Ambition is a heavy burden. When you're willing to sacrifice everything for power, wealth, fame, eventually you'll have to ante up. I adored The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, although I was more than a little repulsed by Elizabeth Woodville's ambition. I understood it to a degree--when you are at the top of the food chain, you have to stay there to protect your children and your family. When that life is all you know, slipping from your position can be a scary thing. 
If I had to live in England during the middle ages, I'd prefer to be low nobility--not a peasant because I'd hate to be at the whim and mercy of my landowner and not at the top of the heap because you never know when somebody's going to try to kill you or strip you of your title and wealth through a cunningly arranged marriage or a declaration of war on your turf. Baroness or Viscountess would be the safest bet. All that political intrigue and jockeying for position and favor is fascinating reading, but I wouldn't want to live it.
Likewise, this show has taught me that I'd be a crummy biker gang member, drug lord or arms dealer. The stress would kill me. I have to believe their average life expectancy is 40. Yep, no chance I'm leaving the safety of my quiet country acreage to become an outlaw. No matter how hot I might look in leather chaps.
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