characters and themes- Macbeth

Question 1

Macbeth-first impressions

Answer 1

Shakespeare introduces Macbeth in act 1 scene 2 through other characters. he is a good soldier, with adjectives and verbs depicting his strength and determination, ‘bloody execution… carv’d out his passage.’ personification is used by the captain to describe how even though the odds were against him, Macbeth fought bravely, ‘Disdaining fortune’. the king makes him thane of Cawdor and uses the adjective ‘noble’ to show Macbeth is honourable, ‘what he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won’. simile and metaphor emphasises this respect by showing how quickly all the thanes send news of Macbeths valour to the king; ‘as thick as hail/ came post with post; and every one did bear/ thy praises in his kingdoms great defence/ and pour’d them down before him.’

Question 2

how is Macbeth affected by the witches

Answer 2

Macbeth is fascinated by the witches’ prophecies but does not take them seriously until he hears that the king has named him thane of Cawdor. Shakespeare then uses asides in act 1 scene 3 to reveal Macbeths deepest thoughts and show he is now hiding things from banque. adjectives show he is excited by the possibilities of him becoming king, ‘happy prologues to the swelling act / Of the imperial theme’. however metaphors make it clear that the idea of killing the king shocks and terrifies him, ‘horrid image doth unfix my hair, / and make my seated heart knock at my ribs’.

Question 3

does Macbeth have a conscience

Answer 3

metaphor is used to show lady Macbeths fear that Macbeth is too honourable to achieve his ambitions; ‘I fear thy nature/ it is too full o’h’milk of human kindness’. during act 1 he battles with his feelings of right and wrong. Shakespeare shows this through Macbeths soliloquies and his dialogue with lady Macbeth. he knows regicide will damn him to hell but lady Macbeth convinces him to go ahead. his weakness is seen where she manipulates and dominates him. before and after killing the king, Macbeth is plagued by fears, visions and paranoia. this emphasises how he isn’t a simple villain but a good man turned bad. he also believes he will never rest again and will always have the kings blood on his hands.

Question 4

Macbeths corruption

Answer 4

Shakespeare shows Macbeths corruption in act 1 scene 4 when he says, ‘stars, hide your fires!/ let not light see my black and deep desires’. traditional images of light and dark are used to present good and evil, with Macbeth turning away from goodness. the rhyme in this couplet emphasises the sinfulness of his burning ambitions. however his demand to the night for help is a reminder that he is struggling with his conscience. this speech is said aside, allowing the audience to see how Macbeth is changing. the dramatic irony is highlighted by king Duncan, commenting to banquo on how ‘valiant’ Macbeth is.

Question 5

how does Macbeths character worsen?

Answer 5

after murdering his friend, Macbeth seems to give up on goodness and decides that his life is ‘in blood/ stepped in so far’ that he may as well continue with his tyranny. soon after this, he has macduffs entire family slaughtered. at the banquet, ,Macbeth appears to of lost all his sanity and he begins to lose the trust of the thanes. in act 3 scene 6 Lennox and the lord refer to Macbeth as ‘accursed’ and a ‘tyrant’, and they discuss how the country is troubled. similarly in act 4 scene 3, Macduff and Malcolm refer to Macbeth as a devil and a sinner, with Scotland now a place of suffering

Question 6

Macbeth at the end

Answer 6

deserted by the thanes, Macbeth seems to be full of despair. this is highlighted when lady Macbeth kills herself; ‘all our yesterday’s have lightened fools/ the way to dusty death. out, out, brief candle’. he seems unaware that he is the problem, asking the doctor if he can find Scotlands ‘disease/ and purge it to a sound and pristine health’. he is filled with over-confidence by the witches’ visions, mockingly asking about Malcolm ‘was he not born of woman’ and ‘I will not be afraid of death and bane’. however, he regains some of his old courage and determination when he leads his men to their final battle

Question 7

macbeths final downfall

Answer 7

Macbeth’s final downfall is partly due to his over-confidence, ‘But swords I smile at,
weapons laugh to scorn, / Brandish’d by a man that’s of a woman born’. The first two
verbs show he is not worried by the other soldiers and sibilance is used to emphasise his
contempt for them. The audience are reminded of the reason for this by him repeating
the words of one of the apparitions. The rhyming couplet creates a mocking tone and
this sense of his own invincibility is increased by him saying these words as he kills
Young Siward.

