MacBeth: Characters

Duncan

King of Scotland. Macbeth murders him from selfish attempt to achieve the crown. "Kindly and trusting older man"

Malcolm and Donalbain

Duncan's Sons. They flee Scotland after their fathers death. One is the Prince of Cumberland.

Macbeth

Thame Of Glamis. "Macbeth is a general in the king's army and originally the Thane of Glamis" Eventually he is murdered by Macduff. Shows not an evil, but a weakness of character.

Lady Macbeth

"What Macbeth lacks in decisiveness, Lady Macbeth makes up for in bloodthirsty lust for power and wealth." She is the stronger character of her husband.

Seyton

Macbeth's servant

Two Murderers

Hired by Macbeth to kill Banquo, Fleance, Lady Macduff, and Macduff's son.

A Porter

"Provides comic relief with his account of 'hell-portering'"

Banquo

Thane of Locaber. A general in Duncan's army. Banquo does not act to fulfill the prophecies. Appears after dying as a ghost to Macbeth. Commander of Duncan's army with Macbeth.

Fleance

Banquo's son.

Macduff

"Scottish nobleman who questions Macbeth's tyrannical rule and refuses to recognize him as king" Follows Malcom to England, then showing his "true faithfulness to Scotland"

Lady Macduff

"A kind and motherly foil for Lady Macbeth's lack of feminine sympathies, she is killed along with her children after Macduff flees Scotland."

Lennox

"A Scottish noble who gradually questions Macbeth's tyrannical rule." He and Macduff come to waken Duncan in the morning to find him dead.

Ross

Macbeth's cousin. Scottish nobleman who eventually turns on Macbeth. In Scottish army with Agnus. Talks with Old Man of the strange happenings, including horses eating each other.

Angus, Menteith, and Caithness

"Scottish nobles who join with Malcolm and the English forces in opposing Macbeth."

Siward

Duncan's brother. Leads English Army against Macbeth.

Young Siward

Siward's son, slain by Macbeth in combat.

Hecate

Queen of the witches

Three Witches/ The Weird Sisters

"The witches foresee Macbeth's ascent to power and his defeat, as well as the succession of Banquo's line"

Additional Characters

Three Messengers

Three Servants

A Lord

A Soldier

A Captain in Duncan's army

An Old Man

An English Doctor

An Scottish Doctor

A Scottish Gentlewoman

Macduff's son

MacDonwald and the Thane of Cawdor

Two Scottish rebels who oppose Duncan.

Duncans Chamberlains

Blamed for Duncans Murder.

Allusion

Figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art, either directly or indirectly.

Personification

Giving human qualitites to an object or thing.

Hyperbole

An exaggerated statement.

Verbal Irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

Blank Verse

Unrymed verse form.

Other Terms

Iambic Pentameter (measure of rhythm in line of poetry, 10 syllables)

Rhyming couplet

Enjambment

Messenger

Tells Lady Macduff to take her children and run away.

Doctor and Lady

See Lady Macbeth sleepwalking

The Three Prophecies

1. "A floating head warns him to beware Macduff"

2. Then a bloody child appears and tells him that "none of woman born / shall harm Macbeth"

3. Crowned child holding a tree tells him that he is safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill