Macbeth Supernatural and Ambition Analysis

Flashcards covering key vocabulary, quotes, and literary concepts from the lecture notes on Macbeth's supernatural elements, ambition, and character analysis.

Supernatural Soliciting

An invitation or enticement from forces beyond human control, suggesting both a violation of nature/divine order and an appeal to ambition.

Equivocation (in Macbeth)

The use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself, presenting truth and falsehood as indistinguishable, a key theme in Macbeth.

Jacobean Audience

The audience during the reign of King James I (early 17th century), culturally anxious about witchcraft and the divine right of kings, influencing their perception of Macbeth's moral weakness and the play's themes.

Without My Stir

Macbeth's phrase indicating his initial willingness to let fate unfold naturally, without violent action or personal intervention to achieve kingship.

Divine Right of Kings

A cultural assumption in Jacobean times that monarchs derived their authority directly from God, making succession by violence illegitimate and morally wrong.

Prince of Cumberland

The title bestowed upon the heir to the Scottish throne, here referring to Malcolm. For Macbeth, his naming exposes an obstacle to his ambition.

The Raven (in Macbeth)

A traditional symbol of death and ill-omen, used by Lady Macbeth to foreshadow Duncan's murder and align herself with dark, unnatural forces.

My Battlements

Lady Macbeth's possessive claim over the castle, signaling her inversion of gender and social roles and her alignment with transgressive, witchlike influence.

Hallucination of the Dagger

Macbeth's vision of a dagger before Duncan's murder, which blurs the line between psychological projection and supernatural manifestation, externalizing his inner conflict and tempting him to regicide.

Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair

A paradoxical statement spoken by the witches that sets the play's tone, introducing the theme of pervasive supernatural influence and blurring boundaries between good and evil, truth and falsehood.

Witches (function in Macbeth)

Supernatural beings who act like a Greek chorus, foreshadowing events, setting the tone and mood of the play, and representing agents of disorder and chaos.

Bird Imagery (Macbeth)

A subtle literary device used by Shakespeare to dramatize the disruption of natural order and the corruption of kingship, featuring birds like the raven, martlet, owl, falcon, and wren.

The Great Chain of Being

A hierarchical concept from Shakespeare's time, where the disruption of natural order (e.g., a falcon killed by a mousing owl) symbolizes the breakdown of society and divine will.

Porter's Equivocation

The Porter's speech, which explains the concept of equivocation to the audience in a lower-class, crude, and often sexual way, serving to provide comic relief and contextual understanding for all audience members.