Macbeth

Summary

• Macbeth is a brave and honourable soldier
• To reward his efforts in battle, King Duncan names Macbeth the new Thane of Cawdor
• Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches who tell Macbeth he will be King and tell Banquo he will be the father of kings
• Macbeth begins to think about the possibility of becoming the King

Key Quotes

• Macbeth: 'If chance will have me King, why, Chance may crown me,' (Iiii)
• King Duncan (to Macbeth): 'O worthiest cousin!' (Iiv)
• Macbeth: 'Let not light see my black and deep desires,' (Iiv)

Summary

• Lady Macbeth shares her husband's ambition for the throne
• She appears crueler than her husband and makes plans for the murder of Duncan
• The immortality and the possible consequences of the murder cause Macbeth great anxiety
• He decides not to murder the King but Lady Macbeth bullies him into agreeing to her plan

Key Quotes

• Lady Macbeth: 'The raven himself is hoarse/ That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/ Under my battlements.' (Iv)
• Macbeth (on the consequences of killing the King): '... tears shall drown the wind.' (Ivii)
• Macbeth: 'I am settled, and bend up/ Each corporal agent to this terrible feat' (Ivii)

Summary

• Macbeth is disturbed by the idea of killing the King
• He is full of fear and panic after he has committed the murder
• He thinks he will never be able to rest or pray again
• Lady Macbeth is more controlled and tries to calm him down

Key Quotes

• Macbeth: 'art thou but/ A dagger of the mind,' (IIi)
• Lady Macbeth: 'These deeds must not be thought/ After these ways: so, it will make us mad.' (IIii)
• Lady Macbeth: 'My hands are of your colour; but I shame/ To wear a heart so white.' (IIii)

Summary

• Lennox and Macduff arrive at Macbeth's castle and the murder of King Duncan is discovered
• Macbeth kills the guards so they cannot be questioned
• Malcolm and Donaldbain, fearing for their own lives, run away and are then suspected of plotting the murder
• Macbeth is pronounced King

Key Quotes

• Macbeth: 'O horror, horror, horror!' (IIiii)
• Macbeth: '... his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature,' (IIiii)
• Donaldbain: 'There's daggers in men's smiles...' (IIiii)

Summary

• Macbeth fears Banquo and does not want Banquo's children to succeed him as King
• He organises the murder of Banquo and Fleance, but Fleance escapes
• Lady Macbeth is worried about Macbeth's behaviour as he is still troubled by the murder of Duncan
• She encourages him to act more cheerfully at the celebration feast

Key Quotes

• Macbeth: 'Our fears in Banquo/ Stick deep,' (IIIi)
• Macbeth: 'Upon my head they plac'd a fruitless crown,' (IIIi)
• Macbeth: 'O, full of scorpions is my mind,' (IIIii)

Summary

• Macbeth and Lady Macbeth hold a banquet as King and Queen
• The murderer reports Banquo's death but Macbeth is disturbed to hear that Fleance escaped
• Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost and loses control in front of his guests
• Lady Macbeth tries but fails to calm him down and keep order
• Some of the lords are beginning to turn against Macbeth, in particular Macduff, who has gone to England to raise an army

Key Quotes

• Macbeth: 'Ourself will mingle with society,' (IIIiv)
• Macbeth: 'But now, I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd, bound in/ To saucy doubts and fears,' (IIIiv)
• Macbeth: 'Avaunt! and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!' (IIIiv)

Summary

• The witches' visions trick Macbeth into feeling over-confident
• He gives orders for Macduff's entire family to be murdered
• Malcolm and Macduff describe Macbeth as a tyrant and discuss what a terrible place Scotland has become under his reign
• Macduff is brought news of his family's murder and vows to kill Macbeth

Key Quotes

• Macbeth: 'give to th'edge o'th'sword/ His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls/ That trace him in his line.' (IVi)
• Malcolm: 'This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues,' (IViii)
• Malcolm (on Scotland): 'It weeps, it bleeds; and each new day a gash/ Is added to her wounds:' (IViii)

Summary

• Lady Macbeth has been driven mad by guilt
• Macbeth is initially confident but begins to realise that the witches have tricked him
• Lady Macbeth dies, presumably by suicide
• Malcolm's army, using branches from Birnam Wood to hide their numbers, advance on Macbeth's castle
• Macbeth is killed in battle by Macduff and the throne is restored to the rightful King, Malcolm

Key Quotes

• Lady Macbeth: 'Out, damned spot!' (Vi)
• Macbeth (to the Doctor): 'cast/ The water of my land, find her disease,' (Viii)
• Macbeth: 'I have supped full with horrors:/ Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts...' (Vv)

