Context and themes of Macbeth

Question 1

How is ambition seen in Macbeth

Answer 1

it motivates Macbeth to commit terrible deed and changes him from a ‘valiant’ soldier to a murderer, the play shows that ambition is dangerous as it can spiral out of control, Macbeth considers the morality of killing the king for a long time but doesn’t think about Bnaquo - once Macbeth starts killing he has to kill more people to get what he wants and try to make his position secure, ambition makes ruthless and selfish, both Macbeth and LM are destroyed by their ambition

Question 2

What is Macbeths fatal flaw (hamartia)

Answer 2

ambition - he is a brave hero to start and ‘noble’, his reluctance to kill Duncan shows that he is moral but his actions show how strong his ambition is and makes him act against his morals, he knows that ambition can lead to a person aiming to high so that they fail and lose everything which foreshadows his own tragic downfall

Question 3

Is ambition good or bad in Macbeth

Answer 3

not all characters are corrupted by their ambition but Macbeth and LM are, ambition can be positive if it is motivated by a desire to help others, Malcolm and Macduff are ambitious about their country so want to take Macbeth’s power away for the sake of Scotland

Question 4

How is loyalty shown in Macbeth

Answer 4

there is a difference between characters who say they are loyal - Macbeth who talks about the loyalty he owes to Duncan even when plotting to kill him, and character who actions show their loyalty - Macduff is loyal to Scotland and chooses to go to England for Malcolm to help defend the country, Banquo is loyal to his own sense of honour and won’t let ambition or the prophecies affect him

Question 5

How is betrayal seen in Macbeth

Answer 5

betray is punished - Thane or cawdor is executed and Macbeth is rewarded for loyalty - this is a circular narrative as it ends as Macbeth being killed for betrayal and Malcolm rewarded, Macbeth betrays his own sense of right and wrong which eventually leads him to a loss of self-worth and his death, betrayal is often linked to power and titles can be given or taken depending on loyalty

Question 6

How is Kingship seen in Macbeth

Answer 6

Duncan is the ideal king and is described as ‘gracious’ and inspired loyalty and rightful King of Scotland, in contrast Shakespeare juxtaposes her welcoming Duncan into the castle and her murderous intentions are described as a ‘tyrant’ because he rules selfishly using violence and is rarely called ‘King’ showing that the others do not accept him as their true king, Malcolm says a good ruler is holy (divine right of Kings) but Macbeth is ‘devilish’ and commits murder and talks to evil witches

Question 7

How is good and evil seen in Macbeth

Answer 7

at the start Macbeth is ‘noble’ and has the potential for greatness and Duncan recognises him and makes him Thane, however once he is tempted by ambition Macbeth’s goodness to overcome his evil desires shows that good people can be led astray by power, he becomes increasingly evil and commits more crimes, the struggle for the crown becomes a battle between good and evil - Macbeth is he evil ‘tyrant’ who must be killed before he destroys Scotland

Question 8

How is evil linked the gender in Macbeth

Answer 8

LM links to cruelty and aggression with masculinity as she wants the spirits to ‘unsex’ her and fill her with ‘direst cruelty’ - she thinks femininity holds her back from taking violent action, masculine ideas of evil focus on violence and bloodshed though she wants to be manly she relies of manipulation rather than action and sees Macbeth’s weakness and uses emotions to persuade him, the witches gender are unknown but they also rely on manipulation rather than action

Question 9

How are the witches presented through supernatural in Macbeth

Answer 9

the witches are an evil supernatural force - their ‘strange intelligence’ and ability to predict the future gives them the power over humans, they are not in many scenes but drive the action of the play and it is unlikely that Macbeth would have committed the crime without influence from the witches, they are associated with chaos and impose unnatural order on what is good and natural, Shakespeare presents them as completely evil, cruel and inhuman that do not show remorse and celebrate evil

Question 10

What do the supernatural visions show

Answer 10

Macbeth sees a dagger - it is not clear whether it is leading him to Duncan or warning him against murder, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost - nobody else can see it which suggest it is a sign of Macbeth’s guilty conscience, LM is driven mad and imagines her hands will ‘never be clean’ - her guilt is so great she kills herself, all the visions could be real or imaginary, they fill the character with fear and links to signs of madness, LM is disturbed with her vision of blood and is a result of her guilt

Question 11

How are appearances of characters important in Macbeth

Answer 11

they often hide their thoughts and pretend to be something they are not, LM encourages Macbeth to appear to be good so nobody suspects the plans they have - ‘look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it’, at first LM has no trouble hiding her evil behaviour and pretends to faint with shock when Duncan’s death is discovered but her guilt becomes to great to hide, Macbeth tries to have a ‘false face’ but when he sees Banquo’s ghost his face is the ‘very painting’ of his fear

