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how is macbeth presented as an ambitious character

can someone please grade my essay on macbeth none of my teachers ever feedback to me:

Shakespeare initially establishes Macbeth as a loyal and devoted soldier, whos inner ambition was corrupted by the supernatural and eventually rendering as all-consuming as his lust for power becomes uncontrollable and his hamartia is finally exposed. Shakespeare demonstrates that even the most faithful and staunch patriot can simply descend into a sinful and callous future. He created the tragic hero as a construct to warn the Jacobean audience of the harmful consequences of disrupting the Christian creation of the Great Chain of Being, ultimately leading to a pyrrhic victory: death.
At the beginning of the play – prior to his acts of regicide – Macbeth is already established as an ambitious and hardworking character, yet easily influenced under the poisonous trance of the wayward sisters. In Act 1 scene 1, the captain and King Duncan repeatedly praise macbeth for his fearless and heroic nature as he is described as ‘valours minion he carved out his passage’. This indicates that Macbeth is a servant of courage, attempting to uphold his metaphorical master and please his desires to fight for the king. His bold and conventionally masculine nature is reinforced when the king himself praises macbeth as ‘O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!’. The exclamative nature of his speech embodies the greatness of Duncan’s satisfaction and appreciation as it encapsulates the passion and excitement in which he is speaking in, overall suggesting Macbeths acts to be impressive and highly remarkable – as the extent in which he worked in was due to his underlying ambition to battle and remove any enemies from his leader: King Duncan. Moreover the contrasting language between ‘valiant’ and the prefix ‘gentle’, perhaps indicates Macbeths desires to provide for the king in various manners, softly and generously – as he slyly invites him over to his castle - or in battles with his violent and steadfast nature. However, as Macbeth is introduced to the supernatural, he instinctively listens and trusts the ‘instruments of darkness’. He orders them to ‘stay you imperfect speakers’ – the imperative demonstrating his eagerness to hear what his future beholds and his agitation as he orders them to ‘tell me more’. This perhaps resurfaces Macbeths hidden ambition, while also corrupting it for their own playful gains. By forming a direct message to the Jacobean audience, Shakespeare attempts to raise awareness of the perils of following the wisdom of witches as it directly contrasted to the Christian beliefs of the time – as they were ungodly.
As the play progresses, we begin to see Macbeth’s ambition becoming entirely corrupted by the supernatural - constantly following Macbeth throughout the play - acting as a catalyst to speed up the process of become king. Macbeth begins to hallucinate in act 2 scene 1 a ‘dagger which I see before me’. Insanity was commonly associated with women and the supernatural, as hysteria was believed to be a product of association with witchcraft and demon possession. The apparition of the ‘dagger’ highlights how macbeth has already began foreseeing his told futures, symbolising his subconscious ambition to commit regicide and take the throne for himself. His selfish act of treason was ‘invited’ by a ‘bell’ suggesting his lack of responsibility as he believes his agency has been stripped from him, not allowing him to make his own decisions - perhaps being the witches who orchestrate his actions in an unnoticeable fashion. Moreover, lady macbeth – an emulation of the witches - attempts to ‘pour my spirits in thine ear’ in order to replace Macbeths ‘(too full of the) milk of human kindness’. The irony of macbeth being filled with ‘milk’ depicts lady Macbeths unconventional role in the play - a continuation of a lineage of women who assert their dominance over men, and subvert typical ideas about women in Jacobean England – as she emasculates Macbeth as milk is typically associated with women and the maternal and nurturing nature of them. The quantifier ‘too’ implies that she believes Macbeths ‘human kindness’ is overleaping his desires and is preventing him from gaining the throne, so transfuses her own ambition, evil and ‘direst cruelty’ with the ‘valour of my tongue’ with hope to gain what she also longs for: the ‘crown’. Conversely, after committing regicide, it appears that the supernatural has drilled a hole in macbeths ambition, creating a threshold between guilt and fear, and his inclinations to become king. Although he has become closely reliant on the witches to assist and drive him to entire success, macbeth regresses into insanity, hallucinating the spirit of Banquo. He finds him distressing and frightening, ordering the ghost to ‘never shake thy gory locks at me’. He does not want to accept his partaking in the act of murdering Banquo, so refuses to accept the ghost shaking his head and accusing macbeth of killing him. The imperative ‘never’ perhaps suggests he is attempting to assert himself, emphasising his lack of grip on reality as he attempts to control a situation that was forged in his own mind. This serves to add tension, as the guests remain unnerved, especially as he begins speaking to the ghost, increasing the aroused suspicions. Shakespeare used the supernatural throughout the entirely of the play, who work constantly in the background within weather and embodied by other characters, in order to flatter the patronage he was performing for, especially king James, who was entirely fascinated with supernatural and despised ideas of the witchcraft – hence writing the book demonology.
As the play finalises, so too does Macbeths jurisdiction over his ambition – it is finally illustrated as all-consuming, completely engulfing macbeth and removing his power to dictate his own life. Through the centre of Macbeths infamous soliloquy, he orders ‘out out brief candle!’ to rid himself of the transient light that surrounds him. The motif of candles throughout macbeth may be a symbol of god – the only metaphorical witness of his treason – and as he attempts to put out the flame, so too is he attempting to rid himself entirely of the omnipresence of god and strip away the only voucher of the regicide and foresee-er of whats to unfold. The ephemeral and fluctuating nature of the flame perhaps is a metaphor for his ‘fiend like queen’, lady macbeth, and her abrupt and dismal end emphasising that life is fleeting and now that she has passed he is now casted in darkness, triggering his ambition to rush into his own death. Moreover, the imperative nature of the quote encapsulates Macbeths overriding ambition and desire to clutch back his power as he rushes to satisfy his bloodlust and continue his murder spree. The ‘walking shadow’ juxtaposes the bright ‘candle’ imagery perhaps hinting at the consuming presence of the supernatural – just as god is omnipotent, so too are the witches who are able to corrupt Macbeths subconscious and cast a permanent darkness on his ‘life’. The ‘instruments of darkness’ orchestrate Macbeths life in a manner where they are able to utilise his tongue and body to emulate them, ultimately leading him to his downfall as they aim to make macbeth act upon their predictions, which he falls prey to and fights as he did initially. The cyclical structure of the play indicates that macbeth has always had some ‘vaulting ambition’ within him, highlighting his same valiant nature as the play ends – though his ambition was tainted by the witches as well as their vector: lady macbeth. His hamartia of ambition was created as a construct to inflict fear upon the predominantly Christian audience on the fatal consequences of usurping the king, distorting the great chain of being by forcing yourself to the top of the hierarchy without the command of god himself.
Overall macbeth is outlined as a gradient, who begins as partially ambitious to entirely obsessed with a derelict desire to maintain his position as king, blinding him to the dangers surrounding him, eventually driving him faster towards his own death. Shakespeare explores the significance of the supernatural in the play and their ability to obstruct positive ambitions and fog the virtues of loyal and monarch driven individuals, clearing a path directly towards death ‘damn(ing)’ them to hell.

Reply 1

Nat16.

I'm obviously not an examiner, impressive vocabulary, i presume you are doing AQA, i would suggest add more context and speak more about the Jacobean's society view on macbeths tyrannical and blasphemous actions. Note: you do not need a conclusion but a strong introduction where you introduce a main idea and follow it through. Rather than looking at how macbeth is presented throughout the play look at how he is presented as a character whom succumbs to his desires purely out of a thirst of power. See what i mean. I would say that answer is a level 5.