MACBETH

Macbeth - Masculinity

How the perception of Macbeth depreciates as the play progresses - stereotypically ‘good’ according to male stereotypes of the time (good warrior)

For brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name - A1S2

Macbeth - Violence/ Masculinity

Highlights the idealisation of violence and power - Macbeth has the capability to commit violence (but when he kills Duncan he’s plagued with regret and guilt) - defied both God and nature

[Macbeth] unseamed him from the nave to the chops - A1S2

Banquo - Order and Disorder/ Ambition

Witches give Banquo the prophecy that his children will be kings - similar to Macbeth, the witches try and fuel his ambition - vague language links to equivocation

Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none - A1S3

Macbeth - Ambition

Brings the question whether M can be blamed for his actions as it’s already decided by fate

If chance will have me King, why chance may crown me without my spur - A1S3

Banquo/ Macbeth - Ambition/Kingship

Could reference how Banquo never becomes king, OR how Banquo is greater because he isn’t driven by greed or ambition

Lesser than Macbeth, and greater - A1S3

Banquo - Order and Disorder

Acts as a foil to Macbeth - his virtues make Macbeth’s flaws more visible - suspicious of witches - highlights the nefarious and chaotic nature of the witches

The instruments of darkness tell us truths […] to betray’s/ In deepest consequence - A1S3

Macbeth - Ambition/ Guilt and Conscience

Macbeth tries to hide his desires because of his fear of his own ambition

Let not light see my black and deep desires - A1S4

Lady Macbeth - Masculinity

Ridding herself of all stereotypically feminine traits to become a ruthless killer - doesn’t naturally have cruel tendencies (need help from spirits) - exterior is an act - aware of her perceived weaknesses

Unsex me here,/ And fill me [with] direst cruelty - A1S5

Macbeth - Ambition

LM believes that M doesn’t have the wickedness to fulfil his ambition - isn’t immoral enough - shows how he was corrupted by power

Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it - A1S5

Lady Macbeth - Masculinity/Control

LM trying to manipulate Macbeth deviates from traditional gender roles - emasculates Macbeth in the eyes of the audience

Pour my spirits in thine ear - A1S5

Macbeth & Lady Macbeth - Masculinity

Macbeth sees LM as his equal - unusual in time period - their relationship began strong

My dearest partner of greatness - A1S5

Lady Macbeth - Appearance and Reality

Uses animals to explore people’s desires - snake symbolises snake in the Garden of Eden - sinful animal that persuades Eve to sin - symbolises LM and Macbeth’s dynamic

Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t - A1S5

Lady Macbeth - Masculinity

LM completely rejects her femininity and motherly traits - presents kindness as a negative trait - Shakespeare plays with masculine and feminine stereotypes and gives Macbeth feminine qualities

Too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness - A1S5

Macbeth - Ambition

M acknowledges how excessive his ambition is - compares it to a horse that jumps too high - aware of his hamartia/ fatal flaw

I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition - A1S7

Lady Macbeth - Masculinity

Lady Macbeth emasculate Macbeth to provoke him into action - shows Ms fragile masculinity and how LM has the power (goes against gender roles)

When you durst do it, then you were a man - A1S7

Banquo - Ambition

Power can affect even the noblest of minds - Banquo also had ambition - asks the supernatural to suppress his ambitions - shows it’s possible to refrain from acting on ambition

Merciful power,/ Restrain in me the cursed thoughts - A2S1

Macbeth - Appearance and Reality/ Guilt and Conscience

Highlights themes of deception and how things aren’t as they seem - a symbol of the murder M will commit - mind plays tricks on him because of his guilt - helps understand his mental state - tormented by desires

A dagger of the mind - A2S1

Macbeth - Equivocation

The use of a euphemism - still feels guilty towards killing Duncan

Bloody business - A2S1

Lady Macbeth - Masculinity/Ambition

Despite being ambitious and has a strong desire to be cruel, she cannot actually kill - still a woman, who is, by nature. weaker

