Ambition in Macbeth by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Ambition in Macbeth by William Shakespeare Essay What is ambition? Ambition is described as eager for success, power or fame. For Macbeth. Ambition was what drove him to become great, it forced him to change his nature towards evil. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was portrayed as a courageous soldier who fought for his King without mercy. But once the witches planted the seeds of greater things and Lady Macbeth fuelled his ambition, which lead him to become greedy and power hungry. Macbeth was led down to an unescapable road of doom by an outside force, namely fate in the form of the three witches. There was no supernatural force working against Macbeth, which therefore makes him responsible for his own actions and inevitable downfall. Macbeth is indeed responsible for his own actions, which are provoked by an unwillingness to listen to his own conscience, the witches, and his ambition. The witches tempted Macbeth with their prophecies, which made Macbeth ¡Ã‚ ¦s heart and mind slowly filled with ambition and his huger for power. The witches predicted, at the beginning of the play, that Macbeth would soon become the Thane of Cawdor and eventually the outright King. They tell Macbeth this, simply to ignite what would finally end up in him taking the life of King Duncan. Ambition, no matter how small, builds up, and becomes a need. When this ambition is built up and encouraged, it can influence a persons decision. Macbeth went to three witches, who prophesized that he would become King. This got Macbeth thinking of how he can become King. At this time, he was still unsure of whether he would take any action toward gaining the crown. When he comes back to his house, Lady Macbeth convinces him to murder King Duncan, through emotionally degrading him, shown in the quote: Art thou afeard/ To be the same in thine own act and valour/ As thou art in desire? (Act I, Scene IV). This quote shows how Lady Macbeth influenced Macbeths decision, because after hearing about the prophecy, she also had the ambition for her husband to become King. Macbeth slowly becomes accustomed to killing and does it more easily and without remorse. For example, after Macbeth becomes king, he begins to worry about the second part of the prophecy, when Banquos sons become kings. Knowing that he will not have any heirs, Macbeth dreads the idea of the  seeds of Banquo kings. Rather than so, come fate into the list, and champion me to the utterance (3.1.70-73). Since he committed a sinful act to fulfill his desire become king, Macbeth does not want to lose everything he got to Banquos royal bloodline This shows how corrupt and villainous Macbeth has become; he will not let anything, not even friendship, get in the way of his desire to be the King of Scotland. And if the destruction of friendship is not a symbol of how strong Macbeths ambition truly is, then the manslaughter of an innocent mans entire family is. When Macbeth sees the three apparitions, one of them tells him to beware Macduff. Surprisingly, after Macbeth learns that Macduff has fled to England, he responds by declaring that he will give to the edge o the sword his wife, babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line. (4.1.151-153). This shows how corrupt and evil Macbeth has become; he doesnt even care about who hes killing anymore. A wife and kids symbolizes purity and love in a mans life; the fact that Macbeth doesnt even consider the moral consequences of destroying a loving family and killing children shows how filled with ambition he has become. Macbeth is so afraid of losing to Macduff that he believes that by killing his family, Macduff will be broken beyond repair and not be able to face Macbeth. Unfortunately, he does not count on a certain someone to heighten Macduffs hopes to slaying Macbeth by using his sorrow to his advantage. That certain someone is Malcolm, the son of Duncan. After the murder of his father, Malcolms ambition to destroy Macbeth becomes so strong that he forgets all moral values and disregards the feelings of others; this ambition represents revenge. Though Malcolm is able to understand the feelings of others, he lets nothing stop him from achieving his goal; this is either due to his inexperience of the world, or because he is too bent on revenge to think about anything else. When Macduff learns that his family is murdered, he begins to despair. Malcolm, not wanting to let anything get in the way of his ambition, tells Macduff to dispute it like a man. (4.3.221). Since Malcolm is a young man; he does not have a wife or kids and disregards Macduffs pain as a sign of weakness. Note that even if Malcolm had a family and understood Macduffs pain fully, he would still have been reckless and put revenge above anything else. Malcolms  father was a good man who lost his life at the hands of the man he trusted the most; Malcolm is not going to let Macduffs personal tragedy get in the way of his goal of destroying Macbeth. When Macduff responds by saying that first he must feel pain like a man, Malcolm responds by telling Macbeth to make his grief be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief convert to anger; blunt not the heart, enrage it. (4.3.230- 231). While Malcolm is more understanding of the pain Macduff feels, he still convinces him to move on. When he says let grief convert to anger, he means for Macduff to use his sorrow as his anger so he can move on with his life and destroy the man responsible for his sorrow: Macbeth. Malcolm truly does feel bad about Macduff losing his family, but unlike Macduff, he has no family to worry about and has not experienced every pain and sorrow Macduff has been through. Given this evidence, it is evident how much ambition Malcolm has for destroying Macbeth. Macbeth is not fully to blame for his ambition clouding his judgment since the audience knows that Lady Macbeth has him kill Duncan so she can be Queen; this ambition represents power. While Macbeth is to blame for all he has done to his country, his wife started a chain reaction that sent Macbeth down this dark path. Had Macbeth not told his wife about the prophecies, she would not have become so obsessed with power and she would not have sent her husband to kill Duncan so she could be Queen faster†¦and all of Macbeths victims would be alive and well. Lady Macbeth wants so desperately to gain power, she begs of the immortals to unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty! (1.5.41-43). Lady Macbeth is asking the spirits (or gods†¦Im not quite sure; its pretty vague) to make her cruel and unforgiving so she can do the terrible deed of killing Duncan. This shows how evil and impatient Lady Macbeth is; had she waited for Duncan to promote Mac beth, she could have been Queen without her husband having to kill anyone, Macbeth would still have been a good person, and they would not have had to suffer so much guilt for all they did. Later, after Lady Macbeth drugs the guards, she boasts about the drugs that which hath made them drunk Sprouse  hath made me bold; what hath quenched them hath given me fire. Now Lady  Macbeth is almost certain that they will not fail; her ambition has clouded her better judgment and ignored the possibility of guilt haunting her and her husband. This ambition, the ambition of power, is by far the most deadly of all ambitions. If you want power so badly and very quickly, you forget about all the consequences that might come from it. In Lady Macbeths case, her consequence for her actions was the loss of her sanity and restless nights thinking about what she made her husband do, eventually causing her to take her own life. This being said, I think it is safe to say that too much ambition is NOT a promise of power or a sign of greatness.

