Macbeth
Context
Written by William Shakespeare during the Jacobean Era, under the reign of James I. During this
time, England was intensely religious, and witchcraft was seen as sinful, people at the time believed
in witchcraft and witch hunts were a known and praised activity. The play may have been written as
a way of showing the audience what happens to those who go against God (divine right of Kings) and
commit the sin of regicide.
Plot Summary
The witches meet with Macbeth and tell him that he will be King, Lady Macbeth then persuades
Macbeth to kill Duncan, the current King. Despite Macbeth’s initial reluctance and fear, he is
pressured and bullied by his wife into going through with the plan and in Act Two kills Duncan. Lady
Macbeth covers up the murder and Macbeth is crowned. However, by Act 3 Macbeth is guilt ridden,
and sees Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. He begins to distance himself from his wife and visits the
witches again and is shown three apparitions that predict his future. Lady Macbeth goes mad with
guilt and starts sleepwalking, and eventually killing herself offstage. Finally, Macduff kills Macbeth.
Macbeth
Shakespeare’s Intentions -
Beginning
At the start of the play, Macbeth is praised for his violence, being called ‘brave’ and ‘valiant’, and
even earning him the title ‘Thane of Cawdor’. This is ironic seeing as Macbeth’s bloodlust and violent
nature are what lead to his downfall.
Macbeth is referred to with the simile ‘like Valour’s minion’, portraying him as the epitome of
courage and chivalry. ‘Valour’ refers to a demonstration of courage in the face of danger, especially in
battle, while ‘minion’ suggests a loyal follower. This implies Macbeth can be trusted because he will
always show courage in battle and is dedicated to victory in the face of defeat. Alternatively, ‘minion’
connotes a mindless follower or an unimportant servant. This would mean Macbeth is the inferior
servant of a greater power, in this case Valour. This foreshadows Macbeths turn from a ‘noble’
subject of the King, to a traitorous, ‘tyrant’ who usurps Duncans position.
‘carved out his passage’ - carved implies to do something with precision, care and not just a casual
act of brutality.
‘smoked with bloody execution’
End
Final description – ‘dead butcher’. Butchers are people that kill without a conscience that is guilty of
brutal or indiscriminate slaughter, this comparison emphasises Macbeth’s tyrannical behaviour and
brutality. However ‘butcher’ also may connote a lower-class, or insignificant, position. They are
people that kill because they are told to. This could be referencing how Lady Macbeth was the one to
bend Macbeths wills in order to encourage him to commit regicide, or it could be saying that
, Macbeth usurped his way up the great chain of being and does not deserve his place as King and that
he is no more than just a ‘butcher’, whose purpose is to serve the king.
Macbeth says he has a ‘charmed life’ and hence cannot be defeated. The verb ‘charmed’ connotes
witchcraft, and magic, and therefore Macbeth is saying he believes his life is protected by
supernatural forces and good luck bestowed upon him by the witches.
Other
Any challenge to Macbeth’s manhood is enough to convince him to commit any crime. You could
argue that what Macbeth’s ambition strives for, more than to be king, is to be indisputably ‘manly’.
‘a dagger of the mind, a false creation’ – dagger is a physical manifestation of his guilt. Macbeth is so
mentally disturbed he is hallucinating.
‘heart pounds against my ribs’ – physical reaction at the thought of murdering ‘good’ king Duncan.
Accentuates how great his fears of evil and sin are and could foreshadow his later descent into both
mental and physical decline.
Lady Macbeth
Shakespeare’s Intentions – LM’s sleepwalking/suicide may be punishment for her rejection of
femininity, as now she is being corrected for her masculine behaviour: ‘all the perfumes of Arabia will
not sweeten this little hand’. Little and perfumes both connote femininity. Going against gender roles
leads to loss of moral compass.
Beginning
At the beginning she is the dominant conspirator out of the Macbeths and is confident in her plan
and has no care for moral consequence. However, once Macbeth begins spinning out of control after
seeing the ghost of Banquo and starts distancing himself from his wife – revealing less about his
plans, LM becomes increasingly anxious, alone and is forced to face the feelings of guilt for what she
has done. This could also show LM is dependent on Macbeth, and that emasculating him was a way
of gaining her confidence. Also it shows she does somewhat adhere to Jacobean expectations of
women as she is dependent on her husband for power.
‘had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done it’ – shows Lady Macbeth is more vulnerable
than she first appeared.
Middle
Act 3, ‘are you a man?’ - When Macbeth begins to attract suspicion from the other Thanes at the
banquet after seeing Banquo's ghost, Lady Macbeth tries to control him in her usual manner, by
questioning his masculinity. However this no longer has any effect on him, proving to the audience
that she has lost her power and control over her husband.
‘be innocent of thy knowledge, dearest chuck’ - Macbeth is excluding Lady Macbeth from his plans to
kill Banquo. The fact that he tells her to be 'innocent', the audience may find this slightly ironic as she
was the driving force behind the murder of Duncan, but now Macbeth is taking away this power
from her and doesn’t trust and confide in her like he used to. The term 'chuck' still sounds somewhat
loving, but it has a patronising tone to it, and lacks the sense of equality that 'partner' had. This
marks an important turning point in their relationship between Lady Macbeth having the power, and
Macbeth taking control.