Question 8

what is lady Macbeths relationship with Macbeth like

Answer 8

Macbeth loves his wife, using a superlative adjective when he calls her, ‘my dearest love’. however when she addresses Macbeth, lady Macbeths adjectives focus more on her respect for him, ‘great glamis! worthy Cawdor!’ this could be interpreted that she is more interested in Macbeth as a tool to fulfil her ambitions. as a woman in the eleventh century, she would need a man to achieve her power.

Question 9

how ambitious is lady Macbeth

Answer 9

once she hears the witches prophecies she is desperate to become queen, referring to the crown as the ‘golden round’. in her soliloquy in act 1 scene 5 she criticises Macbeth for being ambitious but not having the ‘illness to support it’, suggesting she is willing to do anything for power. she calls on evil spirits to help her achieve her aims, using the metaphor, ‘fill me, from the crown to the toe, top full/ of direst cruelty!’ she wants to be strong and murderous instead of weak and feminine, and wants to feel no guilt or christian morality, ‘stop up th’access and passage to remorse’.

Question 10

how does lady Macbeth manipulate Macbeth

Answer 10

Shakespeare uses the metaphor to show that lady Macbeth is a bad influence on Macbeth, ‘that I may pour my spirits in thine ear’. in act 1 scene 5, she hatches a plan to kill the king and insists she takes charge, ‘you shall put / this nights great business into my dispatch’. when Macbeth has second thoughts in act 1 scene 7, Shakespeare includes a number of devices to show lady Macbeth manipulates him- a rhetorical question; ‘was the hope drunk/ wherein you dress’d yourself?’, belittling insults, ‘so green and pale… coward’. mocking his own words, ‘what beast was’t then,/ that made you break this enterprise to me?’ emotional blackmail, ‘from this time/ such I account thy love’. imperatives, ‘screw your courage to the sticking-place’. in particular she challenges his masculinity and Shakespeare also shows her dominance giving her more lines and having her frequently interrupt Macbeth

Question 11

how does lady macbeth respond to the murder in act 2?

Answer 11

Lady Macbeth shows her first sign of weakness when she cannot kill the King because he
resembles her father, suggesting she does have a conscience.
However, she is much more dispassionate than Macbeth after the murder, dismissing his
regrets by mocking and repeating his words, “‘A foolish thing to say a sorry sight. She
ignores his fears by interrupting him with the simple imperative, ‘Consider it not so deep
When he is too scared to return, she uses short blunt sentences to criticise his weakness a
take charge, ‘Infirm of purpose! / Give me the daggers’.
Importantly, she trivialises the murder. Shakespeare uses the blood on Macbeth’s hands to
symbolise guilt but has Lady Macbeth say, ‘A little water clears us of this deed’.

Question 12

how is lady macbeth presented once macbeth is king

Answer 12

In Act 3 scene 2, Lady Macbeth worries about her husband’s state of mind.
she tries and fails to get close to him, showing the effect of their actions on their
previously intimate relationship.
She asks him, ‘why do you keep alone’, advises him to ‘Be bright and jovial among your
guests’ and repeatedly tries to stop him thinking about the murder: ‘what’s done is done’
you must leave this’.
The strain of the situation shows in the banquet scene. She alternates between trying to
reassure the lords and trying to bully her husband into controlling himself. Eventually, she
has to give up and ask the lords to leave.

