Macbeth Themes Flashcards
(8 cards)
Ambition
OVERALL IDEAS
Ambition was a destructive trait at the time as you were going against god
Ambition can destroy lots of things, such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship
Lady Macbeth will go really far outside the realms of usual human behaviour in order to fulfil her ambitions.
Ambition could be argued to be Macbeth’s Hamartia
QUOTES AND ANALYSIS:
“only vaulting ambition which overleaps itself and falls on the other”
A01: After listing a range of reasons not to kill the “virtuous” Duncan, he feels a lack of motivation to kill, as if the only thing driving him is ambition
A02:The horse metaphor compares the act of killing to a horse attempting to leap over a large obstacle. Macbeth recognises that ambition can make people rush and make mistakes, Macbeth is anxious and pre-empting the events about to come. This metaphor describes the tension between Macbeth’s unwillingness to move ahead with his plan, and his acknowledgement that his ambition is leading him down the wrong path.
A03: Shakespeare presents ambition as an inherently destructive trait which was in accordance with the religious beliefs of the Jacobean era. God awarded you your place on earth and to attempt to go against or transcend this was viewed as a direct crime against god
“Be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck”
A01:This contrasts their relationship during the murder of Duncan, now Macbeth distances himself from Lady Macbeth
A02:This imperative marks the dramatic shift in the power dynamic in their relationship. Lady MacBeth goes from being viewed as Macbeth’s “Dearest partner of greatness” to merely his “dearest chuck.” Which reconfigures the relationship into a typical of the patriarchal Jacobean society. However, a different interpretation could suggest that Macbeth is trying to keep his wife safe, by taking full responsibility for the murder of Banquo. However, this interpretation can be contradicted due to Macbeth’s lack of concern in act 5. His ambition has caused him to view his wife’s presence immaterial
A03: Shakespeare shares a cautionary message that ambition can destroy a previously loving relationship
“I have given suck”
A01:When Macbeth tries to cancel the murder, Lady Macbeth uses manipulation to make Macbeth reconsider
A02: Implies that she has given birth to and breastfed a child, however the child must have died very young as an absence of an heir is crucial to the plot. By bringing up such an emotional and personal moment, she ensures her words carry immense weight. She is willing to make a personal sacrifice for the good of the marriage and to fulfil her ambitions.
A03: Shakespeare is emphasising how far outside the bounds of usual human behavior Lady Macbeth will go in order to fulfil her ambitions
The Supernatural
OVERALL IDEAS
It could be argued that the overall message in the play is the dangers of the supernatural, because the play was intended for King James I
Shakespeare warns those who have been indoctrinated by the supernatural
QUOTES AND ANALYSIS:
“Be these Juggling fiends no more believed”
A01: After Macduff’s Revelations about his birth, Macbeth experiences an anagnorisis, he learns that the witches have deceived him.
A02:The verb “Juggling” is a metaphor for how he has been tricked by the witches. “Juggling” has connotations of a clown juggling 3 balls. Which is ironic as Macbeth has been juggled by the witches, or perhaps by his own motivations. The noun “fiends” shows how he recognises the evil, satanic nature of the witches
A03:Shakespeare wrote the play for James I, who wanted to stamp out witchcraft. Macbeth made the discovery that witches are evil to deliver the key message of the play: Don’t trust the supernatural
“Art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation”
A01: Macbeth’s hallucination before killing duncan.
A02: Literally, it depicts Macbeth questioning whether the dagger is real or a symptom of his fear, metaphorically, it is a manifestation of his guilt and self doubt. Symbolically, it represents Macbeth’s bloodthirst and capacity for violence.
A03: To the Jacobean audience, it depicts how the witches have made him hallucinate and have urged him to kill Duncan. Shakespeare warns those who have been indoctrinated by the Supernatural
“Sore night….A falcon, towering in her pride of place, Was by a mousing owl hawk’d at and kill’d.”
A01:Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy and animal symbolism to explore how nature and the great chain of being has been affected by the murder of Duncan.
A02: Uses personification of the “sore night” to suggest that the weather in Scotland was wild and chaotic on the night of Duncan’s murder.
A03:After the gunpowder plot, The Jacobean plot was politically turbulent . Shakespeare is reflecting this by demonstrating the ramifications of disrupting the great chain of being.
Guilt
‘Out damned spot, out I say!’
AOI. At this point in the play, guilt over her role in the murder
of Duncan has overwhelmed and consumed Lady Macbeth.
A02. of the imperative ‘out’ highlights her
desperation to remove the hallucinatory stains of blood that
are contaminating her soul. The adjective ‘damned’ implies she
is experiencing a state akin to hell. The noun ‘spot’ refers to
the imaginary blots Of blood but also suggest she feels that she
bears the ineradicable stamp of the devil on her hands. In her
somnambulant state, she speaks in rather than verse
which highlights her fragmented and undignified mental state.
A03. Shakespeare’s primary purpose seems to be to show the
inescapable nature of guilt as a warning to anyone who has
ideas about breaking the divine right of kings. From a feminist
perspective, Shakespeare could be seen as reverting to
Jacobean stereotypes about females being the weaker sex by
presenting Lady Macbeth in such a fragile manner in this scene.
‘Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean
from my hand?’
