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AQA English Literature
Macbeth
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Michelle Egbe
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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