Question 13

what happens to lady macbeth at the end of the play

Answer 13

At the start of Act 5 Lady Macbeth appears in a trance, desperately miming the washing
of her hands to represent the guilt she didn’t display in Act 2. This is emphasised by her
mention of Hell, suggesting she now realises the consequences of her actions.
In her sleep, she says various things that relate to the earlier scenes and incriminate her
and Macbeth. She mocks Macbeth’s lack of courage (linking to her manipulation of him
in Act 1), talks about an old man and blood (relating to King Duncan’s murder), mentions
the death of Lady Macduff, refers to Macbeth’s behaviour at the banquet and speaks of
Banquo’s murder.
The Doctor uses a metaphor to explain her madness, ‘Unnatural deeds / Do breed unnatur
troubles, and, four scenes later, Macbeth is brought news of her death, presumably
by suicide.

Question 14

the change in lady macbeth

Answer 14

The change in Lady Macbeth is clearest when she talks during her sleepwalking, with
the lines, ‘Out, damned spot! out, I say! - One; two: why, then tis time to do t. - Hell
is murky. - Fie, my Lord’ sounding particularly disturbed and disjointed. This is a stark
contrast to her powerful use of rhetoric in earlier scenes such as in Act 1 scene 7.
Shakespeare conveys her madness by using short clauses to make her sound anxious,
dashes to create demonstrative pauses that show her mind switching between events of
the past and exclamation marks to create a tone of urgency and desperation. The guilt
that has caused her madness is shown in the symbolic reference to the spot of blood.
The repetition of ‘out’ highlights her obsession with wanting forgiveness, while the
words damned’ and ‘Hell’ remind us that she has committed a crime against God and
she knows she is beyond redemption.

Question 15

how is banquo presented in act 1

Answer 15

Banquo is introduced through descriptions of him and Macbeth as being good, brave
soldiers. However, he is not praised as much as Macbeth.
In scene 3, internal half-rhyme suggests he is initially more excited than Macbeth by the
witches’ prophecies: ‘why do you start, and seem to fear / Things that do sound so fair?
The witches describe Banquo as, ‘Lesser than Macbeth, and greater’. The first comparative
adjective reinforces the idea that he is not as highly honoured as Macbeth but
Shakespeare’s contrasting language suggests he is more honourable.
He is told, ‘Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none, establishing him as a danger
to Macbeth.
Shakespeare develops Banquo’s differences to Macbeth, making him less ambitious and
more virtuous. When the prophecies start to become reality, he does not show jealousy o
use secretive asides but, instead, is clearly disturbed, What! can the devil speak true?’ The
exclamation and question show his shock, while ‘devil’ shows he thinks the witches are el
He is worried about Macbeth and warns him against corruption. He appeals to the good
side of Macbeth’s nature, while Lady Macbeth later appeals to the bad.

Question 16

how does shakespeare develop the character of banquo

Answer 16

Shakespeare continues to present Banquo as honourable, in contrast to Macbeth, in Act2
scene 1
He has dreams about the witches but prays not to be corrupted, ‘merciful Powers! /
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature / Gives way to in repose! This is also a
contrast with Lady Macbeth’s words in Act 1 scene 5.
Macbeth, who is about to kill the King, makes an ambiguous offer of power to Banquo as
long as he keeps supporting him. The audience presume Banquo doesn’t realise Macbeth!
true meaning and Shakespeare reinforces his goodness through adjectives that relate to
being free from guilt when he says he will, keep / My bosom franchis’d, and
allegiance clear.
After Macbeth is crowned, Banquo is clearly suspicious. However, he also shows signs of
corruption in his thoughts on the witches prophecy about Fleance, ‘May they not be my
oracles as well, / And set me up in hope?”
Iwo scenes later, he is murdered. He dies saying, ‘O, treachery!’ suggesting he knows that
Macbeth has arranged his death.

