Banquo

Brave, noble, honourable, virtuous, morally strong

Witches prophecy: His children will inherit the throne

B mirrors M (foil) as they both have ambitious thoughts, but B has more self-restraint. The adjectives ‘lesser’ ‘greater’ ‘happier’ and ‘not so happy’ uses antithesis to show that B is morally strong and virtuous who resist evil whilst M is morally weak, innately flawed and evil who gives into temptation.

B opposes M as he represents the route that M did not take (Ambition not leading to betrayal and murderer) This is why Banquo’s ghost haunts M and not Duncans

Shakespeare uses B to show how men can react to temptation. B’s reaction to the witches: B will ‘neither beg nor fear your favours nor your hate’ as he is indifferent to their prophecies. B sees the witches face-value (ragged old women) and doesn’t trust them.

Shakespeare uses B to tell the audience that everyone is capable of evil and they must resist it. He is used as a moral message to the audience to reject evil thoughts and return to God.

Lady Macbeth

Beginning: Strong, unstereotypical, dominant, Machiavellian villainess, excessively ambitious, manipulative

End: Deteriorating sense of self, desperate, insane, psychotic, paranoid, supernatural

Symbolises appearance vs reality. Nothing is as it seems. She relies on others prejudice’s and assumptions to get away with her actions. Her role is to cause havoc by using her feminine wiles to persuade M to kill D (for her). She constantly tells M to put on a facade for other people - like she always has. As long as they maintain their decietful masks they can get away with anything. She forgets the power of remorse.

→ Her gender identity is ambiguous. She doesn’t wish to be either sex, she wants to remove all obstacles which prevent her from claiming power and control. She wants to be evil, cynical and almighty like a witch ( gender fluidity & wombless & filled with gall)

→ She speaks poetically in rhyming couplets like witches spells

Shakespeare uses her soliloquies to show the difference between appearance and reality.

She is the antagonist as she drives M towards murder. Alternatively, she can be seen as the tragic heroine as she starts out in a position of glory which shatter due to an error in judgement.

Wife of a Thane. She uses M to claim a good reputation, power and riches. She wants to be queen to compensate for her lost ‘purpose’ as a woman if she has indeed lost her children.

Macbeth

Act 1: Courageous, heroic, noble, brave, ideal warrior, respected

Act 2: Passive feminine Coward, gullible, naive, weak,

Act 3: Powerful, masculine, dominant, manipulative, condescending, patronising

Eponymous character. Tragic hero. His hamartia is lack of restraint when filled with ambition.

M is used as a symbol for toxic and repressive masculinity associating manhood with violence. However, his fear of being emasculated and his naivety explores femininity.

Shakespeare uses M to suggest that breaking social normal results in vulnerability to corruption and temptation. Due to his actions, M knows he is no longer safe in the arms of the lord and he will stray far from the rest of humanity. ‘Sleep no more’ and that he couldn’t ‘say amen’ shows his frantic worry as he cannot cope with this stain on his soul.

M is also used to display fate vs freewill. M’s life is controlled by fate (according to witches) but how much of his story was foretold and was there anything he could have done to keep his place in heaven.

Personality is defined by his ambition and his guilt. He is fixed on his desired future but lives in paranoia haunted by his crimes.

Macduff

(Minor character) Static character as his loyalty to KD is unwavering. he immediately distrusts M as King which acts as a focal point for M’s rage and desire to protect his throne.

He is the opposite of M: embraces emotion, selfless out of love for his country, violence is for a justified cause, his bravery exposes M’s cowardice

He is not afraid to fight M ‘turn hell hound, turn’ and he has righteousness on his side. M has been a coward since Act 1. He killed KD in his sleep and killed B with murderer where as Macduff bravely and honourably took M in battle.

The Witches

Supernatural, paranormal, ambiguous, malevolent, calirvoyant, omnipotent

‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ This si a common theme throughout Macbeth stating that good is bad and bad is good meaning that nothing is as it seems

Contemporary audience believed & feared witches. Major contextual connotations relating to James I.

The witches inspired / controlled the regicide as they are omnipotent and omniscient which Shakespeare uses to show that regicide is an act of the devil.

Context

Shakespeare wrote Macbeth and began with the supernatural to draw in King James I. He uses B who says' ‘what, can the devil speak true’ which supports James I’ view that witches are controlled by the devil

Heavily based on greek theatre and folllows the typical stages:

1. Hamartia - Fatal Flaw

2. Hubris - Excessive pride / direspect for natural order

3. Peripetia - Reversal of fate

4. Anagnorisis - Discovery

5. Nemesis - Unavoidable punishment

6. Catharsis - Audience feels pity and emotional closure

Abuse of Power and Kingship (Unfinished)

Shakespeare uses contasting characters (Duncan and Macbeth) to show different types of kings. (Context: unexpected ascension of King James I causes a poopular question: what is a good king?) Duncan is a righteous, just and loyal king whereas Macbeth is is violent, Machiavellian and abuses his power.

Ambition

Macbeths Hamartia is his lack of restraint when following his ambition

Shakespeare’s key message throughout is that ambition leads to downfall.

Ambition is seen as corrupting, causes M to lose nobility and become intensely violent

Macbeth is a dramatic representation of the devastating psychological consequences of pursuing one’s ambitions without any regard for morality.

Context: tension between characters (in real life too) because they are eager to improve their titles (ambitious)