MACBETH

Nihilistic

a philosophical belief that life, existence, and values are ultimately meaningless and without purpose- this can be seen in Act 5 when macbeth says “Life’s but a walking shadow…a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”

Equivocative

The witches speak in equivocation- the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth and purposely confuse

Machiavellian

Someone who is cunning and deceitful

Hubris

Excessive self pride- given to macbeth in act one- “hail thane of glamis, cawdor” etc

Key themes in macbeth

supernatural, ambition, appearance vs reality, internal conflict, manipulation, masculinity

Warrior culture

a society or group that places a high value on military prowess- can be seen at the beginning when macbeth kills macdonwald and “unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps”

“Fair is foul and foul is fair”- stave 1

• witches speaking equivocatively

• Hints that the play is morally inverted

• Alliteration reflects the way the witches & the supernatural have power over the events of the play- prophecies

"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't"- stave 1 LM

• she is manipulating macbeth, fueling his ambition, nourishing the seeds of ambition that the witches planted

• She contradicts typical jacobean standards of women in the patriarchal society

• Intrigues james I- he wrote a book called weaker sex about women being more easily influenced as eve ate the apple- he will see how she is easily affected by ambition

"Stars, hide your fires. Let not light see my black and deep desires"- act 1 scene 7, macbeths soliloquy

• celestial imagery- themes of fate and destiny

• He doesn’t want this act of regicide to affect his destiny in hell

• Light imagery= hope, innocence, religion- quenched

• Black & deep, internal and personal- internal conflict

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?"- macbeth act 2

Hyperbole- neptunes ocean- god of the sea- water=cleansing, emphasizes the extent of his wrongdoing, no great amount of water will clease him of regicide

• rhetorical question- no, he has gone against god (DROK)- internal conflict, he is in denial

• Guilt- this will make the Jacobean audience (who were orthodox christians) happy- they will be disgraced at macbeth for hi sin

“I had most need of a blessing and ‘amen’ stuck in my throat”- macbeth act 2

• macbeths spiritual despair & his separation from grace

• He is no longer a child of god, but of the devil- something is stopping him of saying it

• Jacobean religious society

• Stuck in trhoat- tearful, fear & regret