Question 17

what does macduff represent

Answer 17

Macduft represents the average thane. He is a moral and emotional norm, in contrast with
the extreme, immoral behaviour of the Macbeths.
He doesn’t speak until Act 2, when Shakespeare needs a character to represent the normal
innocent reaction to the King’s death and, later, to Macbeth’s tyrannical reign.
His lines carry the thoughts and feelings of Scotland. In losing his King, family and country.
and then seeking to right the situation, Macduff can also be seen as the play’s hero.

Question 18

how does macduff react to the kings murder

Answer 18

Macduff’s reaction is shown through repetition and exclamations, ‘O horror! horror! horror!
His shock at the sight of Duncan’s body includes a metaphorical reference to the Divine
Right of Kings, ‘Most sacrilegious Murther hath broke ope / The Lord’s anointed Temple”.
Unlike Macbeth, he represents respect for the Christian concept of the Chain of Being.
He is deceived by Lady Macbeth and Shakespeare shows this through dramatic irony, ‘O
gentle lady / ‘Tis not for you to hear what I can speak’.

Question 19

why does macbeth turn against macduff

Answer 19

Macduff doesn’t attend Macbeth’s coronation or the banquet but, instead, returns home to Fite.
The audience are not given a reason for this. It could be he suspects Macbeth or that he
wants to be with his family at a time of national mourning. The latter is more interesting
as it presents Macduff, who by Act 3 scene 6 is in Macbeth’s ‘disgrace’, as a wholly innocent
victim of Macbeth’s paranoia.

Question 20

what views does macduff present

Answer 20

In Act 4, Shakespeare uses Macduff to voice the miseries of Scotland. The repetition and
emotive nouns and verbs in, ‘Each new morn, / New widows howl, new orphans cry;
new sorrows / Strike heaven on the face’, show Scotland’s deterioration. The final image
highlights that Macbeth is not the rightful King.
He also voices the nationwide criticisms of Macbeth and encourages Malcolm to take the throne.
He is distressed by the death of his family and fights Macbeth in Act 5 under the personal
and patriotic principles he has expressed throughout the play, conveyed in the metaphor,
My voice is in my sword’.
His victory is not presented as a personal success but a victory for righteousness, with him immediately saluting Malcolm, ‘Hail, King!

Question 21

how does shakespeare show duncan is a good king

Answer 21

Duncan praises his subjects, such as calling Macbeth ‘valiant’ in Act 1 scene 2.
Macbeth describes the King’s qualities in Act 1 scene 7. Adjectives compliment his
leadership and honesty, ‘hath been / So clear in his great office’, whilst his Christian
character is described in the simile, ‘his virtues / Will plead like angels.
Shakespeare reminds the audience that Duncan is chosen by God when Lennox describes
the weather in Act 2 scene 2 during the time the murder is committed. Storms (“the night
has been unruly’) and earthquakes (‘the earth / Was feverous and did shake’) symbolise
how nature is reacting to Macbeth disrupting the Great Chain of Being.

Question 22

what are king duncan’s faults

Answer 22

Shakespeare presents him as too trusting and he is shocked by the Thane of Cawdor’s
betrayal. When he says, in Act 1 scene 4, ‘He was a gentleman on whom I built / Absolute
trust -“, his speech is interrupted by the arrival of Macbeth, to whom he addresses the rest
of the line: ‘O worthiest cousin!’ Shakespeare shows Duncan is making the same mistake
again by trusting Macbeth.
Dramatic irony is regularly created in Act 1 through his misplaced trust, such as describing
Macbeth as ‘a peerless kinsman’ and calling Lady Macbeth ‘fair and noble hostess’

