quotes

• act 1

  macbeth is persuaded to kill duncan

  act 2: macbeth kills duncan and becomes king

  act3: macbeth kills banquo and then sees his ghost

  act 4: macbeth meets witches again and kills macduffs family. malcolm prepares to invade england

  5: lady macbeth dies, macbeth is killed, malcolm becomes king
• banquo: macbeths best friend

  macduff: loyal thane for duncan, killed macbeth

  malcolm and donaldbain: duncans sons
• how is macduff guilty

  he felt he should have been present when his family were killed. men were expected to protect their family at the time so his absence weighs on him heavily

  'My wife and children’s ghosts will haunt me still'
• ambition context

  MB downfall is caused by his hamartia of ambition.

  shakespeares purpose may be to show the corrupting influence of ambition
• supernatural

  MB: 'I will not be afraid of death and bane, til birnam forest come to Dunsinane' rhyme-mirrors witches language, reveals how strong their influence was

  LM: 'unsex me here' imperative asks the evil supernatural spirits to rid her of her femininity so that she can commit the murder of duncan without remorse

  W: 'How now, you secret, black midnight hags!' MBs desperation to cling onto his power leads him back to the witches. he hopes he can manipulate his supernatural fate to suit his desires. references to midnight and black links to recurring of evil
• supernatural context

  shakespeares contemporary audience believed in supernatural. Shakespeare uses sn to create a haunting effect and to lead the audience into thinking MB is possessed by mysterious forces
• violence context

  shakespeare shows that violent acts always lead to more violent acts. after using violence to take the throne, MB must continue to use violence to keep his crown until violence is all he has left
• guilt context

  shakespeare uses blood, sleeplessness and hallucinations as symbols to explore how guilt manifests itself in the characters. shakespeare shows that guilt is inevitable and unavoidable consequence of committing unnatural acts
• false appearance context

  false appearance are unnatural and not fitting for a king. MB fals appearances help him to become king only to later be a victim of false appearances when he discovers the witches have tricked him
• divine right of kings

  belief that the king or queen was in charge because they were God’s chosen representative on earth, and they were only answerable to God.
• great chain of being

  God and the angels at the top, to humans, animals, plants, rocks and minerals towards the bottom, set out by god

  Macbeth disturbs the natural order of things by murdering the king and stealing the throne

  regicide: killing monarch, mortal sin- go to hell

  blasphemous: insulting to god
• gender

  • Often couldn’t choose who they married, own their own property, controlled by their fathers until they got married, Were controlled by their husbands after marriage
  • had a lack of agency 
  • Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as attempting to have agency: control over her status, husband and future
  • Shakespeare could be suggesting her downfall comes from her unnatural attempt to have control over her husband and her status
• gender 2

  • Women were expected to be:
  • Subordinate: lower in status than men
  • Dutiful: obedient; doing what they were told, especially by men
  • Nurturing: kind and mothering, and concerned with having children and looking after the home
  • Lady Macbeth subverts these expectations
  • Women who subverted these expectations were seen as unnatural, perhaps even similar to witches
  • Shakespeare could be offering a warning that women who do not conform to expectations and are unnatural are doomed to suffer negative consequences
• Guilt

  LMB: 'out damned spot, out, i say!' psychological hell

  'whats done cannot be undone' trying to reassure, little remorse

  'a little water clears us of this deed' 'will these hands ne'er be clean?'

  MB: symbol is Banquo's ghost 'the tables full' '...see there! Behold! Look!'

  'will all great neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?'

  'blood will have blood' feels trapped in inevitability of this violence

  'macbeth does murder sleep'
• why does mb kill b

  he kills B to cement Macbeth's legacy and protect his title of king from Banquo's unworthy descendants. Macbeth is unwilling to allow Banquo's descendants to inherit the throne, which has cost him his soul and peace of mind. He resents the fact that Banquo's descendants will take his place without earning the title, and so he plots to murder Banquo and Fleance
• False appearances

  Mb: 'stars hide your fires let not light see my black and deep desires' learned Malcolm has been chosen to be heir, realises he has to act out his evil desires to become king. metaphor, asks for help from stars and nature to hide his unnatural actions, and to avoid punishment on earth and afterlife

  LMB: 'look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under't' simile, strong imperative tone to advise mb on how to disguise his evil intentions infront of duncan

  beauty vs sin
• false appearances

  BQ: 'I fear thou play'dst most foully for it' metaphor

  suspicious that MB has cheated to get crown, doesnt voice to others as hes loyal OR selfish - not interfere with supernatural prediction that he will be father to long line of kings

  MD: 'bleed, bleed poor country' emotive metaphor

  depicts MBs laments the devastating effects MBs reign had on scotland. MD angry at himself and others who wont stand up to MB
• Kingship

  Duncan: well meaning noble fair mb said 'his virtues plead like angels' simile to equate them to angels crying out against his murder. personification of virtues. promoted mb after his heroic performance in battle 'for brave macbeth' 'well he deserves that name' successful reign emphasises MBs disastrous reign. Errors: trusts MB and gives him title 'thane of cawdor'. Shakespeare wanted to show what makes a good king, supporter of royal power. 'hold thee to my heart' duncan congratulates MB&BQ graciously, appreciates thanes, naivety, isd hug, shows kindness and fatherly
• kingship macbeth

  start: showed good king traits- brave, heroic, stereotypical, jacobea man. end: tyrrant MD said 'each new morn new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows'

  -effects of MB reign, place of widespread grief and sorrow

  -physical setting mirrors state of human events in play

  'those he commands, move only in commands, nothing in love' (angus)

  -mb power is too much for him to maintain and control

  -his crimes cause him to lose authority as a ruler, soldiers obey out of fear and discipline rather than loyalty
• ambition

  MB: hamartia. he has natural ambition but its reinforced by witche =s meeting and wifes persuasive power

  'i have no spurs...only vaulting ambition' having doubts abt validity of his ambitions to kill the king, describes tension between Mb unwillingness to do plan and his acknowledgement that his ambition is leading him down a dangerous path

  MD:: 'let me find him, fortune and more I beg not' his all consuming ambition is to kill mb to revenge murder of family. md calls on fortune to help him find mb and kill him to continue role of fate and sn in play
• ambition

  lmb: 'art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it' she knows mb can have ambitious dreams but hes unwillingness to display the ruthless behaviour necessary to achieve them, reflects her philosophy of power, in whichonly individuals who are willing to set their morality aside will rise to greatness. good judge of character

  witches: 'all hail macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter' manipulate by playing on his secret ambition to become king and by planting idea of murder in his mind, give impression that they can foretell future and control fate