Question 12

How is fate and free will seen in Macbeth

Answer 12

if fate is true - it is not Macbeth’s fault that he murder Duncan as it was supposed to happen but if free will is true - it was his own choices which lead to his downfall, Macbeth seems to believe in fate as when he hears the witches prophecies he seems happy to let fate take its course, LM also believes in fate but she decides they must act to make it happen, however it is also free will as Macbeth has made the choice not to kill Duncan after weighing the pros and cons showing he is in control, Macbeth only acts because he hears his future so he case sit to happen suggesting that he has free will

Question 13

How is Macbeth set as a tragedy

Answer 13

first part builds up to a turning point (Duncan’s murder) and the second part deals with the consequences of this which lead to the main character’s downfall - this helps develop the characters, it also is a circular narrative as it starts and ends with battles to defat the merciless tyrant

Question 14

How is the first and second part of Macbeth structured differently

Answer 14

Act 1 and 2 the key scenes are focused on Macbeth becoming Kind and the plot gradually builds up until the murder of Duncan is discovered and Macbeth is crowned, in Act 3, 4 and 5 the other characters learn how evil Macbeth is and start to plot against him which builds up the climatic rebellion in the final act

Question 15

How is mood and atmosphere created in Macbeth

Answer 15

Shakespeare uses different methods to create different atmospheres such as: setting, humour, language, use of supernatural and different senses

Question 16

How does setting create mood and atmosphere

Answer 16

witches = always in spooky setting in a deserted place which gives a sense of isolation and highlights that they are separated from the rest of the characters, many scenes take place at Macbeth’s castle in Scotland which reminds the audience that they are noble however it contrasts how their actions are not noble at all

Question 17

How does language create mood and atmosphere

Answer 17

what characters say helps set the scene, using dialogue to describe the setting and atmosphere was important, language can create its own atmosphere which is linked with the characters mind, Shakespeare uses violent language to reveal LM’s true nature through her description of how she would kill her own child, he also uses short lines of dialogue to create feelings of panic and confusion

Question 18

How does senses create mood and atmosphere

Answer 18

by making the character describe what they can see and hear makes the scene more vivid and helps the audience imagine what is happening, when the army approaches a ‘drum’ can be heard which highlights the battle and violence, also silence can be contrasted with sound

Question 19

How does supernatural create mood and atmosphere

Answer 19

supernatural events such as the visions of the dagger can be seen as uncomfortable if it is not clear if these visions exist or Macbeth is going mad, they can also create a troubled atmosphere as the natural order has been disturbed

Question 20

Why is the witches speech different to everyone elses

Answer 20

they speak in rhyme with 7 or 8 syllables this emphasises that they are different and exist outside of the natural order so speak unnaturally, rhyming also sounds like a chant or spell

Question 21

How are puns and wordplay uses in Macbeth

Answer 21

he uses a lot of puns which can reveal what a character is thinking by using double meanings - ‘fill me to the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty’ = ‘crown’ means head but also as queen, wordplay can also add dramatic irony - Macduff says the news of Duncan would ‘murder’ LM, characters also contradict themselves and he uses paradoxes and oxymorons to heighten tension

Question 22

What language techniques does Shakespeare use to create visual imagery

Answer 22

similes, metaphors = ‘look like the innocent flower but be the serpent underneath it’ - snakes are a metaphor of deception and betrayal, personification

Question 23

What does light and dark symbolise in Macbeth

Answer 23

light = good/knowledge, dark = bad/ignorance, Macbeth and LM use images of darkness when they talk about their evil deeds, Macbeth realises his intentions were evil as they were ‘black’, the murder takes place on a dark starless night which highlights how evil it is, ‘and yet dark nigh strangles the travelling lamp’ shows darkness of Macbeth has overcome the goodness of Duncan

Question 24

What does nature symbolise in Macbeth

Answer 24

the way nature behaves shows the state of events - Duncan’s murder disrupts the natural order = ‘a falcon, was by a mousing owl hawked and killed, this emphasises that the murder has distrusted the natural order, plant imagery is also used - Duncan compares Macbeth and Banquo to plants that he will harvest but then later on Macbeth is compared to the ‘weeds’ and Malcolm a ‘flower’ showing how corrupt Macbeth has become

Question 25

What does blood symbolise in Macbeth

Answer 25

guilt = ‘damned spot’, LM’s madness shows that she cannot get rid of the guilt and cleanliness is linked to innocence, water also is associated with washing away the guilt = ‘a little water clears us of this deed’ but Macbeth thinks ‘all great Neptune’s ocean’ cannot wash away the blood and guilt

Question 26

What does masculinity symbolise in Macbeth

Answer 26

violence and aggression, LM bullies Macbeth into killing the king by questioning his masculinity - ‘when you durst do it then you were a man’, LM wants the spirits to ‘unsex’ her and wants her female qualities to be removed to be more masculine so she can be violent

Question 27

Context/themes of Macbeth overall

Answer 27

ambition - good or bad, hamartia, loyalty/betrayal, kingship, good vs evil, gender/evil, witches and supernatural, visions, appearances of characters, fate/free will, tragedy, mood and atmosphere, dark/light, symbols - masculinity nature, blood, Polanski and Goold adaptations