Macbeth

• Shakespeare‘s intentions

  Shakespeare used ‘Macbeth’ to warn audiences (both contemporary and modern day) of the consequences of unrestrained ambition and corruption.
• Macbeth’s character arch

  Arguably, Macbeth is a tragic hero because he begins the play as ‘brave’ Macbeth, a loyal servant to King Duncan, but due to his hamartia - ambition, he descends into a life of sin and suffering.
• Macbeth’s downfall

  Macbeth’s downfall leads to him becoming the ‘dead butcher’ having destroyed the peace of Scotland and loosing the ability to reason and feel regret for his action.
• Lady Macbeth ‘come you spirits ... unsex me here’


  Lady Macbeth rejects her feminine qualities believing they will restrict her ability to support her husband in gaining the ‘golden round’ (referring to the crown). The use of the imperatives and the commanding tone reflects her assertiveness and determination, subverting traditional gender roles and embraces qualities associated with masculinity.
• Shakespear’s intentions

  Shakespeare condemns Macbeth’s desire for power because he disrupts the Great Chain of Being through regicide and treachery. Macbeth’s actions reflect the Gun Powder Plot which tried to threaten James I’s rule and arguably, the play was a reaction to this treachery.
• Hamartia


  A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic here (Macbeth’s is his ‘vaulting ambition’)
• Divine right of king


  The idea that kings had been chosen by God and were his representatives on Earth. These kings had absolute power and could do as they liked. They expected total obedience from the people they ruled. Macbeth was not the divinely chosen ruler his reign was corrupted. Shakespeare then explores the consequences of assassinating the divinely chosen king.
• The Jacobean era was intensely religious and witchcraft was sinful as it was of the devil and of god


  Religion
• 'I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, only vaulting ambition' - Macbeth


  • The absence of an external 'spur' suggests Macbeth's ambition is an intrinsic thought driven by his own desires. The metaphor of his 'vaulting ambition' suggests his willingness to metaphorically leap over normal boundaries to achieve his goals. The use of first person 'I' conveys the personal dilemma Macbeth is dealing with as a result of his ambition linking to how he cannot come to terms with disrupting the great chain of being.