Macbeth - Character Analysis Flashcards
Who is Macbeth?
+The main character
+Macbeth is a strong warrior who fights bravely in battle
What main character trait does Macbeth have?
+He’s ambitious - he wants to become King of Scotland and will do anything to make this happen, even commit murder.
What does Macbeth have that can prevent him from doing certain things.
+However, he’s got a conscience and often doubts whether he’s doing the right thing - He spends a lot of time feeling guilty.
How easily influenced can Macbeth be by others?
+He’s very easily influenced by others, which means he can be weak.
How does Shakespeare use language to portray Macbeth’s state of mind?
+The way Macbeth speaks reflects his state of mind.
+He asks a lot of questions when he’s feeling uncertain or guilty: “Whence is that knocking?/How is’t with me, when every noise appals me?”.
+At the start and end of the play, his language is more certain and confident: “Stars, hide your fires”, “I will not yield”.
Macbeth is…[3]
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?”
How does Shakespeare present Macbeth as a brave hero?
+At the start of the play, Macbeth is described as a “valiant” warrior.
+Rosse compares him to “Bellona’s bridegroom” - he’s saying that Macbeth is like Mars, the god of war.
Whom does Macbeth’s brave actions impress?
+Macbeth’s brave actions impress the King, who names him Thane of Cawdor.
+This title shows that the King recognises Macbeth’s “personal venture” [how bravely he fought] and loyalty.
Where does Macbeth seem most comfortable?
+Macbeth seems most comfortable on the battlefield - When he’s fighting, he doesn’t have to worry about his guilty conscience and the morality of his actions.
+Macbeth dies in battle too - he fights “bear like” to the end, even though he knows he’s doomed - He’s determined to “try the last” and says that he “will not yield”.
How does Shakespeare structure Macbeth’s “brave soldier” character?
+Writer’s Techniques - Structure:
+By the end of the play, Macbeth’s come full circle - he’s returned to being the brave soldier he was in Act 1.
+This contrasts with the middle of the play, where he seems weak and uncertain.
How is Macbeth also a brutal murderer?
+Macbeth’s brave but also a cold and calculating killer - He murders Duncan because he wants to be King.
+He also has Macduff’s family and Banquo killed because he’s worried about losing his position.
Give an example of how Macbeth can be easily influenced
+Macbeth is easily influenced by the people around him.
+He lets Lady Macbeth persuade him to kill Duncan because he wants to become King - his ambition is stronger than his morality.
How has Macbeth’s violent ambition ruined all his noble characteristics?
+At the end of the play, Macduff calls Macbeth a “hell-hound” and Young Siward calls him “abhorrèd tyrant” - Macbeth’s violent ambition has ruined all his noble characteristics.
How does Macbeth contrast his fate and free will?
+Theme - Fate and Free Will: When Macbeth says, “I am settled and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat”, it sounds like he’s making a deliberate decision to kill Duncan.
+Later, he says that he didn’t have control over his actions because he’s just a “poor player” who’s controlled by fate [or he could be trying to make himself feel less guilty about his crimes].
How does Macbeth struggle with his conscience?
+Macbeth has a strong sense of right and wrong - He worries about the consequences of his actions because there’s “judgement” on earth and “deep damnation” after death.
+This makes his actions more shocking
Why is Mabeth reluctant to kill Duncan?
+He’s reluctant to kill Duncan, who has “honoured” him, and says, “We will proceed no further in this business” - He sounds confident, as if he’s made up his mind -
+Macbeth recognises that Duncan trusts him as “his kinsman” and that as Duncan’s “host” he has a duty to protect him.
How does Macbeth place his own desires above his love of Scotland?
+Macbeth knows that Duncan is a good king - “clear in his great office”, and that killing him would damage Scotland.
+Macbeth places his own desires above his love of Scotland by plotting to kill Duncan - this hints that he’ll be a bad king.
What happens to Macbeth once he’s killed Duncan?
+Once he’s killed Duncan, Macbeth swings between killing anyone who threatens his position as King and moments of despair when he struggles with terrible guilt.
