Character of Macbeth Flashcards
(15 cards)
‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen.’
Act 1 Scene 3
First line of the character
Echoes the witches’ paradox
Creates an immediate connection of Macbeth and the supernatural
Themes: Supernatural (witches)
‘Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more.’
Act 1 Scene 3
Macbeth is immediately curious
Themes: Supernatural
‘Stars, hide your fires, / Let not light see my black and deep desires’
Act 1 Scene 4
Macbeth acknowledges his ambition but does not want to accept it
Instead he hides it
Contrasts the end of play when they want light to prevent them from slipping into darkness - evil.
Themes: Evil, Appearance vs. Reality
‘Bloody Instructions, which being taught, return / To plague th’inventor.’
Act 1 Scene 7
Macbeth is worried about the consequences of his actions
Lady Macbeth is fuelling what is going to happen
Suggest a sense of fear
Caesura - unsure
Themes: Internal Conflict
‘I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition’
Act 1 Scene 7
Macbeth admits he has no reason to kill Duncan
Suggests an internal conflict
Macbeth only has ambition based on what the witches told him
Themes: Internal Conflict, Ambition, Fate
‘Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?’
Act 2 Scene 1
A hallucination symbolizing the internal struggle and the descent into madness
Rhetorical question reflects Macbeths unsure feelings
Themes: Supernatural (hallucinations), Fate, Ambition, Internal Conflict
‘Me though I heard a voice cry ‘sleep no more: / Macbeth does murder sleep’ ‘
Act 2 Scene 2
Suggests that killing Duncan also killed Macbeths peace of mind
Introduces sleeplessness later
Personification of sleep shows how interlinked the regicide and later guilt is
Themes: Internal Conflict, Sleep -Chaos, Guilt
‘Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?’
Act 2 Scene 2
Presents the feeling of Guilt
Macbeth is sceptical that anything can cleanse him
Image of water (purity) cannot get rid of his evil
Later Lady Macbeth will frantically ‘wash’ blood from her hands
Themes: Guilt, Appearance vs. Reality
‘Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown’
Act 3 Scene 2
Macbeth is unsure in his position
Worried about the prophecies given to Banquo that his family would have kings
Macbeth felt threatened in his position of power
Themes: Power / Kingship, Loyalty,
‘We have scorched the snake, not killed it’
Act 3 Scene 2
Snake = image of evil
Although Macbeth has reached his goal and eliminated his rivals the threat is still present
Themes: Loyalty, Unnatural, Evil
‘O, full of Scorpions is my mind,’
Act 3 Scene 2
Shows the paranoia and psychological consequences of Macbeth’s ambition
Themes: Evil, Guilt
‘Thou canst say I did it; never shake / Thy gory locks at me!’
Act 3 Scene 4
Macbeth becomes increasingly paranoid
Sees the ghost of Banquo
Filled with guilt of his murder
Macbeth seems crazy to the guests - the carefully created façade begins to break to show the reality below the surface
Themes: Supernatural (hallucination), Guilt, Appearance vs. Reality
‘Something wicked this way comes’
Act 4 Scene 1
Even the witches (a symbol of evil) see Macbeth as complete evil
Themes: Evil, Supernatural, Ambition, Unnatural
‘Out, out, brief candle!’
Act 5 Scene 5
Life is meaningless to Macbeth now that Lady Macbeth is dead
Metaphor - light of candle = life
Macbeth wants to get rid of the rest of the light in his life so he is completely evil and dies too
Themes: Guilt, Sleep, Honour
‘They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly’
Act 5 Scene 7
Macbeth feels a sense of entrapment and knows his time as king is over
Themes: Power (loss of)
