Macbeth

• Key quotes from act 1 scene 3

  “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” - a paradoxical comment from the witches

  “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” - the witches prophecy that sparks MacBeths ambition
• Key quotes from act 1 scene 5

  “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” - lady Macbeths ambition to kill Duncan

  “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ’t.” - lady Macbeth advising Macbeth to act innocent
• Key quote in act 1 scene 7

  “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition” - Macbeth battles his own conscious and acknowledges that is motive to murder is ambition
• Key quotes in act 2 scene 1

  “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?” - Macbeth hallucinates a bloody dagger reflects his mental turmoil and moral confusion
• Key quotes from act 2 scene 2

  “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” - Macbeth expresses his guilt and realises he can’t erases the consequences of his actions
• Key quotes from act 3 scene 4

  “I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.” - Macbeth notes that he is too deep in his bloody deeds to stop
• (Lady Macduff) 'when our actions do not, our fears make us traitors'


  they are innocent of bad deeds but they're doubt and dislike of Macbeth's rule makes them traitors

  shows Macbeth's tyranny
• (Lady Macduff) 'to leave his wife, to leave his babes'

  'he loves us not'


  feels betrayed by Macduff as he has left his family to go to England

  feels Macduff prioritises Scotland over his family - shows he is patriotic
• (Lady Macduff) 'for the poor wren, The most diminutive of birds, will fight, Her young ones in her nest, against the owl.'


  animal imagery continuously used throughout the play

  The wren leaves the nest to fight the owl, leaving her chicks vulnerable. In the same way, Macduff has left his "nest" to fight Macbeth (the "owl"), leaving Lady Macduff and her children vulnerable to attack.
• (Ross talking about Macduff) 'he is noble, wise, judicious'


  Macduff contrasts everything Macbeth is

  theme of good vs evil
• (Ross) 'but cruel are the times, when we are traitors and do not know ourselves'


  References to time are an important aspect of Macbeth and as time passes in the play, events become more intense and consequences more significant.

  Being able to see into the future, as Macbeth believes the Witches are able to do, gives a sense of power to his actions. Both he and his wife seem in a hurry to realise their ambitions before time catches up with them.

  As with the other key words, the main effect of repetition is to make sure that the audience or reader knows that this aspect is important. Time seems to pass more quickly as the play progresses and this adds to the tension as the play moves towards its final climax
• (Ross) 'when we hold rumour from what we fear, yet know not what we fear'

  there is a subtle theme of ambiguity here, which also plays a big role in the play - deception and masking the truth.

  Macduff states "we believe in frightening rumours but we don't even know what we're afraid of" which you can relate to the unnatural tone of this entire play. There is much that can be inferred from this, as it's meaning is reasonably widespread

  He doesn't know what has caused Macbeth, a man who was once a hero, to become such a tyrant. He doesn't know the extent of Macbeth's crimes, or the people he has killed to become king. All he knows is that Macbeth is to be feared, but that they cannot say anything against him or fear death.
• (Ross) 'but float upon a wild and violent sea'

  metaphor emphasising how Macbeth's rule has brought uncertainty and brutality to Scotland

  An example of pathetic fallacy, relating to the chaos of state in Scotland. Under Macbeth's reign, Scotland's pandemonium is comparable to that of a violent sea
• (Ross) 'things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward'


  suggests if Macduff doesn't go to England things in Scotland will only get worse - Macduff is trying to find the truth about Macbeth
• (Lady Macduff) 'Father'd he is, and yet he is fatherless'

  A paradoxical term, relates to the theme of the supernatural, as the witches say "fair is foul and foul is fair", which also paradoxical. They also say that Macbeth will not be defeated by anyone who is of woman born, foreshadowing that Macduff is the one to defeat Macbeth.

  suggests Macduff isn't good in his family role
• (Lady Macduff) 'Sirrah, your father's dead'


  Here, the dialogue between Lady Macduff and her son shows their maternal bond. The caring character of Lady Macduff contrasts with Lady Macbeth, who would've 'dashed the brains out' of her own child (1.7.58).

  This links to the theme of good and evil.

  Lady Macduff and her son also speaks in prose, which makes the scene feel natural and homely. This makes the murders even more shocking and horrible.
• (Son) 'as birds do mother'


  A biblical reference, Matthew 6:26 'Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grains in barns. Yet you Father in heaven feeds them'

  This shows how pure and innocent the Macduffs are, contrasting with the Macbeths, and also links with the them of good and evil.