Analysis of Superstitions :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Superstitions Mysterious happenings are all around us today. I personally have done extensive studies in the histories of many of these superstitions, from the common to the absurd. Science tends to claim that all superstitions are pointless, and, in some cases, I agree, such as the fear of black cats, but the fact of the matter is that some superstitions come from a rich pre-Christian background. Many superstitions have been doubted since the rise of science, but it has been said that "In spite of advances and science, people are still superstitious." First, today's superstition is yesterday's magick; second, many people still practice the old ways; and finally, even common people practice. Superstitions are a part of our everyday lives and always have been. First, today's superstitions are yesterday's magick. Magick is the term practitioners use to describe the direct but subtle influence over reality; magic is a term for stage tricks. Long before the age of science, magick was a common element in every religion, even Christianity. Even science in its beginning, was based on old magicks like numerology, begun by Pythagoras, and alchemy. Since then, we have several leftovers from the old ways, my favorite of which is knocking on wood. The ancient Celts (pronounced Kelts) began this practice as a way of thanking the wood fairies, who were seen as mostly responsible for good luck. Today, when speaking of one's good fortune, it is common to knock on wood, though most people do not know why. Despite science's attempts to turn the old ways into useless or forgotten superstitions, the remnants of them are still around. Second, many of us still practice magick, roughly 10,000 in America. Collectively, the religion is known as Wicca, though not all Wiccans practice magick, and not all of those who practice magic are Wiccan. Obviously, the scientific community would prefer to believe that we are either insane, delusional, or con-artists, but none of that is true. I have seen magick work and have done it myself. In fact, my favorite way to gain the trust of a new friend is by granting him or her one wish, as long as the wish is not too grand; as I said before, magic is subtle.

