Macbeth Flashcards
Macbeth character
Violence at the begging is used for the good of the country, contrasts the end when he’s hindering the country and is described as a “tyrant.” Shows how he’s not suited to be king and he’s in “borrowed robes” / “like a dwarfish pig I’m a giants robe”
“Devil” “tyrant” but Malcolm = “angel”
Shows his downfall, contrasts the start when he’s described as “brave” “Nobel”
“The seeds of Banquo will be king”
Witches prophecies corrupt him he’s “rapt” by these - naive
Jealousy leads him to kill Banquo and Duncan - ambition for power
Uses violence as a common solution - unable to deal with his issues logically showing how his character has become weak
Duncan’s death = soliloquies showing self-doubt and remorse/guilt
Contrasts the end when he is remorseless and only concerned about his own image - dismissive of lady Macbeth’s death
Lady Macbeth character
Initially strong ruthless and ambitious, she encourages Macbeth to murder Duncan by the end she is corrupt by her girl and this leads to suicide
“unsex me here”
Because she’s a woman she’s aware she’s unable to gain power and respect without Macbeth but she describes Macbeth as being “too full o’th’milk of human kindness” meaning she is aware that she has to manipulate Macbeth into doing as she wishes. Macbeth even implies that lady Macbeth is more masculine than him at times.
Supernatural imagery makes it seem like Macbeth is casting a spell, links her to witches, hellish imagery also emphasises evil side
“But screw your courage to the sticking place, and we will not fail”
Not afraid to direct/talk down to Macbeth, play selfish role by wanting to kill King for her own gain
“ A little water cleans us of this deed”
Macbeth = distraught after murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth = dismissive - she grabs his hands and shows him how easy it is to clean + move on
“ where our desire is got without content”
volte-face - lady Macbeth is overcome by guilt (contrasts malicious + strong willed at the start) + commits suicide as an only escape
“Pour my spirits in thine ear”
LM thinks she can control the supernatural and the evil
Ambition theme
Correcting and The generating force, when the power goes and chat/Macbeth sacrifice everything for ambition and becomes corrupt
“ two truths are told, as happy prologue to the swelling act” 1.3
Foreshadows Macbeth’s increasing ambition “swelling”
First two prophecies are true, eager to act upon, still slightly skeptical
“Rapt” over witches prophecies
“vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself”
Metaphorically comparing his experience to horseriding
“O’erleaps itself” overestimation of ability, resulting in a tragedy - foreshadows Macbeth’s downfall
“Not without ambition/but illness should attend it”
Repetition of negative imagery / emphasises how wicked ambition has made her. The repetition of “without”highlights the negative tone of her speech
Linking ambition to illness foreshadows her “illness” and Macbeth’s “illness” of when guilt consumes him weakening him mentally
Guilt theme
“Will Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean odd my hand?No” 2.2
After Duncans murder, reference to literally on theoretical blood and guilt (Macbeth to lady Macbeth)
“thy bones are marowless, thy blood is cold”
When Banquos ghost appears
Macbeth‘s vision reveals guilt, hallucination, drives him mad that he leaves the sense of reality and loses grip on sanity, he says these lines to reassure himself that Banquo is dead
“ what’s done cannot be undone”
Lady Macbeth – after she’s gone mad, revealing how girl calls her strong personality breakdown, now cared for like a child =weaker / no matter how much she regrets the violence and death it “cannot be undone”
Violence theme
“ is this a dagger which I see before me”
Symbolic/imagery, an act to his apprehensive about violence and acknowledges it is wrong but continues to do it anyway, contrast the end when he is not apprehensive about violence
“Full of scorpions is my mind”
Metaphor = fragile due to stress as a result of violence + guilt, mentally under attack
“I am in blood”
Macbeth realises how far he has gone and how many people he has murdered but he believes he’s murdered too many people and should just keep going as it’s impossible to undo them all, “what’s done cannot be undone”
“She should’ve died hereafter”
All the violence lead lady Macbeth to kill herself, Macbeth is dismissive of his wife’s death shows how violence and deaths are now common to him x lack of sympathy
Patriotism/Nationalism theme
“Thy praises on his kingdoms great defence”
“Brave Macbeth”
Ross to Macbeth, explaining how pleased he is by Macbeth’s bravery showing Macbeth’s pride in his country
“Bleed bleed, poor country”
Macduff to Malcolm persuading gun to take back the throne. Malcoms main concern is the suffering of his people, Macbeth is centred around power
“O nation miserable”
Describe Macbeth as “tyrant”
Macduff revealing his love for Scotland and describes Macbeth as a “tyrant” showing how he’s corrupting their country / he wants a strong + kind leader (Macbeth at the start / now malcolm)
Believes Macbeth gains power through violence
Deception theme
Witches
“Fair is foul and foul is fair” 1.1
Beginning before meeting Macbeth, ambiguous, riddles, misleading and trickery and chaos and confusion
Sets mysterious tone for the rest of the play
“Pour my spirits in thine ear”
LM thinks she can control the supernatural and the evil when in reality she is inferior to their power.
