Act 1

Scene 1

  • This scene sets the tone of the play.

Themes

  1. The Supernatural
  2. Equivocation

The devices used are

  • Chiasmus
    • “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”
  • Antithesis
    • “When the battle’s lost, and won”
  • Confusing, enigmatic language
    Macbeth is introduced in absentia. This forebodes the link between him and the witches.

Scene 2

In this scene, the audience understands how all of the other characters view Macbeth, which develops their understanding of his character. The audience also learns of his promotion to the Thane of Cawdor, which improves their view of Macbeth’s stature.

Devices used

  • Extended Simile
    • “Doubtful it stood as two spent swimmers that do cling together and choke their art.”
  • Allusion
    • “Bellona’s Bridegroom” - Greek Allusion
    • “Or memorise another Golgotha” - massacre (biblical allusion)
  • Simile
    • “Like Valour’s minion carved out his passage”
    • “Like a rebel’s whore”
  • Personification
    • “And Fortune on his damnèd quarrel smiling”
    • “Valour’s minion”
    • “Disdaining Fortune”
  • Imagery
    • “Brandished steel”
    • “Smoked with bloody execution”
    • “Carved out his passage”
  • Diction/epithets
    • Very positive diction
    • “brave Macbeth”
    • “valiant cousin”
    • “noble Macbeth”
    • “worthy gentleman

Scene 3

We see Duncan and Macbeth interacting for the first time.

These themes are developed

  • Appearance vs. Reality “The service and loyalty I owe”
  • Violence “Stars, hide your fires, Let not light see my black and deep desires”.
  • Supernatural
  • Ambition
    This scene shows Duncan’s
  • Gratitude “True, worthy Banquo, he is full so valiant” & “It is a peerless kinsman.”
  • Generosity “
  • Good qualities intensifies the impact of his death later in the play.
  • Gullibility

Major devices

  • Dramatic Irony
    • Duncan trusts Macbeth, while the audience knows he should not
    • Duncan says “absolute trust”, then Macbeth enters immediately
  • Metaphors
  • Similes
  • Exaggeration

Scene 5

Themes

  • Ambition
  • Masculinity
  • Appearance vs. Reality
  • Supernatural
  • Evil

Characterisation

  • Lady Macbeth
    • Lady Macbeth invoking her evil qualities shows her masculine qualities and how she is the ‘man’ in the relationship.
    • Lady Macbeth has been portrayed as more of an evil, masculine character than a feminine one, which reverses gender roles in society at the time. This makes the scene striking, and makes Lady Macbeth stand out.
  • Macbeth
    • His intimate relationship with Lady Macbeth is shown by the use of phrases such as “my dearest partner of greatness” and “my dearest love”.
    • This gives another perspective on Macbeth to the audience, allowing for pathos to be created later. It shows what his partner thinks of him, as a man without strength or ambition.

Major Devices

  • Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy
  • Parallelism between Macbeth’s earlier asides and the soliloquy
  • Symbolism
  • Verbal irony
  • Letter is a dramatic device
  • Metaphors

Scene 6

Themes

  • Appearance vs. reality
  • Ambition

Characterisation

  • Lady Macbeth
    • Manipulative
    • Strong willed
  • Duncan
    • Gullible
    • Trusting
    • Generous

Devices

  • Irony (verbal + dramatic)
    • Through Duncan trusting the Macbeths
      • “the temple-haunting martlet, approve By his loving mansionry that the heaven’s breath Smelling wooingly here.”
      • “Air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself.”
    • Through Lady Macbeth being over generous to Duncan
  • Metaphors

Scene 7

# Themes

  • Ambition
  • Fate
  • Dilemma/conflict within
  • Manliness

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Conflicted
      • Part of him doesn’t want to kill duncan
        • Use of euphemisms “assassination”, “surcease”, “this blow”, “these cases”, “the deed”, “taking-off”, “my intent”.
        • Moral appeal not to kill Duncan “He’s here in double trust First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself.”, “he hath honoured me of late”, “
        • Consequences of killing Duncan “This even-handed justice commends th’ingredience of our poisoned chalice to our own lips”, “bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague th’inventor”
      • Part of him wants to yield to his ambition
        • “This blow might be the be-all and the end-all”
    • Ambitious; his hubris is revealed
      • “Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself”
  • Lady Macbeth
    • Manipulative
      • Challenges Macbeth’s manliness
        • “Was the hope drunk wherein you dressed yourself?”
        • “Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valour As thou art in desire?”
        • “live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’ Like the poor cat I’ the adage?”
    • Evil
      • “I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash’d the brains out”

Devices

  • Stagecraft
    • Food being brought in to serve Duncan in the background[ironic because food symbolises life and Macbeth is going to take that very life.”
  • Soliloquy
  • Euphemism
    • “assassination”, “surcease”, “this blow”, “these cases”, “the deed”, “taking-off”, “my intent”.
  • Personification
  • Metaphors
  • Allusion
    • “Cat I’ the adage” Contemporary allusion
    • “Poisoned chalice” Biblical allusion. Jesus was supposed to drink from the chalice.
  • Simile
  • Foreshadowing
    • “Bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague th’inventor.” It references to how the murder is taught to other people (Macduff) and then he comes back to kill the inventor (Macbeth)
    • “This even-handed justice Commends th’ingredience of our poisoned chalice To our own lips.” It also references that

Act 2

Scene 1

Themes

  • Guilt and Dilemma
  • Inner turmoil
  • Ambition
  • Evil
  • Supernatural
  • Violence

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Conflicted
    • Hallucinating - shows psychological turmoil
      • “Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight?”, “Mine eyes are made the fools o’ the other senses” → cannot trust his own senses. This hints that he is unable to cope with the pressure of the decision, and is slowly sinking into madness
      • “art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” → talking to inanimate objects, it is clear that Macbeth’s ‘heat-oppressed’ brain is being bent by the moral weight of the decision to kill Duncan
    • Nervous
      • “Thy very stones prate of my whereabout”
    • Manipulative
      • “I think not of them [the witches]”, dramatic irony.
      • “Being unprepared [for the arrival of Duncan]” → this is untrue, and ironic, as the Macbeths were plotting Duncan’s murder very intently.
    • Tragic hero
    • Guilty
      • compares himself to bad creatures (nightmares, witchcraft, murder, Tarquin) that harm innocent victims; shows that he is aware that his decision is morally wrong
  • Banquo
    • Honourable, loyal
      • “but still keep My bosom franchised and allegiance clear, I shall be counsell’d.”
    • Protective as a father
      • “Hold, take my sword.”
    • Kind
      • “At your kind’st leisure.”
      • “This diamond he greets your wife withal, By the name of most kind hostess; and shut up In measureless content.”
    • Also ambitious, but wise to not act on evil ambitions
      • “Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature\ Gives way to in repose!”