Colleges Exploit of College Athletes Essay

It is common issue in our country that students neglect their studies seeking sports fame and they end up their career with incomplete degree, even while their institution themselves earn millions revenues. It is seen that as sports became very commercializing, college sport department exploit students for their own means of earning. A sign that hangs in the men’s basketball locker room at Duke Reads: â€Å"Practice times are as follows†¦. Please schedule class consequently. † (Sarah E. Gohl, 2001) This sign expresses in no indecisive terms the message that basketball, not school, is the top priority. The academic schedule should accommodate the athletic schedule, not vice versa. Duke’s basketball coaches are not unaided in making this demand. Division I coaches normally require athletes to subordinate their academic lives to their athletic lives. Damion Davis, a track and field athlete at Baylor University, told the Chronicle of Higher Education: â€Å"They [coaches] always say its academics [first], then athletics. They’re lying. Its athletics and then academics. You don’t carry out, you’re not here† (Alex P. Kellogg, 2001, pp. A33-A34). Baylor football player Bobby Darnell agreed. Referring to his coaches, he said: â€Å"They don’t want you thinking about the test you have on Monday, just the ‘test’ you have Saturday night,† explicitly, the next football game (Alex P. Kellogg, 2001, pp. A33-A34). In this environment, according to sociologists Patricia and Peter Adler, athletes might become â€Å"engulfed† in their athletic role, giving it priority, and may â€Å"abandon† their academic role, casting aside the non-athletic goals to which they formerly aspired (Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler, 1991). Wherever role engulfment exists, academic fraud is certain to follow. Academic fraud not just takes place when a student cheats on an examination or submits a plagiarized paper, or while a high school or college coach or administrator falsifies an athlete’s transcription, but also takes place whenever a college authorizes athletes to be something other than fall-time college students who are joined in degree programs and who pursue their degrees at a rational pace. It surely occurs when coaches arrange course schedules to make sure those athletes will be available for daily practice and that they will earn the grades essential to stay eligible to compete. Coaches did just that at the Division I college where the Adlers studied the men’s basketball team throughout the late 1980s. One player described his â€Å"choice† of a major in the following way: â€Å"They never even asked me what major I wanted. They just assumed that I would be a rec [recreation-physical education] major. They’re perhaps right, but you get a certain message when they don’t even ask you. † (Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler, 1991, 67) The message, of course, is that one’s sport comes first and schoolwork is a slight irritant to which one require only pay enough attention to stay eligible to compete. At fall registration some years ago, former Drake University provost Jon Ericson witnessed an incident linking a freshman men’s basketball player who had received this message. The athlete sat impassively while a envoy of the athletic department chose his classes and got him registered. At the same time Ericson observed, in stark contrast to the athlete, a young woman student who moved from line to line and negotiated with the registrar as she chose her classes, â€Å"engulfed† suitably in the role of undergraduate (Katie Funk, 2000). Athletes also accept the message that their sport comes first while coaches force them to subordinate their academic targets to their athletic responsibilities. One of the Adlers’ interviewees recalled the following conversation with a coach, which illustrates this dilemma vividly. The player said: One time I had a paper that was really hard that was due. So I say to Coach Mickey [the â€Å"academic† coach], â€Å"I’m goanna be a little late to practice because I have to go to the library to do some work on my paper. † But he told me, â€Å"You’d better be in the gym by three o’clock. † I think if they were serious about academics, they would cut you some slack on that (Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler, 1991, p 150). Ironically, athlete exploitation sometimes occurs even while a college does not stand to earn considerable revenues from sports. A case in point is Marcus LoVett, formerly the star point guard for Oklahoma City University (OCU), a perennial basketball powerhouse in the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), where