macbeth Flashcards
Key themes in macbeth:
Ambition, Power,The supernatural,Masculinity , Fate and free will, GUILT
What is Macbeth’s hamartia?
Ambition
Who rebels against macbeth?
Macduff and Malcom
Theme of ambition quote one
Quote: ‘Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself,
And falls on th’other’
Explanation: ACT 1
Macbeth acknowledges his ‘vaulting ambition’ when contemplating the murder of Duncan.
Shows an intense desire for power, which vaults even beyond its intrinsic limits and beyond reason
ambition quote 2
Quote: ‘So Foul And Fair A Day I Have Not Seen’
Explanation: ACT 1
The day is foul due to the witches raising a storm, and fair because of Macbeth’s victories on the battlefield.
The witches had not mentioned murder. The fact that his first thought is about killing the king is mighty suspicious—almost as though they’ve just awoken a murderous ambition that’s been there all along.
Techniques: Repetition of witches words, paradox
Audience: sees immediately the calamitous inseparability of Macbeth and the forces of darkness.
Alternative interpretation: foreshadows Macbeth’s future. “Fair” presages his own rise to the throne, as well as the promise of Banquo’s own sons also gaining the ascendency.
“Foul” will refer to the tragedy that is to come. Duncan dies, as well as Macbeth and his wife.
Theme of supernatural quote one
Quote: ‘Would they have stayed’
Explanation: ACT 1
The witches tell Macbeth something that lingers on his mind, and he is hooked on them from the start.
He wanted to know where the witches got their information and why they have told it to him and Banquo and so Macbeth is filled with regret
Context: People belived in witches- they were people who had made a pact with the devil in exchange for supernatural powers. 1604 witchcraft became a capital offense.
Supernatural-quote 2
Quote: ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’
Explanation: ACT 1
Said by the witches and Macbeth.
The witches cause the ‘foul’ atmosphere.
Techniques: paradox
Audience: Audience knows they are bad, as well as influential and confusing characters.
Context: 1604 witchcraft became a capital offence.
Theme of guilt
Quote: ‘Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more”’
Explanation: ACT 2
Guilty conscience.
Macbeth’s crime is especially heinous because he killed a man while his victim was sound asleep
Audience: Sees Macbeth is mentally unstable.
Sees the consequences of his actions- guilt.
Alternative interpretation: Macbeth has seen how vulnerable a king can be when he is sound asleep, and now he proposes to become the king himself. He is accepting the danger that goes with the position. Therefore he will be afraid to go to sleep and will suffer from insomnia for the rest of his life, driving him insane. It wouldn’t help him any to be guarded- Duncan had two grooms supposedly guarding him.
Guilt-quote 2
Quote: ‘Why do you start and seem to fear, Things that do sound so fair?’
Explanation: ACT 1
Banquo’s guilty reaction.
Banquo begins to believe in the witches, even though he doesn’t want to.
Techniques: Alliteration- snake, or serpent, in that they make that ‘s’ sound
Audience: Although we too know the witches are bad, we may too believe in them as Banquo now does too
Links: The alliteration suggesting a snake links to the rest of the play- there is evil all around as the weird sisters give their prophecies and the seed of Macbeth’s demise is planted.
ambition quote 3
Quote: ‘Stars, hide your fires’
Context of Succession and Order
The king ruled over men by divine appointment and to violate or seek to violate this situation was against Gods will, and would produce unnatural results.
Witches:quote
Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
witches quote 2
FIRST WITCH
All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
SECOND WITCH
All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
THIRD WITCH
All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!
quote to show macbeth becomes more like the witches(evil)
MACBETH
So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
Describe how Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a ‘tragic hero’
As he is brought down by his own actions
- Macbeth was once a ‘hero’
