Characters In Macbeth Flashcards
Macbeth - character profile
Macbeth is a complex character who changes throughout the course of the play.
He is clearly a brave warrior and leader at the start of the drama but he falls victim to the Witches’ predictions.
He is ambitious - wants to become King of Scotland
It is unclear whether they plant ideas in his mind or whether they simply highlight thoughts that he has already had.
In a series of soliloquies he repeatedly questions himself about his motives for killing the King but is eventually persuaded to continue by his forceful wife.
Having committed murder he finds himself caught in a spiral of evil from which he can see no escape.
He has a conscience
His actions become less heroic and more cowardly as he continues to murder and terrorise others in order to hold on to his power. Towards the end of the play, when he realises that he is doomed, he briefly returns to his old heroic self.
Describe Macbeth using single words (8)
Strong
Brave
Ambitious
Doubts/doubting
Easily influenced
Weak
Guilty
Uncertain
Give examples of Questions Macbeth asks when feeling uncertain or guilty
What parts of the play is his language more confident and certain
Uncertain or guilty:
Whence is that knocking
- How is’ t with me, when every noise appals me
Start and end of play he is more confident and certain:
- Stars hide your fires
- I will not yield
Macbeth is:
- Ambitious
- Brave
- Guilty
Give example quotes
Ambitious - I have no spur/to prick the sides of my intent,but only/vaulting ambition
Brave - brave Macbeth - Well he deserves that name
Guilty - Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood /clean from my hand
Macbeth is a brave hero
Examples
At start Macbeth described as “ Valiant “ warrior
Rosse compares him to “Bellona’s bridegroom “ (like Mars - the God of War)
Macbeths bravery impresses King and names him Thane of Cawdor. King recognises Macbeth’s “personal venture” and “loyalty”
Macbeth more comfortable on battlefield . doesn’t have to worry about guilty conscience and the morality of his actions
Macbeth also dies in battle - fights “bear-like “ to the end, even though he knows he is doomed.
He is determined to “try the last”
Macbeth is a brutal murderer - discuss
Although brave , he’s a cold and calculating killer
He murders Duncan because he wants to be king
He also has Macduff’s family and Banquo killed
He lets Lady Macbeth persuade him to kill Duncan because he wants to be king …..ambition stronger than morality
Macduff calls him “hell-hound”
Siward calls him abhorred tyrant
His violent ambition has ruined all his noble characteristics
‘’ this dead butcher and his fiend like queen’’
Macbeth struggles with his conscience
- He has a strong sense of right and wrong - worries about consequences of his actions because there’s “judgement “on earth and “deep damnation” after death …. Makes his actions more shocking
- He’s reluctant to kill Duncan who “honoured” him. Says “ we will proceed no further in this business” he sounds confident as if made up his mind - Macbeth recognises Duncan trusts him as “his Kinsman” and that as Duncan’s host he has duty to protect him
- Later Macbeth swings between killing anyone who threatens his position as King and moments if disparities when he struggles with terrible guilt. His guilty conscience makes him imagine things
After killing Duncan he hears a voice saying “Macbeth does murder sleep”
After arranging Banquo’s murder he sees Banquo’s ghost at the feast and almost gives himself away. Lady Macbeth thinks he’s hallinating
By end of play he seems world weary and cynical - he no longer seems to feel guilty because he thinks that a person’s actions don’t matter and life means nothing
Macbeth is easily influenced - Discuss
Lady Macbeth (LM) greatly influences him. He wouldn’t kill Duncan if it wasn’t for her - doesn’t want to be seen as unmanly or a coward. She persuades him to kill Duncan by suggesting that he’ll be “more the man”
Throughout the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth link masculinity with strength and courage
LM’s influence over Macbeth declines after Duncan’s murder. Once he’s murdered Duncan, the other murders seem more easy and he acts alone
Also influenced by the supernatural:
When he first meets witches, he believes them straight away “two truths are told “ Banquo’s is suspicious of them and thinks they want to “win us to our harm”
He sees a dagger that leads him to Duncan’s room
As Witches prophecies start to come true, he believes them even more. He relies more heavily on what they say and panics when prophecies are fulfilled unexpectedly
Lady Macbeth is cruel and ruthless . Discuss
She influences Macbeth, especially at start.