Devices and techniques

  • Verbal Irony (basically lying)
    • Kind hostess → Lady Macbeth is secretly plotting his murder
  • Establishing a dark atmosphere
    • “The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.”
    • “There’s husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out.”
  • Simile
    • “Towards his design, moves like a ghost” → compares himself to bad creatures; sense of mystery?
    • “A heavy summons lies like lead upon me” → Legal jargon; desperate desire to sleep revealed
  • Apostrophe
    • “merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts” → shows he too is only human, thinking about the prophecies; foil to macbeth - deeply disturbed but does not take any actions to make them come true
    • “Thou sure and firm-set earth”
  • Euphemism
    • Cursed thoughts → prophecies
    • Shut up in measureless content → (hyperbolic) asleep (dramatic irony as we know his life is in danger)
    • Such an instrument → dagger
    • Bloody business → murder
  • Hyperbole
  • Blood Imagery
    • Thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood → symbolic manifestation of Macbeth’s guilt
  • Metaphors
    • “There’s husbandry in heaven….all out” → compares stars to candles; emphasizes lack of light; builds the immensely dark atmosphere
  • Rhyming Couplet
    • “Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell\ That summons thee to heaven or to hell.” → gives a sense of finality to the scene, which is reflected in the irrevocable nature of regicide.
  • Personification
    • Wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep → sense of impending doom and chaos is built up;
    • Stones prate of my whereabouts
  • Allusions
    • Pale Hecate’s off’rings
    • Tarquin’s ravishing strides
  • Symbolism
    • Knell → death bell

Scene 2

Themes

  • Manliness
  • Evil
  • Ambition
  • Violence
    • Lady Macbeth’s violent nature

Devices

  • Antithesis
    • Made them drunk hath made me bold → paradoxical idea; effect of alcohol; peers through LMB’s facade
    • What hath quenched….me fire → hyperbole
  • Symbolism
    • Owl, crickets → Ill omen of death
  • Euphemism
    • Sternest goodnight → death
    • Done the deed → murder
  • Hyperbole
    • Given me fire → keeps her awake
  • Metaphor
    • Hath given me fire
    • Fatal bellman
    • Hangman’s hands → guilt, alliteration
    • Sleep that knits up…sleeve of care
    • Death of each day’s life → each day end is marked by sleep
    • Sore labour’s bath → oasis after hard physical work
    • Balm of hurt minds → heals mental and emotional breakage
    • Great nature’s second course
    • Chief nourisher in life’s feast
  • Stichomythia
    • Shows guilt and fear
  • Dramatic Irony (which takes effect later in the play)
    • “A little water clears us of this deed”
  • Personification
    • Death and nature do contend → so deep asleep, appear dead
    • Macbeth does murder sleep → sleep is an innocent person; overwhelming threat in Scotland
  • Christian images of prayer and worship
    • I could not say ‘Amen’ → poetic justice; overwhelming guilt makes him pronounce punishment on himself; subtle warning to audience not to usurp self in Great Chain of Being; Divine right of kings
  • Metonymy
    • Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil → only children fear anomalous species of terror
  • Color symbolism
    • Heart so white → cowardice
    • Green one red → color the sea red

Characterisation

  • Lady Macbeth
    • Unconventionally displays stereotypical manlike qualities.
      • Lady Macbeth’s attitude towards regicide is casual.
      • Her views contrast against Macbeth’s very strongly
      • The audience is bewildered to witness such firmness, insensitivity and evil from a female character
    • The line “These deeds must not be thought…it will make us mad” is particularly significant as it is the very reason she goes mad (dramatic irony)
    • Evil
    • Manipulative
      • Macbeth is not the only one who errs morally; it can be argued that Lady Macbeth has been his primary instigator, and therefore, was initially more evil than Macbeth himself.
      • This scene reveals the way she commands Macbeth and challenges his manliness, thereby manipulating him to pursue his dark ambitions.
    • Violent
    • Has a small remnant of humanity in her soul that overwhelms her later in the play
      • “Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done’t.”
  • Macbeth
    • Guilty
      • “This is a sorry sight”
      • Stichomythia
      • Unable to pronounce “Amen”
      • “I am afraid to think what I have done”
      • “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
    • Has begun his moral descent
      • Macbeth expresses guilt repeatedly throughout this extract, which makes the audience understand that the moral cost of killing Duncan is far greater than the superficial kingship that he has gained.
      • “Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more Macbeth does murder sleep’ This is an indicator of the lasting repercussions that Macbeth will face due to regicide.
      • Macbeth’s peace of mind has been destroyed, and the seeds of insecurity and mental instability have been planted in his mind.
      • Shakespeare hints at the enduring consequences that evil acts have on one’s mental wellbeing (subtle warning to audience about the implications of regicide)
    • Unstereotypical image of man according to Jacobean standards
    • Sense of fragmentation in Macbeth’s mind, stemming from his utmost guilt, as he seems almost oblivious to what Lady Macbeth is saying

Scene 3

Themes

  • Fate
  • Supernatural
  • Ambition
  • Sin
    • Greed
    • Theft
    • Lechery
  • Appearance vs reality

General Overview

  • Deviates from Aristotle’s definition of a Tragedy
  • Emotional relief to the audience between two highly dramatic moments

