VIOLENCE

• MACBETH

  “unseamed him from the nave to th’chops and fixed his head upon our battlements”


  -”unseamed” verb, highlights the way Macbeth slit the traitor from belly button to neck - shows his skill as a fighter

  -commonly done to traitors at this time to act as a fighter warning to other traitors

  -macbeths violence here is patriotic and loyal (sword) foreshadowing his later death in a similar way as the traitor
• MACBETH

  “with his brandished steel which smok’d with bloody execution


  -relentless force- sword has no time to cool

  -uses his masculine qualities of bravery and violence in defence of country

  -”smok’d” metaphor- the speed at which he kills- shows intensity of violence. Heat= hell= evil

  -violence is a destructive force

  -“bloody” brutality of his kills

  “execution” killing of criminals
• LADY MACBETH

  “Unsex me here!”


  -presented as masculine by the imperative

  -wants to be make to be more violent

  -desire to be a man to commit the deed of killing duncan- thinks u have to be masculine to murder

  -stereotypes of typical women = feminine/ caring- LM isnt

  -rejection of traditional female behaviour- prepared to be cruel + willing yo go through “direst” length go fufil her ambition
• WITCHES

  “thunder and lightening“


  -foreboding tone

  -pathetic fallacy

  -atmosphere is ominous + dangerous from offset

  -foreshadows violence that wil ensue throughout play

  -the disrupted/ aggravated weather being natures fury at the coming violence

  -violent weather reflects the tumultuous events that are going to show the chaos as macbeth succumbs to ambition + treachery

  -violence isnt just a human act- influenced by other darkly powers

  -ambition + moral corruption leads to catastrophic consequences
• MACDUFF “Savagely slaughtered” “he has killed me mother”


  -macduffs whole family was murdered like animals on Macbeths first command

  -macbeth didnt stop killing children, he does so without remorse as well showing hes getting more cruel by the second

  -cold blooded nature pf murders and loss of innocence

  -brutality + ruthless nature of violence by macbeth
• MALCOLM “this murderous shaft thats shot, hath not yet lighted, and our safest way is to avoid the aim”


  -illustrates the ongoing danger of the murder of duncan

  — act still in progress- more repercussions yet to unfold

  —persuasive nature of violence-continuing threat with lasting consequences

  -reveals malcolms cautious approach to violence, emphasising that its best to avoid it together
• DUNCAN “lay duncan, his silver skin laced with his golden blood, and his gashed stabs looked like a break in nature for ruins wasteful entrance”


  -“golden“ royalty

  -“stabs” brutality

  -“nature” disruption of natural order, symbolises corruption and chaos that will flow

  -description of duncans murder, emphasising the unnatural and violent act- emphasises his value and royalty
• BANQUO “Thou canst not say I did it: never shake thy gory locks at me”


  -”gory locks” bloodstained hair of banquo

  -banquos ghost appears- hes hallucinating / going insane for feeling so guilty

  -macbeths denial of his involvement in banquos murder

  -basically says ‘Dont call me a liar by shaking your head”

  -violence is the murder of duncan, this is his consequence