Macbeth

• Quote: 'Brave Macbeth - Well he deserves that name'

  Who: Captain

  When: Act 1, Scene 2

  Idea: At start of play, he is highly regarded and has been fighting for his king as a worthy and valiant solider. Could highlight Duncan's bad judgement of people, patriarchal society judges a man of his bravery so they thought Macbeth was perfect. Quote also foreshadows as his bravery has allowed him to follow his hamartia and ambition.
• Quote: "Let not light see my dark and deep desires"

  Who: Macbeth

  Where: Act 1, Scene 4

  Idea: Placed after Malcolm has been named Prince of Cumberland, Macbeth has already been thinking about doing awful things even before Lady Macbeth's entrance and manipulation. These desires are stuck with him and is influenced by his own hamartia. Quote also linked into supernatural, Macbeth's catalyst for change is meeting the witches and hearing the prophecies. Light and dark imagery - Macbeths constantly ask for the truth(light) to not come out.
• Quote: Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand

  Who: Macbeth

  When: Act 2, Scene 2

  Idea: Macbeth feels extremely guilty in Duncan's death as this is his first time he's murdering for the wrong reasons. Macbeth becomes emotionless about his murders after Duncan's as it becomes second nature. Blood resembles his guilt being carried with him.
• Quote: Life's but a walking shadow

  Who: Macbeth

  When: Act 5, Scene 5

  Idea: Macbeth shows a slight bit of remorse by the end of the play however he recognises its too late. The shadow represents anything that Macbeth chases in his life as he always wanted more. For first time, Macbeth is questioning and contemplating if following his hamartia was a good idea.
• Quote: Full of scorpions is my mind

  Who: Macbeth

  When: Act 3, Scene 2

  Idea: Macbeth's mind is being poisoned and is the downfall of him. His actions are possessed by his hunger and desire for power. Macbeth is tormented by guilt and fear, the scorpions are a metaphor for his evil thoughts and deeds. They are venomous.
• Quote: I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, only vaulting ambition

  Who: Macbeth

  When: Act 1, Scene 7

  Idea: Macbeth is saying that is his own ambition that is his only motivation to murder King Duncan. Macbeth acknowledges his hamartia to be his ambition. Macbeth is aware that he will be doomed if he commits regicide. It implied that there is no other motivation for Duncan's murder than ambition.
• Quote: Stars hide your fires; Let not light see my dark and deep desires

  Who: Macbeth

  When: Act 1, Scene 4

  Idea: This is from Macbeth's soliloquy inwhich a character reveals their true feelings. Later on within the play, Lady Macbeth echoes Macbeth's words showing that they have a close relationship based on shared ideas. Macbeth uses imperative verbs to command the natural word. This could be seen as blasphemous and an attempt to disrupt the Great Chain of Being.
• Quote: A dagger of the mind

  Who: Macbeth

  When: Act 2, Scene 1

  Idea: Shakespeare reveals the danger of the supernatural elements in the play through the corrupt transformation of the protagonist. The vision acts as a catalyst for his murderous actions. Macbeth is aware of the malevolent effect of the vision.
• Quote: Do not shake thy gory locks at me

  Who: Macbeth

  When: Act 3, Scene 4

  Idea: As the play progresses, Shakespeare presents the moral and psychological decline of Macbeth through his use of supernatural visions and auditory hallucinations. The use of assonance and monosyllabic words heighten the sense of his abject terror at seeing the ghost. Macbeth is entranced by the gore of Banquo which highlights his blood-lust
• "Macbeth does murder sleep!" Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 2
• "Is this a dagger which I see before me?" Macbeth Act 2, Scene 1
• "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow"

