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English Literature > 🔴 Macbeth: Characters > Flashcards

🔴 Macbeth: Characters Flashcards

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1
Q

What quotes will be used in Macbeth’s character essay?

A

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’

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2
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Macbeth character essay in paragraph 1 / Brave hero?

A
  • 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
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3
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Macbeth character essay in paragraph 2 / Ambition?

A
  • 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
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4
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Macbeth character essay in paragraph 3 / Guilt?

A
  • 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
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5
Q

How will Macbeth’s character essay be structured?

A

1st para: Brave hero
2nd para: Ambition = hamartia
3rd para: Guilt, downfall

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6
Q

What quotes will be used in Lady Macbeth’s character essay?

A

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’

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7
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Lady Macbeth character essay in paragraph 1 / Ambitious?

A
  • 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
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8
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Lady Macbeth character essay in paragraph 2 / Controlling

A
  • She persuades M to commit regicide
    —> Dominates her husband by questioning masculinity
  • Female fatale
  • Uses imperative verbs to control Macbeth
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9
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Lady Macbeth character essay in paragraph 3 / Conscience stricken

A
  • 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
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10
Q

How will Lady Macbeth’s character essay be structured?

A

1st para: Ambitious/ Cunning
2nd para: Controlling
3rd para: Conscience stricken, downfall

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11
Q

What quotes will be used in Banquo’s character essay?

A

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!’

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12
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Banquo character essay in paragraph 1 / Wise?

A
  • 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…
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13
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Banquo character essay in paragraph 2 / Noble?

A
  • Shakespeare demonstrates the noble qualities
  • Remains loyal to king Duncan - even though he got same prophecies as M
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14
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Banquo character essay in paragraph 3 / Honourable?

A
  • 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
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15
Q

How will Banquo’s character essay be structured?

A

1st para: Wise
2nd para: Noble/ Honourable
3rd para: Suspicious

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16
Q

What quotes will be used in Macduff’s character essay?

A

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’*

17
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Macduff character essay in paragraph 1 / Loyal or honourable?

A
  • 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
18
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Macduff character essay in paragraph 2 / Emotional?

A
  • 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
19
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in Macduff character essay in paragraph 3 / Brave?

A
  • 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
20
Q

How will Macduff’s character essay be structured?

A

1st para: Noble
2nd para: Emotional
3rd para: Loyal/honourable

21
Q

What quotes will be used in the witches character essay?

A

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’*

22
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in the witches character essay in paragraph 1 / Ambiguity?

A
  • 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
23
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in the witches character essay in paragraph 2 / Evil?

A
  • 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…
24
Q

Give a summary of what will be said in the witches character essay in paragraph 3 / Powerful?

A

—> 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

25
Q

How will the witches character essay be structured?

A

1st para: Ambiguous
2nd para: Evil
3rd para: Powerful

English Literature (13 decks)

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