Note Sheet Macbeth Essay Work

Major Theme in Macbeth: Ambition and the devastation that follows when ambition oversteps moral boundaries.

Some related scenes:

• Act 1 Scene 5: Lady Macbeth receives Macbeth’s letter, analyses his character,

and invokes the forces of evil.

• Act 1 Scene 7: Macbeth reflects on what is needed to achieve his ambition and

Lady Macbeth taunts him to ‘screw your courage to the sticking place.’

• Act 3 Scene 1: Macbeth determines to kill Banquo in order to prevent his children

succeeding to Scotland’s throne.

PROMPT: One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how Macbeth seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how Shakespeare uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work: that devastation follows when ambition oversteps moral boundaries.

You will be responding to the prompt above.