Macbeth

• "I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as going o'er"


  -Quote comes prior to Macbeth killing Macduff's family and demonstrates his blood lust

  -Links to James 1 because it is Shakespeare using Macbeth's blood lust as an example as to why James 1 shouldn't retaliate against the gunpowder plot by killing Catholics

  -Links to the theme of violence because the metaphor of stepping into a river of blood conveys his blood lust which could be his reason for becoming king along with his ambition
• 'What's done cannot be undone'


  - What Lady Macbeth says after Macbeth kills Duncan

  - Means the violence that has started will keep spiralling and has no end

  - Links to The Great Chain of being because it is fixed, same as what Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth about fate - neither can be changed. Since Macbeth is not destined to be king, he will not be king. Both link to fate

  - Links to the patriarchy - a woman's role in society is fixed and cannot be undone. When Lady Macbeth tries to change this she is punished as she kills herself and goes to Hell as per the beliefs of the time
• 'It will have blood they say; blood will have blood'


  - 'It' and 'they' shows Macbeth is afraid to voice the real identity of this force - Satan. It shows how transgressive Macbeth is being and how he knows this but cannot voice/admit it

  - Repetition of 'blood' links to Macbeth's blood lust which drove him to so much killing

  - repetition of 'will' links to Macbeth's idea of fate and how he has no control of what is guaranteed to happen
• 'Methought I heard a voice cry sleep no more!'


  - Macbeth says this after he kills Duncan

  - Links to Christianity and how God is punishing Macbeth for breaking the great chain of being

  - Shakespeare wants to flatter the king by pointing out to the nobles that they should avoid regicide because it will make them insane - especially relevant due to the gunpowder plot
• 'Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand'


  - Metaphor links to Christianity as he is being punished by God for acting against god by breaking the great chain of being as well as verbally going against him by naming a Roman God. His own imagery condemns him to the audience - A Jacobean audience would pick up Macbeth's hubris

  - Links to James I as Shakespeare is saying it would be unchristian to turn against your king and you shall be punished by God

  - Mention of 'blood' once again shows Macbeth's ambition is both blood lust and being king
• 'I have no spur to prick he sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition that o'er leaps itself and falls on the other'


  - Macbeth's ambition is pricked Lady Macbeth. the patriarchy is being subverted by Lady Macbeth as she takes the power from Macbeth which is unexpected in patriarchal Jacobean England.

  - Macbeth's hamartia cannot be his ambition because he says that he has 'o'er leaping ambition' but this alone doesn't cause him to do anything. it is Lady Macbeth and his blood lust

  - Macbeth knows he will likely fail as he states his ambition will 'fall on the other'
• 'false face must hide what the false heart doth know' 


  - Macbeth places great trust in his wife, allowing her to direct him like this which subverts the patriarchy. An attack on society because woman are known to be worse than me due to original sin - linking to Christianity which is a key part of Jacobean society

  - alliteration shows the audience's disgust due to the aggressive nature of the fricative sound which contrasts Macbeth's opinion

  - Shakespeare asks the question ' how can women gain power in society?' if only through men, does society cause women to become manipulative?
• 'Look like th'innocent flower but be the serpent under't' 


  - Links to Christianity with the serpent which is the one in the Grade of Eden that causes the original sin. Suggests that Macbeth has been tempted to kill like the serpent tempts Adam and Eve. Alternatively, some may disagree and think it's Macbeth's Hubris that lead to his killing as he believes he can get away with it

  - Shakespeare could be demonising Lady Macbeth for breaking the patriarchy
• 'Yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full o'the milk of human kindness' 


  - Places Lady Macbeth in the place of Eve tempting Adam

  - Macbeth knows he needs Lady Macbeth as he doesn't have in it himself alone. He needs to be emasculated to encourage him to murder as his 'o'er leaping ambition' alone won't drive him to kill Duncan
• ' I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares do more is none' 


  - Macbeth is stating that he knows his place in the great chain of being. He cannot become king is even if he wants to because he is only a man.

