Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Ms. Zupancic

Honors English 11

Themes in Macbeth

• Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. – Ambition

– Power

– Fate & Free Will (Time)

– Violence

– Nature & the Unnatural

– Manhood & Gender

– Versions of Reality

– The Supernatural

– Sleep

– Visions & Hallucinations

– Blood

Theme of Ambition • Ambition

– Macbeth • Nation’s greatest warrior

– Should be enough, right?

– A taste of power to fulfill deepest desires

– Ambition overwhelms Macbeth and Lady Macbeth • Want to be great and

powerful, sacrificing their morals to attain their goals

Theme of Power • Power

– Absolute power corrupts absolutely • Shakespeare’s time

• Divine Right of Kings – Idea that the power of

kings comes directly from God

– Macbeth • Power is natural --- until

it’s not

• Macbeth kills Duncan, defying the law of nature & God by killing his king

Theme of Violence & Blood Symbolism • To call Macbeth a violent play

is an understatement – A vicious cycle

• Every violent act, even those done for selfless reasons, seems to lead inevitably to the next

• Violence leads to violence – “blood will to blood”

– Macbeth's violence is inexcusable • Doesn't play by the established

rules

• Organized violence is sport

• Individual violence is uncivilized

• Blood linked to violence – Symbolizes guilt

– Death/killing = instant

– Blood = stains/remains

– When Macbeth/ Lady Macbeth feel most guilty, they seem to not be able to wash blood from their hands

Theme of Manhood & Gender • Does a true man take what

he wants no matter what it is, as Lady Macbeth believes?

• Or does a real man have the strength to restrain his desires, as Banquo believes?

• All of Macbeth can be seen as a struggle to answer this question about the nature & responsibilities of manhood.

• Gender politics are explored – Lady Macbeth questions

Macbeth’s masculinity as a way to get him to do what she wants

– Macbeth’s fear of emasculation spurs him on • He has to prove to her he is a

man

– Lady Macbeth rejects her femininity as a way to build up her courage

Theme of Fate & Free Will • Are people born wicked, or

do they have wickedness thrust upon them?

• Weird sisters force characters & audience to question fate – Are the witches playing on

Macbeth's ambition and planting the idea of murder in his head; really privy to some secret info about the way things are going to go down; or actually controlling fate in some way?

– Macbeth is so obsessed with his fate that he becomes delusional • Ruins himself

FIRST WITCH - All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! SECOND WITCH - All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! THIRD WITCH - All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!

Theme of Deception & Symbol of Visions & Hallucinations

• Appearance vs. Reality – Nothing is quite what it

seems

– Hypocrisy is everywhere • Antithesis

– Juxtaposition of two opposing sides

– “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”

– Witches • Speak in ambiguous

equivocations (vague misleading language)

• Visions & Hallucinations – Macbeth sees/hears strange

things (his mind fights itself) • floating dagger

• Banquo’s ghost

• strange voices

– Lady Macbeth • Visions

• Sleepwalks

• Blood-stained hands

– Supernatural signs of guilt

Theme of the Supernatural • Supernatural

Elements – In Macbeth, the

supernatural isn’t just for stories, but is REAL

– Witches • Set mood/tone

for play

• Chant to spirits

• Show visions to Macbeth

Theme of Nature & the Unnatural • Medieval Times

– Believed that the health of a country was related to the goodness & moral legitimacy of its king • A good & just king = a nation

that would have good harvest & good weather

• Political order = natural order

• Duncan & Malcolm use nature metaphors when they speak of kingship – See themselves as gardeners

• When Macbeth disrupts the social & political order, nature goes haywire – Storms rage, the earth

tremors, animals go insane & eat each other

– Lady Macbeth & Macbeth try to hide from nature or use nature to hide their cruel designs

– Once they’ve given in to selfish ambition, they have themselves become unnatural

Symbols of Sleep & Weather • Sleep

– Symbolizes innocence, purity, peace of mind • Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking

• Macbeth haunted by his nightmares

• Weather – Play begins with terrible storm

• Grotesque murder spree

• Accompanied by a number of unnatural occurrences in the natural realm

• Violations of the natural order reflect corruption in the moral and political orders

• Darkness – Indicates something bad is

about to happen • Light is associated with life and

God

• Cover of night is invoked whenever anything terrible is going to happen

– Lady Macbeth thinks the light is going to protect her against the evil forces she summoned

– Sets the tone for the events unfolding on stage • World thrown into darkness

because of Macbeth’s choices

Theme of Loyalty & Honor • Loyalty introduced early on

– Treason of the Thane of Cawdor

– Macbeth’s loyalty to the King raises him up in Duncan’s opinion • Gives him courage to defeat

Norwegian Army

• Rewarded handsomely for loyalty with new title

– Ironically • This trust in Macbeth allows

him to get close enough to kill King Duncan

– Macbeth does not incite the kind of loyalty in his soldiers that Duncan did • Many soldiers abandon posts

Theme of Salvation & Damnation • Macbeth

– Dismayed that he cannot utter an “Amen” after Duncan’s guards say a prayer

– His soul has been damned • Blessing catches in his

throat

– Obsessed with spiritual world • Reliance on

witches/prophesies

• Exchanged Christianity in favor of Witches’ religion?

Asides in Macbeth

• An aside is a remark or passage by a character that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by other characters in the play. – “Glamis, and thane of

Cawdor! The greatest is behind.” ~ Macbeth

• “This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature? Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.” ~ Macbeth

Soliloquies in Macbeth • A soliloquy is an act

of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers (the baring of one’s soul or innermost thoughts).