Summary

• Macbeth is set in eleventh-century Scotland. It is based, very loosely, on historical events
• Scotland had a clear social hierarchy
• The country's religion was Christianity
• There were always battles, either against other countries or to gain control of the country
• Women were seen as being inferior
• There was a religious belief in the Great Chain of Being, whereby God gives every living thing a place in an ordered hierarchy. To upset this order was a crime against God and nature. Shakespeare explores this in the play by describing nature being in turmoil after the King's murder and having the Macbeths driven mad by their actions 

Summary

• James I was the new King but it was a controversial choice
• To link to this, the play explores challengers to the throne and the consequences of their actions
• Shakespeare probably included references to the Divine Right of Kings and the supernatural to please James I
• Women in Renaissance England were considered inferior to men

Summary

• A tragedy is a type of story that usually features tragic events, the downfall of a central figure through a flaw in their character and an unhappy ending
• At the start of the play, Shakespeare deliberately portrays Macbeth as a good man. He is a dutiful subject of the King, a brave soldier, a loyal friend and a loving husband. As the play progresses, these different qualities vanish and the audience watch his personal, moral downfall
• Macbeth is referred to as a tragedy and features the key elements of this genre
• Although the play ends on a positive note, the audience is reminded of all the bad things that have happened

Summary

• Macbeth begins the play as a good, honourable soldier who is respected by all
• The witches manipulate him by playing on his ambition
• Macbeth's greatest weakness is his wife. He loves her and is manipulated by her
• At the start of the play, he battles his conscience, whether it is right or wrong to kill the King

Key Quotes

• Captain: 'For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name),' (Iii)
• Macbeth: 'I have brought/ Golden opinions from all sorts of people,/ Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,/ Not cast aside so soon.' (Ivii)
• Macbeth: 'Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand?' (IIii)

Summary

• Macbeth becomes corrupted by power and his wish to secure his position
• He sees no end to his murderous ways and Scotland becomes a land of terror
• He is hated and feared by others
• The witches' visions make him over-confident

Key Quotes

• Macbeth (hearing that Fleance has escaped): 'Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect;/ Whole as the marble, founded as the rock,' (IIIiv)
• Malcolm: 'I grant him bloody,/ Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful,/ Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin...' (IViii)
• Macbeth: 'I have almost forgot the taste of fears,' (Vv)

Summary

• Lady Macbeth is very ambitious and seems willing to do whatever it takes to gain power
• She plans King Duncan's murder
• She calls on evil spirits to aid her in achieving her ambitions
• She uses a range of techniques to manipulate Macbeth
• Shakespeare often shows her dominance by giving her more lines than Macbeth and her interrupt him

Key Quotes

• Lady Macbeth: '... unsex me here ...' (Iv)
• Lady Macbeth: 'When you durst do it, then you were a man.' (Ivii)
• Macbeth: 'Bring forth men children only!/ For thy undaunted mettle should compose/ Nothing but males.' (Ivii)

Summary

• She is initially much less concerned than Macbeth is by the murder of the King
• She worries about Macbeth's state of mind
• She tries to control the situation, when Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost, but fails
• By the end of the play, her actions have affected her mind and she has gone mad
• She dies off-stage, presumably of suicide

Key Quotes

• Lady Macbeth: 'Things without all remedy/ Should be without regard;' (IIIii)
• Lady Macbeth: 'Why do you make such faces? When all's done,/ You look but on a stool.' (IIIiv)
• Lady Macbeth: '... all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.' (Vi)

Summary

• Banquo is Macbeth's friend and they fight bravely together
• The witches tell Banquo that he will be the father of kings
• Shakespeare develops differences between Banquo and Macbeth, showing Banquo as more virtuous
• Banquo suspects that Macbeth killed Duncan
• Macbeth has Banquo murdered but his son, Fleance, escapes

Key Quotes

• Captain: ' ... they were/ As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks,' (Iii)
• Banquo: '... to win us to our harm,/ The instruments of Darkness tell us truths;' (Iiii)
• Banquo: '... I fear/ Thou play'dst most foully for't;' (IIIi)

Summary

• Macduff is presented as a typical, honourable thane
• Shakespeare uses him to voice Scotland's grief at the loss of their King and the tyranny of Macbeth
• He is a victim of Macbeth's paranoia and his entire family is murdered
• He kills Macbeth in the name of the rightful King, Malcolm

Key Quotes

• Macduff (to Malcolm): 'Let us rather/ Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men/ Bestride our downfall birthdom.' (Vviii)
• Macduff (about the death of his family): 'All my pretty ones?/ Did you say all?- O Hell - kite! - All?' (IViii)
• Macduff (to Macbeth): 'Turn, Hell-bound, turn!' (Vviii)

