MACBETH
CHARACTERS
Macbeth has a massive cast of character. Some are definitely likely to pop up on exam questions whilst some are just there in the background. Focus on the major characters for depth, but make sure you have a good understanding of all the minor characters too. Click a character to find out more
THEMES
AMBITION
Macbeth's true downfall is his own ambition. The over ambition of a wealthy, powerful men which leads to their downfall has been a theme in plays since the ancient Greeks created theatre 2,500 years ago. This is the definition of a tragedy. It is Macbeth's hamartia that leads to his death. He may have been helped along the way by the witches and his wife, but ultimately Macbeth is the one to kill King Duncan and admits he has no reason to do so other than his own "vaulting ambition". In the theme of ambition we can also consider how Lady Macbeth shows her ambition for her husband's success when she persuades him to kill King Duncan. We can also compare Macbeth to Macduff who values Scotland and honour over any personal ambition.
VIOLENCE
Scotland was a violent warrior society at the time the play was set. The play starts with stories of at least two rebellions and violent battles. We are told by the Captain in gruesome detail about how Macbeth defeated Macdonwald in battle. All this seems OK to the audience as we know the violence is directed against the enemies of the king and therefore good is beating evil. But when Macbeth starts using violence against his own King, his own friend, and defenseless women and children, the theme takes a dark turn and our opinions of the main character change dramatically.
SUPERNATURAL
We should know that the play was written with James I, King of England in mind. We should also know that James I had a keen interest in witches and the supernatural. The play does not disappoint and opens with the spectacle of three sinister witches speaking in riddles amongst the thunder and lightning in the wilderness of Scotland. These powerful characters have spirit animals that are servants of the devil himself and the witches appear to have the power to control the weather. As they manipulate events throughout the play, we see the theme of the supernatural appear elsewhere with Lady Macbeth calling the spirits, hallucinations of daggers and ghosts, and strange voices calling out.
ILLUSION vs REALITY
So many quotes talk about deception and lying. We the audience know much more about the Macbeths' evil plans than the characters do. Who to believe is hard to know and the reason Duncan's sons flee Scotland. Duncan himself clearly didn't see the reality that his subjects were regularly lying to him and eventually Macbeth realised he could take advantage of this. Illusion is used throughout the play and even the audience is kept guessing as to what is reality at times. What is the dagger? Why is Banquo's ghost at the feast? Are the witches controlling Macbeth or simply enjoying what they already know will happen? Duncan, Macbeth, Banquo: they are all united in understanding the reality of the situation in their deaths.
GUILT
One of the most interesting questions of the play. Why does Lady Macbeth go from being the cruel and calculating plotter of Duncan's murder to a guilt-crazed melt who can't stop washing imaginary blood from her hands? Why does Macbeth go from being under the thumb to a murderous psychopath who thinks nothing of slaughtering women and children? Guilt is a theme that runs throughout the play and ultimately leads to the death of one its main characters, Lady Macbeth.
SYMBOLS AND MOTIFS
BLOOD
Blood would be unavoidable in a play with a body count as high as Macbeth but it takes a much more symbolic role throughout the play too. Before Duncan is murdered blood drips from the dagger leading Macbeth to him - symbolic of his guilt. Duncan's own blood is "golden" showing his goodness, purity and that he is the rightful king. Macbeth says he has walked through blood so far that it is pointless even trying to turn back and he might as well just carry on. Perhaps the most memorable blood in the play though is that which Lady Macbeth is desperately trying to was off her hands. Again, this isn't real but a symbol of her guilt.
SLEEP
Macbeth has murdered sleep. This is what he hears after killing Duncan. We know the witches have a particular fondness for messing with people's sleep. In one scene one of the witches will create a storm that stops a sailor sleeping (amongst other things - dying of thirst being another) because his wife refused to give her a chestnut. Neither Lady Macbeth nor Macbeth will sleep again after the death of Duncan. Macbeth loves his sleep and compares it to a bath at the end of the day to wash away your worries. Lady Macbeth ultimately gives away all the family secrets when she is sleepwalking in a paranoid craze trying to wash her hands and escape the her own guilt.
CLOTHING
Clothing is a symbol of power in Macbeth. When Macbeth is greeted as the Thane of Cawdor he asks, why he is being addressed in "borrowed robes". A robe is an item of clothing that signifies power. This means he doesn't believe he has earned the right to be called that. As he is wondering whether to kill Duncan, Macbeth talks about "wearing" the good opinions people have of him after the battle and that he probably shouldn't ruin it by stabbing the King. When Macbeth is king and Scotland is turning against him they insult him through his clothing.,. They see him as a little man and say that as King it's like a "dwarf" wearing a "giant's robe". What we wear is still important today and we get judged on it. Shakespeare plays with this idea cleverly by linking clothes to power.
LIGHT vs DARKNESS
Lady Macbeth wants darkness. She wants smoke to cover her actions so that God cannot see her. Darkness symbolises evil and she wants more of it. Yet later in the play she is carrying a candle around with her everywhere to try and escape the evil she has created! The witches are "instruments of darkness" and Macbeth lets them into his life and into Scotland's future. After Duncan's death, Macbeth has disrupted the natural order so much that night becomes day and day becomes night. Macbeth does not want "light" to see his "black" desires and he brings darkness upon all of Scotland. It's pretty standard stuff: light = good and darkness = evil.
BIRDS
Shakespeare love throwing some birds into his plays and Macbeth is no different. Sparrows, falcons, owls, magpies, wrens, there's enough birds in Macbeth to start up a zoo. Macbeth starts the play as an "eagle". A symbol of someone powerful and loyal and patriotic. He is later described as an "owl" as there is a little more darkness in his life. In the end he is described as a "hell-kite". An insult as the kite was a hated bird in Shakespeare's day and this one came straight from hell. The raven, a symbol of death, "croaks the fatal entrance" of Duncan. Lady Macduff slamming her husband for leaving her undefended says even the "wren" defends her nest. Birds play an important part of the symbolism of the play.
HANDS
If blood symbolises guilt, hands symbolise responsibility. They are a motif throughout the play. Macbeth has blood on his hands and says that all the water in the oceans wouldn't be able to clean them. Later in the play, Lady Macbeth is desperate to clean her hands. If hands are a symbol of responsibility, she describes her own as "little" to try and kid herself that she isn't responsible for the way things have turned out. Macbeth tells us before he kills Duncan that there would be "even-handed justice" for the crime and with his death at the end he is bang on with this.
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