Essay Plans

Question 1

Macbeth

Answer 1

1- Ambitious but easily led astray and influenced
2- brave tragic hero who corrupts and turns from a brave warrior into a brutal murderer
3- struggles from guilty conscience due to Jacobean morals + COB

Question 2

Lady Macbeth

Answer 2

1- Dominant, confidant, ambitious rejecting gender and societal norms
2- Sneaky and manipulative using Macbeth’s weaknesses against him
3- Subconscious mind goes mad with guilt and drives her to commit suicide

Question 3

Banquo

Answer 3

1- Loyal and honest noblemen who acts truthfully to provide a stark contrast to Macbeth’s deceptive persona
2- Suspicious and doubtful of Macbeth’s truthfulness but is naive enough to be deceived by Macbeth
3- Built upon rationality and doesn’t trust the witches so isn’t easily led astray by them

Question 4

Macduff

Answer 4

1- Antithesis to Macbeth through his loyalty and patriotic
2- Horrified and disbelieving of anything against the Chain of Being
3- Vulnerable and emotional upon hearing that his family have been murdered- atypical and contrasts Macbeth

Question 5

Witches

Answer 5

1- Evil supernatural beings who would scare a Jacobean audience
2- Ambiguous and not fully understood
3- Masters of equivocation which ultimately causes Macbeth’s downfall