Context
Written by William Shakespeare during the Jacobean Era, under the reign of James I. During this
time, England was intensely religious, and witchcraft was seen as sinful, people at the time believed
in witchcraft and witch hunts were a known and praised activity. The play may have been written as
a way of showing the audience what happens to those who go against God (divine right of Kings) and
commit the sin of regicide.
Plot Summary
The witches meet with Macbeth and tell him that he will be King, Lady Macbeth then persuades
Macbeth to kill Duncan, the current King. Despite Macbeth’s initial reluctance and fear, he is
pressured and bullied by his wife into going through with the plan and in Act Two kills Duncan. Lady
Macbeth covers up the murder and Macbeth is crowned. However, by Act 3 Macbeth is guilt ridden,
and sees Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. He begins to distance himself from his wife and visits the
witches again and is shown three apparitions that predict his future. Lady Macbeth goes mad with
guilt and starts sleepwalking, and eventually killing herself offstage. Finally, Macduff kills Macbeth.
Macbeth
Shakespeare’s Intentions -
Beginning
At the start of the play, Macbeth is praised for his violence, being called ‘brave’ and ‘valiant’, and
even earning him the title ‘Thane of Cawdor’. This is ironic seeing as Macbeth’s bloodlust and violent
nature are what lead to his downfall.
Macbeth is referred to with the simile ‘like Valour’s minion’, portraying him as the epitome of
courage and chivalry. ‘Valour’ refers to a demonstration of courage in the face of danger, especially in
battle, while ‘minion’ suggests a loyal follower. This implies Macbeth can be trusted because he will
always show courage in battle and is dedicated to victory in the face of defeat. Alternatively, ‘minion’
connotes a mindless follower or an unimportant servant. This would mean Macbeth is the inferior
servant of a greater power, in this case Valour. This foreshadows Macbeths turn from a ‘noble’
subject of the King, to a traitorous, ‘tyrant’ who usurps Duncans position.
‘carved out his passage’ - carved implies to do something with precision, care and not just a casual
act of brutality.
‘smoked with bloody execution’
End
Final description – ‘dead butcher’. Butchers are people that kill without a conscience that is guilty of
brutal or indiscriminate slaughter, this comparison emphasises Macbeth’s tyrannical behaviour and
brutality. However ‘butcher’ also may connote a lower-class, or insignificant, position. They are
people that kill because they are told to. This could be referencing how Lady Macbeth was the one to
bend Macbeths wills in order to encourage him to commit regicide, or it could be saying that
, Macbeth usurped his way up the great chain of being and does not deserve his place as King and that
he is no more than just a ‘butcher’, whose purpose is to serve the king.
Macbeth says he has a ‘charmed life’ and hence cannot be defeated. The verb ‘charmed’ connotes
witchcraft, and magic, and therefore Macbeth is saying he believes his life is protected by
supernatural forces and good luck bestowed upon him by the witches.
Other
Any challenge to Macbeth’s manhood is enough to convince him to commit any crime. You could
argue that what Macbeth’s ambition strives for, more than to be king, is to be indisputably ‘manly’.
‘a dagger of the mind, a false creation’ – dagger is a physical manifestation of his guilt. Macbeth is so
mentally disturbed he is hallucinating.
‘heart pounds against my ribs’ – physical reaction at the thought of murdering ‘good’ king Duncan.
Accentuates how great his fears of evil and sin are and could foreshadow his later descent into both
mental and physical decline.
Lady Macbeth
Shakespeare’s Intentions – LM’s sleepwalking/suicide may be punishment for her rejection of
femininity, as now she is being corrected for her masculine behaviour: ‘all the perfumes of Arabia will
not sweeten this little hand’. Little and perfumes both connote femininity. Going against gender roles
leads to loss of moral compass.
Beginning
At the beginning she is the dominant conspirator out of the Macbeths and is confident in her plan
and has no care for moral consequence. However, once Macbeth begins spinning out of control after
seeing the ghost of Banquo and starts distancing himself from his wife – revealing less about his
plans, LM becomes increasingly anxious, alone and is forced to face the feelings of guilt for what she
has done. This could also show LM is dependent on Macbeth, and that emasculating him was a way
of gaining her confidence. Also it shows she does somewhat adhere to Jacobean expectations of
women as she is dependent on her husband for power.
‘had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done it’ – shows Lady Macbeth is more vulnerable
than she first appeared.
Middle
Act 3, ‘are you a man?’ - When Macbeth begins to attract suspicion from the other Thanes at the
banquet after seeing Banquo's ghost, Lady Macbeth tries to control him in her usual manner, by
questioning his masculinity. However this no longer has any effect on him, proving to the audience
that she has lost her power and control over her husband.
‘be innocent of thy knowledge, dearest chuck’ - Macbeth is excluding Lady Macbeth from his plans to
kill Banquo. The fact that he tells her to be 'innocent', the audience may find this slightly ironic as she
was the driving force behind the murder of Duncan, but now Macbeth is taking away this power
from her and doesn’t trust and confide in her like he used to. The term 'chuck' still sounds somewhat
loving, but it has a patronising tone to it, and lacks the sense of equality that 'partner' had. This
marks an important turning point in their relationship between Lady Macbeth having the power, and
Macbeth taking control.
