themes

Question 1

ambition

Answer 1

-macbeth’s hamartia
-lady macbeth can be seen as the spur to macbeth’s ambition
-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints
-ambition (helped by the malign prophecies of the witches) is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities.
-once one decides to use violence to further one’s quest for power, it is difficult to stop

Question 2

masculinity & cruelty

Answer 2

-toxic masculinity shown through macbeth
-living in the patriarchy forces men to behave in a cruel way and forced women to go to extreme lengths to grasp at power

-macduff understands that being masculine doesn’t mean having to ability to feel emotion

-characters in macbeth frequently dwell on issues of gender
-masculinity is equated with aggression
-women are also sources of violence and evil
-the witches’ prophecies spark Macbeth’s ambitions and then encourage his violent behavior
-arguably, macbeth traces the root of chaos and evil to women, which has led some critics to argue that this is shakespeare’s most misogynistic play.
-the aggression of the female characters is more striking because it goes against prevailing expectations of how women ought to behave

-the play does put forth a revised and less destructive definition of manhood
-macduff replies but I must also feel it as a man” when malcolm says he should dispute it like a man
-at the end of the play, siward receives news of his son’s death rather complacently
-malcolm responds, he’s worth more sorrow
-malcolm’s comment shows that he has learned the lesson macduff gave him on the sentient nature of true masculinity

Question 3

kingship

Answer 3

duncan:
-duncan possesses all the qualities of a great king
-duncan is shown to be a
just and benevolent ruler
-duncan is such a successful monarch that even those who seek to kill him admire the way he rules
-he produced an heir
-duncan’s death seems to bring about a sort of apocalyptic chaos
-he gets tricked
-duncan’s death disrupts the whole natural order

macbeth:
-at the start of the play macbeth has the ideal qualities of a noble king
-as macbeth becomes closer to the throne he becomes more corrupt
-macbeth is the complete opposite of duncan, both in the way he came to be king but also in the way he rules
-macbeth’s death is celebrated by his subjects

malcolm:
-traits of a noble king
-malcolm’s wisdom and perception are demonstrated when he checks that macduff isn’t a spy sent by macbeth
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Question 4

tyranny

Question 5

guilt

Question 6

fate & freewill

Question 7

violence breeds violence

Question 8

appearance vs reality

Question 9

supernatural