Macbeth Flashcards
“Valour’s minion”
Ambition
act 1
- Macbeth’s bravery and loyalty to King Duncan in battle.
-The word “valour” represents courage and honour, suggesting that Macbeth is initially a noble, heroic figure.
-The term “minion” implies that Macbeth is not just a servant but almost a slave to valour, completely dedicated to bravery and military glory. This highlights Macbeth’s adherence to a strict code of honour, where courage and loyalty are paramount.
-As the play progresses, Macbeth’s unchecked ambition leads him to abandon his moral compass.
-His once noble valour becomes corrupted, turning him from a hero into a tyrant.
-This shift shows how his hamarita, ambition, erodes his honour, leading to his downfall.
-Shakespeare uses this transition to underscore the theme of ambition and its corrupting influence, showing how a once honourable man can be undone by his own desires.
“disdaining fortune…smok’d with bloody execution” Violence
act 1
The verb “smok’d” evokes hellish connotations, symbolizing Macbeth’s moral corruption and foreshadowing his psychological torment. It suggests his violent actions already taint him, setting the stage for his eventual damnation.
“Disdaining fortune” reveals Macbeth’s contempt for fate, as he attempts to manipulate the natural order. This marks his rebellion against the Divine Right of Kings, rejecting the idea that kings are chosen by God. In seeking to control his destiny, Macbeth sets in motion his own self-destruction.
Syntax: While Macbeth is commended for his stoic bravery in Act 1, the syntax suggests a symbiotic relationship between his downfall and his intrinsic proclivity for violence, implying that his eventual destruction is inextricably linked to his violent nature.
The placement of “fortune” before “execution” is ironic, foreshadowing Macbeth’s illegitimate acquisition of power through violence and the inevitable violent end that follows. His rejection of fate ironically ensures his destruction.
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other”
Act 1
amibition
- Personification: Macbeth personifies his ambition, portraying it as possessing a potency comparable to a human force that can exert influence and corrupt his formerly innocent mind.** When he acknowledges its eventual “fall,” it indicates Macbeth’s awareness that his all-encompassing ambition is his hamartia (fatal flaw that leads to his downfall) destined to lead to his mental and physical decline. Alternatively, this portrayal positions Macbeth as a victim ensnared (trapped) by his own ambition, showcasing his introspective understanding of its fatal consequences and presenting him as vulnerable to its relentless influence. * Metaphor: The metaphorical portrayal of Macbeth’s “vaulting ambition” draws a parallel between him and a jockey who is to manage an untamable, almost animalistic force.
- This metaphor not only depicts Macbeth’s struggle to control his ambitious nature but also suggests self-deception - Macbeth believes that he is able to harness some control over his ambition, enough that he is able to transcend the societal, political and divine limitations placed upon him.
“is this the dagger that I see before me, the handle towards my hand. Come let me clutch thee”
amibiton
guilt
supernatural
act 2
a volta
- the rhetorical question shows his internal conflict and his confusion and foreshadows his later madness
- the phrase “handle towards my hand” is ridding himself of responisibiltiy over the murder as it were being offered to him or foerced upon him. From this we can learn that he can achknowledge the immorality of his actions, yet amibition takes over
- reinforced by the ambiguous phrase “ fatal vision” the adjective “fatal” simultaneously alludes to the fatalities that his actions are decreed by fate
-“He calls the dagger an ‘instrument,’ perhaps evoking the ‘instruments of darkness’ (the witches) whose dark musicality has entranced him toward regicide and driven him into this sheer inner turmoil.” - The staging here can also be intriguing: if the dagger is shown on stage, it visually draws the audience into Macbeth’s descent into madness. A contemporary audience would be both fascinated and unsettled by the enigma of the supernatural and the power it holds. Conversely, if the dagger is invisible, Macbeth’s madness becomes apparent much earlier in the play, emphasizing his unstable state of mind.”
- Essentially, the dagger serves as a scapegoat, enabling Macbeth to deflect the blame for the regicide and manage his premature guilt.”
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean?
Act 2
guilt
This rhetorical question underscores Macbeth’s recognition that his guilt is irrevocable. The metaphor of Neptune’s ocean conveys the enormity of his crime, suggesting that no force, however vast, can cleanse him. The blood on his hands symbolizes the irreversible stain of his actions, a mark of guilt that cannot be obliterated, regardless of the power wielded.
By invoking Neptune, Macbeth acknowledges the cosmic disruption his regicide has caused. His crime has upset the natural order, and even the mightiest forces cannot absolve him of his guilt. This reflection exposes Macbeth’s growing awareness that his conscience is an inescapable prison.
Macbeth’s psychological torment is evident: his guilt is not a transient burden, but a deeply internal conflict. The question foreshadows his inevitable psychological disintegration,as he realizes that he is doomed by his own remorse.
“I am in blood/ stepp’d in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious”
act 3
guilt
ambition
corruption
- Mollf of blood: Previously, the “blood” (which is a motif for the consequences of murder) was merely on his hands, yet now it has enrobed his entire body, and by extension his entire sense of being.
- Macbeth’s response to fear and guilt has transitioned from being horrified to indulging further in heinous acts, murder now becomes his means of self-preservation.
- “Wade” has biblical allusions: Macbeth’s metaphorical wading in blood exemplifies how he acknowledges his conscience is permanently stained with guilt as a result of his violence.
- Similar to Cain in the Book of Genesis who commits the first murder in the bible, his irreversible act of murder of his brother Abel results in his punishment by God. This comparison highlights how both Macbeth and Cain are irreversibly marked by their crimes, leading to their eventual ruin.
Out, out, brief candle! life is but a walking shadow… it is a tale …. signifying nothing”
act 5
Supernatural
Ambition
symbolises the fragility and shortness of life.
- The candle becomes a powerful symbol for human life — fragile, fleeting, and easily extinguished.
- The metaphor “Life’s but a walking shadow” depicts life as an illusion, devoid of substance. Shakespeare’s use of theatrical imagery — “a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage” — reinforces Macbeth’s view of life as a meaningless performance, full of noise but ultimately empty.
-These nihilistic reflections reveal Macbeth’s complete emotional collapse and loss of hope after Lady Macbeth’s death. Shakespeare uses this to present how unchecked ambition leads not to glory, but to despair and emptiness.
- the noun “tale” extends the idea that the witches’ influence was like an ominous nursery rhyme - they speak in trochaic trimetere and rhyming couplets which almost pardoy their dialogue
- Macbeth’s lexis almost creates a semantic field transience, the nouns “candle” and “shadow” are imperermant and fragile in the sense that they can easily be extinguished
-Macbeth undergoes anagnorisis — a tragic realisation of the futility of his actions — throughout Act 5
