answersLogoWhite

0

What is vaulting ambition?

Updated: 12/11/2022
User Avatar

Wiki User

9y ago

Best Answer

Macbeth uses the phrase "vaulting ambition" in the play Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 7. It is a metaphor. The meaning of "vaulting" is like a vaulting horse, an obstacle you jump over. Macbeth says that there are all kinds of reasons why he should not murder Duncan, and the only one he can think of why he should is "vaulting ambition, that overleaps itself and falls on the other . . ." His wife comes in and interrupts him before he can finish his sentence with the word "side", but what he is thinking is that ambition pushes you to jump over obstacles, to try to overcome them, just as an athlete tries to vault a vaulting horse, but it pushes you into going too far, like an athlete that jumps so far that he misses the horse altogether, falls on the other side and breaks his neck.

User Avatar

Wiki User

9y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: What is vaulting ambition?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

What is Macbeths hamartia?

Hamartia is a fatal flaw. Macbeth's was his "vaulting ambition".


What to put for the evaluation of the vaulting ambition quote in Macbeth?

For an evaluation of the "vaulting ambition" quote in Macbeth, you could consider discussing the themes of ambition, power, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. This quote illustrates how Macbeth's insatiable desire for power leads to his downfall and the destruction of those around him. It highlights the destructive nature of ambition when it becomes excessive and uncontrolled.


What made Napoleon Bonaparte so great?

Sheer hard work and attention to detail. Vaulting ambition and strength of personality. And of course the fact that he wins battles effectively and convincingly.


Vaulting ambition o'erleaps itself?

This is a quotation from Shakespears Macbeth, Act 1 scene 7. Because of his ambition, Macbeth kills Duncan and then feels a great deal of remorse. In order to become King, Macbeth gone a little farther than he should have done. He now understands that he will be punished for the murder and punishment was not anticipated as part of his ambition


What is Macbeth's tragic flaw?

Macbeth's tragic flaw is not his ambition, although this has been a favourite platitude for centuries, and was actually written in as a line for Macbeth before he died by some well-meaning adapter."Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itselfAnd falls on the other."(Macbeth, lines 27-28, Act 1 Scene 7).These are lines spoken by Macbeth when deciding whether to commit the murder. He clearly holds ambition in contempt. His decision is that ambition is not a sufficient motive to kill Duncan and he tells his wife so. Nevertheless he is persuaded by her to commit the murder anyway. Once he is king (that's at the beginning of Act 3) none of his actions from there to the end of the play can be motivated by ambition, because he has as much as he can expect to get. There is nothing more to be ambitious for. What leads to his downfall is more his inability to say no to his wife, and his paranoia. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, is moved by ambition, and she specifically comments on her unhappiness in finding that, having achieved her ambition, it has turned to ashes in her mouth. "Nought's had, all's spent, when desire is had without content."


What does Vaulting ambition which o'er leaps itself and falls on the other side mean?

This phrase, from William Shakespeare's "Macbeth," suggests that an individual's intense desire for power or success can lead to their downfall. It means being overly ambitious to the point of self-destruction. It warns against greed and the consequences of unchecked ambition.


What country is the best at pole vaulting?

pole vaulting is the best in the united states.


Which of the following vaulting styles is MOST characteristic of the Perpendicular style?

Fan vaulting


What evidence can you find that Macbeth himself believes in order despite his vaulting ambition?

Well, for a start, he calls it "vaulting ambition". This is a sneer at the ambitious, you know. The ambition wants to jump ahead instead of proceeding by regular steps. And by jumping, it overleaps the mark and falls down. Macbeth has contempt for ambition; he may have an ambition to be the king, but why not, when he is so closely related to Duncan and so much more fit for the job than the effete Malcolm or Donalbain? In the settled order of things he could be next in line for the throne. Primogeniture was not a rule in eleventh-century Scotland. His arguments for not killing Duncan are based on decency, morality, and order, and they convince him. He is quite happy to fight for the king and the established order. Only the persuasiveness of his wife, who really is consumed by ambition, is able to make him swerve from that course of action, but once he has left the strait and narrow he cannot go back.


What is the difference of the vaulting horse of men and women?

there is not much of a different's in a boy vaulting on a horse vaulting on a horse I vault and there is a boy on our team and he dose nothing different then us girls.


What do you get for vaulting the boxing items in Mafia Wars?

Vaulting the boxing collection will give you 3 attack points.


Which olympic sport requires a planting box?

Pole Vaulting