themes

• power and ambition

  unchecked ambition leads to moral corruption and downfall.
• fate vs. free will

  the witches' prophecies raise the question of whether macbeth is controlled by fate or his own choices.
• supernatural 


  witches, prophecies, and visions reflect jacobean fears of witchcraft.
• guilt and conscience 


  macbeth and lady macbeth are tormeneted by guilt, leading to madness and paranoia.