* Shakespeare references the then-current themes of equivocation

  • bawdy humor appeals to the lower class
  • Macbeth “murdering sleep” in the last scene entailed ramifications that resounded throughout all of Scotland - “Lamentings heard i’th’air, strange screams of death”
  • Practically gives the actors time to get redressed and wash the ‘blood’ from the last scene

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Macbeth’s rich and elaborate imagery in his staged reaction to Duncan’s death reveal his insincerity, suggesting he has prepared this speech beforehand.
    • His adeptness at concealing his emotions and readiness to lie reveals the fact that he has grown more evil, this pattern is seen throughout the play. As Macbeth commits crimes, his insensitivity to them increases.
  • Macduff
    • Macbeth’s intricate language contrasts with Macduff’s rage.
    • Macduff shows signs that he is truly grieving - his sorrow in this scene lays the foundation for his revenge and ultimate act of killing Macbeth.
  • Lady Macbeth
    • “Woe, alas”. Lady Macbeth’s calm attitude reflects her evil, deceitful nature.

Devices

  • Dramatic irony
    • “Lennox Goes the king hence today?
      Macbeth He does - he did appoint so.”
  • Pathetic fallacy
    • “The earth was feverous and did shake”, “T’was a rough night” → The storm outside Macbeth’s castle reflects the tempest of conflicting emotions inside Macbeth, the guilt, regret, ambition, and evil all manifest themselves in the atmosphere.
  • Personification
    • “The night has been unruly”
  • Biblical allusion
    • “Who’s there i’th’name of Beelzebub?
    • Primrose way to the everlasting bonfire
    • You’ll sweat for it → hell was very hot
  • Metaphor
    • Comparing Macbeth’s castle to hell. This is an appropriate comparison
      • “If a man were porter of hell-gate”
      • “But this place is too cold for hell. I’ll devil-porter it no further”
  • Antithetical Words
    • “Provokes and unprovokes”, “Makes him and mars him”, “Sets him on and takes him off”
    • Develops the theme of equivocation
    • Risque humor appeals to the audience in the pit
  • Repetition
    • Knock → builds up tension and suspense

Scene 4

General Overview

  • The Old Man serves as a choric character. He
    • comments on the action
    • shows the universality of the action (how the action is reflected in nature and in society)
    • he represents the views of ordinary people
  • Mediates and manipulates audience response
  • Subtle warning to audience of the repercussions of not adhering to the Great Chain of Being (widespread and unnatural chaos)

Themes

  • Supernatural

Characterisation

  • Macbeth, though in absentia, is characterised through the reactions of the Old Man and Ross

Devices

  • Dramatic irony
    • Malcolm
  • Metaphors
    • “Thou seest the heavens, as troubled with man’s act, Threatens his bloody stage” → the heavens (a positive supernatural force) is dissatisfied with mankind’s deeds, and so is causing unnatural disasters on earth. Theatrical metaphor magnifies the effect of this idea, as the play is in a theatre. Almost as if the heavens is Shakespeare himself, as he controls the characters.
    • That darkness…entomb when living light should kiss it? → darkness covers earth despite being day; influence of supernatural factors
  • Personification
    • Dark night strangles the travelling lamp → periphrasis for sun; night symbolizes evil; sun symbolizes light
  • Ambiguity
    • Is’t night’s predominance…light should kiss it? → rhetorical question is purposely ambiguous to test where the Old Man’s sympathies lie; is it the overpower of (symbolically) evil, or the death of Duncan, that has resulted in this unnatural darkness
  • Symbolism
    • A falcon…mousing owl hawked at and killed → falcons are superior birds of prey (Duncan is at a higher position in the hierarchical structure of their society) and is surprisingly killed by a mousing owl, generally considered to be docile and harmless (like Macbeth’s character in the mind of Duncan)
  • Animal imagery
    • falcon, mousing owl, Duncan’s horses
  • Epithets
    • Good Macduff → first mention of the antagonist is accompanied by a positive adjective, which prejudices the audience; foreshows his important role in the play
  • Clothing imagery
    • Adieu, lest our old robes sit easier than our new → Gives the audience a sense that Macbeth’s reign has almost been forcefully imposed on them; old robes = Duncan; new robes = Macbeth
  • Antithetical words, rhyming couplet
    • God’s benison…friends of foes → shows Old Man’s favourable disposition towards Malcolm, and therefore further prejudices the audience
    • Antithesis in the phrases good of bad; friends of foes

Act 3

Scene 1

Themes

  • Appearance vs reality
  • Disguise and hypocrisy

General Overview

  • Time lapse between the last scene and this one; degradation in Macbeth’s character is plainly evident
  • There is tension between the characters of Macbeth and Banquo - Banquo suspects Macbeth’s intentions (“I fear Thou played’st most foully for’t”). Macbeth also asks questions about Banquo’s departure “Ride you this afternoon?”, “Goes Fleance with you?”. He also plots Banquo’s murder in this scene.
  • Macbeth speaks to the murders in prose, rather than in verse, showing that he has stooped down to their level.

