Macbeth themes

Question 1

Ambition

Answer 1

1. Blind ambition - sees what he wants to see, not what he actually sees
2. Ruthless lust for power is addictive and ultimately self-destructive
3. Ambition increasingly isolates him and leads to paranoia
4. Banquo - antithetical foil his loyalty highlights Macbeth’s ambition more

Question 2

Good vs Evil

Answer 2

1. Evil can infiltrate the noble and loyal if they give in to their ‘Black desires’
2. Physical battles symbolise ultimate battle between good and evil
3. Different forms of evil - Violence in men and manipulation in women
4. Stability rests on the natural balance between good and evil

Question 3

Order vs disorder

Answer 3

1. Stability rests on the natural balance between good and evil
2. The witches cause chaos through manipulating Macbeth’s hamartia
3. Duncan’s regicide symbolises perversion of natural order - Malcolm
4. Subversion of gender roles hints at distortion of the natural order

Question 4

Fate vs Freewill

Answer 4

1. Witches embody debate as to whether fate of the soul is predetermined
2. Macbeth’s hamartia ultimately seals his fate as predicted by the witches
3. Banquo’s decision to stay loyal leads him on a very different path
4. The witches cause chaos through manipulating Macbeth’s hamartia

Question 5

Appearance vs reality

Answer 5

1. Blind ambition compels Macbeth to only see what he wants to see
2. Through Lady Macbeth - shows equivocation can lead to guilt and self ruin
3. Images of darkness symbolise obscuration of one’s true desires
4. The witches’ reality is questioned in order to place blame onto Macbeth

Question 6

Violence

Answer 6

1. Jacobean concepts of acceptable violence differ to modern ones
2. Different forms of evil - Violence in men, manipulation in women
3. Macbeth’s violent nature from Captain foreshadows what is to come
4. Violence is cyclical in structure but varies from honour to tyranny