Deception theme
Lady Macbeth
“Look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” act1
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth
Lady Macbeth says to wear a nightgown to look innocent/deception to cover a murder which is a great sin
Shows how deception and manipulation over lap
When Duncan visits LM and M, he describes LM as being “fair hostess”
Deception theme
Macbeth
“Stars hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires”
Before killing Duncan/hides ambition/plan to kill the King
Darkness linked to evil /supernatural throughout play
light vs dark = good vs evil
Avoid being seen, no that’s wrong
Sinister mood, evil extent of sin
Kingship theme
Duncans death 2.2
“His silver skin” “gold blood”
Spoken about well + loved after his death
Contrasts Macbeth’s death when he’s “slayed” and called “tyrant” - a cruel leader / slayed - animalistic + emphasis his wild actions - slaying a beast
“Borrowed robes” - clothing imagery
“Like a dwarfish pig in giants robes” - he is too small to fit into the robes of the king, the “borrowed” shows how he’s not fit for the position - gained a title not for him “thane of Cawdor” is a title too great for him
Macbeth vs Malcolm
Patriotism + nationalism
“Thy praises on his kingdoms great defence”
“Brave Macbeth”
Ross to Macbeth, explaining how pleased he is by Macbeth’s bravery showing Macbeth’s pride in his country
“Bleed bleed, poor country”
Macduff to Malcolm persuading gun to take back the throne. Malcoms main concern is the suffering of his people, Macbeth is centred around power
“O nation miserable”
Describe Macbeth as “tyrant”
Macduff revealing his love for Scotland and describes Macbeth as a “tyrant” showing how he’s corrupting their country / he wants a strong + kind leader (Macbeth at the start / now malcolm)
Believes Macbeth gains power through violence
Loyalty and betrayal theme
Macduff leaves his family unprotected to find Malcolm to help Scotland showing how loyal he is to his country, but betrays his family
Loyalty + betrayal go hand in hand
Macbeth’s betrayal - unnatural as unnatural things start occurring after his death, darkness during daylight hours - supernatural
Locality is rewarded - “thane of Cawdor”
Betrayal often linked to power (in the form of power) can be taken away + gained depending on loyalty
Banquo remains loyal to his country and doesn’t become corrupt until he’s violently murdered by Macbeth
Loyalty can be easily faked - lady Macbeth fakes an appearance of loyalty to Duncan when talking formally and pleasantly towards him while inside what Duncan describes as Macbeth’s “pleasant” castle, but she did this while being not loyal and plotting his murder, he trusts the “fair Nobel hostess”
evil theme
Symbolised by darkness
Supernatural - use of dark imagery - linked to hell and evil
Banquo “instruments of darkness”
Evil - associated with Macbeth’s downfall
Casting spells - link to darkness - cast a spell so that a sailor won’t sleep at night - Evil - inflicting pain on others
Lady Macbeth imagines the knocking out of her child’s brains and Macbeth imagines the dagger, and tries to prepare himself for the evil deed of murder.
The evil deeds - the murder of Duncan and the murder of Macduff’s family.
Noun “deed” is used instead of death for Duncan’s murder bevause he’s unwilling to admit he’s become a morally corrupt person and wants to hide behind a label, could also show that it was a commandment from LM and and he was forced into it, showing that his wife’s “evil” has effected him. Doesn’t want to admit his plants are “evil”
Good theme
Symbolised by light “sun bright” “candle”
Heroism - Duncan and his men represent right and order. They are trying to restore peace to Scotland.
Bravery - Macbeth is described as being a brave man, brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name 1.2
Symbols of good - Malcolm and Macduff are built up as figures of goodness and provide a contrast to the evil of Macbeth “tyrant” Malcolm “angel” when talking about Malcolm = positive and heaven imagery, about Macbeth = hellish
Noun “deed” is used instead of death for Duncan’s murder bevause he’s unwilling to admit he’s become a morally corrupt person and wants to hide behind a label, could also show that it was a commandment from LM and and he was forced into it, showing that his wife’s “evil” has effected him. Doesn’t want to admit his plans are “evil”
The supernatural theme
Supernatural was believed to be real when the play was set so it seemed more intimidating and frightening
Prevalent in witches + LM
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair” - rhyme - strange/ambiguous - at the start creates fear and sets a fearful tone for the rest of the play.
Witches omniscience = mysterious referred to as “instruments of darkness” - darkness - evil
“Fair is foul” foreshadows the plot that Macbeth plans to murder Duncan in order to gain power, “foul” foreshadows Macbeth’s tyranny and guilt suffered by Macbeth and LM.
The ability for the witches to predict future enemy’s lead the audiences to believe the witches speak to the supernatural. Presented by tone + omnisience
“Unsex me here”
LM uses Supernatural imagery makes it seem like LM is casting a spell, links her to witches, hellish imagery also emphasises evil side and emphasises how evil the supernatural is (soliloquy)
“Take my milk for gall”
The fact she believes that they can take away her feminine characteristics shows how powerful the supernatural are believed to be
“Gall” emphasised now evil and harmful the supernatural was seen
“Is this a dagger I see before me” - supernatural imagery + representative of guilt + highlights how the supernatural commands him and encourages him to kill, shows how overwhelming supernatural can be, he knows it’s morally wrong but does it anyway - has been driven insane by supernatural
“Put dammed spot! Out I say!”
“Dammed” LM punished for eternity for her sins in hell - ironic as she calls the supernatural but she’s punished for this. - would be seen as a punishment from god.
“I say” - desperate + commanding to omnipotent supernatural
Reality and appearances theme
LM “Look like th’ innocent flower/But be the serpent under ‘t” - encouraging Macbeth to use his appearance vs reality for power gain - links with deception
“Honoured hostess ” to Duncan but proceeds to kill him later on encourages Macbeth to perform the “deed”
Duncan describes the castle as “pleasant” and LM Host as “kind” but it is the place of his death where he gets brutally murdered - inferred from his body being compared to a “gorgon” - Greek mythology - creators that turn ppl into stone when they look at them - horrible body
Witches “fair is foul, foul is fair” indicates nothing is as it seems in the okay and there is a lot of deception. Sets mysterious tone for the play
“Women with beards” - set the scene for confusion and illusion even their physical appearance is confusing as well as their language
Duncan = naive, shows no one can be trusted
The thanes of Cawdor both betray him
“There’s daggers in men’s smiles” - appear nice and trusting from afar but when you see the reality it’s unkind
