Macbeth
'fair is foul and foul is fair'
patriarchy - fairer sex, women, are actually more 'foul' - links back to original sin (Christian beliefs) when Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit so they were banished from Eden.
'fair' exterior but 'foul' interior/inside.
Great Chain of Being believed in by Jacobean society - God at top - Macbeth chooses a 'foul' way to attain the kingship in what he thinks is 'fair' but does so in a way that attacks God bc God has appointed Duncan as king - Divine Right of Kings
- Macbeth takes something that is desirable, 'fair', but makes it 'foul' - reduces his kingship to something that he can never enjoy due to the crime he committed
Witches say this - they frightened Jacobean audiences as they believed in the power of witches & witchcraft but King James I was extremely interested in witchcraft - appeals to him
most evil characters depicted as female
Lady Macbeth epitomises patriarchal representation of Eve - attractive on outside but evil on inside as she persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan - like Eve persuades Adam to eat the fruit - condemning herself & her husband --> she is killed first & her guilt leads her to take her own life
- Shakespeare could be arguing that women are better than men as LM appreciates her guilt, realises her sins, believes her soul is damned whereas Macbeth fights on & never acknowledges his guilt.
witches called 'the weird sisters' in the play - society named them witches, making them seem evil -- they never say that they can change the future, just state what happens - never act sinfully
- they are fair - just as they tell the truth but the truth is then spun as something foul & satanic & they are condemned for revealing this truth.
Macduff appears fair as he is the one to kill Macbeth & relieve Scotland from his tyranny but is also foul bc he abandoned his family
Banquo seen as fair as he let fate take its course but this led to Scotland suffering under Macbeth's rule -- so his sons could be kings
'is this a dagger I see before me?'
guilt - realises his guilt causes him to hallucinate & that killing the king will lead to the destruction of his own mind --> inability to sleep, Banquo's ghost -- destroys credibility of his own mind so he can no longer trust it
morality - sees it due to his desire to kill Duncan but also appears as a warning that killing the king will be an illusory victory - he won't be able to enjoy his kingship
power seizing the dagger allows him to seize power but also to destroy that power for himself - metaphorically the dagger represents what he uses to destroy his own kingship
Macbeth's hamartia is his ambition
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.
noble characters speak in iambic pentameter
structure/writing style
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?)
speak in trochaic tetrameter - shows contrast between the Witches & other characters in the play.
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"
written 1605 for James I who was a passionate believer in demonology - play first performed for him
violence breeds violence 'blood will have blood' Macbeth hears - warning to King James not to rule tyrannically
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
magnifies Macbeth's inability to rule - his reign appears more flawed
naive + easily fooled "there is no art to find the mind's construction in the face"
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.
Lady Macbeth
deuteragonist (2nd in importance)
"pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell" --> 5.1 gentlewoman "she has light by her continually - 'tis her command"
"more needs she the Divine than the physician"
tragic hero, hamartia (fatal flaw) is his ambition + lust for power
"whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs"
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'
subsequent murders after that of Duncan are due to his paranoia + desperate desire to cling to power -- LM no longer influences him
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
Banquo
shows that the temptations of the Witches can be resisted + that Macbeth therefore acts from free will
expresses unshakeable moral principles
his resistance to the influence of evil highlights Macbeth's failure to resist
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
gender
M "bring forth men-children only"
"brave Macbeth - well he deserves that name" Captain 1.2
appearance + reality
"so foul and fair a day I have not seen" 1.3 M
"false face must hide what the false heart doth know"
"if chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir"
"will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand"
M "our fears in Banquo stick deep"
"stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires" M
M 'she should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word"
"out, out brief candle"
ambition
LM "art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it"
"come you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts"
"Unsex me here"
"look like th'iinnocent flower, but be the serpent under't"
guilt
"who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him"
"a little water will clear us of this deed" ---> "will these hands ne'er be clean"
"had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't"
"my hands are of your colour but I shame to wear a heart so white"
"I fear thy nature, it is too full o'th'milk of human kindness"
"Are you a man?"