visibility is low and profits are unusual. LoVett enrolled at OCU in the fall of 1995, following spending his first two years of college at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas and the College of Southern Idaho, respectively (Alexander Wolff, 1997, pp. 60-66). He remained entitled for basketball at OCU in 1995-96 by taking courses in fishing/angling, beginning volleyball, beginning golf, intramural recreation programs, walking/jogging, varsity sports, and the basics of coaching basketball, and postponed until his senior year the more hard courses that he would need to pass in order to graduate with a degree in physical education. This strategy backfired in December of 1996, when LoVett failed three courses and took an unfinished in two others, causing his GPA to fall below the 2. 0 necessary for athletic eligibility under NAIA rules. OCU declared him disqualified to play basketball during the spring semester, where he filed suit in state court in January of 1997, claiming that OCU had (1) broken its promise to have him tested quickly for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD); (2) failed to provide him with the academic assistance it had promised him, (3) destitute him of a chance to showcase his basketball talents for NBA scouts, and (4) inflicted emotional distress on him (Cohen Greta, 1993. ). The presence of the poor athlete in American schools, his wish to secure the advantages of a college education, and his incapability or unwillingness to distinguish between proper and improper assistance have combined to turn out a fertile field in which to sow the tares of commercialized exploitation and subsidies. Basically, sports always have been attraction to students in their campuses that influenced the commercialization of college sports. Indeed, without the pressure on colleges to raise enrollments and to generate revenue, it is unlikely that college sports would have become a commercial enterprise. In more positive financial circumstances, colleges would not have felt a need to make the monetary commitments and the ethical compromises that commercial success in sports essential to athletes. Colleges in aspiring to win also initiated unethical practices. Chief among these is the enrollment of athletes with little or no regard for their academic qualifications. Some colleges usually hired â€Å"tramp athletes† to represent them on the football field, knowing full well that these athletes had no aim of matriculating as students, or even of playing a full season. An egregious instance occurred in 1896 and featured Fielding H. Yost, who later became famous as the football coach at the University of Michigan. Yost, a â€Å"hefty, six-foot tall, 195-pound tackle for West Virginia University, † â€Å"transferred† to Lafayette College in Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1896, just eventually to play in the most important football game in Lafayette’s history, against the University of Pennsylvania. Penn brought a 36-game winning streak into its game with Lafayette, but Lafayette ended the streak with a 6-4 win, aided by Yost. Soon after the game, Yost transferred back to West Virginia University, where he completed work for a law degree six months later (Hart-Nibbrig Nand, and Clement Cottingham, 1986). Moreover, it is usually said that â€Å"every athlete is a needy athlete. † That football players, and, other athletes, come from families whose means do not allow them to pay all of the expenses of a college course is usually accepted as fact and, indeed, is broadly true. To the wide-ranging rule that many college athletes are either wholly or partially self-supporting, there are, certainly, exceptions. But when such instances are distributed among the 800-odd colleges and universities reporting to the United States Bureau of Education, almost all of which retain football teams, the well-to-do athlete becomes something of a rarity. Assistance extended to athletes who otherwise would not have thought of going to college, though it increases the disproportion; only emphasizes a condition that is grounded in much deeper causes. Athletic scholarships are in fact important for college athletes. The benefit is not often paid in cash. The partial or complete lessening of tuition through athletic scholarships generally entailed and often takes place in the offices of the institution, which devise methods of award to suit local conditions and the requirements of athletes. Values of athletic scholarships range from part or full tuition at the lower end of the scale, to allotments graduated in amount according to the number of teams for which the recipient is chosen.

