Macbeth’s ambition to become king develops when the first prophecy becomes true, leading him to desire the third prophecy. Their premonition was that Macbeth “shalt be king hereafter.” This triggers his ambition, which comes with murderous consequences. His desire for power became an obsessive trait; because of it he was never completely satisfied with the power that he had. Shakespeare signifies that Macbeth has realised that his ambitions are encouraging him to commit evil acts: “I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on th' other.” When Macbeth aspires to murder King Duncan, his moralities are still evident; it is just inconspicuous due to his ambition. Shakespeare shows that Macbeth struggles with the evil he is about to commit with Macbeths quote “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man. That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not.” As Shakespeare shows Macbeth’s character developing throughout the play, “action” surpasses his “morals” progressively. With each murder, his moral conscience is vanquished. He never struggles with the following murders as much as he did with King Duncan. This is shown when Macbeth gets his murderers to slaughter Lady Macduff and her babes without hesitation.
