Shakespeare's Macbeth shows similarities to Richard III of England in his ambition and Machiavellian actions, but their nature sets them apart. Ultimately, they are seen as similar tyrants in how their countries reacted to their sovereignties. Despite the similarities, they both had a very different path that led to their ambition. Due to their nature, one was a victim of fate, the other was a victim of his own pessimism. These Machiavellian characters take different paths towards a parallel end. These two men have identical paths to the same tragic end. As the leading British essayists of the early 19th century put it: "These two characters in common hands, and indeed in the hands of any other poet, would have been a reputation of the same general idea. For both are tyrants, usurpers, murderers, both aspiring and ambitious, both brave, cruel, treacherous (29)” Macbeth, after learning about the witches who predict the future, plans the murder of Duncan to take the throne. When the witches hail him as King of Scotland, his ambition takes over and he drowns in a pool of blood created by a murder that didn't seem to stop. After killing Duncan and usurping the throne, he killed anyone who stood in his way of keeping it. The Scottish nation was afraid of him, and the once peaceful land was now in turmoil. An army was raised against him, and his own ambition caused a rebellion that would turn into his ultimate downfall. Jealous of his brother's power, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, begins to secretly aspire to the throne and plots to guilt his brother, King Edward, to death and lock up Edward's two sons. The same pool of blood consumes Richard, for the murders were endless. He did everything... middle of paper... ordering his brothers and kidnapping his nephews, he knew full well the consequences and had no remorse. Ambition makes or breaks a man. In the case of Macbeth and Richard III, he destroyed them faster than anything else ever could. They have turned into reckless tyrants. One had a promising future, the other was doomed from the start to an evil life. One turned into a monster, the other always was. If you are ambitious enough, opportunity will knock, but you may not always want to answer. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. "William Hazlitt on Macbeth and Richard III." Macbeth by William Shakespeare. New York: Chelsea House, 1996. 27-31. Print.Lukeman, Noah and William Shakespeare. The tragedy of Macbeth. New York: Pegasus, 2008. Print.Shakespeare, William and Peter Holland. The tragedy of King Richard III. New York, NY: Penguin, 2000. Print.