macbeth

• macbeth voilence - act one: 'disdaining fortune... smok'd with bloody execution'


  'smok'd' could connote heat and hell, foreshadowing his evil actions. the phrase 'distaining fortune' shows a disregard for his fate, and his attempt to manipulate the natural order.
• macbeth violence - act three: in time will venom breed/ no teeth for th'present'


  macbeth acknowledges his tumultuous fortune as a result of his violent nature, yet his hubris (pride) blinds him into a false sense of security suggesting that danger is yet imminent.
• macbeth voilence - act four: 'his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls'


  the murder of macduf's family is emblematic of macbeth's excessive bloodthirst, they presented no threat to him yet he is now on an unstoppable trajectory of murder. macbeth takes on the godly role of deciding who has the right to live.
• macbeth violence - act five: 'before my body, i throw my war like a sheild'


  the noun 'shield' connotes protection, it shows macbeth desperately wants to protect his former noble image as being a 'worthy' and 'valiant' soldier. as his last words contain a violent semantic field, it depicts how his ambitious and violent nature has directly caused his fall from grace.
• macbeth ambition - act one: 'valour's minion'


  the noun 'minion' could foreshadow his susceptibility to manipulation and how he will soon act as the marionette of the witches. highlights his character decline, as he goes from being the 'minion' of bravery to a murderous 'tyrant'
• macbeth ambition - act one: 'i have no spur, [...] only vaulting ambition'


  'the noun 'spur' acts as a metaphor for other potential motives for the killing. macbeth concludes he has no other reason to kill king duncan. he decides not to kill him, but his confidence is diminished when lady mcbeth walks in and threatens his masculinity. she then manipulates and degrades macbeth until he agrees to follow her plan. two situations are an example of a juxtaposition. illustrates how lady macbeth's tireless and overpowering ambition influences macbeth's decision making.
• macbeth ambition - act one: ' he hath wisdom that doth guides his valour to act in safety'


  TO BANQUO

  banquo is presented as being a foil character to macbeth, as unlike banquo macbeth embodies reckless power, which he abuses, whereas banquo has self-constraint and control. macbeth is envious (7 deadly sins) of banquo's ability to keep his ambition under control and refrain from acting on his 'desires'.
• macbeth ambition - act five: 'life is but a walking shadow... it is a tale... signifying nothing'


  macbeth now understands the futility of his ambition. moreover, the noun 'tale' extends the idea that the witches prophecies were like a sinister nursery rhyme - they speak in rhyming couplets which almost parody their dialogue.
• macbeth supernatural - act one: 'why do you dress me in borrow'd robes?'


  suggests he has been awarded a title that does not belong to him. it shows that throughout the play he moves through the hierarchical ranking. it is superficial and temporary, much like clothes. he does not believe he should be called thane of cawdor and should give the tittle back to those who deserve it. significant he has been awarded this by the supernatural.
• macbeth supernatural - act four: 'tell me' and'call em'


  TO WITCHES

  he speaks with imperative phrases - he is driven by greed and a hunger for power which can never be fulfilled, he intentionally approaches the witches highlighting how he has embraced his new tyrannical demeanor.
• macbeth supernatural - act four: threatens the witches with an 'eternal curse'


  almost ironic as we have seen their overt power, which he believes he can supersede. his mammoth ego is prevalent as the witches apparitions provide him a surreal sense of security and invincibility. adjective 'eternal' reveals how macbeth believes he will always be able to access this proposed power, but may link to hell. foreshadows his demise: hell is an eternal place of fiery torture.
• macbeth appearance vs reality - act one: 'let no light see my black and deep desires'


  paradoxes continue to plague his speech with 'black' and 'fire' juxtaposing one another. 'fire' creates irreversible damage, foreshadowing how his duplicitous facade will create irreversible damage.
• macbeth appearance vs reality - act three: 'make our faces vizards to our heart'


  'vizards' suggests they should wear masks to conceal and hide their true evil nature. closely resembles 'look like th'innocent flower'. he is a puppet of the evil influence.
• macbeth guilt - act two: 'macbeth does murder sleep'


  macbeth has just killed duncan and is being consumed by this inescapable guilt. his guilty conscious causing him to loose sleep as his mind is riddled with remorse - shakespeare warns those who wanted against king james 1. he is unstable and uncapable of rest now he has committed regicide. sleep symbolises a guilty conscious. creates a sense of ambition as macbeth may be relating to how he murdered the king during his sleep. forever haunted.
• macbeth guilt - act two: 'will all great neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?'


  refers to literal blood on his hands, but also his sense of guilt. 'neptune's ocean' implies that the blood could stain all the worlds ocean's red. the use of the god 'neptune's' implies the consequences of his actions which will not be easily hidden as no amount of 'water' will ever remove his sin. the motif blood is used throughout the play to symbolise guilt. 'my hand' macbeth is the architecture of his own demise.
• macbeth guilt - act three: 'never shake thy gory locks at me'


  verb 'gory' is suggestive that banquo's ghost is a physical manifestation of his violence. structurally the murders enter the banquet before macbeth, exacerbating how his kingship is unnatural as hes disrupted the divine right of kings
• macbeth gender - act one: 'coward'


  the insult which threatens his entire sense of being a solder, not only is she questioning his masculinity but also his livelihood. portrays macbeth as weak and vulnerable - these were qualities which failed to align with the ideal masculine archetype of the era
• macbeth kingship - act three: 'in his house i keep a servant fee'd'


  macbeth as paranoid. he no longer trusts any of his nobles as he is worried they will turn on him like he did duncan. he has spies everywhere. consumed by paranoia. shakespeare reveals that actions have consequences. macbeth rules in fear as he is a 'tyrant' with no morals. lead him to become overly fearful of his nobles