Context

Cards (28)

  • Tragedy
    Plays that tell stories about people who make errors and suffer, where the main characters often die at the end
  • Macbeth
    • Can be classified as a tragedy
  • Downfall
    The characters begin the play in happy situations and end up in terrible ones
  • Macbeth's downfall
    • He is viewed as a hero at the start for brutally killing enemies, but later kills people for his own selfish needs, causing tragedy for others
  • Causes of tragedy
    • Wider forces (fate)
    • Villains
    • Tragic characters with flaws
  • The witches reveal prophecies to Macbeth
    Macbeth becomes obsessed with achieving his fate
  • Villains
    Characters who cause tragedy, such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
  • Macbeth murders King Duncan, who trusted him as a friend
  • Macbeth hires men to murder Banquo and his sons, fearing they will seize power
  • Macbeth sends men to murder Macduff's wife and son, as he fears Macduff will cause him problems
  • Tragic characters with flaws
    • They have a flaw (error) in their character, such as ambition or immorality, which leads them to make mistakes of judgement
  • Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's decision to chase power and ambition leads them to murder many people
  • The guilt from these murders leads Lady Macbeth to die, likely by suicide
  • Macbeth's murder of Macduff's family leads to his own death
  • Macbeth and Lady Macbeth suffer because of their own greed and bad judgments
  • Macbeth's chase for power means he loses his own wife, and others try to stop him because he keeps killing anyone he feels threatened by
  • Ultimately, Macbeth causes his own downfall
  • Supernatural
    Events that happen which cannot be explained
  • Supernatural events in Macbeth
    • Ghosts
    • Floating dagger
    • Powerful witches who make prophecies
  • Witches in the 17th century
    • People were very fearful of witchcraft and the supernatural
    • Witchcraft was seen as responsible for everything bad that happened in life
    • Belief that people who gained these supernatural powers had made a pact with the Devil
  • James I
    • King of England who was especially superstitious and fearful of witches
    • Saw hundreds of people burnt at the stake for witchcraft whilst he was King of Scotland
    • Called witchcraft "high treason against God"
    • Insisted on hanging witches - even people who were just accused of the crime or just had a strange mark on their body
  • Women in Jacobean times
    • Expected to be subordinate to their husbands
    • Could be beaten if they argued with their husbands
    • Parents raised women to believe that men were more important
  • It was definitely not expected that a man would treat his wife as an equal
  • Shakespeare's leading women
    • Strong characters, possibly a reflection of having Elizabeth I on the throne just before James I
    • In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth seems to be a very powerful character who encourages her husband to murder King Duncan and pressures him
  • Macbeth develops a hunger for power which, overtakes his care for his wife
  • Expectations of men with status
    • Behave in an honourable way
    • Show qualities like loyalty and bravery
  • Macbeth begins the play
    Brave and honourable, risking his life to fight for his king and country
  • Macbeth later
    Dishonours himself by being disloyal to King Duncan and his other comrades