Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Ms. Zupancic Honors English 11

Transcription

1 Macbeth by William Shakespeare Ms. Zupancic Honors English 11

2 Themes in Macbeth Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Ambition Power Fate & Free Will (Time) Violence Nature & the Unnatural Manhood & Gender Versions of Reality The Supernatural Sleep Visions & Hallucinations Blood

3 Theme of Ambition Ambition Macbeth Nation s greatest warrior Should be enough, right? A taste of power to fulfill deepest desires Ambition overwhelms Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Want to be great and powerful, sacrificing their morals to attain their goals

4 Power Absolute power corrupts absolutely Shakespeare s time Divine Right of Kings Idea that the power of kings comes directly from God Macbeth Power is natural --- until it s not Macbeth kills Duncan, defying the law of nature & God by killing his king Theme of Power

5 Theme of Violence & Blood Symbolism To call Macbeth a violent play is an understatement A vicious cycle Every violent act, even those done for selfless reasons, seems to lead inevitably to the next Violence leads to violence blood will to blood Macbeth's violence is inexcusable Doesn't play by the established rules Organized violence is sport Individual violence is uncivilized Blood linked to violence Symbolizes guilt Death/killing = instant Blood = stains/remains When Macbeth/ Lady Macbeth feel most guilty, they seem to not be able to wash blood from their hands

6 Theme of Manhood & Gender Does a true man take what he wants no matter what it is, as Lady Macbeth believes? Or does a real man have the strength to restrain his desires, as Banquo believes? All of Macbeth can be seen as a struggle to answer this question about the nature & responsibilities of manhood. Gender politics are explored Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth s masculinity as a way to get him to do what she wants Macbeth s fear of emasculation spurs him on He has to prove to her he is a man Lady Macbeth rejects her femininity as a way to build up her courage

7 Theme of Fate & Free Will Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them? Weird sisters force characters & audience to question fate Are the witches playing on Macbeth's ambition and planting the idea of murder in his head; really privy to some secret info about the way things are going to go down; or actually controlling fate in some way? Macbeth is so obsessed with his fate that he becomes delusional Ruins himself FIRST WITCH - All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! SECOND WITCH - All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! THIRD WITCH - All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!

8 Theme of Deception & Symbol of Visions & Hallucinations Appearance vs. Reality Nothing is quite what it seems Hypocrisy is everywhere Antithesis Witches Juxtaposition of two opposing sides Fair is foul, and foul is fair Speak in ambiguous equivocations (vague misleading language) Visions & Hallucinations Macbeth sees/hears strange things (his mind fights itself) floating dagger Banquo s ghost strange voices Lady Macbeth Visions Sleepwalks Blood-stained hands Supernatural signs of guilt

9 Supernatural Elements Theme of the Supernatural In Macbeth, the supernatural isn t just for stories, but is REAL Witches Set mood/tone for play Chant to spirits Show visions to Macbeth

10 Theme of Nature & the Unnatural Medieval Times Believed that the health of a country was related to the goodness & moral legitimacy of its king A good & just king = a nation that would have good harvest & good weather Political order = natural order Duncan & Malcolm use nature metaphors when they speak of kingship See themselves as gardeners When Macbeth disrupts the social & political order, nature goes haywire Storms rage, the earth tremors, animals go insane & eat each other Lady Macbeth & Macbeth try to hide from nature or use nature to hide their cruel designs Once they ve given in to selfish ambition, they have themselves become unnatural

11 Symbols of Sleep & Weather Sleep Symbolizes innocence, purity, peace of mind Weather Lady Macbeth s sleepwalking Macbeth haunted by his nightmares Play begins with terrible storm Grotesque murder spree Accompanied by a number of unnatural occurrences in the natural realm Violations of the natural order reflect corruption in the moral and political orders Darkness Indicates something bad is about to happen Light is associated with life and God Cover of night is invoked whenever anything terrible is going to happen Lady Macbeth thinks the light is going to protect her against the evil forces she summoned Sets the tone for the events unfolding on stage World thrown into darkness because of Macbeth s choices

12 Theme of Loyalty & Honor Loyalty introduced early on Treason of the Thane of Cawdor Macbeth s loyalty to the King raises him up in Duncan s opinion Gives him courage to defeat Norwegian Army Rewarded handsomely for loyalty with new title Ironically This trust in Macbeth allows him to get close enough to kill King Duncan Macbeth does not incite the kind of loyalty in his soldiers that Duncan did Many soldiers abandon posts

13 Theme of Salvation & Damnation Macbeth Dismayed that he cannot utter an Amen after Duncan s guards say a prayer His soul has been damned Blessing catches in his throat Obsessed with spiritual world Reliance on witches/prophesies Exchanged Christianity in favor of Witches religion?

