Macbeth

• Macbeth


  A play by Shakespeare
• At the beginning of the play


  1. Macbeth

  2. Lady Macbeth
• As the play progresses

  Lady Macbeth dominates and controls Macbeth
• Lady Macbeth: '"Look like the innocent flower,/ But be the serpent under 't"'
• Lady Macbeth is as ambitious as her husband, and she's the brains behind Duncan's murder
• By the end of the play, Lady Macbeth's tough attitude gives way to terrible guilt
• Duncan


  • He's kind and trusting
  • He puts Scotland's needs ahead of his own
• Duncan


  Contrasts with Macbeth, who is a bad king - a tyrant who's feared and hated
• Duncan isn't a soldier like Macbeth or Macduff - he's gentler and less aggressive
• Duncan shows his emotions, which might have been seen as unmanly at the time
• Malcolm


  • He's fair and honest, like his father
  • He develops into a confident leader
• Malcolm and Donalbain don't react impulsively to their father's murder
• Malcolm eventually returns to Scotland with an army and proves himself a strong leader
• Banquo


  • He's more honourable than Macbeth
  • He doesn't trust the Witches
• Banquo suspects Macbeth murdered Duncan but doesn't act on his suspicions
• Macbeth is haunted by Banquo's ghost, showing his guilt
• Macduff


  • He's honest and sincere, in contrast to Macbeth
  • He puts his country before his family
• Macduff is overcome with grief when he discovers his family has been murdered
• Lady Macduff can't understand her husband's actions in leaving them unprotected
• Lady Macduff: '"All my pretty ones?"'
• Macduff: '"All my pretty ones? / Did you say all?"'
• Macduff's reaction shows he won the ability to show emotion as an important part of his masculinity
• Macduff kills Macbeth both to put the rightful heir on the throne and to avenge his family
• Macduff says his wife and children will haunt him until he kills Macbeth
• Lady Macduff can't understand her husband's actions
• Lady Macduff shows courage as she comforts her son, calling him "Poor bird"
• The scene where Macduff learns about his family's death is one of the saddest bits of the play
• The Witches


  • They have supernatural powers
  • They are known as the Weird Sisters
  • They speak in short lines that rhyme
  • Their appearance is misleading
• The Witches don't tell Macbeth to murder Duncan
• The Witches make prophecies but they never explain how they will happen
• The Witches take advantage of Macbeth's ambition and use it to control him
• Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft and she's angry at Macbeth's behaviour so she uses the apparitions to punish him
• Shakespeare doesn't make it clear whether the Witches' prophecies are inevitable or whether Macbeth could have changed his fate
• The Porter provides comic relief in between the darker, more tragic parts of the plot
• The Three Murderers show how ruthless Macbeth has become
• The Three Murderers also kill Lady Macduff and her children on Macbeth's orders, showing his desperation and cruelty
• Siward is an English Lord who helps Malcolm defeat Macbeth
• There are a few other minor characters such as the Doctor and the Gentlewoman who help to move the plot along and develop the themes
• Ambition


  The main theme in Macbeth
• Macbeth's ambition makes him act against his morals and better judgement