Macbeth AQA

• "O full of scorpions is my mind dear wife!" - Macbeth
• "I have given my two hands to pluck out a heart" - Lady Macbeth
• "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts unsex me here" - Lady Macbeth
• "Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't" - Lady Macbeth
• "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" - Macbeth
• "Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done it" - Lady Macbeth
• "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" - Lady Macbeth
• ”Fair is foul and foul is fair”

  Three Witches
• This fricative alliterative quote connotes the evil, satanic nature of the witches. This oxymoron depicts that the witches believe that all good is evil and all evil is good - so the Biblical God is evil according to the witches.
• Satanism and witchcraft are key themes in Macbeth and go against God, whom is an important figure in the Jacobean era. The malevolent and harmful nature of the witches, who speak in trochaic tetrameter, influenced Macbeth which caused his tragic downfall later on in the play. 
• This links to the Divine Right of Kings, the idea that the monarch is chosen by God. Another possible argument is contrary to the Great Chain of Being which holds that Macbeth is prepared to give up his standing in order to obtain power. This quote also implies how morality had been turned upside down. This may be foreshadowing how the the Great Chain of Being is unsettled through the act of regicide.  Shakespeare was further encouraged to use witchcraft in his play by James I's numerous interests in the practice. 
• “Noble Macbeth“


  duncan
• The old, respected King Duncan uses the adjective 'noble' to describe Macbeth at the start of the play. This quote can be juxtaposed to the quote ''Devilish Macbeth'' at the end of the play, where Macbeth’s tragic downfall spirals into his damnation. This can link to how Macbeth is his own antithesis as the idea that satanism and witchcraft can convert a person completely. These 'noble' traits of Macbeth completely disappear, as Macbeth becomes closer to the throne he becomes more corrupt. 
• Power


  Corrupts the minds of men
• King's reign

  Impactful on his own country
• Macbeth being loved by God


  Due to the Divine Right of Kings
• Duncan's corpse

  • Described with allusions to piety and royalty
  • Reflects how the death of a king is the demise of God's appointed representative on earth
• Shakespeare's ideas on monarchy and oppression


  Reflected in the effects that every death has on the natural world
• In order to have stability, security, and advancement, a good ruler was required
• “To win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths”

  Banquo
• This quote denotes that

  Evil beings can tell us truths simply to gain our trust - which is a supernatural belief
• This idea is connected to fate

  Everything that happens to us has already been decided
• A contemporary Freudian analysis would confer that Banquo's superego is taking control while Macbeth's id causes his tragic downfall. He is being demoted by 'darkness' to perhaps commit wrong for his ambition - however he is more stable, unlike Macbeth whose ambition is his harmatia. This represents how Banquo is illustrated as Macbeth's foil. 
• Supernatural beings may be able to tell us our fate


  How they can only do this for their own malevolent and sinister reasons
• Humans can be undoubtedly fooled by lies if they are given with small truths.
• These contradictions confuse us and leave us astray
• These manipulative manners led by the witches demonstrate

  • How society is power-hungry
  • They will do anything to gain power and lose themselves in the process
• In this quote, Banquo is attempting to give logical justifications for committing sin for one's ambition
• “Unsex me here”


  Lady Macbeth
• In Shakespeare’s time, and even today, women are known as the 'gentler sex'. This is because they are maternal and are seen as caregivers and lovers. In this imperative, she defiantly says ''Unsex me here”. 
• Witches in Macbeth


  • They do not make Macbeth do things directly
  • They make him do things himself
  • They harness his will
  • They nudge him into thinking terrible things and making terrible choices
• Macbeth and Othello


  Both heroes are led to their downfall by evil, dragging down other innocent characters within them
• Banquo's warning to Macbeth

  Macbeth ignores it and spends the rest of the play proving Banquo correct
• Banquo's warning can be used as foreshadowing - what he says happens later on in the play
• Shakespeare is proving to the audience that one's mind can go absolutely crazy for ambition, principally men
• Shakespeare is proving to the audience to always trust those around you who apprise you
• Shakespeare shows the perils of femininity or androgyny through Lady Macbeth by evoking the reader directly. If she was successful in unsexing herself, then her villainy and disturbing personality would suggest that gender nonconformity is dangerous.
• Feminine qualities

  Goodness, kindness and gentleness
• Manliness


  Explored by Shakespeare through how Lady Macbeth exploits and manipulates Macbeth by attacking his manhood, making him perform murder and tyranny
• Lady Macbeth

  • Presented as an unconventional female character by traditional and Jacobean standards
  • So powerful that a Jacobean audience would even view her as supernatural
  • Her ambition is her act of sacrifice
  • When her ambition disappears she is fixated on her paranoia
  • She does not care about morality and natural order - they are just mere obstacles to her goal