Macbeth
William Shakespeare.
NARRATIVE: Macbeth is about a nobleman plotting to eb kind with his lady Macbeth. It is a tragedy as the kind ends up dying. It is an unhappy ending of the main character.
He is ambitious aspiring King but his Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to kill. She persuades him to kill Banquos (Macbeths friend) and Macduff's family.
Lady Macbeth kills KING DUNCAN - by drugging guards and Macbeth stabs him in his bedroom. Macduff kills Macbeth by chopping his head off - Macduff kills him as he wants revenge after Macbeth killed his family. He is corrupted by his ambition.
AUDIENCE:
PATTERNS, SOUNDS, RHYTHMS:
LANGUAGE FEATURES:
key words: The word 'blood' appears over 40 times in Macbeth – not to mention appearances by related words such as 'bloody', 'bleeding' and so on. Shakespeare's constant repetition of the word 'blood' stresses to his audience or readers the full horror of what is happening - the murders and violence.
Keywords of "night" and "time" are also repeated a lot.
There is a significance of birds in the play.
Lady Macduff complains that her husband has left her defenceless. Even a tiny wren will fight an owl if its young are threatened. LIKE A "WREN."
'He wants the natural touch, for the poor wren, / The most diminutive of birds, will fight, / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl.'
On Tuesday last, / A falcon tow'ring in her pride of place / Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed.'
An old man tells Ross that an owl (unusually) has flown upwards then attacked and killed a falcon. This exactly mirrors what has happened with Macbeth and Duncan. A falcon is generally regarded as a royal bird.
Shakespeare uses WILD animals as well in Macbeth.
'O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!' Macbeth uses a metaphor to explain that his guilty conscience is attacking and stinging him.
'Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care' One of the Witches' apparitions uses a simple metaphor to advise Macbeth about being brave.
Wild animals are savage and untameable and share certain characteristics with people in the play.
OPENING / ENDING:
The play opens with three witches gathering amidst thunder and lightening.
ENDING Malcolm and Macduff lead an army against Macbeth, as Lady Macbeth goes mad and commits suicide. Macbeth confronts Malcolm's army, trusting in the Weïrd Sisters' comforting promises. He learns that the promises are tricks, but continues to fight. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm becomes Scotland's king.
STRUCTURE:
William Shakespeare's Macbeth has five acts and 28 scenes.
THEMES:
Ambition - the determination to achieve something.
Fate - the idea that life’s journey is already mapped out, and that this journey cannot be changed.
Appearance and reality - Macbeth pretends to be something he isn't.