Communication and Collaboration Strategy Essay

Being able to accomplish a task with a team can be both rewarding and challenging. Learning how to effectively work with a group of people from diverse backgrounds can ultimately be draining. First and foremost there has to be an understanding that everyone is not the same, personalities are different, attitudes are different, work habits are not the same, and definitely learning styles are different. Becoming more sensitive with other team members actions or behaviors is a must. This will help to guide the team as a whole in developing different work strategies to reach the success of the team. The tests that I took to determine my personality and learning style were called â€Å"Multiple Pathways to Learning and the Personality Spectrum. † My highest most dominant personality scores were about equal between â€Å"organizer, thinker, and giver† my weakest point was being an adventurer. It also revealed that I my most dominant learning style is bodily-kinesthetic, musical, intrapersonal, and interpersonal but I am also verbal-linguistic. I find that I do agree with the results of these tests and I will use these learning styles to connect to my fellow team members that are in my group and those that are yet to come. I can use these beneficial techniques in my studies and work on those benefits that I am not yet strong in. There are other different personality types that were mentioned in the tests, they include: Thinker, Giver, and Adventurer, along with Organizer. They can all have an effective way that can increase the advance of a team. Thinkers are good at solving problems, and are very efficient when constructing models, while still able to analyze things. The Givers are peaceful, helpful, and caring and are very useful when dealing with human relationships. During times of conflicts between the team givers are exceptional at resolving the conflict and are seemingly good at negotiating (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits 2007). The Adventurer are individuals who love to explore new things. They often excel at new ideas and are also problem solvers. They also are always thinking of new ways to learn and are very good a puzzles and riddles. The different learning styles that are helpful in a team environment are: visual-spatial learning, verbal-linguistic, interpersonal, and logical-mathematics. People with the Verbal-Linguistic learning style are those people who are good in remembering terms, and familiarizing sentence structures, syntax, and word meanings (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits 2007). These individuals are also good in grammar, and would excel in teaching, and discussion. The best way to communicate with these individuals would be to be as clear as possible. Individuals with interpersonal learning style like being around people so this would best work in a team environment. Always in a clear manner they have no problem expressing themselves either verbally or non- verbally. The best way to deal with these individuals would be to allow them to express their concerns and find a way to get the job done. Being kind and warm with these individuals will help to further the progress of the team. Individuals with logical-mathematics are always reasoning logically. These individuals have above average skills when it comes to scientific reasoning and using tables and charts. It is best to use logical communication skills when dealing with this learning style. Maybe make presentations with charts and graphs or just plain common sense. When dealing with a team environment you have to first set ground rules and figure out a way that everyone can have their voice heard. This will ensure that no one is left out and everyone participates without any problems or conflicts. But should they arise being patient with one another and allowing an open floor for discussion will be beneficial to resolving any conflicts and getting the job done.

Propaganda in Foreign Policy essays

Propaganda in Foreign Policy essays Propaganda is a major political tool used by the United States, especially in its foreign policy. Politics on a global scale can be defined as the competition, which occurs among nations, due to the scarcity of the worlds resources. The political agenda of a nations foreign policy governs which resources for which it will compete through various political means. Propaganda, as a tool to advance ones political agenda, is the filtering and manipulation of information to guide a populaces decision making ability towards the propogandizers proposed end. The people are not exposed to all the information and therefore are not choosing one or the other but between one and one. If a political tool is any means used to gain leverage in a competition, then propaganda as a political tool would create an arena in which a person could only be in support of the propogandizers agenda because they are unaware of the political agenda of the competitor. Immediately after WWII ended, Germany became a potential global resource politically and economically for the allied forces of Germanys occupation, especially the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). For the United States, Germany presented as a potential political ally in Europe as well as a now desperate market for a variety of products, but victory would mean little if political and economic conditions which had spawned the totalitarian of the 1930s remained in existence (Gaddis 2). The U.S. occupation of Germany and foreign policy towards Germany during this time was motivated by both creating a democratic ally in Europe and opening up a new market for its products. US foreign policy also leads to the first Cold-War confrontation between US and the USSR over the resource of Germany (Hartenian). In addition, the US occupation put the US in the perfect position to utilize propaganda as its main political tool to ...