Question 23

how is malcolm presented

Answer 23

He respects his father, calling him ‘My Liege’ and your Highness, and shows no ambition
to take his place.
Perhaps because of the murder, Malcolm is more suspicious than his tather.
In Act 2 scene 3, in his asides to Donalbain, he already seems suspicious of Macbeth,
comparing his own silence about his father’s murder to Macbeth’s outpouring of emotion.
He appears not to trust any of the thanes (‘Let’s not consort with them: / To show an unfel
sorrow is an office / Which the false man does easy’) and decides to escape to England.
This suspicion can still be seen in Act 4 scene 3, when he meets Macduff. He is polite
but doesn’t trust him, ‘I pray you, / Let not my jealousies be your dishonours’. He tests
Macduff’s loyalty by describing himselt, not Macbeth, as a tyrant and observing
the reaction.
He hates ‘Devilish Macbeth’ and is patriotic towards Scotland, seeing himself as ‘my poor
country’s to command’.
At the end, Malcolm’s reasserts his honour, Christian values and patriotism by promising .
the grace of Grace to make Scotland a good country again.

Question 24

how is the presentation of the witches linked to stagecraft

Answer 24

Appearance and setting are important in presenting the witches. The opening stage
direction and rhyming couplet both link the witches to bad weather to suggest they are
abnormal and disturb the natural world.
This unnaturalness is also shown through their appearance, which Banquo describes as ‘So
wither’d and so wild in their attire, / That look not like th’inhabitants o’th’earth’,
As well as props, such as a cauldron, different techniques would be used on stage to
emphasise their magical powers such as the apparitions and the way the witches vanish.

Question 25

how are the witches presented as evil

Answer 25

Shakespeare uses contrast and repetition to establish that the witches’ values are the
opposite of normal, ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’.
Their speech often links to murder or violence, such as ‘killing swine, discussing
shipwrecking a sailor and references to blood.
This is emphasised by the list of gruesome ingredients in their spell, including ‘poison’d
entrails’, ‘tongue of dog’, ‘nose of Turk’ and ‘finger of birth-strangled babe’.
They also appear sinister through Shakespeare’s construction of their speech. Whereas
the important characters mostly speak in iambic pentameter (ten syllables, alternating
between unstressed and stressed) and the lower-class characters speak in prose, the witches
are usually given rhyming couplets of seven-syllable lines that are trochaic (alternating
between stressed and unstressed) to make it sound like they are chanting.
Three was seen as a number linked to the supernatural. Shakespeare has three witches,
often has them speak a line at a time to form patterns of three and has them conjure
three apparitions.

Question 26

how do the witches manipulate macbeth

Answer 26

The witches’ supernatural influence over Macbeth can be seen in his first words because
they repeat those of the witches: ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen’.
They also manipulate him directly by tempting him with prophecies of greatness.
They make him over-confident to bring about his downfall. Hecate, the leader of the
witches, wants him to, ‘spurn fate, scorn death, and bear / His hopes bove wisdom, grace,
and tear; / And you all know, security / Is mortals chietest enemy
To achieve this, their apparitions speak equivocally, using ambiguous language so Macbeth
hears his own interpretation of the truth.

Question 27

which characters are used to represent power

Answer 27

At the start of the play, King Duncan is the main symbol of power.
Respect for him is shown in the way he is addressed. For example, in Act 1, Ross uses the
traditional expression of loyalty, ‘God save the King!’, and Macbeth uses a list to emphasise
now much the King is respected: ‘our duties / Are to your throne and state, children
and servants”.
Power has not corrupted the King, and Macbeth later talks of his honorable qualities.
Macbeth is a very different King. He uses his power to secure his position (having Banquo
Killed) or to get revenge (having Macduff’s family killed), rather than to look after the country.