Summary

• King Duncan is an honourable, virtuous, well-respected King
• However, he is too trusting
• Malcolm is equally honourable and virtuous but more suspicious of others
• Duncan's 'divine right' to the throne is symbolised by the terrible weather on the night of his murder

Key Quotes

• Malcolm (to Donaldbain): 'This murtherous shaft that's shot/ Hath not yet lighted, and our safest way/ Is to avoid the aim.' (IIiii)
• Macduff (to Malcolm, about Duncan): 'Thy royal father/ Was a most sainted King;' (IViii)
• Malcolm: 'Macbeth/ Is ripe for shaking, and the Powers above/ Put on their instruments;' (IViii)

Summary

• The witches are evil, powerful and manipulative
• Stagecraft is an important factor in presenting how unnatural they are
• The witches speak in an ambiguous way to trick Macbeth

Key Quotes

• 1st Witch: 'When shall we three meet again?/ In thunder, lightning, or in rain?' (Ii)
• 2nd Witch: 'Cool it with a baboon's blood:/ Then the charm is firm and good.' (IVi)
• Macbeth (realising that the witches have tricked him): 'To doubt th'equivocation of the fiend,/ That lies like truth.' (Vv)

Summary

• Power is represented by King Duncan and Macbeth
• Macbeth and Lady Macbeth desire greater power
• Power is shown to corrupt Macbeth

Key Quotes

• Lady Macbeth (to King Duncan): 'those honours deep and broad, wherewith/ Your Majesty loads our house.' (Ivi)
• Macbeth: 'You know your degrees, sit down [...] Ourself will mingle with society,' (IIIiv)
• Macbeth: 'Send out more horses, skirr the country round;/ Hang those that talk of fear.' (Viii)

Summary

• Religion and the supernatural are presented as opposing forces of good and evil
• The play's good characters live a Christian life and respect the Great Chain of Being
• The bad characters in the play are either supernatural or are influenced by the supernatural

Key Quotes

• Macbeth: '[Aside] This supernatural soliciting/ Cannot be ill; cannot be good.' (Iiii)
• Macbeth: 'I had most need of blessing, and 'Amen'/ Stuck in my throat.' (IIii)
• Doctor (about Lady Macbeth): 'More needs she the divine than the physician. -/ God, God, forgive us all!' (Vi)

Summary

• Macbeth is easily manipulated by the witches and Lady Macbeth
• He is tempted by power and greatness
• Lady Macbeth manipulates his insecurities about his manliness, while the witches manipulate his paranoia and make him over-confident

Key Quotes

• The Witches: 'All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be King hereafter!' (Iiii)
• Lady Macbeth (to Macbeth): 'Great Glamis! worthy Cawdor!/ Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter!' (Iv)
• Lady Macbeth: 'Art thou afeard/ To be the same in thine own act and valour,/ As thou art in desire?' (Ivii)

Summary

• Characters show a moral and religious obligation towards the King
• In the play, characters are rewarded for their duty and punished for betrayal
• Macbeth's betrayal of Duncan also brings a spiritual punishment
• Shakespeare's presentation of duty and betrayal is also a show of support for James I

Key Quotes

• Duncan: 'What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.' (Iii)
• Duncan (about Macbeth): 'he is full so valiant,/ And in his commendations I am fed;/ It is a banquet to me.' (Iiv)
• Malcolm: 'This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues,/ Was once thought honest;' (IViii)

Summary

• Shakespeare uses blood as a recurring symbol of guilt for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
• They both feel guilty about the killing of the King, although Lady Macbeth's guilt isn't apparent until later in the play
• Macbeth's guilt and paranoia affect his sanity
• Lady Macbeth's madness is more extreme and she eventually kills herself

Key Quotes

• Macbeth: 'How is't with me, when every noise appals me?/ What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes.' (IIii)
• Lady Macbeth: 'Here's the smell of the blood still;' (Vi)
• Macbeth: 'Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff/ Which ways upon the heart?' (Viii)

Summary

• Macbeth becomes secretive once the witches' prophecies start to come true
• Lady Macbeth instructs her husband how to lie and hide the truth
• Secrets and lies are also presented as having some honourable motivation, such as Ross wanting to spare Macduff the truth about his family being murdered

Key Quotes

• Macbeth: '[Aside] Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor!/ The greatest is behind.' (Iiii)
• Lady Macbeth: '... look like th'innocent flower/ But be the serpent under't.' (Iv)
• Macbeth: 'False face must hide what the false heart doth know.' (Ivii)