and heartless He is no longer the brave soldier he once was His every action is now controlled by fear and ambition It leads him further down the path of evil All these make this play a classic tragedy of ambition Macbeth s Fall Each crime makes Macbeth more isolated and hated His guilt haunts him He even loses his loving wife Lady Macbeth who goes mad because of her guilt Macbeth realizes that his ambition has destroyed him Macbeth realizes the futility of his ambition and life itself As Macbeth says the most famous lines of the play Life's but a walking shadow a poor player It is a tale Told by an idiot full of sound and fury Signifying nothing At the end Macbeth is killed by Macduff While Macbeth s death is deserved the audience still feels pity for him Because he was not an evil person at the beginning The audience feels fear at seeing how unchecked ambition can destroy a good soul For these reasons Macbeth becomes a classic tragedy of ambition The play gives a strong warning about the danger of ambition Ambition is not evil by itself But when it grows too strong and turns selfish it can ruin a person Shakespeare uses Macbeth to teach us an important lesson unchecked ambition corrupts the soul and leads to self-destruction