macbeth Flashcards
(15 cards)
what are the 6 key themes?
VAGAS
violence
ambition
guilt
gender
appearance vs reality
supernatural
what is hamartia?
fatal flaw leading to downfall
what is primogeniture?
first born to the throne that macbeth violates.
what is usurpation?
taking something by force
sentence i could use about ambition?
shakespeare critiques the corrupting nature of unchecked ambition by revealing how the desire for power distorts morality and destroys the natural order.
why did shakespeare write macbeth?
AO3
to warn the audience of unchecked ambition, especially in the context of regicide, given the Gunpowder plot in 1605.
what is the divine right of kings?
AO3
the idea that the kings are chosen by God and killing them was a sin against God
what are the Jacobean beliefs about the supernatural?
fears of witchcraft
what book did King James write?
Daemonologie in 1597
why does shakespeare use witches?
to show how evil influences could lead to terrible sins like regicide
what is the Great Chain of being?
There is a chain of people in order with God at the top.
what did shakespeare think writing Macbeth would do for the king?
please and flatter him because it shows the terrible consequences of killing the king.
who is Banquo to king James I?
an ancestor portrayed as noble and brave not tempted by the witches portraying his family line as virtuos and destined to rule.
what did adding witches do for the king?
entertained his obsessions with witchcraft
