macbeth

• Eponymous hero


  The title is the same name as the main character
• Ambition


  The dramatic catalyst that drives the plot and creates character change
• Ambition


  Linked to witches and murder
• Macbeth: 'Igo, and it is done'
• Macbeth as a tragic hero


  • He is brought down by his own actions
  • Macbeth was once a 'hero'
• Storyline - Act 1


  1. 3 witches meeting + arrange to meet Macbeth (first mention of Macbeth) = establishes the witches having power over the events in the play/characters

  2. Captain gives report on the battle to Duncan + praises Macbeth (we learn he is to be given 'thane of cawdor's title)

  3. Witches meet on a heath, Macbeth + Banquo arrive = give both prophecies

  4. Macbeth wants to know more, told he is now thane of cawdow by Ross + Agnus

  5. Banquo skeptical

  6. Macbeth + Banquo return to palace to meet Duncan who thanks them for their heroism + announces his son Malcolm is next heir to throne

  7. Lady Macbeth reads letter from Macbeth explaining witches prophecies- doubts he is strong enough but determined to help him, they plan to kill Duncan

  8. Banquo + Duncan arrive at Macbeth's castle + describe it similarly to Eden, Lady Macbeth greets them

  9. Macbeth doesn't want to kill Duncan but Lady Macbeth persuades him by insulting him + his masculinity
• King James I


  • Scottish born and raised
  • First monarch to rule over England, Scotland + Ireland at the same time
  • Patron (funded) of the King's Men, Shakespeare's company
  • Very religious
  • Staunchly against witchcraft + supernatural
• King James I's link to play

  • Central themes tailed to fit his interest; treason, regicide, the supernatural + characteristics of power
  • Staunch believer in 'divine right of kings + great chain of being'
  • Like James, Banquo's characters is of scottish nobility thus emphasises Jame's ancient royal lineage
• Divine right of kings

  • Belief asserting that a monarch derived their authority from God (+ God's will is passed down thru royal family)
  • Thus any attempt to depose or murder the king is an attempt on God himself (blasphemy + treason)
  • Remnants seen in modern day; Pope rules over the Catholic church by divine appointment
• Divine rights of kings link to play


  • Shakespeare's time; an accepted aspect of the monarchy = reflected in S. writing
  • Could be argue; S.'s portrayal of Duncan's murder as 'an act against God' was intended to please his king + patron
• Great chain of being

  • Belief that God created the world w/ a clear hierarchical structure encompassing all matter and life
  • Monarch at the top of human order = choices have religious/political significance
  • Men higher than women (expected to be subordinate)
  • Considered a fact of life * a religious belief in S.'s time
• Great chain of being link to play


  • Macbeth violates the great chain of being when he kills King Duncan
  • By betraying his superior = thus God
  • On a smaller scale; when Lady Macbeth emasculates him + forces him into regicide
• Daemonologie


  • A book written by James I to emphasise his disdain for witchcraft
  • Dictate the punishment that should be given for practising them
  • Consulted by people of the time as an educational (didactic) book
• Daemonologie link to play


  • Scholars wonder if S. depiction of witches was a deliberate attempt to appeal the king
  • As they hit most of Jame's expectations: control weather, create potions + propensity for chanting
• Religion + the 7 deadly sins

  • James I; influential person in the Church of England thus S. depiction catered towards him tho likely S. was religious himself = a response to the prevalence of religion at the time
  • 7 deadly sins - group of vices (bad/undesirable trait): pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth
  • Committing any one considered to be straying away from God's will = creating distance between person + God (room for devil's influence)
• Seven deadly sins link to play


  • Macbeth; guilty of pride, anger, envy, greed = death (punishment)
  • Lady Macbeth; guity of pride, greed = punished for her actions against God (death)
• Patriarchy


  • A social system in which men hold power + women face oppression from them
  • Great chain of being dictates men as superior = leads to patriarchal social system
  • Role of men more significant in S. period but even today; more men in positions of power, often paid more
• The patriarchy link to play


  • Country led by a male monarch supported by male subjects
  • Lady Macbeth consistently subverts patriarchal expectations of women
• Macbeth: 'Smok'd w/bloody execution (connotes heat + hell, foreshadowing his evil)<|>Disdaining fortune (disregard for his fate + his attempt to manipulate the natural order)'
• Macbeth: 'In time will venom breed/no teeth for th'present (acknowledges his tumultuous fortune as a result of his violent nature, yet his hubris blinds him into a false sense of security)'
• Macbeth: 'I am in blood/ stepp'd in so far (blood was merely on his hands, yet now it has enrobed his entire body + by extension his entire being, feels he has no choice but to further indulge in his heinous acts)'
• Macbeth: 'His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls (their murders are emblematic of Macbeth's excessive bloodthirst, they presented no threat but he is now on an unstoppable trajectory of murder, Macbeth takes on the Godly role of deciding who has the right to live)'
• Macbeth: 'Before my body, I throw my war like shield (connotes protection, shows Macbeth desperately wants to protect + preserve his former noble image of him being a "worthy" + "valiant" soldier, last words contain violent semantic field = ambitious + violent nature has directly caused his fall from grace)'
• Valour's minion


  Strongly abides to codes of honour
• Minion

  Foreshadows his susceptibility to manipulation as he will soon be a marionette (puppet) of the witches
• Vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other

  Verb 'vaulting' describes Macbeth's mammoth ego (his hamartia)
• Vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other

  Personification makes ambition appear like a human-like force, controlling + plaguing his innocent mind
• Vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other

  Metaphor likens Macbeth to a jokey riding his ambition
• Vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other


  His ambition is akin to a barbaric animal
• With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design


  Macbeth ambitiously wants to emulate Tarquin, a Roman tyrant who raped his wife
• With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design


  He will be a barbaric tyrant who feels no pity as his ambition + hubris obstructs his moral compass
• With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design


  He sees power synonymous with brutality and being a tyrant
• He hath wisdom that doth guide his valour to act in safety

  Banquo is a foil to Macbeth
• He hath wisdom that doth guide his valour to act in safety


  Macbeth embodies reckless power whereas Banquo has self-constraint + control
• He hath wisdom that doth guide his valour to act in safety


  Macbeth is envious (7 deadly sin) of Banquo's ability to restrain his ambition + refrain from over-indulgence into 'deep desires'
• So foul and fair a day I have not seen


  Echo the witches's paradox
• So foul and fair a day I have not seen


  Slowly becoming a mouthpiece for the witches evil
• So foul and fair a day I have not seen

  He is a vessel for their misconduct
• Why do you dress me in borrow'd robes

  Suggests he has been awarded a title that doesn't belong to him (by supernatural)
• Why do you dress me in borrow'd robes


  Shows throughout the play as he moves through the hierarchal ranking, it is superficial + transient (temporary), much like clothes