- +His guilty conscience makes him imagine things:
- Immediately after killing Duncan he hears a voice saying, “Macbeth does murder sleep”.
- After arranging for Banquo to be murdered, he sees Banquo’s ghost at the feast and almost gives himself away - Lady Macbeth thinks he’s hallucinating.
What happens to Macbeth by the end of the play?
+By the end of the play, Macbeth seems world-weary and cynical - he no longer seems to feel guilty because he thinks that a person’s actions don’t matter and that life means “nothing” [nihilism]
How is Macbeth easily influenced?
+Lady Macbeth greatly influences Macbeth - he wouldn’t kill Duncan if it wasn’t for her - Macbeth acts because he doesn’t want to be seen as unmanly or a “coward”.
+Writer’s Techniques - Symbolism: Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth 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.
How does Lady Macbeth’s influence over Macbeth decline through the play?
+Lady Macbeth’s influence over Macbeth declines after Duncan’s murder - once he’s murdered Duncan, the other murders seem to come more easily to Macbeth, so he acts alone.
How is Macbeth influenced by the supernatural?
- The first time he meets the Witches, he trusts them straightaway, saying “Two truths are told”. - However, Banquo 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 the Witches’ prophecies start to come true, Macbeth’s belief in them increases - He begins to rely more heavily on what they say, and panics when their prophecies are fulfilled unexpectedly.
Write about Macbeth’s good qualities as well as his bad ones…
+Poor Macbeth - he wants to be good but he just can’t stop murdering people – it’s a shame because he starts off as such as a hero.
+It all goes downhill when his wife and his ambition get the better of him.
What is Lady Macbeth’s main characteristics?
She is cruel and ruthless
Who is Lady Macbeth?
+Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife - she’s an important character because she influences Macbeth, especially at the start of the play.
+She’s ambitious and doesn’t want mind commiting commiting terrible crimes to get what she wants.
How does Lady Macbeth change over the course of the play?
+Lady Macbeth changes over the course of the play.
+At the beginning she’s dominant and confident - she persuades Macbeth that killing Duncan is the best thing to do.
Lady Macbeth is…[3]
+cruel:“And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull/Of direst cruelty”
+cunning:“look like th’innocent flower,/But be the serpent under’t”
+disturbed:“she is troubled with thick coming fancies”
What happens once Lady Macbeth has commited murder?
+Once Macbeth has committed murder, Lady Macbeth is slowly driven mad by guilt.
+Macbeth distances himself from her and she kills herself because she can’t live with what they’ve done.
Describe how Lady Macbeth is very ambitious.
+Lady Macbeth is just as ambitious as Macbeth - when she gets his letter, she immediately assumes that they need to kill Duncan - She’s more ruthless than her husband.
+Theme - Good and Evil: Lady Macbeth says that Macbeth is “too full o’th’milk of human kindness” - she thinks that his goodness makes him a “coward” and stops him from achieving his ambitions.
What does Lady Macbeth think about ordinary women?
+She thinks that no ordinary woman would plan this murder - That’s why she appeals to the spirit to “unsex” her and fill her with “direst cruelty”.
What does Lady Macbeth know about her husband?
+Lady Macbeth knows her husband’s weak spots - she uses his ambition and fear of being seen as a coward to manipulate him into killing Duncan.
What does Lady Macbeth link masculinity to?
+Writer’s Techniques - Symbolism: Lady Macbeth links masculinity to strength and violence, but Shakespeare shows that women can be just as ruthless and cold-hearted as men.
How is Lady Macbeth clever and quick-witted?
+Lady Macbeth is the one who comes up with the cunning plot to drug Duncan’s servants and frame them for murder - This shows that she’s clever as well as cruel and heartless.
What does Lady Macbeth do when Duncan’s murder is discovered?
+When Duncan’s murder is discovered, Lady Macbth faints - This could be a pretence, which cleverly draws attention away from the unconvincing speech that Macbeth’s making.
+Lady Macbeth also covers up Macbeth’s strange behaviour when he thinks that he sees Banquo’s ghost - She’s the one in control of the situation.