Question 28

how is power presented as desirable

Answer 28

The witches tempt Macbeth with power and he describes this feeling in the metaphor, ‘the
swelling act / Of the imperial theme.
Lady Macbeth also tempts him with the prospect of ‘solely sovereign sway and masterdom’
and the sibilance suggests the sinister corruption of power.
She is excited by thoughts of gaining power, saying Macbeth’s letter about the witches has
‘transported me beyond / This ignorant present, and I teel now / The tuture in the instant’

Question 29

how does power change macbeth

Answer 29

Macbeth sacrifices his goodness for power. This corruption is the play’s key tragic element
and it increases once he gains power, leading him to be referred to as a ‘tyrant’ rather than
a King.
Power even affects how he speaks, with the royal plural pronouns ‘we’ and ‘our showing
his enjoyment of power and how it goes to his head.
Macbeth’s desire to maintain his power makes him paranoid about others. He behaves like
a dictator and Malcolm uses a metaphor to describe how people have, ‘fled the snares of
watchful tyranny .

Question 30

what other types of power are shown in the play.

Answer 30

As well as the power of royalty, Shakespeare presents supernatural power through the witches.
He explores the power that Lady Macbeth has over her husband even though, at the time,
her gender would make her seem weaker.
The end of the play also affirms the power of goodness and God by placing the rightrul
King on the throne.

Question 31

what ideas are presented about religion and the supernatural

Answer 31

These themes are presented as contrasts in the play. Religion is linked to goodness and
equilibrium; the supernatural is linked to evil and chaos.
Religion and the supernatural are shown as opposing influences on the world through
juxtaposition of images. For example, after the King’s murder, Ross says, ‘Is’t night’s
predominance, or the day’s shame, / That darkness does the face of earth entomb, / When
living light should kiss it?’ Day/night, light/dark, and life/death are used to suggest that tne
country is being fought over by the powers of good and evil.

Question 32

how do characters present religion

Answer 32

Religion is linked to the good characters, such as King Duncan, Malcolm and Macduff.
They are either part of the Great Chain of Being or seek to maintain it. For example, Youn
Siward, who dies fighting for Malcolm, is referred to by his father as ‘God’s soldier’.
When King Duncan is murdered, Shakespeare uses Macduff’s line ‘The great doom’s
image!’ to reference the Christian idea of the Last Judgement (or Doomsday) when God
will glorify the good and punish the evil. This reminds us of the King’s religious significance
as God’s chosen ruler.

Question 33

how do characters present the supernatural

Answer 33

The supernatural is linked to the bad characters: the witches, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth.
The witches are presented as a corrupting influence on nature and humankind. Macbeth’s
metaphor from Act 4, ‘Infected be the air whereon they ride; / And damn’d all those that
trust them!’ describes them as a disease that draws people towards Hell.
Lady Macbeth prays to the supernatural, ‘Come to my woman’s breasts, / And take my milk
for gall, you murth’ring ministers’. In the Four Humours, upon which most medicine was
based until the nineteenth century, excess gall (or yellow bile) was believed to create anger
and aggression. Shakespeare refers to this to emphasis the idea of the supernatural as
violent, abnormal and a destroyer of innocence.
Macbeth is torn between religion and the supernatural in the first half of the play. This is
seen when he battles with his conscience over killing the King and, after the murder, when
he wants to pray but cannot. By Act 4, he is being referred to as evil through adjectives
such as ‘Devilish’ and ‘cursed’.

Question 34

what characters are manipulative

Answer 34

Manipulation is a way of getting someone to do what you want; one feature of this
is temptation.
The witches and Lady Macbeth tempt Macbeth with greatness. The witches achieve this
with a pattern of three when they hail Macbeth in Act 1, whilst Lady Macbeth repeats their
words and later uses rhetorical questions to make the King’s murder sound easy, What
cannot you and I pertorm upon / Th’unguarded Duncan?’
Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into continuing with the murder by mocking and
belittling him, using emotional blackmail, challenging his decisions through questions and
giving him orders.
The witches also manipulate Macbeth, through their apparitions, to cause his downfall.
They increase his paranoia about Banquo’s descendants and Macduff, using repetition
through the verb ‘beware’ and, visually, through the line of eight kings. They also tell him
half-truths in order to make him over-confident and careless.