B "look not like th'inhabitants o'th'Earth"
witches
LM
M
"have we eaten on the insane root / That takes the reason prisoner"
"I fear / thou played'st most foully for't" 3.1
Malcolm "dispute it like a man" --> Macduff "I must also feel it like a man"
"his virtues will plead like angels"
"fair and noble hostess"
"honourable hostess"
"there's daggers in men's smiles" Donalbain
"what's done is done" 3.2
"all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand"
"tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day"
nihilism - belief that life is meaningless
Macbeth trapped in time, endless series of 'tomorrows' - his wife's death is irrelevant to him bc he has a nihilistic perspective, feels that life is pointless so therefore grieving his wife's death would be pointless.
patriarchy: shows how men dismissed the points of view of women - he isn't interested in why she committed suicide or his influence in it, he chooses to ignore it as he feels he has greater problems
could be interpreted as showing Shakespeare's disgust at the way women are marginalised in society & even the most catastrophic events (taking their own lives) is simply dismissed - her death happens offstage to emphasise how male interests were put above female interests.
Lady Macbeth's suicide can be seen as God's punishment - she chose to summon "murdering ministers" to make her evil, chose an evil path, obsessed with hell "Hell is murky" believes her soul is going to live in Hell forever - Shakespeare's contemporaries would believe this too.
Macbeth hoped that kingship would give him a life worth living - his personal tragedy, instead he found that he can take no pleasure as he has a nihilistic view - believes there is no God or Divine punishment - thinks life is a punishment rather than God punishing him - no God to give his life meaning.
contemporary belief: God punishing Macbeth for committing regicide; he gives him the kingship but doesn't allow him to enjoy it.
"Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown"
Great Chain of Being: nobles in society felt that their position was appointed by God, they are meant to be there, establishes social order as desired by God.
Macbeth is a warning of what will happen to you if you disrupt the Great Chain of Being / Divine Right of Kings - regicide is the ultimate sin + ultimate attack on God
God punished Macbeth for his Hamartia, took away his ability to feel any joy/feeling - the kingship never satisfies his desires "I have almost forgot the taste of fears."
Shakespeare suggests we can change our lives by taking control of our own fate - what Macbeth did
Duncan shows a contrast - he was able to enjoy his reign as he was a good king, shows to King James how he should be or he won't enjoy his reign either.
Banquo's victory / realises B has won - relevant to Shakespeare's audience as widely believed that King James I descended from Banquo + therefore came from noble origins so it was important that Shakespeare presented Banquo as a good figure.
Macduff kills Macbeth - Macbeth chooses to fight instead of surrendering + accepts/welcomes death as he tires from living in a 'petty pace'
her guilt reflects a contemporary society's view that she should not break gender stereotypes, therefore she is punished
Act 5 "almost forgot the taste of fears"
unnatural feelings
she emasculates Macbeth but then as a result of her calling on 'murd'ring ministers' to make her less feminine and 'stop up th'access and passage to remorse' she is punished by God
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
guilt
ambition
Macduff
Banquo
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
"My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already" M
his moral cowardice balanced by his desire for revenge
"upon my head they placed a fruitless crown" the fruit is of Banquo - his sons will be kings
⏬ "to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus"
S tries to flatter King James so he becomes his patron - benefit him financially
contemporary audience was misogynistic - women seen as inferior -- scheming woman, capable of using her sexuality to corrupt men --> Eve tempted by Satan to eat fruit of the forbidden tree - she tempts Adam (Christian allusion of Genesis)
women denied an identity --> forced to gain power through their husbands -- patriarchal society forces her to be evil + manipulative
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
M may just have been next in line if Duncan died through other means - Witches never tell him to murder D
poor judge of character or original Thane of Cawdor never would have betrayed him
M "meek" "mild"
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
"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"
his tyranny is prompted by paranoia "to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus"
"a tale told by an idiot"
thinks life is futile
B "are ye fantastical" the witches disappeared "as breath into the wind"
"there's no art to find the mind's construction in the face"