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Macbeth learns of his fate from the Witches
"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!"
Macbeth's ambition towards being king stems from this encounter with the witches and it affects his decision-making from here on out. It is the turning point of his motivation to become king. -
Lady Macbeth's intense ambition pushes her husband to kill Duncan and take power
"Thou wouldst be great
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it" Lady Macbeth coaxes her husband into seeing his full potential as a ruler and leader. -
Lady Macbeth plots to kill Duncan and bring her husband to the throne
"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it" This is Lady Macbeth's saying as she plots to kill Duncan and advises her husband to follow the same philosophy she does. -
Ambition is the cause of Macbeth's mental trauma and why he begins to kill all who threaten his power.
"I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
And falls on th’other" Although Macbeth doesn't have any actual desire to kill innocent people, he is pushed forward only by his ambition. -
Ross recognizes that ambition was the cause of Macbeth's death
"Gainst nature still! Thriftless ambition, that will ravin up. Thine own lives' means! Then 'tis most like.The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth" Although Ross doesn't know who killed Duncan he realizes that whoever did, was motivated by ambition.
