In my opinion, it is ambition rather than pride which is responsible for the undoing of such a brave and admired general as Macbeth. A secret ambition, exteriorised by the witches' prophecies and further enhanced by Lady Macbeth, (mis)guides Macbeth to the killing of king Duncan. At no point before the murder of Duncan, Macbeth displays any sign of pride. On the contrary, he betrays doubt, hesitation & moral scruples, his imaginative conscience holding him back from the murderous deed. Ambition for power, fears with regard to the means of attaining power, increasing fears as to how the power attained could be retained, the constant conflict between forces of 'fair' and those of 'foul', lead Macbeth on to the murders of Banquo and Fleance, of the family of Macduff, to his own death and destruction. At no stage of his career in Shakespeare's play, does he show pride in his evil and tyranny as a usurper king. Macbeth therefore shows the fatal dangers of 'vaulting ambition', rather than of pride.
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