  The Macduffs are holy, and believe that God will help them.
• (Lady Macduff) 'what, with worms and flies'

  References food chain, birds being predators of worms and flies. Reinforces the importance of the Great Chain of Being and God's hierarchy.

  Reflects Macbeth's sinful actions against God.
• (Lady Macduff) 'Poor bird! thou'ldst never fear the net nor the lime'

  the imagery of birds being seen as fragile. symbolising the idea that life is fragile - hints at their imminent deaths
• (Son and Lady Macduff) 'was my father a traitor, mother'

  'ay, that he was'


  he may not be a traitor of his country but Lady Macduff feels abandoned and betrayed by her husband
• (Lady Macduff) 'everyone that does so is a traitor, and must be hanged'


  This amplifies the consequences of treachery, as well as portrays that Lady Macbeth - the mastermind of the plan to commit regicide - is equally as guilty as Macbeth, despite Lady Macbeth physically not committing a crime.
• (Son) 'Then the liars and swearers are fools, For there are liars and swearers enow to beat The honest men and hang up them.'


  theme of appearance vs reality - suggests no one can be truly good and honest

  This conversation gives an innocent perception of tyranny and the order Macbeth has created, corrupting nature and innocence.

  Similarly, the conversation foreshadows the battle between Macduff and Macbeth, respectively symbolising good and evil, honest men and liars
• (Lady Macduff) 'poor prattler, how thou talk'st'


  suggest the son cannot truly understand the world yet - reinforcing his innocence and therefore emphasing the tyranny and cruelness of Macbeth
• (Messenger) 'with your little ones'


  emphasises Macbeth's ruthlessness as he would so easily kill an innocent
• (Messenger) 'Heaven preserve you!


  shows their goodness compared to Macbeth

  theme of good vs evil
• (Lady Macduff) 'I am in this earthly world; where to do harm Is often laudable, to do good sometime Accounted dangerous folly'


  theme of appearance vs reality - as being good can lead to your demise but to do evil could bring great rewards
• (1st Murderer and Lady Macduff) 'Where is your husband?'

  'I hope, in no place so unsanctified Where such as thou mayst find him.'

  The "worthy" Macduff is given holy references compared to the "devilish Macbeth" (4.3).

  The holy appearance of Macduff allows him to contrast the evil acts of Macbeth's murderers in this scene
• (First Murderer to Son) 'what, you egg'


  He is calling someone an egg to draw attention to their youth, suggesting they're so young that they've not hatched yet - reinforces the brutality and tyranny of Macbeth
• (Son) 'he has kill'd me mother'

  extent of Macbeth's evil and loss of conscience and he has so easily planned and committed the murder of a child

  This is where many (especially modern) audiences would lose faith in Macbeth. Before this incident, Macbeth had killed Duncan, however, as a king, Duncan would have expected challenges to his throne, and was naive enough to trust in Macbeth even through the previous thane of Cawdor had also been a traitor. In comparison, Macduff's family have done nothing wrong; they are not in Macbeth's way and are innocent of any crimes against him
• (Son) 'run away, I pray you'


  Echoes Banquo's final lines to Fleance. This shows Young Macduff to be noble and courageous (like Banquo).

  The son is more honourable than Macbeth, supposedly a mighty warrior. This emphasizes how ungodly Macbeth has become. Also, the sons of the house would be the ones to carry on the family name.

  By killing Macduff's son(s), Macbeth is (as far as we know) killing Macduff's bloodline which, considering Banquo's prophecy and Jacobean culture, is a fate worse than death.
• Key quotes from act 5 scene 5

  “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow” - Macbeth’s speech symbolises the fleeting nature of life and his feeling of despair and meaningless
• Key quotes from act 5 scene 8

  “Then yield thee, coward!” - MacDuff challenges MacBeth, signifying his downfall and the consequences of his overvaulting ambition
• What are the themes in MacBeth

  Power, gender, ambition, greed, guilt
• What is the paragraph structure for question 1a.

  PEAEAEA

  point evidence analyse evidence analyse evidence analyse
• What is the paragraph structure for question 1b.

  ETCH

  evidence theme context how