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Macbeth (Macbeth ("tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this…
Macbeth
Macbeth
Act 1 Scene 2, description of his + Banquo's success in battle before audience meets him builds anticipation for when they do get to meet him & shows how well-respected he is by other characters, making following events in play more dramatic + emotional impact
Captain's description of Macbeth here gives an indication to the audience the world in which the play is set - masculine, violent, honour-bound - to be considered a good + worthy man, you have to prove yourself in battle & kill in large numbers
foreshadowing/cyclical structure - betrayal of Thane of Cawdor - executed + title given to Macbeth --> Macbeth also betrays the king "with his former title greet Macbeth"
tragic hero, hamartia (fatal flaw) is his ambition + lust for power
subsequent murders after that of Duncan are due to his paranoia + desperate desire to cling to power -- LM no longer influences him
1.7 "we will proceed no further in this business" euphemism 'this business' idea of murder frightens him so he avoids saying the word aloud
plagued by his conscience 'I could not say "Amen"' "Macbeth shall sleep no more" calls it 'the innocent sleep'
loses emotional connection to fellow humans in Act 5 - when told of LM's death, he is unmoved + instead reflects on the meaningless of life itself
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tyranny
"each new morn, new widows howl, new orphans cry" Macduff
dramatic description of Scotland using emotive verbs to show an audience what happens when a tyrant takes power, providing catharsis for the audience when M is eventually killed
Gunpowder Plot 1605 by Catholics would have led to paranoia for King James so people would have expected him to act similarly to Macbeth - warns James not to act this way otherwise country + nobles will turn against him
his tyranny is prompted by paranoia "to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus"
"honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have" shows King James I that if he is a good king, he can have these things
clothing imagery"why do you dress me in borrowed robes" metaphor of ill-fitting clothes suggests he is not comfortable with his new title "now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant's robe"
the Witches
used to pull audience in
"When shall we three meet again" prompts curiosity about who they are & what they have been doing - huge belief in witchcraft in Jacobean England.
speak in rhyming couplets - creates a sinister tone - like a nursery rhyme but much darker - to a modern audience rhyming couplets seem more childish but Jacobean audience viewed it more seriously (bc of fear?)
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1:3 "Here I have a pilot's thumb, wrecked as homeward he did come" sailors used their thumbs to navigate, without the thumb the sailors would get lost -- thumb imagery is symbol/ metaphorical as it foreshadows how Macbeth becomes lost morally / loses his moral direction
- foreshadows witches' intention to make Macbeth confused - with no moral compass, Macbeth can be manipulated into murdering people.
Shakespeare establishes the supernatural theme via their association with disorder in nature "dark night strangles the travelling lamp" Ross "lamenting heard i'th'air, strange screams of death" Lennox "the night has been unruly" 2.3
supernatural world they represent is terrifying to the audience as it is out of human control + symbolises the unpredictable force of human desire e.g. Macbeth's lust for power
they do not control Macbeth, just put ideas in his head, he then acts out of free will - has the choice to ignore what they say, shown by Banquo
"if chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir"
M may just have been next in line if Duncan died through other means - Witches never tell him to murder D
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Lady Macbeth
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"pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell" --> 5.1 gentlewoman "she has light by her continually - 'tis her command"
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Duncan
Act 1 Scene 2 helps to establish Macbeth's high status "O, valiant cousin, worthy gentleman" sets up of structure of tragedy - tragic hero starts
presented as a well-respected, noble king. so virtuous that when he dies, nature itself is plunged into chaos - night + day are merged "darkness does the face of Earth entomb" and Duncan's horses, usually "beauteous and swift" seemed to "make war with mankind" -- measure of Duncan's power + stature - whole natural world upset
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Banquo
shows that the temptations of the Witches can be resisted + that Macbeth therefore acts from free will
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noble - doesn't kill Macbeth in order for Fleance to become king but fails to share the knowledge that he has with the other nobles - suspects that M killed Duncan - remains silent #
"keep my bosom franchised and my allegiance clear, I shall be counselled." he needs M to become king in order to buy time for the Witches' prophecies to come true + Fleance becomes king after Macbeth - potentially corrupted
Shakespeare has to keep this negative side to Banquo subtle as James I was a descendant of Banquo -- has to be inferred that he is corrupted so no character accuses Banquo of duplicitous/deceitful + manipulative
murder of Banquo juxtaposes murder of Duncan:
Duncan --> psychological disruption, M cannot sleep "Macbeth does murder sleep" "Macbeth shall sleep no more"
Banquo --> descent into madness - begins hallucinating + triggers his bloodlust "I am in blood stepped in so far" "blood will have blood"
feels too guilty to kill Banquo himself - sends murderers + distances himself further by sending a 3rd murderer - difficult psychologically for him to betray his friend -- implies a deep love for Banquo
"upon my head they placed a fruitless crown" the fruit is of Banquo - his sons will be kings
:arrow_double_down: "to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus"
appearance + reality
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"stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires" M
"look like th'iinnocent flower, but be the serpent under't"
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gender
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"I fear thy nature, it is too full o'th'milk of human kindness"
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guilt
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"had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't"
Macduff
Macduff leaves his family undefended/vulnerable - naive or unconsciously gives himself the advantage - M slaughtering his family gives him the motivation to return to Scotland + defeat the 'tyrant\ / 'black Macbeth'
/ ultimate act of cowardice - escapes to England showing no remorse, feeling or concern for his family
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ambition
LM "art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it"
ruins lives of M + LM, in contrast motivates Malcolm to return to Scotland + save his country from M's tyranny + become a better king than he ever was - Divine Right of Kings
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