Power

• Lady Macbeth subverting gender roles

  • Macbeth's decision not to kill Duncan
  • Calling him a “coward”
  • Emasculating him, “I dare do all that may become a man… When you durst do it, then you were a man…”
• Lady Macbeth's power demonstration

  • “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”
  • “Fill me from the crown to the toe...full of direst cruelty”
  • “Come to my woman's breasts, And take my milk for gall”
• Power shown through Macbeth

  • His ambition and quest for power made him a corrupt and evil man and king
• Power shown through Lady Macbeth

  • She summons the supernatural to take away her feminine qualities and make her more masculine to commit evil deeds
• Lady Macbeth's dominance in the relationship

  • ‘Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear…’
  • “My dearest partner in greatness”
  • “Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t”
• 3 Big Ideas for presenting Power in Macbeth

  • Power can corrupt
  • Power in the wrong hands lead to tyranny and evil
  • Power is both good and bad
• Malcolm: '“This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues, was once thought honest”'
• People murdered by Macbeth

  • Duncan
  • Duncan’s guards
  • Banquo
  • Macduff’s family
• 'Murderer: “My lord, his throat is cut. That I did for him.”'
• Power in the wrong hands lead to suffering and pain

  Under Macbeth’s tyrannical reign, the suffering of the people of Scotland was evident
• Murderer : '“Who did strike out the light”

  – suggests that the death of Banquo and disappearance of Fleance has, for the moment, destroyed any hope for the kingdom and its future under Macbeth'
• macbeth: “The Castle of Macduff I will surprise ... give to th’ edge o’th’sword his wife, his babes and all unfortunate souls”

  • shows his dehumanization and loss of empathy
  • This act marks a significant point in Macbeth’s moral decline
  • Macbeth’s decision to kill Macduff’s family is driven by fear and paranoia. He is terrified of losing his power and will go to any lengths to prevent this
  • abuse of power
• Duncan’s guards: '“O, yet I do repent me of my fury, that I did kill them.”'
• Macduff to Malcolm: '‘Each new morn, new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows strike heaven on the face…’'
• Unknown: '“O nation miserable with an untitled tyrant”'
• Power is shown through the character of Macbeth

  He uses his power as a source of evil and tyranny
• Macduff: '“Of horrid hell can come a devil more damned in evils to top Macbeth.”'
• Malcolm: '“When shall I trod upon the tyrant’s head”'
• Banquo: '“O treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou may ’st revenge —O slave!”'
• Macduff about Scotland: '“Bleed, bleed poor country bleed”'
• Macbeth’s ambition and quest for power made him a corrupt and evil man and king
• Ambition and Desire for Power


  Macbeth's ambition and desire for power lead to his downfall
• The possibility of ascending the throne


  Is the driving force behind the motivations of many of the characters
• Abuse of Power


  • Macbeth abuses the power he gains, which leads to his downfall
  • His capacity for extreme brutality is a significant aspect of his power
• The play


  Invites us to reflect on our own desires for power and the potential consequences they may bring
• Power and Morality


  The play highlights the delicate balance between ambition and morality, and the tragic outcomes that can result when that balance is disrupted
• Power Dynamics


  • The play deals with the transfer of power and the transformation it brings along with it in the agents of such transfer
  • We see three consecutive powerholders i.e. Duncan, Macbeth, and Malcolm
  • The plot evolves from the power in a stable individual to it being claimed by an ambitious person whose personal quality doesn't match the power which it seeks so much
• Misconception of Power


  • Macbeth and Lady Macbeth mistakenly believe that power, in order to be sustained, needs certain wickedness
  • We come to understand by the fall of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth that such an idea of power annihilates the person itself
• When Macbeth is finally slain by Macduff


  • The order is restored
  • Power is shown to have returned to a man of regal ethics, the true heir according to the primogeniture in a monarchy
• Macbeth: 'And though I could with barefaced power sweep him from my sight'
• "The Castle of Macduff I will surprise ... give to th’ edge o’th’sword his wife, his babes and all unfortunate souls"

  • Reflects Macbeth's willingness to use his kingly power to secure his position, even if it means resorting to murder
  • It's a clear demonstration of how Macbeth's ambition and desire for power lead him down a path of tyranny and violence
  • It reflects his willingness to misuse his power to eliminate perceived threats