Macbeth

1. Supernatural

1.1. The witches

1.1.1. 'Fair is foul and foul is fair'=oximoron

1.1.2. '(circle the cauldron)'=stereotypical

1.1.3. 'look not like the inhabitants of the earth'=make the audience fearful as the audience believed in witches

1.1.4. 'instruments of darkness'=bring death and everything bad

1.2. Macbeth

1.2.1. 'So foul and fair a day I have not seen'=mirroring words as see the link straight away to witches

1.2.2. 'Security is mortals chiefest enemy'=Macbeth doesn't have the power to control his destiny

1.3. Lady Macbeth

1.3.1. Speaks in rhyme like the witches and iambic pentameter

1.3.2. 'Pour thy spirits into my ear'=commanding the spirits and we see the link between her and the witches

1.3.3. 'Come you spirits. unsex me here'=inviting the spirits

1.4. Banquo

1.4.1. 'Lesser than Macbeth but greater'=foreshadowing how Macbeth will downfall

1.4.2. 'Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none'=prophecy that Fleance will be king

2. Guilt

2.1. Effect it has on people

2.1.1. Banquo

2.1.1.1. 'A heavy summons lies like lead upon me'

2.1.1.2. 'I dreamt of them (the witches) last night' Banquo feels guilty for dreaming about the witches

2.1.2. Lady Macbeth

2.1.2.1. 'Who knew the old man had so much blood in him'

2.1.2.2. 'The thane of fife had a wife, where is she now?' ironic and dramatic irony as the audience knows that Macbeth has killed macduff family yet Lady Macbeth didn't

2.1.2.3. 'A little water clears us of this deed'

2.1.2.3.1. 'Out, out damned spot'

2.2. Regretful

2.2.1. Macbeth

2.2.1.1. 'Wake Duncan with thy knocking, I would thou couldst'

2.2.1.1.1. Knocking symbolises guilt through

2.2.1.2. 'Bloody instructions' which 'plague the inventor'

2.2.1.3. The Porter 'O, come in, Equivocator' ironic as he is speaking to Macduff yet Macbeth is the equivocator

2.2.1.4. 'We have scorched the snake not killed it'

2.2.1.5. 'Whats done cannot be un done' Lady Macbeth

2.2.1.6. 'Why do you start?' Banquo knows Macbeth is jittery

2.2.1.7. 'Macbeth doth murder sleep'

2.2.2. Lady Macbeth subconsciously

2.2.2.1. 'A little water clears us of this deed'

2.2.2.1.1. 'Out, out damned spot'

2.2.3. Macduff

2.2.3.1. 'All my pretty chickens' he feels guilty that they were all killed

2.2.3.2. Lady Macduff-'His flight is madness' and 'our fears do make us traitors'

2.3. Omnipresent

2.3.1. 'These supernatural soliciting cannot be good' Macbeth feels guilty at the start once he has heard from the witches as he doubts the intentions of the witches

2.3.2. 'Who knew the old man had so much blood in him'

3. Ambition

3.1. Dangerous nature

3.1.1. 'vaulting ambition which over leaps itself and falls on the other'

3.1.2. life 'told by an idiot' and 'signifying nothing'

3.1.3. Macbeth killing Banquo and Lady Macduff as he is killing innocent people for his ambition-'The candles are all out'

3.1.4. 'My keen knife see not the wound it makes'

3.1.5. 'Life is but a walking shadow'

3.2. Manipulative

3.2.1. 'Be so much more of a man' LM

3.2.2. 'Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't'

3.2.3. 'Screw your courage to the sticking place and we'll not fail'

3.2.4. 'Stop the passage to remorse'

3.3. Temptation

3.3.1. 'restrain me in the cursed oughts that nature gives way to in response' Macbeth and Lady Macbeth sacrifice their morals for their ambition

3.3.2. Banquo also gets prophecies but is strong enough not to act on them

3.3.3. 'If it were done, it were done quickly'

3.3.4. 'Tell me more'

4. Power

4.1. Misuse of power

4.1.1. Dangerous nature

4.1.1.1. 'vaulting ambition which over leaps itself and falls on the other'

4.1.1.2. life 'told by an idiot' and 'signifying nothing'

4.1.1.3. Macbeth killing Banquo and Lady Macduff as he is killing innocent people for his ambition-'The candles are all out'

4.1.1.4. 'My keen knife see not the wound it makes'

4.1.1.5. 'Life is but a walking shadow'

4.2. Good vs Evil

4.2.1. Duncan

4.2.1.1. The first time we see Duncan he does two King like duties= punishing the bad and rewarding the good- 'and with his title meet Macbeth'

4.2.1.2. He is fair

4.2.1.2.1. 'He hath honoured me of late'

4.2.1.2.2. 'Golden Opinion'

4.2.2. Macbeth

4.2.2.1. murders innocent people

5. Macduff

5.1. Heroic

5.1.1. 'Tyrant, show thy face'=Macduff rises when Macbeth falls

5.1.2. '(Macbeth's head on a pole)' We don't see Macduff kill Macbeth as he doesn't deserve as Macduff is the superior