Devices

  • Verbal irony
    • Tonight we hold a solemn supper…presence → Macbeth knows Banquo will not make it to the feast
  • Metaphor
    • Are with a most indissoluble tie forever knit → shift in the way Banquo addresses Macbeth; pledging loyalty to his king
    • His royalty of nature… be feared → Banquo is the ruler of good virtues, which is why Macbeth fears him (slightly ironical in that sense; good qualities are generally not feared)
    • Put rancours in my vessel of peace only for them→ put poison in his mind; Macbeth is aware that his actions have had a repercussions on his mental wellbeing
    • With barefaced power…sight → hyperbole; super subtle flex to murders about his power as king
  • Allusion
    • My genius was rebuked as Mark Antony was by Caesar → Caesar was more respected due to nobility and character
    • Mine eternal jewel…common enemy of men → christian belief that soul is most precious commodity; by committing sin of murder he has given his soul to Satan; shows awareness that his actions are not good; tragic hero
  • Metonymy
    • Placed a fruitless crown…barren sceptre → Macbeth is bitter that his kingship will not be passed on to is sons (according to the prophecies)
    • Heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave…forever → Banquo’s power and influence has (metaphorically) killed and impoverished their families
  • Personification
    • Come fate into the list…th’utterance → metaphor; Macbeth is ready to fight the Witches prophecies rather than accept that his sons will not become kings; Macbeth’s soldier-like bent of mind also visible
  • Idioms
    • Half a soul and to a notion crazed say ‘Thus did Banquo’ → Any fool or madman would say that it was Banquo’s fault
  • Simile
    • “Then prophet-like, they hailed him father to a line of kings” → compares the witches to prophets, religious leaders. This shows that Macbeth now attributes heavenly qualities to the witches, and that they no longer seem evil from his moral perspective
  • Analogy
  • Clothing imagery
    • Who wear our health…perfect
  • Rhyming couplet
    • It is concluded…tonight → no sense of doubt or remorse is observed; degradation in Macbeth’s character; metaphor (soul to bird)
      Characters
  • Banquo
    • Shakespeare purposely leaves his character as ambiguous in his last soliloquy in the play
    • Slight streak of greed is clearly visible in the hypophora May they not be my oracles as well?
    • Change in power dynamics; scared to say his thought out loud. Seen in the line But hush, no more.
  • Macbeth
    • Degradation in character is clearly seen through his soliloquy which parallels the one he delivered in Act 1 Scene 7. However, here we can see Macbeth solely justifying the reason for murder, without contemplating the ethical and moral implications.
    • Macbeth’s insensitivity is also not limited to murder; he does not refrain from insulting and manipulating even the murderers by challenging their masculinity - hmm. Where have we seen this trick before? Macbeth’s actions mirror Lady Macbeth’s, showing the audience that he has now become capable of acts like manipulation.
    • The fact that Macbeth does not commit the murder himself emphasizes his degeneration as it reveals his ruthlessness
    • It is important to note that he does not ask for his wife’s guidance and help; seems to be perfectly moulded into the role/person he is supposed to be and Lady Macbeth wanted him to be → an ambitious man who will go to any means to secure his position
    • Macbeth “To be thus is nothing but to be safely thus”. He is utterly discontent with his situation. “Fruitless crown, barren sceptre” → Macbeth’s insecurity is further revealed when he plots Banquo’s murder. He wants to leave no loose ends in his evil and ambitious endeavours.

Scene 2

General Overview

  • This scene marks a shift in the relationship between Macbeth and LMB. Both of them are halfway through their evolution, and are knee-deep in emotional turmoil. They “ eat our meal in fear and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake [them] nightly”. This shows how insecure they are.
  • The distance in their relationship is clearly visible. We can see this in the line “I would attend his leisure for a few words” (She has to ask for permission to meet her own husband) ; “why do you keep alone”
  • We cannot say their relationship itself is deteriorating as their love for eachother is yet apparent. Evidence can be found in the phrases “dearest chuck” and “dear wife”

Themes

  • Appearance vs. Reality
  • Supernatural
  • Violence
  • Mental instability

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Macbeth is no longer “full o’ the milk of human kindness”. He has embarked on the dangerous, bloody journey to make his throne secure.
    • Macbeth envies Duncan. Fate has given him a quick departure from life, whereas Macbeth is suffering. “Duncan is in his grave. After life’s fitful fever, he sleeps well”.
    • There is a reversal in power at this point - Macbeth has now taken his fate into his own hands, and advices Lady Macbeth, instead of it being the other way round, as it was initially. This is evidenced in the phrase “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed”.
    • Macbeth indulges in images and ideas that are unbecoming of a king; he wishes death and destruction upon his kingdom for his sake; selfish
  • Lady Macbeth
    • Does not have peace of mind - “doubtful joy”. She is deeply troubled by what she and Macbeth committed, while she isn’t able to enjoy being Queen.
    • She is in so much fear and is drowning in insecurity - “‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy”.
    • While she gained queenship, she feels empty - “nought’s had, all’s spent”.
    • She is suffering, yet hypocritically gives Macbeth advice - “Things without all remedy should be without regard”. This shows that she reverts back to her role of being a spur, an enabler of evil, even though she is emotionally unstable.
    • First glimpse the audience is provided to see beyond

Devices

  • Metaphor
    • We have scotch’d the snake, not kill’d it
      She’ll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice
      Remains in danger of her former tooth.” → The snake is a metaphor for the danger that they are in. This is ironic, as Macbeth himself is the creator of this snake he was respected and loved before ambition corrupted his intent.
    • After life’s …sleeps well → compares life to disease; constant struggle now at peace; sense of envy
    • O full of…dear wife! → sudden interjection shows it is bothering him considerably; love and trust
    • Must lave our…flattering streams → make sure everyone is pleased; appearance vs reality
  • Oxymoron
    • “Restless ecstasy” → Macbeth’s longing for ‘ecstasy’, which he thought he would get when he obtains the position of King, is filled with doubt, guilt, and fits of insecurity.
  • Rhyming couplet
    • ‘Tis safer to be that…doubtful joy → oxymoron; she remarks that it would be better to be dead than to live unhappily
  • Animal imagery + symbolism
    • “The shard-borne beetle”, “ere the bat hath flown”, “full of scorpions is my mind”, “the crow which makes wing to th’rocky wood”
    • These animals are symbolize darkness and malice, which creates an eerie, sinister atmosphere.
  • Personification + symbolism
    • “Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day” → Macbeth invokes the night to conceal his evil actions. This is seen in Scotland itself, as Macbeth’s reign results in evil spreading across his land. Evil has overtaken kindness, just like night enshrouds day. (animal imagery of Falconry)
    • Treason has done…further → synecdoche (steel = sword); sense of jealousy that usual threats to king no longer worry him;
    • With bloody and invisible hand…great bond → metaphor; asking night to destroy the remnants of his conscience
  • Auditory images
    • Drowsy hums; Yawning peal (transferred epithets) → emphasizes late at night which is time when supernatural events were believed to take place

Scene 3

General Overview

  • This is a brutal, visceral scene. Banquo meets his violent end.
  • Banquo’s death is especially tragic, as he is outnumbered by three murderers.

