macbeth

• act 1

  duncan plans to reward macbeth with the title thane of cawdor for defeating rebel forces in battle.

  the witches prophesy that macbeth will be thane of cawdor and it comes true.

  macbeth and lady macbeth begin to plan duncans murder.
• act 2

  macbeth sees visions of a dagger.

  he murders duncan.

  macduff finds duncans body.

  duncans sons and malcom and donalbain run away in fear of their lives.

  macduff doesnt attend macbeths coronation.
• act 3

  banquo suspects macbeth so macbeth orders for banquo and his son killed but his son escaped.

  banquos ghost appears at the banquet.

  macduff flees to england leaving his wife and kids.
• act 4

  macbeth orders the murder of macduffs wife and children.

  malcom tests the loyalty of macduff.

  macduff vows to kill macbeth.
• act 5

  the english army march on macbeth disguised as trees.

  lady macbeth commits suicide.

  macduff kills macbeth.
• duncan

  he is the well liked respected king of scotland.

  in act 1 he listens to reports of macbeth in battle and praises his courage and gives him the title of thane of cawdor.

  in act 1 he makes malcom heir to his throne.

  in act 1 he visits the macbeths at dunsinane castle.

  in act 2 he sends banquo with a diamond as a gift for lady macbeth.

  in act 2 he is murdered by macbeth and his wife in his sleep so macbeth can take the crown.
• macbeth

  in act 1 he meets 3 witches who prophesy that he will be awarded thane of cawdor and become king.

  in act 1 he sends a letter lady macbeth explaining the witches prophecies

  in act 2 he plots with his wife to murder duncan and assume the throne.

  in act 2 he sees visions of a bloody dagger

  in act 3 he arranges for banquo to be murdered because of the witches predictions that his children will be kings.

  in act 4 he sends murders to macduffs castle to kill his wife and kids.

  in act 5 he is murdered by macduff.

  his ambitions lead him to murder his king and take the throne.
• lady macbeth

  in act 1 she encourages macbeth to murder the king and helps him do it.

  in act 1 she invokes the power of evil to commit murder and treason.

  in act 2 she acts the perfect hostess to the king in a false display of affection. she helps macbeth with the murder.

  in act 2 she places the dagger at the scene of the crime and wipes blood on the guards faces

  in act 3 she uses quick thinking and faints to save macbeth from admitting guilt.

  in act 5 she begins to sleep walk and commits suicide.
• banquo

  in act 1 he helps defeat the enemies of king duncan in battle.

  in act 1 he receives prophesies from the witches with macbeth.

  in act 1 he warns macbeth against trusting the prophecies.

  in act 3 he is suspicious of macbeth

  in act 3 he is killed at macbeths demand.

  in act 3 he appears as a ghost at the banquet.
• macduff

  in act 2 he discovers duncans body.

  in act 2 he suspects macbeths guilt and refuses to attend his coronation.

  in act 3 he flees to england without his family and his family are then killed.

  in act 5 he hunts down macbeth and murders him.
• witches

  in act 1 they reveal prophesises to macbeth and banquo

  in act 4 they tell macbeth "beware macduff"

  they embody demonic intelligences

  they provide information without directly influencing humans to commit crimes.

  they are anti-trinity -> they are against god and work with the devil
• ambition

  macbeths hamartia is ambition

  macbeth is reluctant to kill Duncan at first but his “vaulting ambition” is so strong it leads him to act against his morals

  lady Macbeth feeds Macbeths ambition with her own by telling him that by killing Duncan he will “be so much more the man”.

  ambition is destructive in the play as it leads Macbeth to murder Duncan. The violence then escalates as Macbeth kills an increasing number of people to stay king.

  its important to see that banquo does have his own ambitions but doesnt act on them where as macbeth does.
• hamartia

  a tragic hero's fatal flaw.
• soliloquy

  a speech a character delivers whilst on stage by themselves.
• fate

  macbeth is the first character to mention killing Duncan which suggests the fate does not control Macbeth. although the witches predict he will become king they don't mention anything about killing Duncan. Macbeth comes up with the idea of killing Duncan on his own which suggests he has free will and isn't controlled by fate.
• supernatural

  the witches enjoy ruining Macbeth's life and they don't show any remorse for their actions.

  the supernatural visions portray Macbeth's fear and guilt.

