Macbeth: Ambition Is Root Of All Evil

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evil. Banquo is skeptical of the witches, and tries to warn his
friend, who seems to accept what they say. Without this supernatural prophesy,
the thought of killing the king would have never crossed Macbeth's mind. The
thought is then reinforced when Macbeth learns that he is Thane of Cawdor, as
the witches foretold (I,iii).

Now that Macbeth has the thought of becoming king inside of him, his is still
not capable of killing Duncan. His morality keeps him from performing any such
task. He is also fully aware of the destructive power of his ambitions. In act
I, scene vii, he even tells us:

I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other -

He knows this will be his downfall. His actions are only pursued by the
persuasiveness of his wife, Lady Macbeth, who is even more ambitious than
Macbeth himself. She is so ambitious that she is willing to sacrifice her
femininity and all human feelings for ...

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