AOI. Immediately after murdering Duncan, Macbeth is
enormous magnitude of his guilt. The rhetorical question
stresses his extreme paranoia because he fears nothing can
remove the sacrilegious stain - it will stay with him until his
death. He imagines his hands turning the sea red because his
unnatural act has corrupted the natural order. The quantity of
blood suggests he is drowning in his own guilt. Neptune is a
pagan God-reflecting how Macbeth has rejected Christianity.
The classical allusion suggests Macbeth sees himself as god-
like reflecting how far he has overreached himself, and how far
he has gone against god, in striving for the throne.
A03. Shakespeare’s purpose for dramatizing Macbeth’s
extreme revulsion at his actions consolidates the plays
message about the inescapable nature of guilt and to act as a
warning for anyone considering the idea of regicide.
‘Art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation’
Filled with apprehension on his way to Duncan’s chamber,
Macbeth experiences a hallucination. A02. The metaphor can
be read in three ways. Literally it depicts Macbeth speculating
whether the dagger is real or a Symptom Of his fear.
Metaphorically, it is a manifestation of his guilt and self-doubt
over what he is about to do. Symbolically, it represents the
inherent danger and capacity for violence within Macbeth’s
own imagination. From this moment on, the daggers in
Macbeth’s imagination will continue to attack him throughout
the rest of the play.
A03. TO a Shakespearean audience this would have been seen
as the work of demons, which would suggest that the witches
have made him hallucinate and shown him this dagger to
encourage him to go and murder Duncan. Therefore,
Shakespeare uses the hallucinations to warn his audience Of
the ramifications for those who allow themselves to be
Kingship
‘Duncan hath been so clear in his great office that his virtues will
plead like angels”
AOI. In the early stages Of the play Shakespeare uses saintly imagery to
present Duncan as a fair and natural king who is universally loved. This idea
range of reasons why he shouldn’t kill Duncan.
A02. Macbeth describes how
Duncan has been ‘so clear in his great office’ which captures the honesty and
integrity Duncan’s reign. The adjective ‘clead suggests Duncan has been a
transparent leader which strongly contrasts with the murky and foul
thoughts that Macbeth - the aspirant king- is entertaining at this point in the
play. Shakespeare’s purpose here is to align Duncan with God and support
the divine right of kings by proving Duncan is without blemish, above
scrutiny, and worthy of divine protection from God. Shakespeare also
conveys saintliness onto Duncan when Macbeth describes how Duncan’s
‘virtues will plead like angels’ if he was to be assassinated. The
personification of “virtues” references the Christian belief that our deeds will
be our champions on the Day of Judgement. A03. Perhaps Shakespeare is
suggesting that Duncan was a moral and upright King whose murder was the
corrupt killing of a good Christian. Shakespeare’s use of the simile ‘like
angels’ further reinforces the saintly nature of his existence because, in line
with the great chain of being, the testimony of a heavenly being carries
much more weight than a mere human tongue.
‘O full of scorpions is my mind dear wife’
AOI. Not only does Macbeth’s reign bring Armageddon to Scotland, it also
leads to the destruction of his own mind. Shortly after his ceremonial
coronation Macbeth admits to his wife that his mind is ‘full of scorpions’. A02.
Rather than revelling in the title he has endured so much to achieve, Macbeth
is beset by unnatural troubles. ‘Scorpions’ are primarily nocturnal and solitary
animals which could highlight how Macbeth feels alienated and isolated from
his sense of essential self. The use of ‘scorpions’, not native or natural to
Scotland, continues the motif of illness that Shakespeare uses to characterise
Macbeth’s reign. The scorpion sting acts as a just and suitable punishment
his crimes against the great chain of being with the deadly scorpion’s tail being
a match for the dagger he used to kill Duncan. This reinforces Shakespeare’s
message about the circularity of violence and the certainty of retribution for
breaking the great chain of being. The fact Shakespeare tells us he is ‘full of
scorpions’ is a deliberate ploy to make us recall the earlier description Of
Macbeth as being ‘full of the milk of human kindness’. Shakespeare is using this
juxtaposition to highlight the change in Macbeth and to make it abundantly
dear that Macbeth no longer possesses the qualities he appeared to have
earlier in the play. The decision to commit regicide has stripped Macbeth’s
sense of humanity irrevocably. Macbeth himself acknowledges this
interpretation when he admits he is ‘in blood stepped in so far’ that attempting
audience here is unequivocal: no redemption possible if you murder the king.
‘by the grace of Grace we will perform in measure, time, and
place.’
AOI. At the end Of the play, Malcolm’s coronation marks a return to
the natural order in Scotland.
A02. His first speech as king helps to realign the crown with absolute
reverence for god. The list of 3 adds balance to the setting helping to
paint Malcolm as a balanced and kind king in the same mould as his
‘sainted’ father. Malcolm’s ‘measured’ words convey an inherent
sense of unity and completion which is reinforced by the rhyming
couplet structure. Shakespeare wants the audience to view Malcolm
as a Strong Christian Who Will act as a saviour.
A03 Shakespeare ends his extremely violent play on a softer note
possibly to try and create hope for a country in the future that will
not be so quick to resort to violence. Shakespeare leaves the
audience with the strong impression that the hallmark feature of
Malcolm’s reign and future rulers after him (and by proxy James I Of
England) will be a gracious recognition of God’s grace.
Reality and Appearances
Overall Ideas
Fate and Free Will
Good And Evil
Loyalty and Betrayal