The Efficiency-Wage Theory in Economics

The Efficiency-Wage Theory in Economics One of the explanations for structural unemployment is that, in some markets, wages are set above the equilibrium wage that would bring the supply of and demand for labor into balance. While it is true that labor unions, as well as minimum-wage laws and other regulations, contribute to this phenomenon, it is also the case that wages may be set above their equilibrium level on purpose in order to increase worker productivity. This theory is referred to as the efficiency-wage theory, and there are a number of reasons that firms might find it profitable to behave in this way. Reduced Worker Turnover In most cases, workers dont arrive at a new job knowing everything that they need to know about the specific work involved, how to work effectively within the organization, and so on. Therefore, firms spend quite a bit of time and money getting new employees up to speed so that they can be fully productive at their jobs. In addition, firms spend a lot of money on recruiting and hiring new workers. Lower worker turnover leads to a reduction in the costs associated with recruiting, hiring, and training, so it can be worth it for firms to offer incentives that reduce turnover. Paying workers more than the equilibrium wage for their labor market means that it is more difficult for workers to find equivalent pay if they choose to leave their current jobs. This, coupled with the fact that its also less attractive to leave the labor force or switch industries when wages are higher, implies that higher than equilibrium (or alternative) wages give employees an incentive to stay with the company that is treating them well financially. Increased Worker Quality Higher than equilibrium wages can also result in increased quality of the workers that a company chooses to hire. Increased worker quality comes via two pathways: first, higher wages increase the overall quality and ability level of the pool of applicants for the job and help to win the most talented workers away from competitors. (Higher wages increase quality under the assumption that better quality workers have better outside opportunities that they choose instead.) ​ Second, better paid workers are able to take care of themselves better in terms of nutrition, sleep, stress, and so on. The benefits of better quality of life are often shared with employers since healthier employees are usually more productive than unhealthy employees. (Luckily, worker health is becoming less of a relevant issue for firms in developed countries.) Worker Effort The last piece of the efficiency-wage theory is that workers exert more effort (and are hence more productive) when they are paid a higher wage. Again, this effect is realized in two different ways: first, if a worker has an unusually good deal with her current employer, then the downside of getting fired is larger than it would be if the worker could just pack up and get a roughly equivalent job somewhere else. If the downside of getting fired if more severe, a rational worker will work harder to ensure that she doesnt get fired. Second, there are psychological reasons why a higher wage might induce effort  since people tend to prefer working hard for people and organizations that acknowledge their worth and respond in kind.

Research Proposal- Does adavanced maternal age contribute to Paper

Proposal- Does adavanced maternal age contribute to complications during pregnancy - Research Paper Example 135). There is a connection between advanced maternal age and stillbirths, which has been documented, though there is little information on timing of the utero fetal mortality (Benzie, 2008, p. 183). An analysis of more than five million singleton deliveries was aimed at determining the peak risk period for stillbirths among the older mothers between the age of thirty-seven and forty-one. Other studies have assessed the differential risk associated with stillbirths before labor or during labor, in order to understand the relationship, which results to tailored invention strategies focused on decreasing utero fetal problems among old mothers. Nevertheless, the paper will focus on discussing complications during pregnancy, which are associated with Advanced Maternal Age. Advance Maternal Age refers to the childbearing woman, who is over the age of thirty-five, and it is considered as relatively more hazardous from both maternal and fetal dimensions. AMA is conventionally defined as the age, which is greater than thirty-five at the time of delivery, while the modern definition refers to the Very Advanced Maternal Age, which is considered the age that is greater than or equal to the forty five at the time of delivery (King, Fountain, Dakhlallah & Bearman, 2009, p. 1678). Moreover, according to designation of AMA a woman’s fertility decreases after the age of thirty-five. In fact, one third of the women with delayed pregnancy to their mid-thirties and beyond have difficulties during delivery or physical maternal or fetal complications. In addition, these women may undergo an increased incidence of miscarriage or stillbirths, which leads to emotional and psychological trauma (Ayers, 2001, p. 91). LITERATURE REVIEW Factors Influencing women’s decision of timing Motherhood One of the factors influencing the a woman’s decision is independence, whereby a woman is more likely to makes a decision of conceiving later in her life, compared to a woman who has children earlier in order to stress the significance of independence through education, employment, and financial stability. Moreover, the readiness is also a factor that can influence a woman to delay in child bearing, since they have to feel ready for motherhood due to satisfactions of their personal goals (Byrom, 2004, p. 779). The other factor relates to the projection of their life plan, whereby they have a recurring theme of all ages with or without children, and this is projected through a metal plan for their life, which is integrated with their intentions of childbearing. The other factor relates to the biological clock, which has an impact on the decline fertility on decision concerning childbearing as a recurring theme for women at the age above thirty years. The other factor is the rates of divorce, whereby women make decision concerning timing of motherhood under the influence of their knowledge concerning the current rates of divorce in the community. The other fa ctor relates to stability of a relationship, since it is vital to women who are not willing to raise a child on their own. In fact, numerous women have case of failed long-term relationship, like marriage (Cunningham, Rivera, & Spence, 2011, p. 249). Therefore, before establishing a stable relationship, women are not deemed suitable for childbearing and childrearing.