Macbeth

Subdecks (1)

Cards (123)

  • Mr Everything English: 'In thunder lightning or in Rain'
  • Witches
    • They can control the weather
    • They can't physically control Macbeth
  • Thunder
    Foreshadows the noise and rumbling of the play
  • Lightning
    Foreshadows the act of murder by Macbeth
  • Rain
    Foreshadows the consequences and suffering that follows Macbeth's actions
  • The three words 'thunder lightning rain' can symbolically represent the entire story of Macbeth
  • Captain: 'His dagger is smoked with bloody execution and Macbeth unseened him from the Nave to the chops'
  • Smoked
    Implies the speed and power of Macbeth's killing
  • Unseened
    Macbeth kills his enemy precisely and painfully, enjoying the act of killing
  • Macbeth's killing
    Shows his skill, precision and lack of panic on the battlefield
  • Macbeth
    • A patriarchal figure
    • Motivated by his desires and love of killing
  • Banquo: 'You should be women and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are'
  • Beards
    Signify the witches have sacrificed their femininity for power
  • Witches
    Represent the lack of power women have in the patriarchal society, even those married to powerful men
  • Lady Macbeth's desire to be 'unsexed' shows the limitations women face in the patriarchal world
  • Macbeth's name 'son of life' ironically foreshadows the death and destruction he will cause
  • Instruments of Darkness
    The witches who tell truths to win people over, then betray them with deeper consequences
  • The witches tell truths
    To win people over
  • The witches tell truths
    Then betray them with deeper consequences
  • Banquo recognizes the problem with the witches - that they cannot be stopped
  • The witches
    Choose to meet Macbeth, not by accident
  • Banquo's response to the prophecies
    Does nothing
  • Macbeth's response to the prophecies

    Accelerates and does his worst
  • Shakespeare suggests that if you do nothing, fate will turn out to favour you anyway
  • Banquo's silence could be seen as him doing something
  • The witches don't have much power other than the power of manipulation they use to influence their target
  • The dark and tell us truths metaphor foreshadows something
  • Banquo is the antithesis to Macbeth

    Banquo's response to the prophecies is to do nothing, whereas Macbeth's response is to accelerate it and do everything
  • Shakespeare is suggesting that if you do nothing, fate will turn out to favor you anyway
  • Banquo's silence speaks volumes because he knows the prophecies will come true
  • Banquo is not as innocent as he may seem, he just watches Macbeth's downfall
  • Macbeth also knows Banquo is a threat to him
  • Both Macbeth and Banquo are examples of characters that were completely manipulated and destroyed
  • Banquo's silence is because he knows fate is God's plan, so he does nothing to go against it
  • Banquo suspects Macbeth killed Duncan, yet he still goes along with Macbeth
  • The quote "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it" shows Lady Macbeth commanding Macbeth on how to behave
  • Simile, Symbolism, Foreshadowing
    • The quote uses a simile to compare Macbeth to a serpent under an innocent flower, symbolizing his evil nature hidden by a facade, and foreshadowing his eventual downfall
  • The quote relates to the patriarchy, as Lady Macbeth is telling the powerful Macbeth how to behave
  • Macbeth's evil actions are not well thought out, unlike Lady Macbeth's calculated plans
  • Macbeth's soliloquy "Heat oppressed brain" shows his weakness and foreshadows his eventual downfall