Had he not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done ‘t - A2S2

Macbeth - Guilt and Conscience

By killing the divinely appointed king he went against God and nature - guilt stops him from even saying the word

I could not say ‘Amen’ - A2S2

Macbeth - Guilt and Conscience

Disturbed due to his guilt - loss of comfort/purity - consequence of killing Duncan

Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep - A2S2

Macbeth - Guilt and Conscience

M cannot get rid of the guilt he is feeling even when he washes away the blood (symbol of guilt) - tragic

Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood - A2S2

Lady Macbeth - Guilt and Conscience

Dramatic contrast between LM and M (M feels much guiltier because of killing Duncan)

A little water clears us of this deed - A2S2

Donalbain - Appearance and Reality/ Guilt and Conscience

People are two faced - becomes paranoid because of his guilt - foreshadows the betrayals and murders that will happen

There’s daggers in men’s smiles - A2S3

Banquo - Ambition

Believes that his prophecies may come true as Macbeth’s - however unable to cross the moral boundaries and act on his thoughts - keeps his ambition in check through morals

May they not be my oracles as well, and set me up in hope? - A3S1

Macbeth - Ambition

Highlights M’s vaulting/endless ambition - cannot be fulfilled even after getting the crown - his status is only temporary

Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown - A3S1

Banquo - Equivocation

Shows distrust in the witches - while Macbeth acts on his ambition, Banquo remains cautious

I fear/ Thou played’st most foully for ‘t - A3S1

Macbeth/Lady Macbeth - Masculinity

Highlights the change in their dynamic - M becomes more in control while LM is now more emotionally vulnerable and powerless (gender roles)

Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck - A3S2

Macbeth - Violence and Tyranny

Snake is a symbol of evil - evil can’t be defeated (foreshadows M’s descent into tyranny) - implies more murders will occur to secure M and LM positions of power

We have scorched the snake, not killed it - A3S2

Macbeth - Guilt and conscience

After everything that he committed he won’t be forgiven - after all the violence he’s now trapped by his own choices/by fate - loss of morality (blood = guilt of murders and terrible deeds) -

I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that […] returning were as tedious as go o’er - A3S4

Malcolm - Kingship

Shows Malcolm’s loyalty towards Scotland - emphasises how Macbeth’s tyranny has affected everything (him disrupting the Natural Order only inflicted chaos on the entire country)

[Our country] weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds - A4S3

Macbeth - Violence and Tyranny

Macbeth now defined by his actions rather than his name - gained a reputation for violence - highlights the harm he has done

This tyrant whose sole name blisters our tongues - A4S3

Macduff - Masculinity

Not afraid to show emotion - different perceptions towards masculinity - more frail and feminine (similar to how LB is also a dichotomy for gender roles)

But I must also feel it as a man - A4S3

Malcolm - Masculinity

Tells Macduff to act on his grievance - should weaponize his grief

Let grief convert to anger: blunt not the heart, enrage it - A4S3

Lady Macbeth - Guilt and conscience

Reveals all her repressed guilt and fears - manifested through insomnia and visions of blood - suffers the same emotions as Macbeth without expressing them - overwhelming

Out dammed spot […] will these hands ne’er be clean? - A5S1

Lady Macbeth - Guilt and conscience

Contrasts “a little water clears us” - shows how the guilt is corrupting her mind - blood as a symbol for eternal guilt - can’t escape fait

All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand - A5S1

Lady Macbeth/Macbeth - Masculinity/Tyranny

LM ends up being labelled as Macbeth’s belonging (possessive) - conforms more to societal gender roles - Macbeth fallen in everyone’s estimations - defined by his tyrannical rule - lacks prestige

This dead butcher and his fiend-like queen - A5S9

Macbeth - Supernatural

This supernatural soliciting/ Cannot be ill, cannot be good - A1S3

Order and disorder

[The horses] turned wild in nature […] Contending ‘gainst obedience - A2S4