  The appearance of Banquo's ghost emphasises Macbeth is haunted by his guilt.

  supernatural is a cause of evil and a punishment for it.

  Shakespeare is providing an element of mystery and fear to his audience who believed in the paranormal.
• guilt

  shakespeare uses the consequences of guilt as a warning against misplaced ambition.

  lady Macbeth suppresses her guilt until it manifests itself in the form of a complete break from reality.
• reality and appearance

  “theres daggers in men’s smiles” suggests they know someone must be acting falsely.

  “false face must hide what the false heart doth know”

  The “false face” refers to Macbeth's appearance as Duncan's loyal subject and “false heart” refers to how Macbeth's true intentions are evil when they should be loving.

  the witches use false appearances to trick Macbeth into thinking he is invincible however he isn't which is proven wrong in the battle of birnam wood showing that Macbeth can be defeated.

  Shakespeare warns his audience that no one and nothing can be trusted. 
• good and evil

  the witches can be seen as more evil than Lady Macbeth because they showed no remorse for the chaos they have caused. On the other hand Lady Macbeth feels guilty for her actions which show that she is not fully evil.

  Lady Macbeth can be seen as more evil than the witches because the witches only predict death whereas Lady Macbeth actively plots Duncan's murder and helps Macbeth carry it out.
• kingship

  Duncan demonstrates he is a good king when he rewards Macbeth's loyalty by making him thane of Cawdor.

  Shakespeare shows kings should be brave through Malcom's courage when he fights Macbeth. On the other hand Macbeth is seen as a coward because he hires people to murder for him.

  Shakespeare suggests that good king should be guided by God By showing that the king of England uses holy prayers to cure sick people which suggests he is a good king. Macbeth it's presented as a bad king because he is guided by the witches and the supernatural rather than by God.
• loyalty and betrayal

  Banquo remains loyal rather than being corrupted by ambition.

  Macduff shows he is more loyal to Scotland then his family flees to England.

  Lady Macbeth pretends to be loyal to Duncan when he says it that castle so that he doesn't suspect that her and Macbeth are plotting his murder.

  Macbeth's betrayal of Duncan is presented as unnatural because strange things happen after which suggest the natural order has been disturbed by Duncan's murder.

  the play begins and ends with a traitor being beheaded which shows that betrayal is always punished.
• unsex me here 


  lady macbeth

  'unsex me' -> imperative which shows power

  she wants to remove all feminine traits

  shakespeare is suggesting woman can only gain power with male characteristics
• look like the innocent flower but be the serpent underneath 


  'look' -> imperative which shows Lady Macbeths power over Macbeth

  'innocent flower' -> appearance

  'serpent' -> reality, devil, religious connotations

  Mcabeth is hiding his true treasonous self from Duncan

  theme of appearance vs reality
• be so much more the man 


  theme of ambition

  lady macbeth talking to macbeth

  she is suggesting he will only become a man when he murders duncan

  example of a role reverse where lady macbeth is manipulating macbeth
• instruments of darkness tell us truths


  instruments of darkness = wicthes

  truths = prophesises

  banquo retains morality when he resists the supernatural

  he remains cautious

  he knows the witches are evil but is still intrigued

  main theme of supernatural
• macbeth does murder sleep 


  macbeths conscience

  a voice in his head

  suggests that by murdering duncan he ill murder the chance of peace
• the dead butcher and his fiend like queen 


  dead butcher = macbeth

  fiend like queen = lady macbeth

  said by malcolm

  does not refer to their names which show a fall in status

  part of a soliloquy
• out damned spot: out i say 


  lady macbeth

  out = repetition shows the increasing desperation of removing the blood spot

  out = imperative, earlier it was used to command spirits now its used as a loss of power

  : = represents her disjointed mind

  she is pleading for her hallucinations to disappear