MACBETH

Main themes in Macbeth?

Main themes in Macbeth?

Guilt, betrayal, desire, power, kingship, loyalty

James the first + gun powder plot - context?

1605

Macbeth can be viewed as a way of flattering King James - Shakespeare offers a warning to potential traitors - as it is clear Macbeth spirals out of control because of his regicidal actions

King James was also thought to be a descendant of a thane named Banquo - that is why Banquo is portrayed as noble + brave - legitimising James’s rule

The gun powder plot only occurred a year before the first play of Macbeth - appeals to King James because Shakespeare demonstrates the chaos that regicide creates

Many references to hell + heaven - implies Shakespeare wanted to show that actions have consequences

Witchcraft context?

James the first was fascinated by witchcraft - he wrote a book where he set out his beliefs that witches were slaves of Satan + should be executed

Shakespeare appeals to the King - his descriptions of the witches e.g. “weird sisters” are in line with James’s beliefs

A Jacobean audience would be terrified of the witches as the supernatural played on their minds - no definite answers - but it also wasn’t unheard of to hear about witchcraft, there were loads of witch trials + folklore around at the time

Shakespeare appeals to James as he portrays the witches as the main cause of evil

Shakespeare amplifies how terrifying the witches are - even a brave man like Macbeth can be tempted

Gender roles context?

The play demonstrates that woman had a lack of agency - LM attempts to have agency but Shakespeare suggests that it is better for woman to stick to societal norms

Shakespeare is suggesting that women who do not conform to expectations are unnatural - they have negative consequences - why some argue LM is the fourth witch!

Expectations of women: Subordinate, dutiful, nurturing

Macbeth fails to display his manhood - he is seen as weak + mentally ill by LM (2,2) - mentally ill is a sign of moral weakness

Shakespeare = suggesting that because M fails to conform to gender expectations - he is more easily influenced by evil AKA the witches

God + the Great Chain of Being?

Jacobean audience - very Christian - literal world of Bible

A lot of M + LM actions would be seen as blasphemous - they both know how sinful regicide is

Witches represent temptations to do evil - their presence presents a real threat to Scotland

Great Chain of Being = God’s plan - any attempts of breaking this would be blasphemous

“When shall we three meet again?” “In thunder lightening or in rain?”

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair” “There to meet with Macbeth”

The use of weather creates an unsettling atmosphere, audience will be uneasy, the witches don’t speak in iambic pentameter - implies they are outliers

Use of rhyme implies a spell, chanting, equivocations = double meanings, we shouldn’t trust anyone

Significance of Act 1, scene 1?

We get the impression that Macbeth has two sides - the immediate association with the witches implies Macbeth is also evil, or he’s not wholly good

“But all’s too weak for brave Macbeth” “disdaining fortune” “with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution” “Like valour’s minion” “O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman” “they meant to bathe in reeking wounds”

Act 1 scene 2 is significant because it portrays M as reputable and respectful - surely a man like this wouldn’t be tempted by evil? Makes his downfall even more dramatic to an audience

Thane of Cawdor - significance?

The fact that the previous thane of Cawdor betrays the King - and M is rewarded with his title foreshadows that M will also betray the King - opens up the possibility of M becoming a traitor

“But in a sieve I’ll thither sail” “Macbeth doth come”

Sailing in sieves was a common practice among witches

Shakespeare is playing on things the audience would have seen - confirming they are supernatural - meant to be suggestive of evil

“So foul and fair a day I have not seen” “So withered and wild in their attire” “That look not like the inhabitants of the earth” “To me you speak not”

M connections with the witches

Equivocating - they look inhuman/ supernatural

Banquo isn’t sacred of them, questions them, doesn’t trust them - M is shocked + troubled - already shows a difference in their characters

“Tell me more” “Speak I charge you” “Would they had stayed”

The stagecraft is clever - there is no time to question the witches, adds to M’s desperation - leading to ambition

Macbeth is told he will become Thane of Cawdor + King

Banquo is told his children will be Kings

Still Act 1 scene 3

“What, can the devil speak true?”
“Why do you dress me in borrowed robes” - roles that don’t fit him

Banquo still doesn’t trust the witches, immediately associates the witches with evil - natural thing to do

“The instruments of darkness tell us truths; win us with honest trifles”

“To betray’s in deepest consequence”

Here Banquo is saying how sometimes truly evil creatures trick you with a tinge of truth, but everything else they say is false - leading you to spiral out of control - into darkness, paranoia

The witches want to win your trust, and then destroy you for even trusting them in the first place

“Instruments” - meant to be played - the witches will play with your mind

“The swelling act” “This supernatural soliciting” “Why do I yield to that suggestion” “My thought, whose murder yet is fantastical” “Look how our partner’s rapt”

Macbeth’s thoughts terrify him - Banquo knows Macbeth is acting weird

There is disorder - M has unleashed ambition, power

Macbeth + Banquo both have guarded responses - shows that they are both influenced by the witches but don’t want to admit it

Act 1 scene 4

“There’s no art to fund the mind’s construction in the face”

Duncan’s weakness is that he trusts the wrong people

Act 1 scene 4

“Stars hide you fires, let no light see my black and deep desires”

“The eye wink at the hand”

He is annoyed that Malcolm is in his way of becoming King

He knows his desires are wrong but his ambition is too great

He wants to get away with the murder, the dagger - to be unaware of the fatal blow