Question 35

how does macbeth respond to the witches

Answer 35

Macbeth is easily tempted by the witches, with Banquo repeating the adjective ‘rapt’ in Act
1 scene 3 to describe him lost in ambitious thoughts.
Their success in manipulating his paranoia can be seen when he orders the death ot
Macdutt’s family. He is also happy to be told what he wants to hear and describes the
apparitions’ halt-truths as ‘Sweet bodements”
In Act 5 scene 3, Shakespeare shows the impact of this manipulation when Macbeth brashly
repeats his imagined invincibility alongside mocking rhetorical questions, ‘Till Birnam wood
move to Dunsinane, / I cannot taint with fear. What’s the boy Malcolm? / Was he not born
of woman?’
When he realises he has been manipulated, ‘be these juggling fiends no more believ’d’, the
‘juggling’ image conveys how it was all a game to the witches.

Question 36

how does macbeth respond to lady macbeth

Answer 36

Macbeth is also easily manipulated by his wife in Act 1 scene 7 because he is full of
traditional ideas about masculinity and power. He feels the need to prove that he isn’t
a coward.
Although he begins assertively (‘We will proceed no further in this business’), he is quickly
on the defensive (‘I dare do all that may become a man), and soon lets her take control
and explain how the murder will be committed.

Question 37

what is duty and which characters present this theme

Answer 37

Shakespeare focuses on duty as a moral obligation, through the characters’ loyalty to the
King. Because of the Christian context, this duty has a religious aspect.
Characters such as Macbeth, Banquo and Ross show this in fighting against the invaders in
Act 1. Malcolm represents an additional element of duty through his responsibilities as
a son.
Macbeth also makes a pretence of duty, telling the King, The service and the loyalty I owe,
/ In doing it pays itself. The audience know his true thoughts so dramatic irony makes the
dutiful abstract nouns sound particularly false.
Once Macbeth becomes King, the characters are expected to show the same duty to him.
For example, Banquo changes how he addresses his old friend and pledges his allegiance
through metaphor, “Let your Highness / Command upon me, to which my duties / Are with
a most indissoluble tie / For ever knit’.

Question 38

what are rewards of duty

Answer 38

King Duncan rewards Macbeth by naming him the Thane of Cawdor, makes Malcolm the
Prince of Cumberland and uses a simile to promise honours for his other subjects, ‘signs of
nobleness, like stars, shall shine / On all deservers’.
Malcolm later mirrors his father’s actions by announcing that all the loyal Thanes will be made earls

Question 39

which characters present betrayed and what are its consequences

Answer 39

The first characters linked to betrayal are Macdonwald (who Macbeth cuts open and
decapitates) and the original Thane of Cawdor (who is executed). Noun phrases, such as
“the slave’ and ‘disloyal traitor’, show their loss of honour.
Macbeth receives a similar death and loss of respect for betraying his King and country.
However, Shakespeare focuses more on the spiritual consequences of betrayal, repeatedly
linking Macbeth to damnation and the disruption of nature.
Macbeth debates duty and betrayal in his soliloquy in Act 1 scene 7, guiltily reminding
himself that Duncan has shown ‘double trust’ because Macbeth is his host and relative.
After killing the King, Macbeth says, ‘To know my deed, twere best not know myself’,
realising that his betrayal has made him a different, shameful person.
When the ‘false thanes’ leave Macbeth, he sees it as a betrayal. However, they are doing
their duty to their country and to the rightful King.

Question 40

how is macbeth presented as feeling guilty

Answer 40

Macbeth shows guilt over killing King Duncan through the symbolic use of blood.
When Macbeth thinks about trying to wash the blood from his hands in Act 2 scene 2,
Shakespeare uses the metaphor, ‘my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
/ Making the green one red’ to show that Macbeth knows his crime is so bad that it can
never be forgiven. The natural image of the oceans links to Macbeth’s awareness that he
has disturbed the world’s natural order.
His guilt is also indicated in, ‘Macbeth shall sleep no more’, where the modal verb presents
a personal consequence for his actions.
Some audiences see Banquo’s ghost as a supernatural appearance but it can also be
interpreted as a creation, or manifestation, of Macbeth’s guilt. His lines, ‘Thou canst not say
I did it: never shake / Thy gory locks at me’, use the return of blood symbolism in ‘gory’ to
show his feelings of guilt, even though there are two outward denials of responsibility.

