The Idea of Ambition as a Social Process Based on Role Transition Theory: Dyadic Power Relations in Coriolanus and Macbeth

Abstract

Ambition is a good servant but a bad master. William Shakespeare often analysed the complications stemming from “sick ambition”, one of the greatest fears of the Elizabethan age. Interpretations of the Bard’s ideas are rooted in many sciences, but the sociology of literature still represents a new frontier to many literary scholars. It is my belief that Shakespearean ambition should be considered as a social phenomenon; as a process by which new territories are sought with a view to gaining access to new resources. This may involve either the expansion of certain roles or the complete transition of roles. Various role processes occur if social relations are further complicated by the involvement in dyadic interactions: strong role-based collaborative systems. This paper addresses the problem of two dyads where the driving force is ambition: Coriolanus and Volumnia in Coriolanus, and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. The role of Coriolanus as a successful son is excessively fetishised by Volumnia, and, what is more, her inadequate definitions of roles force her son to transgress many of the boundaries set by his official roles. Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s actions are an example of an unsuccessful role transition: they become excessively infatuated with the role of the king and follow this obsession into misrepresentation, and then the desire to maintain the front at all costs. This study has been influenced by Erving Goffman, as well as more recent developments in role theory. This viewpoint also considers power relations through the works of classics: new takes on the philosophies of Max Weber, Georg Simmel and Theodor Adorno.