+Theme - Reality and Appearances: If Lady Macbeth only pretends to faint, she’s taking advantage of the way women were viewed at the time - She’s using the stereotype of a weak woman overcome by shock to hide the reality of her cruel, cold-hearted nature.
How does Shakespeare use Lady Macbeth to explore gender and power?
+Women were traditionally seen as kinder and weaker than men, but Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth to show that this isn’t always true - She says she would kill her own baby if she’d sworn to do it; Shakespeare contrasts her with Lady Macduff, who’s a caring mother.
+Writer’s techniques - Symbolism: Lady Macbeth thinks women are made weak by their maternal instincts - she tells the spirits to “Come to my woman’s breasts/And take my milk for gall”; she wants to lose her femininity.
What is Lady Macbeth’s power?
+Lady Macbeth’s power lies in manipulating people - This shows that non-violent ‘female’ traits are just as powerful as violent ‘male’ ones.
How does Lady Macbeth have a softer side?
+Lady Macebeth does have a softer side - She says that she couldn’t kill Duncan herself because he reminded her of her father; this shows that she’s not as cold-hearted as she appears.
+Theme - Ambition: Macbeth is set in a violent, male-dominated society, so Lady Macbeth can only achieve her ambitions through Macbeth.
What does Lady Macbeth become by the end of the play?
+She goes mad with guilt and kills herself.
+At first, it’s Macbeth who struggles with his guilty conscience - By the end of the play, Lady Macbeth is driven mad by guilt.
When does Lady Macbeth start sleepwalking?
+At the end of the play [Act 5 Scene 1]
+The doctor calls this a “great pertubation in nature” because her mind is so disturbed that it’s affected her ability to sleep soundly.
+Writer’s Techniques - Symbolism: Sleepwalking was thought to be unnatural in Shakespeare’s time - sleep is the “Balm of hurt minds”, so the fact that Lady Macbeth can’t sleep peacefully emphasises her madness.
How does Shakespeare use Language to reflect Lady Macbeth’s state of mind?
+Language - The way Lady Macbeth speaks reflects her state of mind - at the beginning, she speaks confidently in verse.
+By the end, her speech is made up of mad ramblings and repetitions - “Come,come,come,come,give me your hand.” - It shows that she’s lost all self-control.
What does Lady Macbeth do in her sleep by the end of the play?
+In her sleep, she keeps washing her hands in the hope that she can wash away her feelings of guilt just as easily as the blood after Duncan’s murder: “Out,damned spot!”
Why does Lady Macbeth kill herself?
+Guilt and isolation affect Lady Macbeth so much that she kills herself - she can’t live with what she’s done.
What is the Macbeths’ marriage like?
+The Macbeths’ marriage is intense
+Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship changes - At the beginning, their marriage seems loving and passionate; Macbeth calls Lady Macbeth “my dearest partner of greatness”.
+As the play develops, it becomes clear that Lady Macbeth dominates Macbeth - she manipulates him into killing Duncan and covers up his strange behaviour when he sees Banquo’s ghost.
+As Macbeth reveals less about his plans to his wife, Lady Macbeth becomes increasingly anxious and alone - Even though she’s domineering at the beginning, she can’t cope without her husband.
How does Shakespeare portray Lady Macbeth overall?
+“look like th’innocent flower,/But be the serpent under ‘t”
+Lady Macbeth is as ambitious as her husband, and she’s the brains behind Duncan’s murder - But her tough-girl attitude soon gives way to terrible guilt - By the end of the play she’s an emotional wreck.
Who is Duncan?
+Duncan’s kind, but too trusting
+Duncan’s the King at the start of the play - He’s a kind an generous man who rewards loyalty; he hands out honours to Mathbeth and Malcolm.
+Nobody has a bad word to say about Duncan - even Macbeth says that “his virtues/Will plead like angels”.
Duncan is…[3]
+kind:“let me enfold thee/And hold thee to my heart”
+trusting:“There’s no art/To find the mind’s construction in the face”
+a good king:“So clear in his great office”
