Macbeth Themes

Kingship - Duncan

Benevolent Ruler - D “Signs of nobleness like stars shall shine on all deservers” - He will reward those who do good - Simile connotes divine power, rewarded in afterlife

Fair - Rewards Macbeth but still punishes Cawdor - D “Go pronounce his present death and with his former title greet Macbeth” - Duncan’s court is Just - Foreshadows Macbeth’s betrayal - Rhyming couplets supernatural

Too Trusting - Relies of Thanes to maintain order - Poor judge of character - D “He was a gentleman on whom i built an absolute trust” - Dramatic Irony as Macbeth is plotting to kill him

Doesn’t learn from mistakes - Betrayal repeats himself

Is he the Perfect King - Shakespeare suggests no king can be wholly good due to the evil and treachery of others - Kindness and respect are vulnerable to deceit

Kingship - Macbeth

He initially has the traits of a noble king - Captain “Brave Macbeth” “Valour’s minion” - Cowardly act of killing Duncan in his sleep later

Ascension - Loses noble traits - Not rightful heir - Opposite to Duncan as power corrupts him

Callous Leadership - A5 Angus “Those he commands, move only in command, nothing in love” - Control with violence - M about Banquo “I could with my barefaced power sweep him from my sight”

No heir - Emasculated as not able to produce an heir - Jealous of Banquo - M “They hailed him father to a line of kings”

Kingship - King’s deaths

Duncan:

Apocalyptic Chaos - Disrupts natural order - Old Man “A falcon towering in her pride of place was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed” - Symbolises Duncan and Macbeth - Duncan above Macbeth in the natural Divine Order

Macbeth:

Celebrated by subjects - Described as “hell-hound” - Dehumanises him or implies he was a slave - Master is the Devil

Kingship - Macduff

Loyal statesman - Wants what’s best for his country - Respects God’s will and gives the crown to Malcolm after killing Macbeth

Patriotic - Suggests country is “Miserable” because it is governed by a usurper against God’s will - MD “Fit to govern? No, not to live”

Kingship - Malcolm

Ascension - Takes his rightful place on the throne - Speech shows similar wisdom and compassion to father - Coward as runs away from Duncan’s murder

Traits of a noble king - Wise as suspects Macduff “To offer up a weak, poor innocent lamb to appease an angry god” - Juxtaposition between Malcolm and Macbeth - Power imbalance as Macbeth is king - Moral differences

Patriotic - Worries for Scotland’s future “I think our country sinks beneath the yoke” - Personifies Scotland and emphasises how important it is to Malcom

Sleep

Shakespeare uses it as a symbol of innocence and peace - Sleep is denied to the Macbeths after they murder Duncan - They are plagued by nightmares - M “To lie in restless ecstasy”

Macbeth has damned himself - M “Macbeth shall sleep no more” - He has brought torment and torture on himself

Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking - Mind is always racing - Doctor “A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep and do the effects of watching” - She is doomed to replay the murder in her mind

Guilt

Shakespeare associates guilt with religion - If Macbeth kills Duncan he says “We’d jump the life to come” - Afterlife lost and will be abandoned by God - Makes him rethink - Power of religion

Guilt is portrayed as an intense fear of knowing yourself and facing what you have done - M “To know my deed, ‘twere best not to know myself” - He would rather forget who he is than look at what he has done

Shakespeare is condemning regicide - Guilt destroys the Macbeths - Pleasing King James I after Gunpowder plot in 1605 - King was patron of Shakespeare’s theatre group

Ambition - Macbeth

Effect of the Witches - Macbeth jumps to the possibility of murder without them mentioning it - M “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical”

Tragic Flaw (Hamartia) - Shakespearian tragedy protagonists have a tragic flaw - Macbeth’s is his insatiable ambition - Becomes mad with guilt because of it - M “A dagger of the mind, a false creation”

Murder - His only motive for murder is ambition - M “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other” - Compares to horse riding - A horse rider may overestimate their ability - Foreshadows his tragic end

Ambition - Lady Macbeth

She is the other motivator of Macbeth’s ambition - Criticises his actions and lack of masculinity - Contributes to her own insanity and suicide

Jumps to murder first - LM Soliloquy “Yet i do fear thy nature, it is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” - When she is first introduced - Defining trait is ambition

Masculinity - Uses gender norms to shame Macbeth - Uncommon power dynamic - Viewed as the masculine character - Jacobean audience now view her negatively

Supernatural - The Witches

Trochaic Tetrameter - Stand out from the other characters - Difficult and unnatural way of speech - Perceived as supernatural and dangerous

Rhyming Couplets - Symbolic of spell casting - Bringing prophecies into existence - Questions if they are in control or just influencing Macbeth

Paradoxical Phrases - W “Lost and won” and “Lesser than Macbeth and greater” - Source of chaos and disorder - Demonstrates their ostensibly nature

Appeals to James I - Took part in trials (e.g North Berwick Witch Trials) - Wrote a book on witchcraft ‘Daemonologie’ - Shakespeare wants to make the play interesting to James so he will financially support the theatre and ensure patronage

Supernatural - Lady Macbeth

Rhyming Couplets - Speaks in them while persuading Macbeth to agree to her plan - LM “Only look up clear; To alter favour ever is to fear” - Imitates the witches spells and trickery

Subversion of Femininity - Jacobean audience would see her as a witch - Shakespeare implies her unnatural power id due to supernatural links

Manipulation - LM “Pour my spirits in thine ear” - Allusion to Demonic Possession - Garden on Eden where the serpent tempted Eve to sin - Eve whispered in Adam’s ear to join her - Imitation of Pandora - She opened the box that brought evil and sin - Shakespeare associates the Fall of Man with seduction, femininity and the supernatural