Macbeth- Themes and Characters

Created by: Samwise
Created on: 21-05-17 14:27

Macbeth

He's ambitious "I have no spur...,but only vaulting ambition"
He's brave "brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name"
He's guilty "Will all great Neptune's oceans wash this blood from my hand?"
At the start he's described as a "valiant" warrior
He's brave but also a cold-hearted killer. He kills Duncan to be king and Banquo to stay king
His ambition is stronger than his morality as he is persuaded to kill Duncan
He worries about the consequences to his actions because there's "judgement" on earth and "deep damnation" after death
He's reluctant to kill Duncan who has "honored" him and says "we will proceed no further in this business"
His guilty conscience makes him imagine things, he hears a voice saying "Macbeth does murder sleep"
At the end he no longer cares as life means "nothing"
He wouldn't of killed Ducan without Lady Macbeth
He wants to be "more the man" and not a "coward"
He is influenced by the supernatural "Two truths are told"

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Lady Macbeth

She's cruel "And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty"
She's cunning "Look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under't"
But she's also disturbed "She is troubled with thick coming fancies"
She says Macbeth is "too full o'th' mlik of human kindess" she thinks he is a "coward"
She believes no woman would plan this murder so she appeals to the spirits to "unsex" her and fill her with "direst cruelty"
She finds women weak and tells the spirits to "come to my womans breasts and take my milk for gall"
She loses all self control "Come, come, come, come, give me your hand"
She starts sleepwalking which the doctor calls a "great pertubation in nature"
Sleepwalking was seen as unnatural and sleep is the "balm of hurt minds" so the fact that she can't sleep emphasises her madness
Her relationship changes "my dearest partner of greatness" soon becomes her dominating him
She becomes increasingly anxious and alone
Once she reads Macbeths letter her innocence turns into evil. She invites the spirits to enter her as long as Macbeth becomes king

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Duncan

He's kind "let me enfold thee and hold thee to my heart"
He's trusting "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face"
He's a good king "So clear in his great office"
Nobody has a bad word to say about Duncan, even Macbeth says "his virtues will plead like angels"
His flaw is that he is too trusting, he describes the traitor as "a gentleman whom i built an absolute trust"
He's a good leader and a "most sainted king" which shows kings were chosen by God
He contrasts Macbeth
He shows "drops of sorrow" as he is happy nad talks about his "gentle senses" that show his emotions

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Banquo

He's brave "that dauntless temper of his mind"
He's noble "Noble Banquo that hast no less deserve"
He's wise "The instruments of darkness tell us triths, win us with honest trifles- to betray's"
Unlike Macbeth Banquo has "a wisdom that doth guide his valour" he thinks before he acts
He has a lot in common with Macbeth. He is ambitious and also courageous.
He behaves rationally when he meets the witches-he questions if they are real and doesn't trust them
He tells the witches he "neither beg nor fear your favours" but he is still intrigued
He "dreamt last night of the three weird sisters" suggesting he thinks about the predictions
He is cautious about them- they could be "fantastical" and realises they might "win us to our harm"
He suspects Macbeth murdered Duncan "I fear thou play'dst most foully" but he doesn't act on his suspicions
He reminds himself he will be the "father of many kings"
"O, treachary!" suggest he didn't see Macbeth wanting to betray him

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Macduff

He's noble "this noble passion child of integrity"
He's a soldier "I have no words: My voice is in my sword"
He's also emotional "I must also feel it as a man"
He acts as a contast to Macbeth
He doesn't go to Macbeths coronation which implies he is suspicious
He's angry that under Macbeths new rule "New widows howl, new orphans cry" this is ironic as his family have just been murdered
He is loyal to his country "O Scotland, Scotland" this also shows how Scotland is in a bad state
He frees Scotland from "the tyrant"
When he finds out about his family he is overcome by greif "All my pretty ones? Did you say all?"

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The Witches

They are ugly women with beards suggesting they're unnatural nad evil.
They are "instruments of darkness"
They are "so withered and wild"
Speak in short lines that rhyme
"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog" makes them sound gruesome and evil
"Are ye fantastical, or that indeed which outwardly ye show"
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"
Accompanied by "thunder and lightning"
They take advantage of Macbeths ambition
They have "strange intelligence" and an ability to predict the future
At the time many thought witches were real
They "untie the winds" and make "castles topple"
Motivated by "destruction"

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Ambition

It motivates Macbeth to do terrible deeds. It changes him from a "valiant" warrior to a "dead butcher"
Once Macbeth starts killing he has to kill more to secure his position "to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus" shows ambition can make people ruthless and selfish
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are destroyed by their ambitions
It is Macbeths "fatal flaw" he is "noble" at the start and "wouldst not play false" to get what he wants
He is reluctant to kill Duncan but the strength of his ambition makes him
He knows it often "o'er leaps itself and falls" this foreshadows what will happen
Lady Macbeth thinks he is "not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it"
Malcolm and Macduff are ambitious for their country and want to kill Macbeth for the good of Scotland
Banquo wants the predictions to be true but doesn't act on them in the way Macbeth does

