Ambition, a strong desire to do or achieve something. January 30th 1774 James Cook said “Ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it is possible for man to go”. Since the beginning of humankind, ambition has been a mentality in humans to achieve, be this something positive or negative. How ambition is pursued and the goal, declares the effect ambition has. Through these texts key themes of ambition are explored. In Macbeth we are shown that ambition is dangerous without the balancing influence of morality. In Ozymandias, we are shown the transient nature of ambition and its achievements, they can eventually crumble to nothing. In Gattaca, we see that humans are at their best when overcoming challenges and obstacles, which requires ambition. Finally, The Road Not Taken illustrates the decision-making also required in the context of ambition. These concepts in the four texts are conveyed by using the following language features, metaphor and symbolism.
Ambition in Macbeth has a dramatic effect on the main character ‘Macbeth”. Macbeth is manipulated by dire ambition to become king. He begins to act with only his greatest desire in mind. In the pursuit of becoming king, ambition overrides his morals. Therefore he loses most of his respect and honour in dispute, “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown“. Macbeth uses this metaphor to display his unfulfilling achievement of gaining the ‘golden round’. The honour and power that usually accompany this title are absent. “And that which should accompany old age, as honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have”. Macbeth describes the honour that he will not receive.
In his ambition to become king, he did not consider the consequences on his honour that resulted from his actions. He illustrates his disregard for the impact of his actions, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather”. This quote displays to us the guilt Macbeth faces because of the fashion in which he gained the title of ‘King of Scotland’. In Macbeth we can see that ambition is a negative effect when not benefiting humanity shown when Macbeth said “it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. Overall, ambition in Macbeth displayed the negative effect ambition can have when not balanced with morality. This lack of morality is the ultimate cause of Macbeth’s downfall.
In Gattaca Andrew Niccol used swimming to symbolise ambition. In Gattaca they used DNA selection to create the perceived perfection in a human by selecting the most desirable traits and genes. However, Vincent the main character in Gattaca was naturally conceived with no DNA selection. He was born with a heart condition and many flaws in contrast to his younger brother Anton who was genetically perfect. Vincent was born with an ambitious and driven mindset to overcome barriers, this point can be seen when Vincent said “Mine’s already ten thousand beats overdue”, in reference to continuing his struggle in spite of his life expectancy. Andrew Niccol used swimming to display Vincent’s struggle. As kids Vincent and his brother would have competitions to see who could swim out further into the ocean and Anton would always win. Later in the movie when Vincent was on track to go to space, the brothers reconnected and had another competition. This is a key turning point in the film as Vincent beats his brother and has to rescue his brother from drowning. This point can be illustrated through this statement from Vincent, “The impossible happened. It was the moment that made everything else possible”. This demonstrates the drive or ambition that caused Vincent’s rise and Anton’s fall. Through Vincent’s dire ambition he achieves the perceived impossible feat of leaving earth. Ambition in Gattaca portrays a key message, that humans are at their best when overcoming challenges and obstacles. This results in a positive outcome for Vincent.
In Ozymandias, Percy Shelley describes a scene of a ruined statue in a barren desert. The statue of a once mighty King is now a “colossal wreck”. The size of the statue and the inscription symbolise the immense ambition of the statues subject. The immense ambition and self image of the king is emphasised in the inscription on the pedestal, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”. This inscription reinforces the symbolism of an overly confident or arrogant personality.
Percy Shelley uses the symbolism of “lone and level sands” to represent wealth and power eventually coming to nothing. Showing that to achieve something good for humanity is what makes ambition worthwhile. The ruined scene symbolises the idea that what we achieve through ambition can ultimately come to nothing over the passage of time.
In Robert Frost’s poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ he describes a personal response to the challenge of making a decisions on the way forward. The choice is two roads only one of which can be taken. The subject is faced with two options, one road that shows frequent use, and one overgrown with grass and clearly less traveled. He chooses the road less traveled, “And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear”. His choice showed ambition because he had the strength of character to choose his own path, rather then following the direction most traveled by everyone else before him. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference”.
Through these four pieces of work, we can see both the benefits of ambition and the some less positive outcomes. Ambition can take people to tremendous places, such as space, or a journey in life they are content with in the case of Robert Frost. It can also lead to ruin as shown in Macbeth, or be destroyed by the passage of time demonstrated in Ozymandias. Ambition makes for a great and entertaining theme throughout these pieces of work.
1 Comment
Add Yours →This is great work – I think I’d add something about the “lone and level sands” in Ozymandias to show how that poem is about how wealth and power come to nothing (Allowing you to talk about what DOES make our ambition worthwhile, which is to achieve some good for humanity).
This would also mean you could go back to Macbeth and make a reference to the parallel between that and Macbeth’s “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” speech where he talks about “all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death” or “it is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.