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In Shakespeare's Macbeth, many forces drive the central character's behaviour. Two of the strongest being fear and ambition. I will take a look at the first two acts, analysing the various incidents to come to the conclusion of whether I believe that "Macbeth's behaviour is governed more by fear than ambition". The soliloquy of Act 1 Scene seven is very important as both the elements of fear and ambition are brought in. At first Macbeth is hesitant to kill Duncan as he fears the consequences. He expresses this when he remarks " But here upon this bank and shoal of time; We'd jump the life to come" He fears that the murder would lead to eternal suffering in the after life. This thought alone leaves him hesitant; a moral dilemma rests heavily upon his shoulders. Macbeth also fears that if he were to go through with the murder the " bloody instructions" would eventually " return to plague th' inventor" I