She is ambitious and doesn’t mind committing terrible crimes to get what she wants
She changes over the course of the play - at start she is dominant and confident (she persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan as it’s the best thing to do
Lady Macbeth is :
- Cruel
- Cunning
- Disturbed
Quotes?
-
Cruel - “and fill me from crown to the toe top full/of direct cruelty”
Cunning - “look like th’innocent flower/But be the serpent under ‘t’
Disturbed - “she is troubled with thick coming fancies “
Lady Macbeth is very ambitious
Explain Shakespeare’s symbolism re strength and violence
LM is just as ambitious as Macbeth
When she gets his letter,she immediately assumes that they have to kill Duncan. She’s more ruthless than Macbeth
She thinks no ordinary woman will plan his murder . She appeals to the spirit world to “unsex “ her and fill her with “direct cruelty”
When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man
Shakespeare’s symbolism : LM links masculinity to strength and violence, but Shakespeare shows that women can be just as ruthless and cold hearted
Lady Macbeth - Clever and quick witted
Examples around Duncan’s murder
Banquo
- She comes up with the cunning plot to drug Duncan’s servants and “smear them with blood” to frame them for murder - this shows she is clever as well as cruel and heartless
- When Duncan’s murder is discovered, she faints. This could be a pretence which cleverly draws attention away from the unconvincing speech Macbeth is making
She also covers Macbeths strange behaviour when he thinks he sees Banquo’s ghost. She tells the lords that Macbeths “fit is momentary “ and is a condition since his youth . She is the one in control of the situation.
- How does Shakespeare use Lady Macbeth to explore gender and power
- How are women traditionally seen
- LM and the Witches have androgynous features. Give examples
- What does LM think of women
- Women traditionally seen as kinder and weaker than men - Shakespeare uses LM to show isn’t always true - She says she would kill her own baby if she had sworn to do it. Shakespeare contrasts LM to Lady Macduff who’s a caring mother
- LM thinks women are made weak by maternal instincts - She tells spirits to ‘Come to my woman’s breasts/and take my milk for gall
She wants to lose her femininity
Theme - Macbeth is set in male dominated society ,so LM can only achieve her ambitions through Macbeth
LM and Witches have neither feminine or masculine features (androgynous) Witches have beards . LM asks spirits to unsex her. As they all manipulate Macbeth,Shakespeare uses a rejection of gender norms as symbol of power
Give an example of a softer side of Lady Macbeth
She says she couldn’t kill Duncan herself because he reminded her of her father. This shows she’s not as cold hearted as she seems
Lady Macbeth goes mad with guilt
How does the way she speaks reflect her state of mind
What happens with her sleep
In beginning she speaks confidently in verse. By the end ,her speech is made up if mad ramblings and repetitions - ‘come come come come ,give me your hand’ shows that she’s lost all self control
- At first it’s Macbeth that struggles with his guilty conscience. By the end of play LM is driven mad by guilt
- She starts sleepwalking . Doctor calls this a ‘great perturbation in nature “ because ayes her mind is so disturbed that it’s affected her ability to sleep soundly
- In her sleep , she keeps washing her hands in the hope that she can was away her feelings of guilt just as easily as the blood after Duncan’s murder “ Out damned spot”
Symbolism - Sleepwalking was thought to be unnatural in Shakespeares time -sleep is the “ Balm of hurt minds” so fact that LM can’t sleep peacefully emphasises her madness
4 Guilt and isolation affect LM so much that she kills herself - she can’t live with what she’s done