Themes

  • Violence

Scene 4

General Overview

  • Climactic point of play as it is the clear beginning of Macbeth’s fall in the public domain
    #* Last appearance of Lady Macbeth before Act 5 Scene 1
  • Establishes the chaotic regime of Macbeth (chaos in Banquet scene symbolic of that widespread in Scotland)
  • First formal meeting as king; expected to host formal dinner - expectation of prosperity and harmony

Themes

  • Appearance vs. Reality
  • Mental instability
  • Order and disorder
    • “Lady Macbeth You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting, With most admired disorder.”
  • Kingship
  • Guilt and punishment
  • Supernatural
    • Ghost of Banquo is possibly a supernatural occurrence
    • “Stones have been known to move and trees to speak;
      Augurs and understood relations have
      By magot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth
      The secret’st man of blood.”

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Mentally unstable
    • Macbeth’s mental projection of Banquo represents the threat Banquo still poses for Macbeth with his line of descendants (“Fleance is ‘scaped”). It is a manifestation of his guilt and insecurity. “This is the very painting of your fear This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said, Led you to Duncan.”
    • Insecure “now I am cabin’d, cribb’d, confined, bound in to saucy doubts and fears”
    • Macbeth rapidly shifts between greeting his kinsmen and vilely expressing his frustration. This shows that he is unable to handle the responsibilities of being King while scheming to protect his position. This is ironic, as he is neglecting his duty as King just for the sake of being King longer. This shows his inherent folly.
  • Lady Macbeth
    • This scene being the last appearance of Lady Macbeth reflects the fact that she has become unimportant to Macbeth after this point, a meaningless irrelevancy.
    • She challenges Macbeth’s manliness yet again, but Macbeth responds with equal tenacity due to the rage and frustration he is in.

Devices

  • Tricolon, and asyndetic listing
    • Whole as the rock…casing air → calm, composed, and light-hearted; Banquo and Fleance’s death had demolished all of Macbeth’s fears and worries (also similes)
    • cabin’d, cribb’d, confined → alliteration;
  • The Ghost of Banquo
  • Symbolism
    • The fact that Banquo sits in Macbeth’s place signifies that Macbeth’s reign will not stay in his posterity
  • Metaphor
    • “I am in blood
      Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,
      Returning were as tedious as go o’er” → This is a dark image. The river of blood represents Macbeth’s crimes. Macbeth accepts that he is beyond redemption, and chooses to descend morally instead of trying to redeem himself.
  • Simile
    • “Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, The arm’d rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger” - to show that these scary creatures pale in comparison to Banquo’s frightening image.
    • “overcome us like a summer’s cloud” - shows the influence the image of Banquo has over Macbeth
  • Imagery
    • “blanched with fear”
  • Dramatic Irony
    • “LADY MACBETH You lack the season of all natures, sleep.
      MACBETH Come, we’ll to sleep.” → the audience knows that Macbeth does not deserve sleep, and that he “hath murdered sleep” as soon as he treacherously murdered Duncan.

Scene 5

General Overview

  • Hecate reprimands the witches for speaking to Macbeth without her involvement.
  • Foreshadows Macbeth’s downfall
    • “He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
      He hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace and fear
      And you all know, security
      Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.”
    • “this night I’ll spend unto a dismal and a fatal end”

Themes

  • Supernatural
    • “Upon the corner of the moon
      There hangs a vaporous drop profound”
    • “distill’d by magic sleights”
    • “Your vessels and your spells provide”
    • “at the pit of Acheron”

Devices

  • Euphemism
    • “trade and traffic”
    • “Great business”
  • Litotes
    • “riddles and affairs of death”
  • Irony
    • “the glory of our art”
  • Rhyme
    • “Part” + “art”
    • “charms” + harms”
    • Basically the whole thing
    • adds to the incantation-like quality of the verse

Scene 6

General Overview

  • Parallels the closing scene of Act 2
  • Gives the audience a clear idea of Macbeth’s fall in reputation after Banquet scene
  • Shows condition of Scotland under his reign
  • The Lord here serves as the choric character much like the OId Man in Act 2
  • Notifies the audience of the existence of the “pious” King Edward
  • Off-stage events Idea of the general rebellion; what Macduff and Malcolm are up to
  • Builds up Macduff’s character as a contrast to Macbeth; undevoted loyalty vs greed and tyranny
  • Lord is not given an identity; therefore reveals the general mindset of nobles
  • Showing the pathetic state of Scotland is a subtle warning to the audience that defying the divine right of kings will result in anarchy and chaos

Themes

  • Kingship
  • Rebellion

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Feared by his subjects. He is first praised by Lennox “How it did grieve Macbeth! did he not straight In pious rage the two delinquents tear”, “Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too”. However, this was in fear of Macbeth’s power as an oppressive king he later refers to him as “tyrant”.
    • Contrasts with the description of the “holy king” Edward of England.

