Macbeth Revision guide
Key theme: Supernatural
,Key scene Quote Key ideas/messages
Themes: Supernatural, Fate
•Trochaic Tetrameter - lends a
mysterious tone and sounds
as if a spell is being cast.
• Chiasmus - points out the
paradox and similarity
between two terms - links to
the impression Lady Macbeth
gives "look like the innocent
flower, but be the serpent
under't"
• Imagery - foreshadows
downfall of Macbeth and the
confusion that underlies the
plot. Questions the moral
goodness of any reality.
appearance vs reality and
questions the moral
goodness of reality
what's beautiful is
actually ugly
foreshadows downfall of
Macbeth
Shakespeare may be
questioning Christianity and
the Great Chain of Being by
suggesting God doesn't exist
due to the presence of chaos
in the world. As a self-made,
successful playwright, he
may feel that people are
capable of advancing their
social and economic status
- Shakespeare may be trying
to flatter King James' beliefs
Act 1 scene 1 about the potency of Witches
in Jacobean England and their
, supernatural qualities in
Beginning “Fair is foul and order to seek his patronage.
foul is fair” King James wrote
"Daemonologie" to reflect his
beliefs about witchcraft
- Equivocation shows the
natural order has been
disrupted by the Witches.
Nature becomes harsher, the
God-appointed king is
murdered, friendships are
severed, children are killed
before their parents and Lady
Macbeth takes her own life.
May also suggest life has no
meaning, balance or purpose
and that ambitions should
not be embraced and pursued.
The male ambition of Macbeth
is thwarted by the end of the
play but the female ambition
of the Witches has been
realised by the play's end.
They destroyed Macbeth by
showing the future. The
Witches don't make Macbeth
do anything because they're
denied power as women in
patriarchal society
- Fricative alliteration may
conveys Shakespeare's own
disgust by the Witches
because they represent evil.
Alternatively, it may convey
Shakespeare's disgust at the
injustice caused by the
patriarchy
• Characters: Macbeth
• Themes: Violence,
Supernatural and Fate
, • The soliloquy is the opening
to the first signs of
Macbeth's insanity. He
possesses an inability to
distinguish between an
hallucinations and reality
does not restrict him to
"clutch" either dagger.
• Adjective "heat-opressed" -
realises this vision is
diminishing his sanity.
However, contrasted with the
further adjective "palpable" -
comparing it to his own
physical sword.
• Echoes witches earlier
paradox "Fair is foul and foul
is fair" - In a sense, the "foul"
vision is actually "fair" that it
is a representation of
accurate reality (Macbeth's
plot to kill Duncan)
• Verb "draw" - when Macbeth
draws his sword, it shows
"Is this a dagger I that it has a casual effect on
his actions, making them
see before me [...] seem rational. Shakespeare
presents false visions not as
And such an figments of the imagination
instrument I was to but capable of inducing
changes to reality itself.
use."
__
- The noun "handle" suggests
Act 2 scene 1 that the dagger is for use
- The use of a rhetorical
“proceeding from the question emphasises
middle
heat oppressed Macbeth's confusion but also
reflects his acceptance by
suggesting that the murder
Key theme: Supernatural
,Key scene Quote Key ideas/messages
Themes: Supernatural, Fate
•Trochaic Tetrameter - lends a
mysterious tone and sounds
as if a spell is being cast.
• Chiasmus - points out the
paradox and similarity
between two terms - links to
the impression Lady Macbeth
gives "look like the innocent
flower, but be the serpent
under't"
• Imagery - foreshadows
downfall of Macbeth and the
confusion that underlies the
plot. Questions the moral
goodness of any reality.
appearance vs reality and
questions the moral
goodness of reality
what's beautiful is
actually ugly
foreshadows downfall of
Macbeth
Shakespeare may be
questioning Christianity and
the Great Chain of Being by
suggesting God doesn't exist
due to the presence of chaos
in the world. As a self-made,
successful playwright, he
may feel that people are
capable of advancing their
social and economic status
- Shakespeare may be trying
to flatter King James' beliefs
Act 1 scene 1 about the potency of Witches
in Jacobean England and their
, supernatural qualities in
Beginning “Fair is foul and order to seek his patronage.
foul is fair” King James wrote
"Daemonologie" to reflect his
beliefs about witchcraft
- Equivocation shows the
natural order has been
disrupted by the Witches.
Nature becomes harsher, the
God-appointed king is
murdered, friendships are
severed, children are killed
before their parents and Lady
Macbeth takes her own life.
May also suggest life has no
meaning, balance or purpose
and that ambitions should
not be embraced and pursued.
The male ambition of Macbeth
is thwarted by the end of the
play but the female ambition
of the Witches has been
realised by the play's end.
They destroyed Macbeth by
showing the future. The
Witches don't make Macbeth
do anything because they're
denied power as women in
patriarchal society
- Fricative alliteration may
conveys Shakespeare's own
disgust by the Witches
because they represent evil.
Alternatively, it may convey
Shakespeare's disgust at the
injustice caused by the
patriarchy
• Characters: Macbeth
• Themes: Violence,
Supernatural and Fate
, • The soliloquy is the opening
to the first signs of
Macbeth's insanity. He
possesses an inability to
distinguish between an
hallucinations and reality
does not restrict him to
"clutch" either dagger.
• Adjective "heat-opressed" -
realises this vision is
diminishing his sanity.
However, contrasted with the
further adjective "palpable" -
comparing it to his own
physical sword.
• Echoes witches earlier
paradox "Fair is foul and foul
is fair" - In a sense, the "foul"
vision is actually "fair" that it
is a representation of
accurate reality (Macbeth's
plot to kill Duncan)
• Verb "draw" - when Macbeth
draws his sword, it shows
"Is this a dagger I that it has a casual effect on
his actions, making them
see before me [...] seem rational. Shakespeare
presents false visions not as
And such an figments of the imagination
instrument I was to but capable of inducing
changes to reality itself.
use."
__
- The noun "handle" suggests
Act 2 scene 1 that the dagger is for use
- The use of a rhetorical
“proceeding from the question emphasises
middle
heat oppressed Macbeth's confusion but also
reflects his acceptance by
suggesting that the murder
