The ambitions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lead to the death of King Duncan. For the sake of Macbeth's ambition, he is willing to murder his king, Duncan. Macbeth realizes that murdering his king is perfidious and blasphemous because every king is set on throne by God; he is driven by his undying aspiration to steal the throne and be king: "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other." (I, 4, 59) Lady Macbeth is also moved by her avarice to be alongside her husband on the throne. She uses all her strength and intelligence for evil purposes; this confident and arrogant authoritarian instills the plan of the murder (of Duncan) to Macbeth: "We fail but screw your courage to the sticking place and we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep."(I, 7, 60)
We see her as she analyses his virtues and weaknesses and decides to overcome his scruples, “hie thee hither that I may pour my spirits at thine ear”
There is a vast difference between Macduff's "O gentle Lady 'Tis not for you to hear what I can speak the repetition in a woman's ear would murder as it fell." (II, 2, 122) and Malcolm's assessment of her as a "fiend-like queen" (V, 9, 36). Throughout the play and leading up to her eventual suicide, Lady Macbeth slowly weakens to the guilt of her actions. Yet, in the beginning of the play, she acts as if she is unstoppable. When Macbeth has his doubts and fears about murdering the loyal and trusting Duncan, Lady Macbeth chastises him, calling him a coward and a helpless baby (I. 7. 39-49, 53-67). She even offers to do ‘the deed’ herself, possibly to make Macbeth feel that he's even more cowardly because his wife is offering to do "his" job. This provokes Macbeth to kill Duncan, though these are the actions that will eventually lead to both of their demises later in the play.
Macbeth tries to convince Lady Macbeth, as well as himself, that she is wrong, “…peace. I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares more is none. (I, 7, 50) However, Macbeth does not seem to fully convince her, because he is still mocked by his wife. Whether he failed to convince himself or to convince his Lady is irrelevant; he still went through with the murder causing himself to be the more villainous.
She seems to be the better criminal; she remembers the details that Macbeth has overlooked, "Why did you bring these daggers from the place?" (II, 2, 51) and she takes the daggers back. Even before that early point in the play, Lady Macbeth has already demonstrated that she is two-faced, and very good at deception. When Duncan first arrives at the castle, Lady Macbeth acts as a welcome hostess, in reality while she is greeting the king she is thinking about how best to murder him.
Not only does Lady Macbeth push her husband to do things he does not want to do, she also informs him that his face is too easy to read, and that he needs to hide the murders. Of course, she does not want her husband or herself to get caught, so she gives him advice in the area of deceptiveness. When she tells him to "look like th' innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't" (I, 5, 76), Lady Macbeth is not just doing this so that Macbeth will not give himself away, but so that he will not give her away.
Unlike other villains, there is no indication in Macbeth that Macbeth enjoys doing the evil, villainous things that he does although it is apparent that his ambition is stronger than his conscience. When Macbeth orders Banquo's murder, he is still in torment, but the cause of his anguish seems to have changed. He is afraid of Banquo, because Banquo knows about the witches and their predictions of his(Banquo's) descendants being kings. Banquo's death, he says, will put his mind at rest.
Macbeth is the only individual responsible for the death of his friend Banquo and the flight of Banquo's son, Fleance. Macbeth hires murderers to kill his best friend, Banquo. He chooses to slaughter Banquo, because he has become very greedy and does not wish any of Banquo's children to be in kingship. If Macbeth had only killed Fleance and let Banquo live, then Banquo can procreate more sons which would endanger Macbeth's position as the King of Scotland. Macbeth's desire to be king provokes this behavior and leads him to murder Banquo: "It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul's flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight."(III, 2, 144) Macbeth was apprehensive that Banquo's son, Fleance, would somehow seize the throne of kingship away from him. Although unsuccessful, Macbeth commands the murderers to slay Fleance. Auspiciously for Fleance, he escapes from this predicament as his father lay dying on the floor: "O treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!" (III, 3, 20)
We are never told how Macbeth feels about the murder of Macduff's wife and children. Their killing gains him nothing. He has good reason to fear Macduff, but slaughtering his enemy's family is pointless. Macbeth seems to order their murder for spite, out of a feeling of desperation. Despite the witches' new prophecies, which appear to be reassuring, he is still afraid of losing the crown. Since he cannot get at Macduff directly, he lets loose this senseless violence on those closest to Macduff.
The deaths of Macduff's children and wife are rendered by Macbeth's own free will. Macbeth never informs anyone about his response to the murder of Macduff's wife and children. Macbeth has good reasons to slay Macduff, but the killings of Macduff's family does not gain him anything concrete: "The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line." Fate, along with the weird sisters, does not play any role in these killings. These murders are, indeed, induced by Macbeth. Despite the prophecies introduced by the witches, which seem encouraging, Macbeth is still timorous in losing his crown. Since Macbeth kills to get to the throne, his other crimes seem inevitable. In order to protect what he already possesses, Macbeth learns to cheat, lie and kill anyone that is a hindrance: "No boasting like a fool; this deed (the deaths of Macduff's wife and kids) I'll do before this purpose cool."
At the beginning of Shakespeare's play, Macbeth is described as a hero. He becomes very ambitious to be king and was very loyal to the king in the opening scenes. This revealed when Macbeth says, "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir". His ambition to be king dissolved his good nature and morality. When Duncan arrived at Macbeth’s castle and estate, Macbeth controlled his ambition for the time being and thought very firmly on the plotting of Duncan's murder. When Lady Macbeth said "My hands are of your color; but I shame to wear a heart so white" she was calling him a coward, and not long after Duncan was dead. After the successful murder of Duncan, Macbeth entered a life of villainy.
Ambition was also a clear motive to the murder of his friend Banquo. The witches' predictions sent Macbeth into his own world where he could not be stopped on his way to becoming king. The brave hero from in Act I has metamorphosised in to someone or something that is completely villainous. Although Lady Macbeth at times in the play provided the spark that caused Macbeth to commit murder, and although she may be villainous, Macbeth is ultimately far more villainous. He will do anything and will stop at nothing to preserve the crown in his head and is entirely driven by his greed and ambition. Macbeth’s rise and fall from power in the play, Macbeth relates very closely to the quotation, “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