Devices

  • Ambiguity
    • At the onset, Lennox’s tone is cautious and ambiguous, highlighting the sense of distrust prevalent in society
  • Hyperbole
    • Did he not straight… delinquents tear → suddenness and violence of action emphasized
  • Epithets
    • Right-valiant Banquo
    • Tyrant’s feast
    • Holy kinf
  • Metaphor
    • Slaves of drink…sleep → completely drunk and asleep; not in frame of mind to think, let alone murder
    • Swift blessing… suffering country → compared to ill person
  • Metonymy
    • “Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives” → knives represent murder
    • “To wake Northumberland” → metonymy for earl
  • Parallel construction
    • “Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights”
    • This helps emphasise the dire situation in Scotland
    • Meat symbolizes prosperity; sleep symbolizes security
  • Punctuation
    • How… grieve Macbeth! → cynical tone emphasized
  • Personification
    • Malevolence of fortune

Act 4

Scene 1

General overview

  • Macbeth meets the witches and demands them to answer what he asks. The witches equivocate to Macbeth, instilling a false sense of security in him, which eventually leads to his death. Yet, Macbeth swears to kill Macduff.
  • This scene furthers the plot by heightening the drama and conflict
  • It is in keeping with the dark atmosphere of the play
  • Theatrically appealing scene, full of spectacle and music

Themes

  • Violence
  • Supernatural
  • Chaos

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Obsessed with the desire to know the future
    • Unafraid to challenge the witches, corrupted by the power Kingship has granted him
    • Sense of arrogance and superiority evident
      • I conjure you by that which you profess
      • deny me this, and an eternal curse fall on you
      • Filthy hags!
      • How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!
    • Lists a range of horrifying images unbecoming of a king

Devices

  • Repetition
    • Refrain (“Double, double…bubble) is repeated to emphasize sense of musicality and build suspense; signifies what awaits someone who deals with the Devil
    • “Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth”
    • The number 3 (in various forms) is associated with supernatural
  • Rhyme
    • This increases dramatic effect while making the witches’ dialogue sound like incantation
    • Trochaic tetrameter builds sense of musicality and adds to rhythm; contrasted to all other characters in play
  • Listing
    • Series of gruesome animal imagery is used to describe horrible contents of the cauldron; disgust prejudices audience against the witches
    • Macbeth also lists a series of hyperbolic visual images using anaphora
  • Lexical field
    • Shakespeare uses a range of words related to witchery
  • Personification
    • “I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies”
    • “The castle of Macduff I will surprise”
    • Pale-hearted fear
  • Tricolon of epithets, diction
    • secret, black, midnight hags! → fall in language Macbeth uses shows fall in his mental state; derogatory
    • Be bloody, bold, and resolute
    • Who cafes, who frets or where conspirers are
  • Irony
    • “sleep in spite of thunder” → Macbeth believes he can sleep because of the false confidence that he has obtained from the witches
  • Symbolism
    • Against the churches → against religion, which is a pillar of society
    • Confound and swallow up navigation → ships symbolize prosperity
    • Palaces and pyramids → alliteration; juxtaposition; pinnacles of architecture
    • Nature’s germen → seeds symbolize the future generation
    • Sleep in spite of thunder → despite any threat
  • Apostrophe
    • “Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits”
  • Hyperbole
    • give to the edge o’ the sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line
    • Sear mine eyeballs
  • Apparitions + symbolism
    • Armed head = (?) soldiers
    • Blood child = any child in Scotland that feels threatened OR Macduff’s son who will be killed OR Macduff when he was ripped from womb
    • Child crowned with tree = foreshadows that Malcom will be the next king
  • Tree = soldiers carry trees (Act 5 Scene ) which leads to Macbeth’s downfall
  • Macbeth’s false sense of security
    • None of woman born
    • Great Birnam wood to Dunsinane Hill
  • Metonymy
    • Round and top of sovereignty → crown (which is symbolic of kingship)
    • Be lion-mettled → brave and courageous
  • Punctuation
    • Excessive use of ! and - and ? → shows shock and fear in Macbeth’s mind
  • Biblical allusion
    • Th’crack of doom → doomsday
  • Alliteration
    • blood-boltered Banquo smiles upon me → smile is symbol of victory; b is a harsh consonant which reveals his anger and fear at seeing this image
  • Apostrophe
    • Time, thou… exploits → time is enemy

Scene 2

General overview

  • This scene initially provides comic relief to the audience, while allowing the audience to emotionally connect with Lady Macduff and her son
  • That connection is then broken by murderers brutally killing them. This invokes pathos in the audience, and is used to fuel Macduff’s anger.
  • Shows the precariousness of the political situation in Scotland
  • This is the climax of Macbeth’s tyranny.
  • The dangerous times in Scotland demand a certain maturity from the son, which is shown in his dialogue

Themes

  • Loyalty

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Evil
    • He’s the b a a a d g u y . duh

Devices

  • Animal Imagery
    • “for the poor wren, the most diminutive of birds, will fight, her young ones in her nest, against the owl” → criticising Macduff for fleeing to England by contrasting him against a wren.
  • Listing
    • “Noble, wise, judicious” → Ross tries to justify Macduff’s decision by attributing good qualities to him even though he fled.
  • Implicit subtext (is this a device or is there a better name for it)
    • “But cruel are the times, when we are traitors and do not know ourselves”
  • Litotes
    • “The fits o’th’season”
  • Metaphor
    • “float upon a wild and violent sea” → compares Scotland to an unpredictable sea.
  • Paradox
    • “Father’d he [the son] is, and yet he’s fatherless.” → Macduff is alive, but isn’t there to protect his son.
  • Stichomythia
    • Quick dialogue between Lady Macduff and her son adds to the humorous element of the scene

Scene 3

Act 5

Scene 1

General Overview

  • Last on-stage appearance of Lady Macbeth; after long time-lapse. As scene commences, we are unsure who the gentlewoman and doctor are talking about; shock when it is revealed to be Lady Macbeth
  • Consolidates her status as a tragic heroine
  • The Elizabethan (did not understand mental illnesses) and modern responses are starkly different; the former believe a sense a divine justice has been reached whereas the latter feel pity and sympathy
    Language
  • Regular rhythm and verse is missing as it is not appropriate for someone who has lost her mind
  • Almost as if she is denied the dignity and sublimation associated with poetic language
  • Prose; no iambic pentameter
  • Sense of fragmentation is apparent; thoughts are neither rational nor chronologic
    Ailments
  • Depression
  • Sleepwalking
  • Obsessive compulsive disorder
  • Fear/Phobia of the dark
    • Symbolises her need for light (purity, good virtues) in an evil Scotland where there is none
    • Ironical because she repeatedly called on darkness and night to aid her in her actions
  • PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
    • “The heart is sorely charged.”
    • “infected minds to their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets”