Question 41

how is macbeth linked to madness

Answer 41

Madness is presented as a consequence of guilt in the play. When Macbeth asks the Doctor,
in Act 5 scene 3, ‘Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, / Pluck from the memory a
rooted sorrow, / Raze out the written troubles of the brain’, he could be talking about Lady
Macbeth’s problems or his own. Guilt is shown metaphorically in ‘rooted sorrow’,
using
plant imagery to suggest that it grows and takes over. The madness it causes is also shown
through metaphors: ‘mind diseased’ and ‘written troubles of the brain
While madness is linked to guilt through things such as Banquo’s ghost, madness is also
linked to paranoia. The witches’ prophecy about Banquo’s sons makes Macbeth feel as if he
is in danger. In Act 3 scene 2, the metaphor, ‘O, full of scorpions is my mind’, captures how
his worries are affecting his sanity.

Question 42

how is guilt shown to make lady macbeth mad

Answer 42

In Act 5 scene 1, Lady Macbeth’s madness is shown through her sleepwalking and her
disjointed speech. She refers to her and Macbeth’s past crimes to display her guilt.
The clearest evidence of her guilt is the recurring blood symbolism with the rhetorical
question, ‘will these hands ne’er be clean?’, showing her desperation to end her guilt.
Lady Macbeth’s suicide should also be seen as a maddened response to her guilt. She sees it
as her only escape trom what she has done.

Question 43

how is macbeth presented as secretive

Answer 43

Macbeth’s secretiveness is first shown through soliloquies and asides in Act 1 scenes 3
and 4. They show him hiding his true thoughts from Banquo, Ross and Angus, and then
plotting against the King and his sons.
In contrast, his letter to Lady Macbeth in Act 1 scene 5 reveals everything. She reads that
he does not want her to be, ‘ignorant of what greatness is promised thee’, and this snows
how much Macbeth trusts and values his wife.

Question 44

how does lady macbeth encourage macbeth to lie

Answer 44

Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to play talse”.
Using a metaphor to compare his face to a book, she warns her husband that his intentions
can be read upon his face. She advises him to beguile the time, meaning he should use
deception and charm to appear innocent in front of King Duncan.
Lady Macbeth forms the plan to kill the King and frame his guards, and she and Macbeth
pretend to be shocked when the murder is discovered the following morning.
Macbeth appears to have learned how to lie eftectively by the start of Act 3 when he
convinces the murderers to kill Banquo, “it was he in the times past which held you / So
under fortune, which you thought had been / Our innocent self. They have a grievance
against Macbeth, which he shifts onto Banquo, blaming him for ruining their lives.
Shakespeare emphasises Macbeth’s duplicity (and his use of status) through the dramatic
irony of the regal noun phrase, ‘our innocent self’.

Question 45

where are secrets and lies presented as an act of kindness

Answer 45

While secrets and lies are usually linked to evil behaviour in the play, they are presented in
more honourable situations in Act 4 scene 3.
Talking to Macduft, Malcolm hides his true feelings about Macbeth and presents himselt
as a future tyrant, ‘I should forge / Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal, / Destroying
them for wealth’. These lies are spoken to test Macduff as Malcolm has suspicions that he is
working for Macbeth. Once Malcolm is convinced of Macduff’s honesty, he tells the truth.
Dramatic irony is used again when Ross initially lies about Macduff’s family. When asked if
his wite and children are well, Ross replies, they were well at peace when I did leave ‘em’.
The audience see that he cannot bear to tell the truth of their slaughter.