The dictionary defines personal ambition as "A sincere desire for some kind of achievement or distinction, such as power, honor, fame or wealth and a willingness to strive for its achievement". (Dictionary.com) One could argue that too much ambition can be a negative trait. By placing such an emphasis on personal ambition, some push away loved ones to get what they want. In most people, unhappiness is a common feeling and, in extreme cases, leads to death. In the texts Fifth Affairs by Robertson Davies and Hamlet by William Shakespeare, it is evident that when the strongest characters put power and ambition above all else they collapse. There is a saying that goes: "We ignore those who love us, and love those who love us." who ignore us." This phrase fits Hamlet's character Hamlet perfectly. Hamlet chokes himself with great ambition because his veins are full of revenge. For his plan to succeed, he must go mad and thus drive away everyone who cares about him. Two characters, Ophelia and Gertrude, get the short ends of the sticks when it comes to Hamlet pushing them away. In act 3.1 Hamlet and Ophelia have a very heated argument and Hamlet says to Ophelia: Go to a nunnery; why should you be a breeder of sinners? I myself am indifferent, honest, but I could accuse myself of things that it would have been better for my mother not to have given birth to me: I am very proud, vengeful, ambitious, with more offenses at my disposal than I intend to put into them, the imagination to give them shape, or the time to put them into practice. What should people like me who crawl between earth and sky do? We are rogue scoundrels, believe none of us; go to the convent. Where is your father? (3.1...... middle of paper ...... invites those you love to strive to reach the top. You realize that they are constantly unhappy when they are full of their own ambition and, in the most serious cases, of personal ambition leads to death It is unmistakable when the strongest characters in the texts Fifth Affairs by Robertson Davies and Hamlet by William Shakespeare, place power and ambition above all else, collapse It has been said that there is a method to our madness is placing too much power on ambition above all else. Quoted “Ambition.” Web. Davies, Robertson, Toronto: Penguin, 1996. Print.Half, Robert “Thoughts on the Business of Life.”"..