• “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable as this which now I draw…” ~ Macbeth

Macbeth Characters

• Macbeth – Lady Macbeth’s husband

– Thane of Glamis

– Made Thane of Cawdor for his bravery in battle

– Play opening • Loyal, valiant, honorable

& ambitious

– Hears weird sisters’ prophecy • Becomes consumed by

desire for power

Macbeth Characters

• Lady Macbeth – Macbeth’s wife

• The original power couple

– No reservations about committing murder • Believes a true man takes

what he wants

• Questions Macbeth’s courage when he worries about morals

– Guilt is not so easily avoided • Madness & despair

Macbeth Characters • Banquo (Bane-kwoh)

– Scottish nobleman, general & friend of Macbeth

– Father of Fleance (Flee-ahns)

– Weird sisters prophesy that Banquo will never be king • HOWEVER – his descendants

will one day sit on the throne

– As ambitious as Macbeth • Resists putting selfish ambition

above his honor or Scotland

– A threat to Macbeth • Living example of the noble path

that Macbeth chose not to take

Macbeth Characters • Macduff

– Scottish nobleman that dislikes Macbeth from the get go

– In a game of Marry, Date, or Dump, we'd dump Macbeth (duh), date Malcolm (nice boy, but too many responsibilities) and marry Macduff

– One of the first to suspect Macbeth has a hand in the King’s death

– A guy who can feel and act

– If Duncan has feeling without action, and Macbeth has action without feeling, then Macduff seems to have both. • Why doesn't he become king?

– He accepts his natural place: as a friend to his country and to his true king.

We are used to thinking of women as being the emotional ones, but that's actually a fairly recent —say, 300 years or so —invention. For hundreds of years before that, men were the emotional ones. Women were too flighty to have any deep feelings, except maybe

for their kids.

Macbeth Characters • King Duncan

– Good King of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murder

– The model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted ruler

– His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan’s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne

King Duncan & Lady Macbeth

– Considers loyalty and honor when rewarding his friends and allies • A generous, humorous and

joyous King

• Delighted by Macbeth’s loyalty

Macbeth Characters

• Malcolm – Elder son of King Duncan

• Next in line to be King of Scotland

• Shows himself to be much savvier than his dad

– Becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff’s aid (and the support of England)

– Prior to this • Appears weak and uncertain of

his own power, as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father’s murder

– When his father is murdered • Doesn’t know what to do

• Decides to run, saying…

• "This murderous shaft that's shot/ Hath not yet lighted, and our safest way/ Is to avoid the aim" (2.3)

• Translation: let's get out of here until we see how things play out

Macbeth Characters • 3 Weird Sisters/Hags/Witches

– Resemble the mythological Fates, who impersonally weave the threads of human destiny • “Weird" comes from the Old English

term "wyrd," meaning "fate"

• Take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to toy with and destroy human beings

– Plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, & prophecies • Predictions prompt Macbeth

– To murder Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, & to blindly believe in his own immortality

Macbeth Characters • Fleance (Flee-ahns)

– Banquo’s son

– Survives Macbeth’s attempt to murder him • Flees while his father is murdered

– Possible heir to the throne

– Isn’t heard from again

• Lady Macduff – Macduff’s wife

– Scene in her castle provides our only glimpse of a domestic realm other than that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth • She and her home serve as

contrasts to Lady Macbeth and the hellish world of Inverness

– Knows she is innocent & refuses to run

Macbeth Characters

• Young Macduff – Macduff’s son

– Smart, witty boy

– Refuses to believe that his father is atraitor

– Just starting to get a grip on the way the world works • Asks his mother many questions

• Lennox – A Scottish nobleman

– Appears to be on Macbeth’s side • Remains so for the majority

of the play

• HOWEVER abruptly changes his mind about Macbeth’s tyranny and decides to join with Macduff to fight against Macbeth

Macbeth Characters

• Ross – A Scottish nobleman

– Often asks questions about events that have happened offstage or need to be reiterated so that the audience knows what is happening

• Donalbain – Duncan’s youngest son and

Malcolm’s younger brother

– Second in line to the throne

– Flees for Ireland

• Murderers – A group of ruffians

conscripted by Macbeth to murder Banquo, Fleance (whom they fail to kill), and Macduff’s wife and children

• Porter – Drunken doorman of

Macbeth’s castle

Macbeth Characters • Siward (See-ward)

– Earl of Northumberland in England & joins in the fight against Macbeth

– Loses Young Siward (his son) to Macbeth • Pleased that he died like a

man, which seems callous, but Siward is filled with deep pride for him

• King Edward – King of England

– So saintly, his touch can cure the sick

• Seyton – Macbeth’s servant

• Old Man – An elderly fellow who

sees some strange things happen the night Macbeth murders Duncan

• Captain – Captain of the Scottish

Army

Macbeth Characters • Hecate

– Leader of the witches

– Goddess of witchcraft

– Helps the three witches work their mischief on Macbeth

– Witches fear her because she is powerful

• Gentlewoman – Lady Macbeth’s attendant

• Angus – A Scottish nobleman

Macbeth Act I, Scene i • Raging storm

– Thunder & lightening

• Three witches appear on barren heath – Heath = barren, open

country covered by small shrubs

• Let audience in on plan to meet Macbeth

• Witches call out to familiars (aka spirits, usually cats, that serve the witches)

• Rhyming paradoxes & antithesis – “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.”

~ Witches (1.1.10) • The beautiful is ugly and the

ugly is beautiful.

– “When the battle’s lost and won” ~ Witches (1.1.4) • Witches will meet again when

the battle is lost by one side and won by another.

• Nothing is as it seems to be

• Tone is ominous & speech is paranormal (inhuman)