“…then prophet-like
They hailed him father to a line kings.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
And put a barren sceptre in my gripe
Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding.” – Macbeth Act 3 Scene I

This quote is significant to the play because it shows the progression of what drives Macbeth’s desire to be king. 

This quote comes after Macbeth has murdered Duncan and become King of Scotland. As king, Macbeth begins to face the consequences of killing Duncan in the form of night terrors and paranoia. He begins to think that the only way to maintain his throne is to ensure that only his lineage will be alive to inherit the throne. This is where Banquo comes in. The three witches prophesied that Banquo would father a line of kings, but not be one himself. Why would Macbeth go through all this trouble to kill Duncan only for the crown to go to Banquo’s son? Macbeth sees only one way out of this: kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. It isn’t an easy task to plan the death of your best friend, and this decision would lead to the unraveling of Macbeth’s mind and values. Macbeth does kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes, meaning Macbeth does not feel that security to the throne. This leads Macbeth down a deeper trail of blood, like killing Macduff’s family, all to ensure that he stays king. 

Macbeth is becoming paranoid. After all, if someone as supposedly loyal as Macbeth would murder his own king, why wouldn’t someone do the same to him. Macbeth’s morals are being overridden by ambition. This quote really shows how Macbeth progressed from a man scared of betraying his king to a man who is easily ready to kill his best friend out of greed. At first, he was upset because he killed one of his closest friends, Duncan. Now, only days later, he is upset that he might be usurped from the throne by his best friend and will got to lengths unfathomable by many to maintain his seat on the throne. Macbeth became obsessed with maintaining his throne, propelled by greed, willing to put others down for personal gain. 

If left unchecked, ambition has the ability to trump everything. However, there is a fine line between ambition and greed. Ambition for success or power is what drives the majority of people to work, and try in life. Greed, although similar to ambition, is the desire for status, power, or wealth. Spring Arbor University defines the difference to be that ambition serves a purpose while greed is self-serving. Ambition has the power to propel you to great heights, but greed will destroy you. This quote marks that moment when Macbeth became a man overcome by greed. At the start of the play, Macbeth was driven by ambition, but the moment he betrayed Duncan, he became a man driven by greed. By putting himself first and bringing about the downfall of others, Macbeth fulfilled his desire to be king by selfish means. Ultimately, he also determined his own fate. The moment he killed Duncan, he had entered a position where the only escape was death.