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What are key messages in Macbeth? How do those messages apply in society?

One of the key messages in Macbeth is that having too much ambition can make people act mercilessly. Macbeth is so eager to have power after he hears the witches' prophecy that he rationalizes killing Duncan, the rightful king. After Macbeth kills Duncan, Macbeth feels so guilty that he becomes obsessed with the blood on his hands. In Act II, Scene 2, he says,



Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood


Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather


The multitudinous seas incarnadine,


Making the green one red.



Macbeth feels so guilty and immersed in blood that he fears his hands will turn the oceans red and no amount of sea water can cleanse him. While Macbeth was confident before killing Duncan that the regicide would help along his dreams of being king, after he kills Duncan, Macbeth feels so guilty he is unable to sleep. He then becomes tormented, and is eventually killed. Macbeth's ambition makes him heedless of consequences, and, rather than make him happy, his plans to make himself king lead him to great unhappiness.


This message applies to modern society because ambition can lead people to carry out unethical or illegal actions. For example, the news is full of politicians who carry out corrupt schemes for their own gain, but the consequences of their actions hurt others and frequently hurt themselves. The irony is that people in modern society who let unbridled ambition get the best of them, as Macbeth does, usually don't get what they want. Rather than help them succeed, ambition makes them fail. 

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