Macbeth
● Tragic hero - flawed to ambition + fated to doom
● Peripeteia - hero’s error in judgement leads to his downfall - after the killing of Duncan +
before Macbeth arranges the murders of Banquo + Fleance
● “I am in blood/ Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more”
● Anagnorisis - the realisation that the reversal brought about by Macbeth’s own actions -
when he becomes aware of Lady Macbeth’s death + when he learns that Macduff was born
through a c-section
● “A tale, told by an idiot… Signifying nothing/ cow’d my better part of man”
● Macbeth realises there are limits to his power
● After the murder, Lady Macbeth disintegrates leaving him alone
● Circular narrative - it begins with Macbeth winning on the battlefield and ends with him
dying in combat
● Lexical field of winning + losing are direct opposites - hints that fortunes + fates may
suddenly change
● “So fair and foul a day I have not seen” - Macbeth’s first words - clear paradox - forebodes
his mental turmoil
● “Let not light see my black and deep desires” - “deep” - references the subconscious +
something suppressed - antithesis of ‘light’ and ‘dark’
● “Too full o’ the milk of human kindness” - ‘milk’ implies that Macbeth needs to be nurtured
to commit regicide - the male gaze
● ‘Fruitless’, ‘barren’ - LM is sterile which is why she desires male attention so much +
Macbeth’s power is severely limited he can’t produce children
● “We have scotched the snake not killed it” - ‘scotch’ - imagery of hydra - killing Duncan has
beheaded the snake but it will grow back until the complete lineage is eradicated
● “O full of scorpions is my mind” - ‘scorpions’ represent in many cultures death + life/souls
moving from one world to another - represents the unexpected death of Macbeth - Greek
Story of Orion - thinks he can meet our divine judgement
● The witches use trochaic tetrameter - Macbeth transitions from using iambic pentameter to
trochaic terameter
● Tragic hero - flawed to ambition + fated to doom
● Peripeteia - hero’s error in judgement leads to his downfall - after the killing of Duncan +
before Macbeth arranges the murders of Banquo + Fleance
● “I am in blood/ Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more”
● Anagnorisis - the realisation that the reversal brought about by Macbeth’s own actions -
when he becomes aware of Lady Macbeth’s death + when he learns that Macduff was born
through a c-section
● “A tale, told by an idiot… Signifying nothing/ cow’d my better part of man”
● Macbeth realises there are limits to his power
● After the murder, Lady Macbeth disintegrates leaving him alone
● Circular narrative - it begins with Macbeth winning on the battlefield and ends with him
dying in combat
● Lexical field of winning + losing are direct opposites - hints that fortunes + fates may
suddenly change
● “So fair and foul a day I have not seen” - Macbeth’s first words - clear paradox - forebodes
his mental turmoil
● “Let not light see my black and deep desires” - “deep” - references the subconscious +
something suppressed - antithesis of ‘light’ and ‘dark’
● “Too full o’ the milk of human kindness” - ‘milk’ implies that Macbeth needs to be nurtured
to commit regicide - the male gaze
● ‘Fruitless’, ‘barren’ - LM is sterile which is why she desires male attention so much +
Macbeth’s power is severely limited he can’t produce children
● “We have scotched the snake not killed it” - ‘scotch’ - imagery of hydra - killing Duncan has
beheaded the snake but it will grow back until the complete lineage is eradicated
● “O full of scorpions is my mind” - ‘scorpions’ represent in many cultures death + life/souls
moving from one world to another - represents the unexpected death of Macbeth - Greek
Story of Orion - thinks he can meet our divine judgement
● The witches use trochaic tetrameter - Macbeth transitions from using iambic pentameter to
trochaic terameter
