Macbeth (Shakespeare) Flashcards
Give four quotes for the theme power and ambition
Briefly analyse them
“unsex me here”
- Lady Macbeth wants power, she wants to change the qualities of a woman to achieve her ambitions
- she wants to be able to act without guilt and suppress the expectations for women of her time
- sacrificing her femininity for Macbeth to become king
“stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires”
- Macbeth is ready to take fate into his own hands and will do whatever it takes - he’s calling for darkness to assist him
- black could be a metaphor for Macbeths tyrannical rule
- deep desires shows the intensity of his feelings
- deep could also reflect Macbeths betrayal, the knife in Duncan’s back
“the prince of cumberland! that is a step on which i must fall down, or else o’erleap, for in my way it lies”
- Macbeth’s ambition is the cause of his internal conflict and his hamartia - he will eventually ‘fall down’
- ‘step’ could reflect his desire to metaphorically climb the hierarchy
“smoked with bloody execution”
- if the GCOB is disturbed then fate will exert justice
- could reflect Macbeths tyrannical rule - he executed the king, banquo and macduffs family
- blood reflects the guilt he feels for Duncans murder
Give two quotes for the theme dual nature (appearance vs reality)
Briefly analyse them
“stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires”
- Macbeth calls for darkness to assist him, to conceal his thoughts and evil plans from prying eyes
- Macbeth appears to be a loyal servant to king Duncan but in reality is plotting his murder
“look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”
- Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth to seem loyal and innocent, but to be cunning and ruthless and ultimately kill Duncan
- ‘serpent’ signifies lies and deceit
Give three quotes for the theme horror and violence
Briefly analyse them
“unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps, and fixed his head upon our battlements”
- this act from Macbeth was seemingly noble, but done with needless destruction - reflective of his rule
- ‘fixed his head upon our battlements’ reflects the future, of Macbeths own death
“smoked with bloody execution”
- if the GCOB is disturbed then fate will exert justice
- could reflect Macbeths tyrannical rule - he executed the king, banquo and macduffs family
- blood reflects the guilt he feels for Duncans murder
“I would, while it was smiling in my face…dashed the brains out”
- Lady Macbeth is aligning herself with the witches and wicked deeds
- this grotesque imagery gives the sense that she is the epitome of evil
- she would go to any lengths to keep her promise and gain the throne
Give two quotes for the theme of the supernatural
Briefly analyse them
“horror, horror, horror”
- when Macduff is describing Duncan’s murder
- reflects how Macbeth was driven to do this by the witches - the three witches appear three times in the play and give three prophecies
“fair is foul and foul is fair, hover through the fog and the filthy air”
- an oxymoron that implies a disruption of the natural order of things (GCOB)
- this reflects the underlying theme of the play which is the blurring of boundaries between good and evil
How are women presented? Give a quote for Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff
Briefly analyse them
“I would, while it was smiling in my face…dashed the brains out”
- ‘smiling in my face’ reflects how the child trusts the mother and portrays the violent imagery
- shows Lady Macbeth is void of emotion
- Lady Macbeth subverts from the expectations of an 11th century woman
“poor bird”
- Lady Macduff is emotionally available for her children, unlike Lady Macbeth who tries to discard her emotions in search of power
- she’s aware of what a woman’s duty is
Give two quotes (macbeth, duncan) for the theme of royalty and what it means to be king
Briefly analyse them
“I am in blood stepp’d so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er”
- Macbeth has committed so many murders and evil deeds in his quest for the throne that it would be just as difficult to turn back now as it would be to continue
- highlights the corrupting influence of power and the lengths to which Macbeth would go to maintain it
- being king is not to serve the people, but for self gain and control
“his silver skin laced with golden blood”
- Macbeth describing Duncan
- silver and golden reflects how he was pure and good to the core
- golden could reflect how he was chosen and had the right to rule (GCOB)
- laced could reflect the fragility of his reign
