🔴 Macbeth: Characters Flashcards
What quotes will be used in Macbeth’s character essay?
1st para
* ‘Valiant warrior’
* ‘Bellona’s bridegroom’
2nd para
* ‘I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only
vaulting ambition’
3rd para
* ‘Macbeth does murder sleep’
* ‘Out, out brief candle’
Give a summary of what will be said in Macbeth character essay in paragraph 1 / Brave hero?
- He is a fearless warrior in battle
- ‘Bellona’s bridegroom’ - He is like mars, the god of war
- He is the most comfortable on the battlefield - doesn’t have to think about his conscience or feelings
Give a summary of what will be said in Macbeth character essay in paragraph 2 / Ambition?
- Macbeth gives into temptation
- Ambition = hamartia. He commits regicide
- Shakespeare argues that Macbeth allows himself to be controlled by ambition
—> Literary foil w/ Banquo - Shakespeare attempts to teach the audience conscience, self - restraint and self- awareness
—> Be content w/ god’s plans for you
Give a summary of what will be said in Macbeth character essay in paragraph 3 / Guilt?
- M becomes a character tormented by his own conscience
- Although unchecked ambition is the cause of M’s downfall, guilt is making it unbearable for him & audience
- Life means ‘nothing’
- Inner conscience ensures that no crime or sin can go unpunished
How will Macbeth’s character essay be structured?
1st para: Brave hero
2nd para: Ambition = hamartia
3rd para: Guilt, downfall
What quotes will be used in Lady Macbeth’s character essay?
1st para
* ‘Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent underneath it’
* ‘Unsex me here’
2nd para
* ‘What’s done is done’
* ‘Are you a man?’
3rd para
* ‘Out damned spot, out I say’
Give a summary of what will be said in Lady Macbeth character essay in paragraph 1 / Ambitious?
- LM’s ambition is more intense & violent than Macbeths
—> She doesn’t hesitate to lay out her cruel plans & calls on evil spirits - Her ambition is infectious
- LM embraces the ambitions control, she doesn’t care about natural order, mortality
Give a summary of what will be said in Lady Macbeth character essay in paragraph 2 / Controlling
- She persuades M to commit regicide
—> Dominates her husband by questioning masculinity - Female fatale
- Uses imperative verbs to control Macbeth
Give a summary of what will be said in Lady Macbeth character essay in paragraph 3 / Conscience stricken
- Guilt & remorse are the causes of LM’s downfall - she kills herself
—> Her mind is her enemy - Shakespeare suggests that guilt & regret are the most destructive consequences of her ambition
- LM is convinced only link to murder is the literal blood on her hands
—> She represses any mortality she has
—> COULD symbolise how desperate she is to put the murder behind her
How will Lady Macbeth’s character essay be structured?
1st para: Ambitious/ Cunning
2nd para: Controlling
3rd para: Conscience stricken, downfall
What quotes will be used in Banquo’s character essay?
1st para
* ‘Instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles’
* ‘lesser’ & ‘greater’ with ‘happier’ & ‘not so happy’
2nd para
* ‘royalty of nature’
3rd para
* ‘I fear thou play’dst most foully for it’
* ‘O, treachery!’
Give a summary of what will be said in Banquo character essay in paragraph 1 / Wise?
- Banquo takes the witches for what they appear to be - agents of the devil
—> Banquo knows that the witches are a route of temptation to sin - His role as a FOIL is emphasised by juxtaposition of his prophecies w/Macbeth
—> ‘lesser…
—> Banquo is morally strong & a virtuous character who resists evil compared to M who…
Give a summary of what will be said in Banquo character essay in paragraph 2 / Noble?
- Shakespeare demonstrates the noble qualities
- Remains loyal to king Duncan - even though he got same prophecies as M
Give a summary of what will be said in Banquo character essay in paragraph 3 / Honourable?
- He didn’t suspect Macbeth would betray him
- He represents the societal norms
- He expresses growing suspicions for Macbeth even though it is his best friend
- ‘most foully’ suggests deceit or treacherous behaviour
How will Banquo’s character essay be structured?
1st para: Wise
2nd para: Noble/ Honourable
3rd para: Suspicious
What quotes will be used in Macduff’s character essay?
1st para
* ‘O horror, horror, horror’
2nd para
* ‘I must also feel it like a man’
* ‘All my pretty ones?’
* ‘my children too?’
3rd para
* ‘for none of woman born should harm Macbeth’
* ‘new windows howl, new orphans cry’*
Give a summary of what will be said in Macduff character essay in paragraph 1 / Loyal or honourable?
- Macduff is adhering to the religious thoughts of the historical period
- He is horrified by Duncan’s murder
- God picked who was the king - therefore regicide is a sin as they are going against gods will
—> Adam in garden of Eden
Give a summary of what will be said in Macduff character essay in paragraph 2 / Emotional?
- Macduff publicly exhibits emotional behaviour
—> Considered as a feminine trait - Nothing Macduff will do will truly deliver a pain to having his children killed as Macbeth has no children
- Macduff’s disbelief of the news of his family’s death is through the rhetorical questions
Give a summary of what will be said in Macduff character essay in paragraph 3 / Brave?
- Macduff feels he must save Scotland from its tyrannous rule
- ‘Great chain of being’ has been subverted so Scotland is dying
- Macduff’s intentions are for the good of others not for the good of himself
- No hesitation when facing Macbeth
- Macduff’s allegiance = family
Macbeths allegiance = wife
How will Macduff’s character essay be structured?
1st para: Noble
2nd para: Emotional
3rd para: Loyal/honourable
What quotes will be used in the witches character essay?
1st para
* ‘thunder and lightning’
* ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’
2nd para
* ‘Instruments of darkness’
3rd para
* ‘for none of woman born should harm Macbeth’
* ‘new windows howl, new orphans cry’*
Give a summary of what will be said in the witches character essay in paragraph 1 / Ambiguity?
- rhyming or chant-like nature = words have extraordinary power
—> LM & M also speak in rhyming couplets when they are expressing evil - Trochaic Tetrameter when witches speak
Give a summary of what will be said in the witches character essay in paragraph 2 / Evil?
- Bible perceives witches as agents of evil
- Fall of man = garden of Eden
- Regicide is related to the devil
- Macbeth turns to the witches in times of need instead of god ‘fair to foul’
—> Jacobean audience…
Give a summary of what will be said in the witches character essay in paragraph 3 / Powerful?
—> Contradicting divine rights of kings
* Witches decide on the fates & destinies of men = they are in control of the events
* Witches exploit humankinds weakness to fulfil the prophecies
* Witches are the messengers of fate
