macbeth

fair is foul, and foul is fair

introduces appearance Vs reality and the witches influence

so foul and fair a day I have not seen

Macbeth echoes the witches, foreshadowing corruption

all hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!

ignites ambition; raises fate Vs free will

my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical…

reveals early contemplation of regicide

look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t

Lady Macbeth promotes deception

unsex me here

rejects Jacobean femininity

when you durst do it, then you were a man

manipulates masculinity

is this a dagger which I see before me?

hallucination symbolising guilt and fate

I could not say ‘Amen’

shows spiritual guilt

will all Neptune’s oceans wash this blood clean from my hand?

blood symbolises permanent guilt

a little water clears us of this deed

dramatic irony

o, full of scorpions is my mind

growing tyranny

be innocent of the knowledge my dearest chuck

role reversal

something wicked this way comes

Macbeth now seen as evil

from this moment, the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand

acts without morality

out, damned spot! out, I say!

Lady Macbeth’s guilt

here’s the smell of the blood still

inescapable guilt

tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

nihilism (life is meaningless)

this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen

restoration of order (great chain of being)