Themes

Question 1

Supernatural

Answer 1

• To set an unsettling and disturbing atmosphere to the scene as Shakespeare desired to frighten his audience.
• no interval back then in Shakespeare’s time, spookiness kept building up as the play proceed through time.
• Supernatural catalyses the play - speeds up the actions (Macbeth murdered king Duncan, instead of the heirs succeeding the throne).
• It is an insight into characters (Banquo’s ghost, represents Macbeth’s guilty conscience).
• it heightens the impact of many key scenes (the witches’ prophecies deciding the path which Macbeth would walk upon)
• Appeared in the play in forms of the Three Witches, Hecate, Banquo’s ghost, (the dagger)

Question 2

Ambition

Answer 2

• both seen in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
• the temptation of Macbeth becoming king overrides any humanity and sanity in Lady Macbeth and her husband since the beginning of the play, with Macbeth unsure of what to do, whereas Lady Macbeth is ruthless and determined to get what she wants
• Ambition holds a great amount of power that grows inside the characters and corrupts them from within.
• As Macbeth become more dominant and callous, Lady Macbeth falls into a pit of despair and becomes mad.
• Ambition eventually kills Macbeth as well; no longer has the support of his friends (as he has killed them all) nor his wife, who had (presumably) killed herself due to guilt.
• Macbeth’s ambition to be king was brought up from the prophecy, but he only pursuits it after being manipulated and encouraged by Lady Macbeth to overcome his strong sense of guilt and hesitation.

Question 3

Free Will/ Fate

Answer 3

• prevalent in Macbeth because of the witches’ prophecies on Macbeth’s fate, how it affects his decisions and choices - contributes to his future actions
• In the beginning - appears to be a heroic person who’s done many great deeds and is admired and honoured by many people, including the king.
• upon meeting the three witches, who has given their prophecies on his future, his character slowly changes.
• Their predictions have messed him up; his mind is fuelled by the desire of becoming king and this brings him into doing actions against the natural law of order
• The witches themselves plays a big role in contributing to the theme of fate and free will, might have planned to plant the idea of murder into Macbeth’s mind from the beginning by bringing up the idea of his ‘fate’ to the throne and strengthening his confidence and ambitions
• Or perhaps being the ‘witches’ they are meant that they had the control over people’s fate.
• Was it originally fated that Macbeth will become a murderer and traitor, or was it the idea of his fate to the throne leading him into the choosing the path of murder?

Question 4

Femininity

Answer 4

• Femininity means compassion and kindness.
• At first, Shakespeare uses her as a representative of an empowering woman during the Jacobean age. She appears to be a much more feisty character with ambitions and desires of her own; a lack of femininity.
• In Act 2 Scene 2, LM is now portrayed as anxious about being discovered for their crime contrasting to her previous appearance on stage in Act 1 Scene 7.
• manifests that she does possess some feminine traits. further foreshadows her being driven into madness.
• In Act 4 Scene 2, contrast between Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff. Lady Macduff - more of a rational intelligent woman, yet a good mother & wife represents all traits of women whereas Lady Macbeth exhibits a more cruel, ambitious nature - plotting to kill Duncan.
• During the Shakespearean times, women had a much lower status than would be the case today.
• Wives were little more than the property of their husbands and had no legal rights - main purpose was to have children & support their menfolk. Therefore, this was unusual for women like Lady Macbeth to have such overwhelming desire of power when women were supposed to feel weak and powerless.
• By regarding Lady Macbeth as an equal to her husband, the audience may perceive their marriage to be unnatural as she is able to convince him with her talks within a small amount of time. In doing so, Shakespeare is able to subvert the gender stereotypes.