Macbeth

Therefore concluding the statement that chance only goes so far until it is pursued by one's free will.
             In Macbeth's case, as well as many others, chance will only take you so far in your journey, until you take matters into your own hands. The element which further pushes a person from chance is ambition. Ambition is the everlasting hunger that makes a person want more from life. It is also the breeding ground for disaster when wanting more evidently means taking more from others. This is what happened in Macbeth's case. His mind quickly became clouded and his perception was altered by greed and power. At the end of the first act, before he is about to commit acts of murder upon Duncan, Macbeth says to himself, "That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/ And falls on the other" (Shakespeare, I, vii, 25-28). Therefore from this quote, Macbeth clearly states that it is that of his vaulting ambition which spurs him on further into his wrongful doing. He has seen something he wants which is possible for him to achieve, but in order for him to achieve this, he must himself commit wrongful acts of hate and bigotry. Ambition is the little push that everyone needs to pursue his/her goals in life. Macbeth took that gentle push and turned it into a drastic leap. Ambition can therefore only be ultimately achieved when one takes matters into their own hands and begins to act on impulse. However, ambition can easily be altered into wrongful accusations and acts of hatred and fear. .
             Ambition is a powerful attribute to one person if it is executed in certain ways. Macbeth's ambition soon became turned and knotted with jealousy and rage. The darkness had completely consumed him by the end of the play and he was vengeful on everybody. The witch's prophecies would have only pointed him in one direction, but Macbeth's own free will was that which took the steps.