Macbeth - the witches / supernatural Flashcards
1
Q
Thesis -
A
- Shakespeare’s purpose is to flatter King James 1 (as he’s his patron) and his interest in witchcraft
- Exploring how much our lives are controlled by fate, and how much is controlled by free will. If we have free will, can we change our destiny, or, is that already mapped out for us?
- Patriarchal society - do the bearded witches resort to witchcraft and evil because there is no other way for such unnattractive women to have any power in society at the time because women’s appearance at the time was valued so highly?
2
Q
“in thunder, lightning, or in rain”
A
- Possibility that they Control the weather sets them up as a supernatural force
3
Q
“there to meet with Macbeth”
A
- Can see into the future > they know Macbeth will appear where they want him to.
- They could however just have the gift of “foresight” - common in greek tragedy - Macbeth can just wait to be King.
- The Witches don’t actually make Macbeth do anything, they just tell him what’s going to happen. His actions are as a result of his own evil.
4
Q
“Cawdor” “King hereafter”
A
- Witches just see into the future, they don’t manipulate him by getting him to do anything.
- All responsibility is Macbeth’s
- Shakespeare’s purpose - warning nobles in the audience that we are all accountable for our own actions, so don’t kill the king as this is what will happen.
- James view - people become evil because satan is working on them through the evil of other people
5
Q
“why do I yield to that suggestion, whose horrid image doth unfix my hair”
A
- Macbeth is asking himself why he is thinking about Murdering duncan when he doesn’t have to.
- He realises that there’s something morally wrong with him. All the violence he used at the beginning (unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps) in support of his king (brave macbeth, noble warrior) - all that heroism hides a darker problem - his hamartia - his bloodlust
6
Q
“If chance may have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir”
A
- Shakespeare is emphasising that every decision Macbeth makes is his own.
- His fate is to become king - he knows he doesn’t have to do anything
- Fate is referred to as chance. Chance means random and lucky. Repetition emphasises how he thinks the longer he waits, the more chance there is that this might not happen, chance gives you an element of uncertainty.
- His words mean fate (certain he will), but he uses words to persuade himself that it is not certain, his mind and words push him towards regicide. He believes that it is necessary.
7
Q
Banquo’s Intervention: “To win us to our harms, the instruments of darkness tell us truths”.
A
- Banquo is King James’ ancestor, so Shakespeare gives Banquo moral certainty to please King James and basically say how wonderful Banquo was and therefore how wonderful King James is.
- Persuading Nobles James is a good king.
- Banquo is saying this sounds good, don’t take this to heart, the witches could just be giving you the little truth (Cawdor) and then giving you a big truth of becoming King. He may be suggesting Macbeth may never become King or suggesting that Macbeth should just calm down a bit, even though he will become king - just wait.
- Shakespeare sets up Banquo as Macbeth’s antithesis - Banquo is morally good and Macbeth is morally evil.
- Banquo’s reaction says how we should react to evil that is seductive - we should take a step back and consider how truthful it is.
- Instruments of darkness - 1. They themselves are dark/evil. 2. They are “instruments”, played by Satan, who therefore controls Macbeth
8
Q
Perhaps a motive: “You should be women and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so”
A
- Humour suggests Macbeth might not believe in the power of the witches
- A woman had to really be born into a rich family or be attractive to get any kind of power. Witches have neither. Witches played by grown men with beards (unlike rest of more feminine females played by young boys).
- The point of this is to suggest that men are the problem - when women try to get power in different ways, it’s because the patriarchal society doesn’t give them any power
- Motive for why the witches want to manipulate men - why Macbeth? - He’s the most powerful man they can manipulate. Most power they can achieve themselves
9
Q
“I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. A dagger of the mind”
A
- Macbeth knows he is destroying his own sanity by killing Duncan.
- However, his desires are so powerful that he’s going to do it anyway.
- The dagger is just a projection of the power of his desires
- The counts of blood emphasise his bloodlust - this is seen throughout.
10
Q
“Heat oppressive brain”
A
- What is causing the heat in his brain? The Witches or his own desires?
- Perhaps his own fierce desires that produce their own heat.
11
Q
“Thou canst not say I did it” T
A
- Saying this to Banquo’s ghost, potentially produced by Macbeth’s own mind.
- OR: it is fate. When he killed Duncan, he went against LM’s plans and killed Duncan’s guards. This made Macduff suspicious but it didn’t lead to anybody challenging him - they crowned him king. Fate said you will become king, he did.
- BUT, Banquo’s sons will become kings. Macbeth doesn’t accept this, and has Banquo murdered - this is challenging fate - trying to change destiny. Then, fate intervenes (witches or god). He then confesses to everyone that he killed Duncan as no-one knows Banquo is dead yet, fate then wins as nobles flee to England and join Malcolm.
12
Q
“I am bent to know, by the worst means, the worst”
A
- He knows the worst is coming
- He is doing something he knows he shouldn’t do
13
Q
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes”
A
- They have picked on Macbeth, not just because he is powerful, but because he is wicked too.
- Idea of talking to the hero in riddles comes directly from Greek tragedy. The three witches represent the three fates in Greek tragedy, they aren’t satanic, rather they are just instruments of fate rather than instruments of darkness
14
Q
“None of woman born shall harm Macbeth”
A
- Witches toy with Macbeth. They are presenting something which seems impossible, and is (Macduff still had a mother) so the witches are bending the truth.
- But, they’re not making Macbeth do anything differently.
- Should he have killed Macduff’s family? That was Macduff’s motive to kill Macbeth (Beware Macduff)
15
Q
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage”
A
- He has become nihilistic (life is meaningless) and sees himself as an actor in a play
- A shadow is something you can never catch - Macbeth is always after the next big thing but he can never get it.
- He is just a shadow himself, as he isn’t a true king. He has gone against God, DROK, GCOB
- Shadow is also the name for the understudy actor. He’s not just a bad actor, he doesn’t even get the part. He’s playing someone else’s part. He’s not a true king (why do you dress me in borrowed robes).
- He has taken the place of Duncan, but doesn’t fit the role of king.
