Macbeth

• Macbeth is the eponymous character of this Shakespearean tragedy.
• Macbeth is a tragic hero, starting out in a position of glory and success, but falls from grace due to an error in judgement of his own making.
• Macbeth’s fatal flaw is his unchecked ambition, which leads him to commit heinous crimes.
• Macbeth is initially portrayed as the stereotypical hero, the ideal warrior, fulfilling the expectations of masculinity and proving his manhood.
• Macbeth’s noble status is used by Shakespeare to give him a place to fall from.
• The Jacobeans believed the only thing that separated humans from animals was reason or logic.
• Macbeth is aware that ambition can make him act mindlessly, in the same way an animal would.
• If a man lost his reason and acted irrationally, he was a beast.
• Macbeth’s journey from hero to villain, from brave warrior to coward, allows for an exploration of gender, power, and morality.
• As he is reduced from the jockey to the horse, he becomes more animalistic.
• In the metaphor, Macbeth sees himself as both jockey and horse.
• Shakespeare could be implying that Macbeth is trying to control his ambition, but feels like his ambition will end up controlling him.
• Macbeth’s tense, passionate relationship with his wife allows Shakespeare to examine gender roles, marital relations, and power in his own society.
• Macbeth allows himself to be overpowered by his wife, taking a more feminine role in their marriage.
• Macbeth’s character is significant in terms of philosophy, religion, and morality.
• Macbeth’s personality is defined by both his ambition and his guilt.
• Macbeth’s life seems to be controlled by fate, but how much of Macbeth’s story was foretold, and how much was of his own making?
• Macbeth is used by Shakespeare to explore both toxic and repressive masculinity, associating manhood with violence, and femininity.
• Macbeth’s fear of being emasculated, and the ‘feminine’ traits he inherits at certain points in the play, means Shakespeare uses his character to explore femininity.
• Macbeth is oblivious to morality and natural order.
• Macbeth is surrounded by blood, darkness, and death.
• Macbeth becomes a guilt-ridden and tragically remorseful figure immediately after the murder.
• Macbeth's ambition propels him into unescapable regret, suggesting that the real punishment for regicide isn’t execution, but guilt.
• Macbeth kills Duncan to become king, fighting his way up the Chain of Being.
• Macbeth is troubled and cannot enjoy the life he sacrificed his immortal soul for.
• Violence is largely associated with manhood and masculinity, particularly by Macbeth.
• Macbeth's ambition is unchecked, leading him to give into temptation and end the play in a lower position than when he started.
• Unchecked ambition is what causes Macbeth’s downfall, but his guilt makes his undoing unbearable for him and the audience.
• Macbeth loses grace, favour, and respect from his peers and the audience.
• Banquo and Malcolm show ambition, but know how to restrain themselves.
• The issue, Shakespeare argues, isn't ambition itself, but the way Macbeth allows himself to be controlled by it.
• Ambition is the downfall of Macbeth in the play.
• Macbeth's play is filled with violence and conflict, both internal and external.
• Shakespeare suggests that the conscience, or inner voice of God, that we all have ensures that no crime or sin can go unpunished.
• Macbeth's guilt makes him a nihilistic figure, a character tormented by his own conscience.
• Despite it being what “the eye fears”, Macbeth wants it to be “done”.
• For Macbeth, he was playing the part of a moral and righteous servant, when really he was a murderer.
• The imagery and metaphors used in this excerpt emphasize how life is a facade, with no purpose or meaning to it.
• The extended metaphor of theatre is a meta (self-aware) technique by Shakespeare, suggesting that everything is playing a part rather than being their authentic selves, so that appearances don't match reality.
• Macbeth’s crisis is caused by the undeniable truth of his own mortality, which nothing can contend with.