  - repetition of 'dare' shows Macbeth's hubris and arrogance

  - Links to patriarchy. Macbeth can 'dare' things as a man but not Lady Macbeth because she is a woman
• 'There's daggers in men's smiles'


  - From Donalbain

  - noun 'men' suggests men are at fault and is another attack on the patriarchy. Woman are reacting to their powerless state by turning to other means of power like the supernatural

  - Shakespeare is questioning what makes men so brutal and blood thirty and the answer lays in the fact that it is a Martial society in which those who kill (soldiers) succeed
• 'By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes'


  - Macbeth is described as 'wicked' by the witches which shows that by transgressing against not only society but God too, Macbeth has become this malevolent supernatural force that the witches can sense

  - Macbeth's 'supernatural' force may be a real thing and not a trick form the words of the witches Maybe he could've killed thousands had Macduff not arrived and Macduff arrives because Macbeth has killed his family. Thus Macbeth has sealed his own fate.
• 'Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle titled towards my hand. Come, let me clutch thee' 


  - This is a warning from fate. It proves that Macbeth is responsible all along as he conjures up the dagger

  - alliteration of 'come' and 'clutch' are cacophony and such harsh sounds reinforce the idea that Macbeth is ordering the dagger to come to him so he can kill. He is blood thirsty.

  - Pleases James I as this is Shakespeare's warning to the nobles that should they thinking about killing James I they will be struck down by God
• 'Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron boil.'


  - Trochaic tetrameter mimics a child's rhyme. Suggests that perhaps Shakespeare could be subtly mocking James I belief in witches.

  - repetition of 'double' could suggest the Witches equivocation as they play two sides. Also may hint at their use of 'double' meanings to mislead or obscure the truth from Macbeth.
• 'Fair is foul and foul is fair'


  - Nihilistic view of the world - nothing matters

  - Asks why we shouldn't just pursue our ambitions which questions the great chain of being and Christianity.

  - Quote is at the start of the play and the rest of the play serves to show the audience as to why ambition shouldn't be pursued.

  Macbeth's male ambition has been thwarted but the witches ambition to destroy Macbeth has been realised, All they did was show him the future, doing little else - showing they are powerless in the patriarchy. Fricative to reinforce Shakespeare frustration
• 'Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me from the crown to toe, topful of the direst cruelty'


  - since e Lady Macbeth must 'unsex' herself and turn to the supernatural too gain power, it shows how powerless she is in the patriarchy. She must go to extreme lengths.

  - Lady Macbeth's ambition is highlighted when she refers to her head as her 'crown' which shows how badly she wants to be in power

  - Criticism of men. To become male, Lady Macbeth must be filled with 'direst cruelty'. Patriarchal society causes men to become cruel
• 'Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.' 


  - Metaphor. It suggests life is written by someone else. Macbeth has changed from a nihilistic view to believing his life is controlled by someone. He is against God which may have arisen from lady Macbeth's death. Macbeth is angry with the script writer

  - Macbeth goes against the Great chain of being, instead suggesting that life is about trying to better ones condition. This would resonate with a modern audience.
• 'It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing'


  - Nihilistic again. Macbeth thinks life is meaningless. However it is also an attack on God, calling him an idiot and attacking him for creating a christian society. A complete attack on society.

  
  

  Macbeth has now lost everything. He is completely hopeless
• "I fear thou play'dst most folly for it"

  • -Banquo admits his suspicions Macbeth was the murderer of Duncan.-concerned and suspicious-echoes the words of the Witches "foul"-doesn't use "fair" because it is clear to him that Macbeth's actions are foul
• "He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust."


  Duncan's forgiveness shows that he was a truly good and noble king.
• Bleed, bleed, poor country!

  shows macduffs nobility and concern for his country
• "Tyrant, show thy face!... My wife and children’s ghosts will haunt me still."

  macduff seeks to avenge his family
• "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth”.


  perhaps macduff is the key to the witches prophecy. they single him out in their speech
• 'Thine and my poor country’s to command.’


  • malcolm as a lowly King