macbeth themes

• Ambition

  Motivates Macbeth to commit terrible deeds
• Ambition can spiral out of control
• Macbeth originally considers the morality of killing Duncan


  But does not hesitate Killing Banquo
• Once Macbeth starts committing murder

  He kills more to secure his position (using threat as power)
• The play is a warning against ambition that is not balanced by reasons or morals
• Ambition is Macbeth's biggest weakness
• In Shakespeare's tragedies, the hero is usually a noble person with a fatal flaw leading to their downfall
• Lady Macbeth

  She sees the difference from being ambitious and acting on ambition (what Macbeth does). She pressures Macbeth and states he is "not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it", believing Macbeth is not ruthless enough to take action to get what he wants
• Macbeth's reluctance to kill Duncan

  Shows that he is moral but his ambition overpowers his actions, therefore acting against his morals
• Ambition also makes Macbeth act against his better judgement

  He knows ambition "o'erleaps itself and falls"
• This foreshadows Macbeth's own tragic downfall
• Characters not corrupted by ambition

  • Malcolm
  • Macduff
  • Banquo
• Shakespeare uses religious references to show how corrupting Macbeth's ambition is
• Macbeth says that if killing Duncan has no earthly consequences, he would "jump the life to come", rejecting a fundamental aspect of Christianity
• This would have made Macbeth's ambition even more immoral to Elizabethan audiences
• Loyalty

  Shown to different things: country, king, beliefs
• The Macbeths pretend to be loyal while plotting against the king
• Macbeth is initially loyal to the king but puts his own desires above loyalty
• Lady Macbeth fakes an appearance of loyalty while plotting Duncan's murder
• Macbeth suddenly becomes king, even though he's not the heir to the throne
• Duncan

  Ideal king, described as gracious and inspiring loyalty in his subjects
• Macbeth

  A tyrant, rarely referred to as "king"
• Under Duncan's reign the country is ordered, whereas under Macbeth's reign the natural order is overturned
• Malcolm's views on good and bad kings

  • Good: holy, surrounded by blessings, full of grace
  • Bad: avaricious, false, deceitful, bloody
• Macbeth is a "noble person who has potential for greatness" but is led astray by ambition and power
• Cruelty and aggression are linked to masculinity


  Lady Macbeth wants to have these violent features but relies on manipulation rather than physical force
• The witches' gender is ambiguous, like Lady Macbeth they rely on manipulation rather than physical force
• Witches


  Have "strange intelligence" and ability to predict the future, giving them power over humans. They drive the action of the play and influence Macbeth heavily.
• Macbeth sees supernatural visions

  They represent his guilty conscience
• Appearances can be deceptive, characters often hide their thoughts and pretend to be something they're not</b>
• The witches use paradoxical and unclear language to trick Macbeth and convince him of a false reality
• Some characters trust too much in appearances, like Duncan trusting Macbeth
• Macbeth knows reality and appearances don't always match up, but he trusts the witches' prophecies which leads to his downfall
• Fate


  The idea that everything has already been decided, so people can't change what happens to them
• Free will


  Humans choose their own course of action, so their future is made up of the results of their own choices
• Macbeth seems to believe in fate

  But he also makes deliberate choices, suggesting he has free will
• Some of the prophecies are self-fulfilling, suggesting Macbeth has free will