5.1.3. 'My voice is in my sword'=doesn't hesitate to kill Macbeth like Macbeth hesitates to kill Duncan

5.2. Opposes Macbeth

5.2.1. Macbeth kills Macduffs family whereas Macduff kills Macbeth

5.2.2. Through relationships

5.2.2.1. Macduffs family were killed 'All my pretty chickens?'

5.2.2.1.1. 'I must feel it like a man' At that time it was sen as manly to be emotional which contradicts modern views on emotion

5.2.2.2. Macbeth when he learns that Lady Macbeth has died 'She should have died here after'

5.2.3. 'Worthy Macduff' at the end yet it starts with 'Worthy Macbeth'

5.3. Question the idea of honour

5.3.1. He is very patriotic and shows loyalty to Scotland= 'Hail King Of Scotland' to Malcolm

5.3.2. Yet he deserts his family Lady Macduff='HIs flight was madness' and "our fears do make us traitors'

5.3.3. He mourns for Scotland='poor country' and personified with 'disease'

5.4. True Justice

5.4.1. Duncan was killed which he saw as preposterous as the 'Lords anointed temple' was broken

5.4.2. He has no claim to the throne as is no relation to the king as Macbeth was Duncan 'valiant cousin'

5.4.3. He restores the natural state of Scotland='All hail the king of Scotland' the divine right of kings

6. Lady Macbeth

6.1. Manipulative

6.1.1. 'Live a coward in thine own esteem'=insulting Macbeth's manliness

6.1.2. 'When you durst do it you were so much more of a man'=manipulating Macbeth into killing Duncan

6.1.2.1. 'Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness'

6.1.3. 'dashed the brains out'=if she said she would kill her baby she would = the baby is half of Macbeth aswell showing she is willing to hurt Macbeth

6.2. Power Hungry

6.2.1. 'You shall put this great nights business in my dispatch'=abolishes gender stereotypes

6.2.2. 'look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't'=refers to the serpent from genesis and Adam and eve-eve was the one who stole the apple and was manipulated by the serpent so she is doing that to Macbeth

6.2.3. 'What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness'= she wants to ensure that Macbeth will be what the witches suggested

6.3. Guilty

6.3.1. 'The queen my Lord is dead'=killed herself because of guilt + ‘Women within cry out’

6.3.2. 'A little water clears us of this deed'=ironic and foreshadows her guilt and madness

6.3.2.1. 'Who knew the old man had so much blood in him'=boold symbolising guilt=water doesn't get rid of guilt- can't clean her conscience

6.3.3. ‘will these hands ne’er be clean?’=her conscience will never be clean

6.4. Determined

6.4.1. 'O never shall sun that morrow see'

6.4.2. 'unsex me here'=she is willing to change gender to commit the murder

6.4.3. 'Stop the access to the passage of remorse'=soliloquy she doesn't want to feel any guilt

6.4.4. 'Screw your courage to the sticking place and we'll not fail'= putting and end to Macbeth's doubt

7. Kings

7.1. Duncan

7.1.1. The first time we see Duncan he does two King like duties= punishing the bad and rewarding the good- 'and with his title meet Macbeth'

7.1.2. He is fair

7.1.2.1. 'He hath honoured me of late'

7.1.2.2. 'Golden Opinion'

7.2. Macbeth

7.2.1. Murders innocent people

8. Banquo

8.1. Trustworthy + Honest

8.1.1. 'True, worthy Banquo'

8.1.2. 'Now they rise again' when Macbeth sees Banquos ghost-Banquo will prove to everyone that Macbeth is a traitor= he leads Macbeth to admitting his guilt infront of everyone

8.1.3. 'I dreamt last night of them (the witches)' as he has admitted that he thought of the witches yet Macbeth denies even thinking about the witched never mind following their prophecies

8.2. Genuine superior to Macbeth

8.2.1. 'Lesser than Macbeth but Greater'

8.2.2. 'His royalty of nature Reigns that which would be fear'd'

8.2.3. '(the others attack Banquo)' Macbeth orders his murder as he is the good in the world

8.3. Suspicious

8.3.1. 'I fear thou had play'dst most foully for it'

8.3.1.1. 'fair is foul and foul is fair' Banquo repeats the witches words to show how he juxtaposes the supernatural evil that the other characters represent

8.3.2. 'The candles are all out'= candles signify life and Banquo knows that something bad will happen before Macbeth kills Duncan- dramatic irony

8.3.3. 'Why do you start?' Banquo knows Macbeth is jittery

9. Macbeth

9.1. Ambitious

9.1.1. 'Vaulting ambition'

9.2. Easily Lead

9.2.1. 'When you durst do it you were a man'

9.3. Alienated himself

9.3.1. 'She would have died hereafter'

9.3.2. He is not seen with Lady Macbeth again after he killed Duncan