Macbeth

Act 1 scene scene 4 “Stars hides your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires“

(King duncan anounces his son malcom will be heir) Initialy macbeth is presented as a honourable and loyal soldier but the quotes shows us the understanding that his desires are dark imoral and do not go along side with the image of a loyal thane

Act 1 scene 7 “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only volting ambition which leaps itself“

(Macbeth is a good man who does wrong wich eventualy sets him on a path to his own destruction) Macbeth is considering weather he should murder duncan. he reaches the conculation that the only thing that is motivating him(his spur) is ambition which he compares to a horse leaping over a obstacle(volting ambition)

Horses jump over obsticles and macbeths ambition will propel him to clear the obsticle of duncan. Macbeth has a strong wish to become extremely successful, powerfull, rich and a belife that this is more important than even his marrage.

theme of ambition

1. ambition motivates macbeth to kill people

2. the play warns against ambition that isnt ballenced by morals

3. macbeth has a fatal flaw is ambition and corrupts him

4. Ambition is not always bad e.g banquo, malcom, macduffs ambitions are selfless

Act 3 scene 1 “To make them kings the seed of banquo kings“

Macbeth cannot accept that banquos decendents will become kings after him and sets out to alter the witches prediciton by having banquo and fleance murderd. As macbeths completely belives the witches prediction, he must also belive that banquos decendants will inherit the throne. He has even put his soul (“Eternal jewel endanger“) his greed means that he wishes to keep power for himself and his own familly

Theme of good and evil

1. In the opening battle(act 1 scene 2) scottland represents good and norway represents evil. in the final battle (act 5) malcoms army represents good and macbeth represents evil. Battles symbolise the conflict between good and evil

2. Macbeth changes (at first he is noble) “Vallient“ “Noble“. By the end he is an evil “Abhorred tyrant“.

3. Evil and gender. Masculine evil is linked to violence and agression. Feminine evil is linked to manipulation.

“The service and the loyalty i owe, in doing it pays itself“

Macduff is loyal to scottland, The thanes are loyal to king duncan, banquo is loyal to his morals. Loyalty is rewarded. Duncan rewards macbeth. Loyaltys change. macbeth is loyal to duncan but then betrays him. loyalty can be fake. Lady macbeth plots murder and disloyalty is punished like the deaths of both thanes of cawdaw