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Loyalty and Betrayal

Macduff is loyal to Scotland and asks Malcolm to defend his country rather than his family
Thanes are loyal to Duncan as he's been a "great" king. Macbeth gives Duncan "service and loyalty" by fighting for him
Banquo is loyal to his sense of honour. He keeps his "allegiance clear"
Duncan executed the old Thane of Cawdor for betraying him and rewards Macbeth for being loyal. This happens again when Macbeth is killed and Macduff is rewarded
Macbeth betrays his own sense of right and wrong which leads to his death
Betrayal is linked to power
Macduffs loyalty to Scotland leads him to betray his family
Initially Macbeth is loyal to Duncan as "his kinsman and his subject" which makes killing him even more shocking
Lady Macbeth fakes a loyal apperance. She tells Duncan she and Macbeth are "Your servants ever" even though they're plotting a murder
Duncan sees her as a "fair and noble hostess" and doesn't see her lust for power

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Kingship

A king doesn't have to be the son. Macbeth suddenly becomes king. Duncan chooses his son as the heir
Duncan is an ideal king. He is "gracious" and his people see him as a "most sainted king"
In contrast Macbeth is seen as a "tyrant" as he rules selfishly using violence
Macbeth is rarely referred to as "king"
Macbeth's reign is reflected by the overturned natural order. Day turns to night and horses start to eat each other
Malcolm describes Macbeth as "avaricious". His lies make him "false" and "deceitful" and his violence makes him "bloody"
The king of England, Edward, has a "healing benediction" and uses "holy prayers" to cure sick people. He's surrounded by "blessings" that "speak him full of grace"
In contrast Macbeth is "Devilish" and commits murder and speaks to evil witches

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Good and Evil

At the start Macbeth is a "noble" person and has potential for greatness
Once he is tempted to give in to his ambition he is overcome by his evil desires
Good people can be led astray by ambition and power
Lady Macbeth links cruelty and aggression with masculinty. She wants spirits to "unsex" her so she can be filled with "direst cruelty"
The witches gender is ambiguous. Banquo says they "should be women" but they have beards
Both Lady Macbeth and The Witches rely on manipulation rather then force
Banquo calls the witches "devil" and Macbeth calls them "fiends". This links them with evil deeds
The opening battle shows the enemy army as having a traitor for a leader "merciless Macdonald", whose "villanies of nature" show he's wvil
The play ends with a battle. Malcolms men have "dear causes" and fight to "dew the sovereign flower"

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Supernatural

The witches are an evil, supernatural force with "strange intelligence" and an ability to predict the future which gives them power over humans
Macbeth wouldn't have commited terrible crimes if it wasn't for the witches
They try to impose an unnatural order on what's good and natural
They are shown as completely evil. They are cruel and inhuman
The supernatural parts add to the atmosphere and play the play darker and frightening
The vision of a dagger could be leading him him to Duncan or it could be warning him. It represents the "bloody business" he's about to do
Banquos ghost gives him a "strange infirmity". Nobody else sees the ghost so it could be Macbeths's guilty conscience
Lady Macbeth is driven mad and believes her hands will "ne'er be clean" of Duncans blood and she eventually kills herself
Macbeth is "blanched with fear!" by the ghost and his language is agitated and nervous
Lady Macbeth's language when she sleepwalks is desperate "O, o, o!"
The doctor says her heart is "sorely charged"

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Reality and Apperances

Characters hide their thoughts and pretend to be something they're not
Lady Macbeth says to "look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under't"
Macbeth knows he needs a "False face" to hide his violent acts but when he sees Banquos ghost, his face is "the very painting" of his fear
Lady Macbeth pretends to faint with shock when Duncan is discovered dead but her guilt becomes too great and she begins to sleepwalk
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"suggests things that look good are evil
Their predictions trick Macbeth "none of woman born" will harm him, which gives Macbeth false confidence
Duncan trusts Macbeth and dies for it, even though he trusted the olf Thane of Cawdor
"There's no art to find the mind's construction of the face"
Macbeth knows appearances don't match reality but he still trusts the Witches' prophecies
Malcolm immeadietly sees through the lie that the servants killed Duncan and suspects one of the Thanes

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Fate and Free Will

Fate means everything has already been decided whereas free will is when humans choose their own course of action
At times Macbeth believes in fate. After he hears the Witches' prophecies he believes that "chance may crown me without my stir"
Lady Macbeth thinks he is fated to be king "fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned withal"
By the end Macbeth says life is "a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage"
At first Macbeth says "we will proceed no further" as he lets fate decide if he will become king
Later on he acts on the Witches' prophecies despite Banquos earlier warning that they're "instruments of darkness"

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Get Revising

Macbeth- Themes and Characters

Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

Duncan

Banquo

Macduff

The Witches

Ambition

Loyalty and Betrayal

Kingship

Good and Evil

Supernatural

Reality and Apperances

Fate and Free Will

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