Men were expected to be ambitious, brave, decisive, and loyal; women were expected to be caring and nurturing, but were also seen as indecisive and prone to madness.
'all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
'double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.'
'fair is foul, and foul is fair'
Weird Sisters
Embody doubts about whether or not the existence of the soul was real
Shakespeare was not fully convinced the Weird Sisters were real witches
James I wrote Demonology
Witches had been blamed for a storm
Banquo was originally associated with James I
Shakespeare may have decided to put Banquo on the side of good in the play to avoid accusing James I
There was a failed attempt to blow up James I in the House of Lords during the opening of Parliament in 1606, a year before the play was written
Shakespeare's double talk could have been a clever way to avoid accusations of having Catholic sympathies
The play could be seen as a piece of propaganda showing what happens to traitors who try to kill a king
What do the witches say in Act 1, Scene 1 in representation to pathetic fallacy?
“When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?”
What does the quotation “all-hail Macbeth” suggest?
The greeting is an allusion to Judas’ betrayal of Christ, familiar to audiences through the Bible - also foreshadowing the future events where he becomes king
How is the character ‘Macbeth’ presented?
Shakespeare contrasts his traditional masculine aspect with the perceived feminine weakness of his indecisiveness and lack of will to resist temptation - inversion of gender highlights corruption of the natural order