  This quote is spoken by Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 5. He's reflecting on the emptiness and meaninglessness of life after the death of his wife.
• Macbeth is the eponymous character of this Shakespearean tragedy. He is a tragic hero, meaning he starts out in a positon of glory and success, but falls form grace due to an erorr in judgement of his own making. Every tragic hero has a fatal flaw, or hamartia: Macbeth's is his unchecked ambition. He can't restrain himself from going after what he wants, regardless of moral consequence.
• When we are introduced to Macbeth, he is presented as the stereotypical hero, the ideal warrior. He fulfils the expectations of masculinity and proves his manhood. Shakespeare uses his noble status to give him a place fo fall from. All tragic heroes have to start at the top, so that they can fall. Macbeth's journey from hero to villain, from brave warrior to coward, allows for an exploration of gender, power and morality.
• Macbeth's tense, passionate relationship with his wife also allows Shakespeare to examine gender roles, marital relations, and power in his own society. Because Macbeth allows himself to be overpowered by his wife, you could say that he takes a more feminine role in their marriage. He descends from a brave, masculine warrior to a passive feminine coward. Could this change in gender expression to be linked to his villainy? If so, Shakespeare is suggesting that breaking the norms and order of society makes you vulnerable to corruption and temptation.
• Macbeth's character is significant in terms of philosophy, religion, and morality. His personality is defined by both his ambition and his guilt. One the one hand he is fixated on the future he desires. On the other, he is constantly looking over his shoulder, haunted by his crimes. A qustion Shakespeare explores through Macbeth is one of predestination; 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? Was he destined to become a hellish villain, or was there anything he could have done to keep his place in Heaven?
• • It would be easy if Macbeth was only used by Shakespeare to explore masculinity, but in practice, the gender performacne associated with his character is more ambiguous.
  • Overwhelmingly, Shakespeare writes Macbeth to be a symbol for toxic and repressive masculinity, ultimately associating manhood with violence.
  • At the same time, though, 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.
• Initally, it seems like Macbeth has no reason to worry about his manhood. He is successful in battle, has a loyal wife, and is destined to work his way up the social ladder. But it quickly becomes apparent that this isn't enough for him. For Macbeth, the ideals of valour, power, and violence become synonymous with masculinity. He is convinced that if he doesn't pursue kingship as much as possible, he will be exposed as effeminate.
• His relationship with Lady Macbeth influences his decisions and the power dynamic changes as the play progresses. Macbeth, for most of the play, treats Lady Macbeth as his equal, or even his superior. He allows himself to be manipulated by her, because she has the power to strip him of his masculinity.
• Ambition is his fatal flaw, but his disputed masculinity is his weakness. Any challenge to his manhood is enough to convince Macbeth of any crime. You could argue that what Macbeth's ambition strives for, more than to be king, is to be indisputably 'manly'.
• As Jacobean England was so deeply religious, it's no surprise that faith is mentioned in the play which is full of sinners and treachery. Macbeth rarely mentions God by name, but the idea of Heaven and Hell plays heavily on his mind. This suggests he is worried about the destination of his immortal soul. He mentions jumping "the life to come", implying he is sacrificing an eternal life in Heaven so that he can enjoy power and status during his finite life on Earth.
• A significant part of Macbeth's character arc is how he copes (or tries to cope) with turning his back on God. While contemplating Duncan's murder, he acknowledges that Heaven will object to his plans. He frets that Duncan's virtues as a good king will somehow cry out against the murder. This could refer to how his subjects will literally mourn his death, or it could be metaphorical: Macbeth may be worried that Heaven and Earth will react negatively to the murder.
• Killing Duncan is a landmark decision in his moral path, as it is a conscious choice to put an end to his good ways and embrace corrupt temptation. Straight after the murder, Macbeth has a moral crisis and an identity crisis. One of the signs of his inability to cope is how he will "sleep no more". The other is that he could not "say Amen". These affect Macbeth sod eeply because they both demonstrate that life as he knows it is over. He will no longer live like the rest of humanity. He has strayed for God's path, and so has lost God's protection.
• Shakespeare constructs Scotland after the murder as godless, hellish land to match its king. Crops fail, strange cries fill the air, and the country lives in eternal darkness. Macbeth's mental state mirrors the state of his kingdom. Shakespeare suggests that lviing without God is the worst fate a man can have.
• Male friendships were a huge part of Jacobean culture. It was a patriarchal society where women were expected to stay at home, so the public domain was exclusively male. Men were business partners, colleagues, and school peers. Most of the time, a man's only company was other men. This meant men were emotionally and pyschologically attuned to each other, and became very close.
• The influence of military standards on society also meant that male solidarity and loyalty were important values. In battle, soldiers relied on each other, and desertion was unthinkable. The same rules applied to life outside of war.
• Part of Macbeth's moral crisis comes from the ideal of male friendship. Killing Duncan means betraying a friend, relative, and his king. This goes against everything Macbeth has been taught to value and uphold. Similarly, killing Banquo is such a shocking act - particularly for a Jacobean audience - because Macbeth is supposed to be his closest friend. No one can suspect Macbeth at first because the idea of a man betraying another was preposterous.
• The concept of the tragic hero was popular in Shakespeare's plays and in Renaissance theatre as a whole. There are several stages to a tragic hero's journey:

