Macbeth

• Macbeth is first introduced as a brave and capable warrior, but his physical courage is joined by a consuming ambition and a tendency to self-doubt.
• These three attributes—bravery, ambition, and self-doubt—struggle for mastery of Macbeth throughout the play.
• Shakespeare uses Macbeth to show the terrible effects that ambition and guilt can have on a man who lacks strength of character.
• Macbeth may be classified as irrevocably evil, but his weak character separates him from Shakespeare’s great villains—Iago in Othello, Richard III in Richard III, Edmund in King Lear—who are all strong enough to conquer guilt and self-doubt.
• Macbeth, great warrior though he is, is ill equipped for the psychic consequences of crime.
• Before he kills Duncan, Macbeth is plagued by worry and almost aborts the crime.
• It takes Lady Macbeth’s steely sense of purpose to push him into the deed.
• After the murder, Lady Macbeth’s powerful personality begins to disintegrate, leaving Macbeth increasingly alone.
• Macbeth fluctuates between fits of fevered action, in which he plots a series of murders to secure his throne, and moments of terrible guilt and absolute pessimism.
• These fluctuations reflect the tragic tension within Macbeth: he is at once too ambitious to allow his conscience to stop him from murdering his way to the top and too conscientious to be happy with himself as a murderer.
• As things fall apart for him at the end of the play, Macbeth seems almost relieved—with the English army at his gates, he can finally return to life as a warrior, and he displays a kind of reckless bravado as his enemies surround him and drag him down.
• Unlike many of Shakespeare’s other tragic heroes, Macbeth never seems to contemplate suicide: “Why should I play the Roman fool,” he asks, “and die / On mine own sword?” (5.10.1–2)
• Instead, Macbeth goes down fighting, bringing the play full circle: it begins with Macbeth winning on the battlefield and ends with him dying in combat.
• Macbeth is a complex character who changes throughout the course of the play
• At the start of the play, Macbeth is a brave warrior and leader
• Macbeth falls victim to the Witches' predictions, unsure if they plant ideas in his mind or highlight thoughts he already had
• Macbeth repeatedly questions his motives for killing the King but is persuaded by his forceful wife, Lady Macbeth
• After committing murder, Macbeth finds himself caught in a spiral of evil with no escape
• Towards the end of the play, when he realizes his doomed fate, Macbeth briefly returns to his old heroic self
• Ambitious:

  • Wishes to become and remain King of Scotland
  • The Witches' predictions awaken his ambition
  • Described his ambition as "black and deep desires"
• Brave:

  • A mighty warrior at the start of the play
  • Regains bravery at the end when facing Macduff in combat
• Changeable:

  • Keeps changing his mind about murdering Duncan
  • Ambition conflicts with loyalty and morality
  • Lady Macbeth persuades and keeps him determined
• Guilty conscience:

  • Tormented by evil deeds throughout the play
  • Caught in a spiral of evil, unable to stop himself
• In Shakespeare's time, a king ruled by 'divine right', chosen by God directly

  • Regicide (killing a king) was considered a heinous crime
  • Macbeth's decision to murder Duncan was horrific to the audience
  • King James I (VI of Scotland) was paranoid about assassination attempts, like the Gunpowder Plot
• “I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself / And falls on th’other.” - Macbeth, (A1S7)
• “For brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name - / Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody execution, / Like Valour’s minion carved out his passage / Till he faced the slave, / Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, / Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps / And fixed his head upon our battlements.” - Captain, (A1S2)
• “Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires: / The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, / Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” - Macbeth (A1S4)
• “Out, out, brief candle! / Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more. It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.” - Macbeth (A5S5)
• Macbeth's Downfall

  Macbeth's character is a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked ambition and the importance of self-reflection and moral integrity. While his capability as a warrior earns him respect and admiration, it is ultimately his negative traits that lead to his downfall and tragic end.
• Macbeth's Capability

  Macbeth's capability as a warrior is a significant aspect of his character, as it allows him to achieve great success on the battlefield and earn the respect and admiration of his peers. However, his consuming ambition and tendency towards self-doubt can also be seen as negative traits that ultimately lead to his downfall.
• Macbeth's Ambition and Self-Doubt

  Macbeth's ambition drives him to commit increasingly ruthless and immoral acts, while his self-doubt leads to paranoia and a lack of confidence in his own abilities. These conflicting traits create a complex and nuanced character who is both admired and feared by those around him.
• Ambition

  Macbeth's overwhelming desire for power and the throne, driving him to commit immoral acts
• Flawed character


  Macbeth's lack of self-reflection and moral integrity, justifying his immoral actions
• Inner conflict

  Macbeth's struggle with his conscience after committing regicide, causing paranoia and delusion
• External forces


  The witches' prophecies and Macbeth's belief in them, contributing to his tragic end
• Lady Macbeth's influence


  Lady Macbeth's manipulation and goading of Macbeth to commit regicide