Themes

  • Regret and guilt
  • Fate (rather, reversal of fate)
  • Justice and punishment

Characterisation

  • Lady Macbeth
    • Delirious, shaken by the moral weight of the acts she has urged Macbeth to commit → “More needs she the divine than the physician.”
    • Insane “This disease is beyond my practice”
    • Yet who would’ve thought the old man to have so much blood in him?
    • Fragile, vulnerable
    • Doesn’t know what is going on in the country she is Queen in - “The thane of Fife had a wife where is she now?”. There is a sense of innocence in her words, which invokes pathos.
    • Craves Macbeth’s company

Devices

  • Dramatic irony
    • “Out, damned spot! out, I say!”, “all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” - think back to “a little water clears us of this deed”
  • Epistrophe, listing
    • Fold it, write upon’t, read it, afterwards seal it → shows regularity of actions; every night she observes
  • Symbolism
    • Taper → (basically a candle) symbol of life; shows her desperation to get out of world of darkness
  • Repetition of phrases
    • “To bed, to bed, to bed!” → metaphorically going towards her deathbed
    • “Oh, oh, oh!”
    • Emphasises the fact that she is mentally suffering and vulnerable
    • Come, come, come, come give me your hand → symbolic of entering hell
  • Allusion
    • All the perfumes of Arabia…hand → hyperbole; exotic, strong, smelling perfumes; knows she will never be free
  • Exclamation
    • “God, God forgive us all!” yes why did we take lit
  • Parallelism
    • Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles → repetition of unnatural refers to Great Chain of Being; Elizabethan belief that mental instability was caused by devils
  • Personification
    • Deaf pillow will discharge → too heavy a burden to carry

Scene 2

General overview

  • The audience finds out that Malcolm, Macduff, Siward, and the English army are assimilating forces to march against Macbeth.
  • Macbeth’s men are serving him out of fear, rather than love or duty. This is another indicator of Macbeth’s terrible reign as king.
    • “Those he commands move only in command, nothing in love”.

Themes

  • Kingship
  • Loyalty

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • His men are running away from him, the audience feels a bit of pathos
    • “Some say he’s mad; others that lesser hate him do call it valiant fury” → Macbeth does not buckle under the troubles of internal revolt, but strongly fights in self-preservation. This is one way he arguably begins to redeem himself.
    • Even Macbeth’s mind is revolting against him “When all that is within him does condemn itself for being there”. This heightens the pathos.

Devices

  • Metaphor
    • “Revenges burn in them” → revenge is compared to a fire to show the rage shared against Macbeth by the world
    • “He cannot buckle his distemper’d cause within the belt of rule.” → shows the unjust chaos that is in Macbeth’s kingdom
    • “His secret murders sticking on his hands” → tactile imagery, compares murder to blood that doesn’t wash off. sEeM fAMiliaR? yEs.
    • “Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal” → Malcolm is referred to as the medicine for the sickness that is Macbeth’s reign.
    • “with him pour we in our country’s purge each drop of us” → soldiers compared to drops of blood that cleanse Scotland.
    • “dew the sovereign flower and drown the weeds” → extends the above metaphor to imply that the drops (the soldiers) help plant flowers (bring the rightful king Malcolm to power), and drown the weeds (uproot the tyrant Macbeth).
  • Hyperbole
    • “for their dear causes would to the bleeding and the grim alarm excite the mortified man” → Hyperbole, shows the nobility in Macduff and Malcolm’s cause
  • Diction
    • “Tyrant”
    • Words against Macbeth show the audience the people’s allegiance to the English army
  • Simile
    • “now does he feel his title
      Hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe
      Upon a dwarfish thief.” → Macbeth is unfit to be king, just as robes that do not fit him. Clothing imagery used a lot in this play for titles. His moral lowness is emphasised by “dwarfish thief”.
  • Imagery

Scene 3

General Overview

  • Macbeth has lost all the respect and loyalty he previously garnered - he understands that the journey he took has ultimately been fruitless, hence cementing his position as a tragic hero.
  • Audience is torn between judgement for a tyrant and sympathy for a good man who has traveled along a bad path.
  • Acknowledgment of his failure as a king.
  • This situation contrasts with how Duncan reacted to news Macbeth is saucy and over-bold, whereas Duncan reacted with praise and joy
  • Seyton sounds like Satan

Themes

  • Kingship
  • Guilt and remorse
  • Power and ambition

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • We can see the two sides to Macbeth’s personality Arrogance (as tyrant) and remorse
    • His love for his wife is apparent, as he is desperate to find a cure for her
    • Macbeth’s sense of security stems solely from the witches’ prophecies as he does not have a considerable army to lead into battle; all friends are rebelling
    • We see him using derogatory language instead of the elevated language in previous acts. This shows his fall in his character.
    • Macbeth’s obsession with power is shown “‘Fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman shall e’er have power upon thee’”. He does not quote the witches’ actual words, and changes it to a meaning in terms of power.

Devices

  • Metaphor
    • Let them all fly → traitors compared to birds
    • Is fall’n into the… yellow leaf → metaphor comparing life to the seasons; he has reached the autumn phase
    • Pluck from his memory… brain → compared to page where troubles are written
    • Cast the water of my land → Lady macbeth needs to be cleaned of disease like Scotland needs to be cleaned of english forces
  • Allusion
    • Mingle with the english epicures → insulting englishmen by saying that they only enjoy luxury (ie follow the philosophy of epicurus)
  • Derogatory and casual language
    • “let them fly all”
    • “Where got’st thou that goose-look?
    • “Geese, villain?”
  • Color symbolism
    • Lily-livered boy, linen, whey-face → white symbolizes cowardice
    • Over-red → red symbolizes courage

Scene 4

General overview

#* Scenes are becoming smaller to quicken the pace of the play, making it dramatic.

  • There is a significant amount of foreshadowing in this scene. This is the scene where the English soldiers cut down the wood of Birnam
    • “Let every soldier hew him down a bough and bear’t before him”
    • “The wood of Birnam.”

