Macbeth Flashcards
“thunder and lightning”
pathetic fallacy sets up a sense of unease and a supernatural and eerie atmosphere for the audience
the storm symbolises and foreshadowing chaos, violence and unpredictability, implying the power and control the witches have over nature
context: many people believed witches tried to control the weather, including King James and Shakespeare is drawing on these common fears
“fair is foul, and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air”
paradox which suggests there is an inversion of the natural order and reality seems unstable
foreshadowing the regicide
witches presented as agents of evil and disruption
symbolism suggests moral degradation in Scotland
“that will be ere, the set of sun”- metaphorical of coming of darkness and end of the old order
fixative create a butter and snarling tone which highlights immoral intent
rhyming couplets and trochaic tetrameter creates the sound of a strange and other worldly spell and sets the Witches apart from outsiders
context: witches are a catalyst for all the events that will happen and there is an apparent ability to control destiny and fortune. reminiscent of 3 fates in Greek mythology
demonology (1597)
“Like Valour’s minion, carved out his passage… unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements”
“O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!”
grotesque and visceral imagery highlight’s Macbeth’s violence, ruthlessness and suggests he can kill with ease. he has slaughtered many on the battlefield without remorse which foreshadows his later brutal/ murderous behaviour and own death.
exclamation and repeated description of him as fearless and honourable through the simile and adjectives. respected military leader and is well loved by his king and considered a hero for Scotland.
context: sets up Macbeth for a terrible and tragic fall from grace and he follows Aristotle’s conception of a tragic hero. he starts as respected, yet his hamartia of ambition and his hubris means he ends a hated tyrant.
“The instruments of darkness tell us truths… to betray”
metaphor - banquo warns macbeth by suggesting that the witches are workers for the devil and are inherently dangerous and associated with evil. banquo is more pragmatic than macebth who fixates on the comments.
context: Shakespeare plays on his audience’s fears and common beliefs that witches were workers of the devil and would resort to deception in order to tempt people to evil.
“Why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, make my seated heart knock at my ribs?”
aside- macbeth’s first monologues are asides which suggests his secretive and darkly ambition feelings and thoughts
verb also implies he is likely to give in to the pressure of his ambition to be king and that the witches’ prophecies have already tempted him
rhetorical question suggests his inner conflict and growing obsession with what the witches have promised him
metaphors create imagery of terror and shows how macbeth is fearful of his own desires and dark thoughts and understands the immorality and danger of them but seems powerless to banish them from his mind.
“Stars hide your fires, Let not light see my black and deep desires”
juxtaposition between macbeth’s metaphor of stars and Duncan’s (stars shall shine) - shows how honest and direct duncan is
‘hide’ shows that Macbeth is more deceitful and secretive
plosives reveal a darkness and immorality to his character and create a menacing and sinister tone
rhyming couplet connects him to witches
light symbolism shows Duncan’s morality and he is the rightful king chosen by God
context: Divine right of kings
Come, you spirits… unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty… take my milk for gall”
“Come, thick night, And pall thee in the smokes of hell… Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark”
repeated imperatives show her strength of purpose and commanding nature as well as her desire for power and ambition for the throne
juxtaposition shows how she desires the removal of femininity which she connects to compassion and maternity and submission - she wants to be ruthless and cold-hearted to commit murder
gall is poison and milk is life-giving - emphasises the darkness and evil of her desires and rejection of supposed confines of her gender
imagery of secrecy and malevolence - seems to call upon the supernatural world and this links her to the witches and she wants to obscure any light which might deter her from the plan. although she acknowledges the existence of heaven, she rejects it and this emphasises her descent into evil
context: subverts typical gender expectations of Jacobean women and some critics argue she is the 4th witch. audiences would have found her horrifying
“Look like the innocent flower/But be the serpent under’t”
imperative - speaks to her husband in an instructive and commanding way which suggests her confidence she feels in her power and control over him. reflects her desire and desperation for the throne
juxtaposition - lady macbeth instructs macbeth to be surreptitious and appear moral and honourable, yet underneath be wickes and corrupt. she knows to seize power, he must master the art of deceit
context - biblical allusion - linked to eve’s temptation of adam. lady macbeth is eve. they are rejected from garden due to sin, like how macbeth and lady macbeth will be doomed due to their first sin - regicide