14 Asides in Macbeth This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature? Present fears are less than horrible imaginings. ~ Macbeth An aside is a remark or passage by a character that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by other characters in the play. Glamis, and thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind. ~ Macbeth

15 Soliloquies in Macbeth A soliloquy is an act of speaking one s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers (the baring of one s soul or innermost thoughts). Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heatoppressèd brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable as this which now I draw ~ Macbeth

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17 Macbeth Characters Macbeth Lady Macbeth s husband Thane of Glamis Made Thane of Cawdor for his bravery in battle Play opening Loyal, valiant, honorable & ambitious Hears weird sisters prophecy Becomes consumed by desire for power

18 Macbeth Characters Lady Macbeth Macbeth s wife The original power couple No reservations about committing murder Believes a true man takes what he wants Questions Macbeth s courage when he worries about morals Guilt is not so easily avoided Madness & despair

19 Banquo (Bane-kwoh) Macbeth Characters Scottish nobleman, general & friend of Macbeth Father of Fleance (Flee-ahns) Weird sisters prophesy that Banquo will never be king HOWEVER his descendants will one day sit on the throne As ambitious as Macbeth Resists putting selfish ambition above his honor or Scotland A threat to Macbeth Living example of the noble path that Macbeth chose not to take

20 Macbeth Characters Macduff Scottish nobleman that dislikes Macbeth from the get go In a game of Marry, Date, or Dump, we'd dump Macbeth (duh), date Malcolm (nice boy, but too many responsibilities) and marry Macduff One of the first to suspect Macbeth has a hand in the King s death A guy who can feel and act If Duncan has feeling without action, and Macbeth has action without feeling, then Macduff seems to have both. Why doesn't he become king? He accepts his natural place: as a friend to his country and to his true king. We are used to thinking of women as being the emotional ones, but that's actually a fairly recent say, 300 years or so invention. For hundreds of years before that, men were the emotional ones. Women were too flighty to have any deep feelings, except maybe for their kids.

21 Macbeth Characters King Duncan Good King of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murder The model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted ruler His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne King Duncan & Lady Macbeth Considers loyalty and honor when rewarding his friends and allies A generous, humorous and joyous King Delighted by Macbeth s loyalty

22 Macbeth Characters Malcolm Elder son of King Duncan Next in line to be King of Scotland Shows himself to be much savvier than his dad Becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff s aid (and the support of England) Prior to this Appears weak and uncertain of his own power, as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father s murder When his father is murdered Doesn t know what to do Decides to run, saying "This murderous shaft that's shot/ Hath not yet lighted, and our safest way/ Is to avoid the aim" (2.3) Translation: let's get out of here until we see how things play out

23 Macbeth Characters 3 Weird Sisters/Hags/Witches Resemble the mythological Fates, who impersonally weave the threads of human destiny Weird" comes from the Old English term "wyrd," meaning "fate" Take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to toy with and destroy human beings Plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, & prophecies Predictions prompt Macbeth To murder Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, & to blindly believe in his own immortality

24 Macbeth Characters Fleance (Flee-ahns) Banquo s son Survives Macbeth s attempt to murder him Flees while his father is murdered Possible heir to the throne Isn t heard from again Lady Macduff Macduff s wife Scene in her castle provides our only glimpse of a domestic realm other than that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth She and her home serve as contrasts to Lady Macbeth and the hellish world of Inverness Knows she is innocent & refuses to run

25 Macbeth Characters Young Macduff Macduff s son Smart, witty boy Refuses to believe that his father is atraitor Just starting to get a grip on the way the world works Asks his mother many questions Lennox A Scottish nobleman Appears to be on Macbeth s side Remains so for the majority of the play HOWEVER abruptly changes his mind about Macbeth s tyranny and decides to join with Macduff to fight against Macbeth

26 Macbeth Characters Ross A Scottish nobleman Often asks questions about events that have happened offstage or need to be reiterated so that the audience knows what is happening Donalbain Duncan s youngest son and Malcolm s younger brother Second in line to the throne Flees for Ireland Murderers A group of ruffians conscripted by Macbeth to murder Banquo, Fleance (whom they fail to kill), and Macduff s wife and children Porter Drunken doorman of Macbeth s castle

27 Macbeth Characters Siward (See-ward) Earl of Northumberland in England & joins in the fight against Macbeth Loses Young Siward (his son) to Macbeth Pleased that he died like a man, which seems callous, but Siward is filled with deep pride for him King Edward King of England So saintly, his touch can cure the sick Seyton Macbeth s servant Old Man An elderly fellow who sees some strange things happen the night Macbeth murders Duncan Captain Captain of the Scottish Army

28 Macbeth Characters Hecate Leader of the witches Goddess of witchcraft Helps the three witches work their mischief on Macbeth Witches fear her because she is powerful Gentlewoman Lady Macbeth s attendant Angus A Scottish nobleman

29 Macbeth Act I, Scene i Raging storm Thunder & lightening Three witches appear on barren heath Heath = barren, open country covered by small shrubs Let audience in on plan to meet Macbeth Witches call out to familiars (aka spirits, usually cats, that serve the witches) Rhyming paradoxes & antithesis Fair is foul, and foul is fair. ~ Witches (1.1.10) The beautiful is ugly and the ugly is beautiful. When the battle s lost and won ~ Witches (1.1.4) Witches will meet again when the battle is lost by one side and won by another. Nothing is as it seems to be Tone is ominous & speech is paranormal (inhuman)