Scene 5

General overview

  • Macbeth has been deserted, and is unable to fight the enemies like a man
  • He has Lady Macbeth’s death reported to him and responds with indifference
  • He has “supped full with horrors”.
  • He expresses nihilistic views, saying life ultimately means nothing. He finds life fragile and empty.
  • His confidence is finally undone when he hears of the “moving grove”, causing him to realise that the evil spirits were deceiving him the whole time.
  • His frustration is expressed “And wish h’estate o’th’world were now undone”. He begins to “grow weary of the sun”.
  • Maying procession where young men carried branches symbolic of fresh new beginning. Winter (period of adversity) is over

Themes

  • Rebellion
  • Trees
  • Guilt and remorse
  • Nihilism

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Lady Macbeth’s death propels Macbeth into a deeply contemplative state where he questions his life and existence, having lost her. This shows his love for her
    • Macbeth has lost all sensitivity in his life he does not fear anymore. His emotionless mind is the result of all of the horrors that he has experienced. He is tired of life itself.
      • “I have almost forgot the taste of fears”
      • “my senses would have cool’d to hear a night-shriek”
      • “Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts cannot once start me.”
      • “She should have died hereafter”
    • Macbeth’s elevated language seems to be returning to the level of the previous of Acts, shows that he is still inherently the same man.
    • Macbeth realises his folly and comes to a revelation at the end of the play. He reflects on the futility of life in the lines “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. His nihilistic views are the product of his sorrow at Lady Macbeth’s death, as well as the hopeless situation he finds himself trapped in. He remarks “Out, out, brief candle, life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.” This reflects his realisation about the inevitability of death, while comparing life to an actor that is temporarily in the spotlight and then is heard from no more. This theatrical imagery is powerful in the context of a theatre. This evokes pathos in Macbeth and his situation, because his grief and misery is expressed vividly through these lines. He realises the folly in his actions, and truly understands their consequences now when he is suffering. In this way, Macbeth can be argued to have reached clarity about the reality of life, by enduring the consequences of his folly, which is his downfall.

Devices

  • Personification
    • “our castle’s strength Will laugh a siege to scorn”
  • Metaphor
    • “Till famine and the ague eat them up”
    • “I have almost forgot the taste of fears” → compares fear to an edible object, as if it is something experienced by tasting. Shows his evolution as a character from a guilty, frightened perpetrator to a murderous tyrant.
  • Synecdoche
    • “We might have met them dareful, beard to beard” → beard symbolises man, and everything that manliness stands for
  • Alliteration
    • “And beat them backward home.” → the ‘b’ sound emphasises the violence in the action of beating people.
  • Symbolism
    • All our yesterdays have lighted fools → yesterdays are symbolic of the past
  • Biblical allusion
    • Dusty death. → from dust we have some and to dust we will return; caesura emphasizes brevity of life and suddenness of death
  • Apostrophe
    • Out, out brief candle → metaphor comparing life to brief candle
  • Analogy
    • Life’s but a walking shadow… hour upon the stage → compares life to the lowest member of a theatre (a walking gentlemen) ; given specific time and role; despite being short you think your damn important, strutting and fretting btu in the end nobody will remember you who you are
    • It is a tale told by an idiot… nothing. → idiots are writers of the play; no matter what, at the end of the play, the stage will be empty
  • Repetition
    • Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow → polysyndeton, symbolises time; hyperbolistic image of how slowly time is progressing

Scene 6

No

Scene 7

No

Scene 8

Themes

  • Heroism

Characterisation

  • Macbeth
    • Dies a hero

Devices

  • Allusion and metaphor
    • “Why should I play the Roman fool, and die on mine own sword?” → it was the roman belief that it is better to die at one’s own hands than at the hands of the enemy. The English belief that dying fighting is a death filled with nobility.
  • Verbal irony
    • “And let the angel whom thou still hast served” → refers to the witches as ‘angels’ to spite Macbeth
  • Diction
    • “Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripp’d.” → the word ‘ripped’ is violent, and is in keeping with the consequences this fact has for Macbeth - this is the removal of the last false barrier that ‘defended’ Macbeth and raised his ego.
  • Simile, hyperbole
    • Intrenchant air… bleed → cutting me is like cutting air; pointless and futile; shows his arrogance and false sense of security
  • Metaphor
    • “Turn, hell-hound, turn!” → Macduff compares Macbeth to a creature spawned in Hell, a vile representation of Macbeth’s tyranny and evil.
    • And to be baited…curse → compared to bear baiting; doesn’t want to e verbally abused by a crowd lmao
  • Kinaesthetic imagery
    • I throw my warlike shield → Macbeth’s values as a soldier are coming back to him; last action in play; at least he doesn’t die as a coward so yesh

Scene 9

General overview

  • Macbeth’s defeat is celebrated by the English army
  • Malcolm establishes English rule to Scotland “My thanes and kinsmen, Henceforth be earls”

Themes

  • Kingship
  • Novelty
  • Justice

Devices

  • Metaphor
    • Has paid a soldier’s debt → a sense of remorse/mourning is lacking;
  • Euphemism
    • Go off → die
  • Subjunctive implication
    • Had he his hurts before? Ay on the front → if he had wounds on his back, that would imply that he was a coward, running away from his attacker; this tells us he died fighting
  • Metaphor
    • “his knell is knoll’d” → alliteration; knell symbolizes death; his death bell has metaphorically been rung
    • Thy kingdon’s pearl → the most precious parts of the kingdom
    • Planted newly with time
  • Personification
    • “the time is free” → ‘Time’ represents Scotland itself, and shows that it has been purged from Macbeth’s evil
    • Fled the snares of watchful tyranny → escaped Macbeth’s terrible rule
  • Diction
    • Dead butcher and his fiend-like queen → the audience feels a grave strickening of the heart as we realize that what they will go down in history as fundamentally evil; through this rollercoaster of a play we have seen the aspects of both characters which convince us that they in fact do not deserve to be immortalized as demons; a subtle, sinking sadness settles into us; Goodbye.
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