  • The hamartia, or tragic flaw that causes their downfall.
  • The hubris, or excessive pride and disrespect for the natural order
  • Peripeteia, or reversal of fate
  • Anagnorisis, or discovery
  • Nemesis, or unavoidable punishment
  • and finally catharsis, where the audience feels pity and fear for the protagonist in their undoing.
• For Macbeth, his hamartia is his unchecked ambition. Shakespeare uses the idea of the tragic hero to teach his audience the importance of morality, and of respecting God's will. Having a tero hero means the audience feels sympathy for them despite their failings.
• Shakespeare ensures we root for Macbeth, wanting him to succeed and avoid detection, even though we know what he's doing is wrong. This creates a big moral crisis for the audience, guaranteeing they will be more engaged with the topic and debate it. Our investment in Macbeth also makes his turn towards pure villainy more painful to bear. Even though we relate with his desires and are, to a certain extent, on his side, we are forced to admit that he is wrong, and that his tragic death is deserved and just.
• Unchecked ambition is Macbeth's undoing in the play. If he had been patient, and waited for the title of king to come to him, he would have improved his position in society and kept his soul fit for Heaven. Under the forceful hand of Lady Macbeth, though, Macbeth gives into temptation. As a result, he ends the play in a much lower position than when he started. He loses grace, favour, and respect - from his peers and from the audience.
• The issue, Shakespeare argues, isn't ambition itself, but the way Macbeth allows himself to be controlled by it. We know this because other characters, like Banquo and Malcolm, show ambition but know how to restrain themselves. They can judge the situation and recognise when it's best not to listen to their desires for the good of themselves, their loved ones, and the country they serve. Macbeth, on the other hand, is oblivious to morality and natural order.
• Shakespeare shows his audience that ambition is a sin when it goes against God's will for the way things are meant to be. By killing Duncan to become king, Macbeth fights his way up the Chain of Being. Think of it like swimming in a river: Macbeth goes against the current, led by his ambition, and this is what is so dangerous and shocking. Shakespeare seems to want to teach his audience the importance of self-awareness, conscience, and self-restraint. You should be content with God's plans for you. You should control your ambition, and not let your ambition control you. At a time when people were plotting to kill the king and fear of espionage was rife, these were very relevant improtant messages.
• Immediately after the murder, Macbeth becomes a man who is guilt-ridden and tragically remorseful. He has to live with what he's done, and with the knowledge that there is no undoing it. His guilt makes him a nihilistic figure, a character tormented by his own conscience. He is surrounded by blood, darkness, and death. Although unchecked ambition is what causes Macbeth's downfall, his guilt makes his undoing unbearable for him and the audience.
• What might have been a historical or politcal play that follows the righteous uprising against a tyrannical king becomes a pyschological tragedy because of how Shakespeare follows Macbeth's mental state. Macbeth's ambition propels him into unescapable regret, suggesting that the real punishment for regicide isn't execution, but guilt. Even when no one suspects him of foul play, Macbeth is troubled and cannot enjoy the life he sacrificed his immortal soul for. Shakespeare suggests that the conscience, or inner voice of God, that we all have ensures that no crime or sin can go unpunished. He proposes that no one can cope with the guilt our conscience creates, nor can we live with the knowledge of our own evil.
• The play of 'Macbeth' is filled with violence and conflict, both internal and external. No one suffers more from this than Macbeth himself. The smallest scale of conflict he endures is his internal conflict, and the largest is the conflcit between free will and fate that takes over the whole universe. Similarly, the conflicts between good and evil, between the supernatural and the natural, and between apearances and reality, go beyond Macbeth and rage acriss Scotland.
• Violence is largely associated with manhood and masculinity, particularly by Macbeth. Whenever his manliness is challenged, Macbeth responds by committing a violent, ruthless act. He represses any feelings of fear or doubt, viewing them as signs of weakness and femininity. Furthermore, cruelty and violence are linked with masculine ideals of honour and bravery. Men are supposed to be noble and strong leaders, and Macbeth interprets this as bloodlust. Shakespeare could be implying that ideals such as bravery and honour are used to disguise injustice. Warfare adn violence are presented as necessary and respectable measures, allowing men to follow selfish emotion rather than selfless logic.
• Importantly, Shakespeare demonstrates how violence and bloodshed are used to maintain tyranny and corruption. They are tools for bad kings. Unlike Duncan's reign, which is portrayed as a nurturing, fruitful harvest, Macbeth's is plagued by disease and murder. If he was an effective ruler who obtained his power through fair means, he wouldn't need to use violence to protect himself. As it is, his power is wrongly gained, and his reign is corrupt. He declares that "blood will have blood". Shakespeare argues that violence breeds more violence. Macbeth is trapped in a cycle of bloodshed and conflict.
• Macbeth, furthermore, is at the centrepoint of the power plays. In many ways, what amtters more in the play is the fight for power, rather than the power itself. There is a constant push and pull between the main players, as each tries to keep hold of power. Shakespeare portrays power as being elusive and tricky - its possession can't be guaranteed. This is what drives men insane: they crave power, but what they have is never enough, and they live with the constant threat of losing it all. Macbeth is an example of this. He kills for more and more power, finding that what he already has isn't enough to satisfy himself. Again, he is trapped in a cycle of his own making.
• We never really get to see what Macbeth is like at the very beginning of the play. The first time he's on stage, he meets the Witches, and their prophecies are the catalyst for his change in character.