Unlocking Themes in Unlocking Themes in MacbethMacbeth• Ambition can subvert

reason.• Good and evil

When supernatural powers represent evil, they should be ignored.

• Disorder The natural order is

disrupted by any upset in the proper order of human society.

Unlocking Themes in Unlocking Themes in MacbethMacbeth• Appearances do not

always reflect reality.• The supernatural

Despite prophecies of the future, people are responsible for their own actions.

• Greed and Power Attempts to control

the future by overturning the natural order of society are futile.

AmbitionAmbition can subvert can subvert reasonreason• “From this

moment,the very firstlings of my shall be the firstlings of my hand.”– Act IV, Scene 1

• “Thou wouldst be great; art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.”– Act I, Scene 5

• Ambition can be put to good use, but as we see in Macbeth it can corrupt also, if it's not controlled by a sound sense of morality. In some respects Macbeth is blind - for example he can't see what the witches are up to in leading him on.

• Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness.

• Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts.

• In each case, ambition—helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches—is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one’s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne—Banquo, Fleance, Macduff—and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.

Ambition can subvertAmbition can subvert reasonreason

GOOD AND EVILGOOD AND EVIL• “But ‘tis strange! And

oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darknessdarkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence.”– Act I, Scene 3

• “Accursed be the tongue that tells me so, for it hath cowed my better part of man! And be these juggling fiends no more believed.”– Act V, Scene 8

• Although good and evil exist in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, we see the two at different times. When Lady Macbeth pushed Macbeth to murder Duncan, her "evil" side was conquering his "good" side. In this way, "evil" prevailed over "good." Throughout the play, we see Macbeth and his wife in a constant struggle between the "good" and "evil" within themselves.

DisorderDisorder

• “By the clock ‘tis day, and yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp. Is’t night’s predominance, or day’s shame, that darkness does the face of earth entomb when living light should kiss it?”– Act II, Scene 4“The

obscure bird clamored the livelong night. Some say the earth was feverous and did shake.”

– Act II, Scene 3

• In Macbeth, much of the plot revolves around disorder and chaos - whether the characters or audience realise it or not.

• Because of the constant struggle for power in the play, the nation is always at risk of disorder. If a strong leader is not present, many things can go wrong very easily and very quickly.

• Disorder causes problems for many people, the king included. Signs of disorder are seen in Macbeth, especially when there is talk of a solar eclipse, an owl killing a falcon, and Duncan's horses running wild. This indicates that something is not stable in society.

AppearancesAppearances do not always do not always reflect reality.reflect reality.• “There’s no art to find

the mind’s construction in the face. He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust.”– Act I, Scene 4

• “Our separated fortune shall keep us both the safer. Where we are, there’s in men’s smiles; the near in blood, the nearer bloody.”– Act II, Scene 3

• The theme of appearance versus reality can be seen in many ways. One obvious aspect is when Lady Macbeth greets Duncan at his arrival to their home. She states how anxious she has been for him to arrive. The appearance is that of a gracious and humble hostess greeting the king in an appropriate manner. The reality is that she and her husband are anxious to put their plot to kill him into effect.

• Another example of this theme is in the guilt both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth experience. Macbeth "sees" a bloody dagger floating in the air towards the king's room as he is preparing to kill Duncan. The reality is that the appearance of the dagger is most likely a manifestation of the guilt he feels.

• Lady Macbeth believes her hands are covered in blood, yet the reality is that her guilt will not let her forget that she has helped commit murder.

The supernaturalThe supernatural

“If you can look into the seeds of time and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear your favors nor your hate.”– Act I, Scene 3“I pull in resolution, and

begin to doubt the equivocation of the fiend, that lies like truth.”

– Act V, Scene 5

• The presence of supernatural forces in William Shakespeare's, "Macbeth," provides for much of the play's dramatic tension and the mounting suspense. Several supernatural apparitions throughout the play profoundly affect

• Macbeth and the evil forces eventually claim Macbeth and destroy his morals. Macbeth's ambition was driven by the prophecies of the three witches and unlike Banquo, he was willing to do anything to assure that they actually transpire.

• Macbeth is horrified at the notion of killing Duncan, his King and kinsman, but he eventually succumbs to the evil forces and this leads to his downfall. Macbeth further compromises his honor by arranging the murder of his best friend, Banquo. Banquo's places Macbeth in a precarious situation; he is deeply entrenched in suspicion and there is no way out.

• Macbeth's vision of Banquo's ghost at a royal banquet only drives him closer to insanity.

Greed and powerGreed and power

• “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised.”

• The terms "greed" and "power" seem to go hand-in-hand in the play Macbeth. Because of greed, Macbeth (and Lady Macbeth) want more power -- that of the Royal Family. Greed for power has completely engulfed their minds: they cannot accept anything less than complete power over Scotland.

• It has destroyed them by destroying all that was familiar around them: friends, loved ones, and their own sanity. It has driven Lady Macbeth to mental illness by Act Five and Macbeth to regret and remorse by the same time.

The Scottish Play•It is believed to be bad luck to even squeak the word ‘Macbeth’ in a theatre

•Legend has it you will lose all your friends involved in the production--horribly

•MORE ON THAT LATER...

• Def. “Man of high standard who falls from that high because of a flaw that has affected many” - Aristotle

• Macbeth is one of the most famous examples of the tragic hero.

So what really happens?

• Good guy goes bad• Guy wants power• Married to a pushy control freak• She wants power• Kills people- LOTS of people• Gets power• Gets paranoid (a.k.a. goes crazy)• Ticks off a lot of people• Want more power! Kill! Kill!• Gets what’s coming to him in the

end

4 main soliloquies• The raven himself is hoarse- Lady Macbeth , Act 1 Scene

5)• If it were done when ‘tis done- Macbeth , Act 1 Scene 7)• Is this a dagger which I see

before me- Macbeth , Act 2 Scene 1)• Tomorrow, and tomorrow,

and tomorrow - Macbeth , Act 5 Scene 5)

• Good/evil• Supernatural/

natural• Order/disorder• Heaven/hell• Reality/illusion

• Macbeth/Duncan (as Kings)• Macbeth/Macduff• Macbeth/Lady Macbeth