Macbeth (analysis)

• "brave", "worthy", "valiant"

  -Macbeth begins as a heroic, loyal soldier fighting for the king

  -he needs to start as noble to create the tragic hero and the downfall

  -the words juxtapose his character at the end as a "tyrant"- shows his change very clearly
• "life's but a walking shadow...signifying nothing"

  -after Lady Macbeth's death Macbeth is nihilistic

  -a soliloquy to show his inner feelings

  -dark imagery of the shadow

  -this expresses how meaningless life is and how little the power has given him
• "so foul and fair a day, I have not seen"

  -Macbeths first line mirrors the witches, he is already being manipulated

  -foreshadows the dangers to come and the "foul" actions

  -juxtaposes Banquo (fair) and Macbeth (foul)

  -it blurs the lines between right and wrong (hero to tytant)
• "will all great Neptune's oceans wash this blood clean from my hands"

  -macbeth realises what he has done and feels the guilt

  -mythology-god of the sea

  -there is not enough water to wash the blood (guilt) away

  -hands=symbol of actions
• "tyrant", "dead butcher" and "turn hellhound, turn"

  -after engaging with the supernatural, Macbeth is the devils minion

  -a fallen hero who will be sent to hell to restore the natural order

  -punishment for sins of desire and engaging with the supernatural and committing regicide
• "as by some strength of their illusion, shall draw home on to his confusion...security is mortals chiefest enemy"

  -significant revelation- the witches confirm their treacherous acts

  -ties in with Banquo's suspicions

  -they have sealed the fate of the tragic hero, corrupted by the fate their lies have created
• "let's us make medicines of our great revenge to cure this deadly grief"

  -Malcom to Macduff

  -symbolises goodness saving the day

  -Malcom is the cure to the poisonous Macbeth

  -he seeks to re-establish the natural order and foreshadows harmony and the end of tyranny
• "a little water clears us of this deed" and "all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this tiny hand"

  -tone transforms by the burden of guilt

  -"water" and "perfume"- contrasting liquids symbolises the increase in guilt

  -it is now engulfing all of her senses and portrays her downfall
• "never shake thy gory locks at me"

  -connotations of guilt and paranoia- actions are haunting him

  -descent into madness- increase of blood and ghosts link to downfall

  -he is drowning in the blood- symbolic of his guilt
• "O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife"

  -connotations of tortured and plagued

  -biblical- state of torment

  -the guilt stings and poisons his mind

  -links to the consequences of regicide and disrupting the natural order- divine right of kings
• "unsex me here"

  -immoral desires of lady Macbeth

  -willing to go to any lengths for power

  -seeks to shed her femininity and help her husband fulfil his desires

  • villainous- willing to be "foul" to achieve what she believes is "fair"
• "stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires"

  -Macbeths desire forebodes his transformation

  -he rejects the light, symbolic of God/the king

  -"black"- deception- symbolises the witches and his temptation
• "instruments of darkness tell us truths...to betrays in deepest consequence"

  -"truths"- deception and trickery, motivation rooted in evil

  -"instruments"- witches function to inflict hell

  -oxymoron- masquerading the tragic fate as joyous
• "fair is foul and foul is fair"

  -witches fracture morality

  -they blur the lines between right and wrong (hero and tyrant)

  -forebodes Macbeths internal conflict, after regicide

  -juxtaposes Banquo (fair) and Macbeth (foul)