Macbeth

"Macbeth" Act I Act II Act III Act IV Act V

Information taken and adapted from: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/

** Macbeth ** - Macbeth is a Scottish general and the thane of Glamis who is led to wicked thoughts by the prophecies of the three witches, especially after their prophecy that he will be made thane of Cawdor comes true. Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not a virtuous one. He is easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once he commits his first crime and is crowned King of Scotland, he embarks on further atrocities with increasing ease. Ultimately, Macbeth proves himself better suited to the battlefield than to political intrigue, because he lacks the skills necessary to rule without being a tyrant. His response to every problem is violence and murder. Unlike Shakespeare’s great villains, such as Iago in // Othello // and Richard III in // Richard III, //Macbeth is never comfortable in his role as a criminal. He is unable to bear the psychological consequences of his atrocities. ** Lady Macbeth ** - Macbeth’s wife, a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and position. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls victim to guilt and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Her conscience affects her to such an extent that it eventually leads to her demise. Interestingly, she and Macbeth are presented as being deeply in love, and many of Lady Macbeth’s speeches imply that she has a strong influence over her husband. Their joint alienation from the world, occasioned by their partnership in crime, seems to strengthen the attachment that they feel to each another. ** The Three Witches ** - Three “black and midnight hags” who plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, and prophecies. Their predictions prompt him to begin his reign of terror and to blindly believe in his own immortality. The play leaves the witches’ true identity unclear—aside from the fact that they are servants of Hecate, we know little about their place in the cosmos. In some ways they resemble the mythological Fates, who impersonally weave the threads of human destiny. They clearly take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to toy with and destroy human beings. ** Banquo ** - The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches’ prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo thinks ambitious thoughts, but he does not translate those thoughts into action. In a sense, Banquo’s character stands as a rebuke to Macbeth, since he represents the path Macbeth chose not to take: a path in which ambition need not lead to betrayal and murder. ** King Duncan ** - The good King of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted ruler. His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan’s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne. ** Macduff ** - A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth’s kingship from the start. He eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The crusade’s mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm, on the throne, but Macduff also desires vengeance against Macbeth. ** Lady Macduff ** - Macduff’s wife. The scene in her castle provides our only glimpse of a domestic realm other than that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. She and her home serve as contrasts to Lady Macbeth and the hellish world of Inverness. ** Malcolm ** - The son of Duncan, whose restoration to the throne signals Scotland’s return to order following Macbeth’s reign of terror. Malcolm becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff’s aid (and the support of England). Prior to this, he appears weak and uncertain of his own power, as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father’s murder. ** Donalbain ** - Duncan’s son and Malcolm’s younger brother. ** Hecate ** - The goddess of witchcraft, who helps the three witches work their mischief on Macbeth. ** Fleance ** - Banquo’s son. At the end of the play, Fleance’s whereabouts are unknown. Presumably, he may come to rule Scotland, fulfilling the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s sons will sit on the Scottish throne. ** Porter ** - The drunken doorman of Macbeth’s castle. He provides the comic relief in the play. ** Menteith, Caithness, Lennox, Ross ** - Scottish Noblemen. ** The Murderers ** - A group of ruffians convinced by Macbeth to commit murders on his behalf
 * Characters **

**Themes**

//The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition//
The main theme of // Macbeth //—the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints—finds its most powerful expression in the play’s two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare’s most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder’s aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth’s repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition—helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches—is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one’s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne—Banquo, Fleance, Macduff—and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.

//Loyalty//
Without loyalty everything falls apart. The king must be loyal to Scotland above his own interests. Macbeth, by contrast, brings only chaos to Scotland—symbolized in the bad weather and bizarre supernatural events—and offers no real justice, only a habit of capriciously murdering those he sees as a threat. Loyalty to the king, spouse, and countrymen.

//Order vs Disorder// As in other Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth’s grotesque murder spree is accompanied by a number of unnatural occurrences in the natural realm. From the thunder and lightning that accompany the witches’ appearances to the terrible storms that rage on the night of Duncan’s murder, these violations of the natural order reflect corruption in the moral and political orders. If there is disorder in the human world it is reflected in nature.

//Violence and Evil//
In Shakespeare's time it was believed that if you were evil you were aligned with hell and therefore dammed. Evil happens under the cover of night//.// // Macbeth // is a famously violent play. Interestingly, most of the killings take place offstage, but throughout the play the characters provide the audience with gory descriptions of the carnage, from the opening scene where the captain describes Macbeth and Banquo wading in blood on the battlefield, to the endless references to the bloodstained hands of Macbeth and his wife.

//Hallucinations/ Reality vs Imaginary//
Visions and hallucinations recur throughout the play and serve as reminders of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s joint culpability for the growing body count. When he is about to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger floating in the air. Covered with blood and pointed toward the king’s chamber, the dagger represents the bloody course on which Macbeth is about to embark. Later, he sees a ghost sitting in a chair at a feast, pricking his conscience by mutely reminding him that he has committed murder. The seemingly hardheaded Lady Macbeth also eventually gives way to visions, as she sleepwalks and believes that her hands are stained with blood that cannot be washed away by any amount of water. In each case, it is ambiguous whether the vision is real or purely hallucinatory; but, in both cases, the Macbeths read them uniformly as supernatural signs of their guilt.

Miscellaneous Dramatic Irony - The audience has knowledge that the characters do not.

The characters are based on historical figures from 11th Century Scotland (toward the end of the Dark Ages).

Thane-Title for a soilder Regicide-To kill a king Blind Ambition-get what you want no matter the consequences Mettle-tough material Husbandry-frugal, cheap Asides - the actors speak to the audience while there are others on stage. Only the audience hears these inner thoughts Infanticide-killing of a child Cauldron-kettle used by witches Soliloquy-talking to oneself on stage at a dramatic moment Wyrd (Weird)-mysterious, eerie
 * Vocabulary **

Glossary of Early Modern English anon - at once thine - yours art - are thou - you (informal) ay - yes thy - your cousin - any relative till - until doth - does 'tis - it is ere - before whence - what, where, or when hark - listen wherefore - why hath - yes whither - where (from where) hither - near or to a place withal - within i' - in wrought - made nay - no o' - of o,er - over pray - please prithee - please quoth - said shalt - shall sooth - truth th' - the thee - you

//Act One// chastise - to punish or severely criticize dwindle - to make or become less until little remains lavish - extravagant; to give in abundance prophetic - speaking or predicting as if by divine intervention surmise - to infer with little evidence; guess trifle - something of little importance or value wrought - shaped, created

//Act Two// allegiance - loyalty to a cause or nation carousing - acting boisterously or loudly, as if drunk dire - indicating trouble or disaster; urgent lechery - lewd or vulgar behavior palpable - capable of being touched or felt; tangible quenched - put out; extinguished sacrilegious - grossly disrespectful of what is sacred

//Act Three// dauntless - fearless, unable to be intimidated fruitless - unproductive or unsuccessful grapple - wrestle or struggle with malice - a desire to harm others or to see others suffer predominant - having greatest importance or authority sundry - various; miscellaneous tyrant - a harsh or cruel leader

//Act Four// antic - a childish act or gesture avaricious - having extreme desire for wealth; greedy desolate - without inhabitants; deserted entrails - internal organs, especially the intestines laudable - praiseworthy, commendable pernicious - deadly or destructive sovereignty - supreme authority or rule

//Act Five// arbitrate - to judge or settle a dispute fury - uncontrollable anger or rage gentry - people of good family or high social position mar - to damage or spoil perturbation - something that disturbs or makes one anxious pristine - remaining in a pure state; uncorrupted upbraid - to criticize sharply; to reprimand