Macbeth
Characterisation
“When the battle’s lost and won”
• The witches are the personification of evil in
the play.
• The reference to Macbeth makes us wonder
what his relationship to evil is.
• There is a reference to a battle which suggests
the theme of the play is the battle between
good and evil.
“brave Macbeth-well does he deserve
that name.”
• The praise of the “bloody captain” suggests
good qualities in Macbeth.
• Macbeth is established as a courageous, loyal
soldier.
• However, there is a suggestion that Macbeth
may be bloodthirsty in battle.
• The issue of loyalty and treason is introduced
to the theme of the battle between good and
evil.
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen”
• Macbeth’s use of similar language to the
witches suggests he truly may be linked to
them in evil.
• The language is ambiguous suggesting that
evil is duplicitous and creates chaos and
upheaval.
“Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me
more”
• Macbeth’s ambition is stirred by the witches
words.
• This effectively suggests it is not a virtue but a
flaw in Macbeth’s character.
• His desire to listen further to the witches links
him with evil.
“upon this bank and shoal of
time,/We’d jump the life to come”
In the opening soliloquy, Macbeth gives various
reasons why he should not kill Duncan
He is willing to trade heaven for the title, King.
The reference to the afterlife shows Macbeth is
aware of the moral implications of regicide. It
also refers to the theme of good and evil.
This effectively establishes that killing Duncan
would be an act of evil
“I have bought/Golden opinions from
all sorts of people, which should be
worn now in their newest gloss.
• Macbeth explains why he should not kill Duncan
to Lady Macbeth.
• Clothing imagery is used to show he is in his
rightful place.
• This effectively suggests that Macbeth becoming
king, through regicide, would be unnatural.
• A further reference to the theme of the battle
between good and evil.
“Have pluck’d my nipple from his
boneless gums/And dashed the brains
out”
• Lady Macbeth would do this rather than
break a promise.
• She reminds us of the witches .
• This links Lady Macbeth to the witches and
evil.
• This effectively reinforces that regicide would
be the triumph of evil.
The Dagger Scene, Act 2 scene 2
• The questions show Macbeth’s indecision.
• Ambiguous role of evil.
• Macbeth is fully aware of the evil he will
unleash when he murders Duncan.
• At the end he seems fully determined to kill
Duncan.
“I could not say ‘Amen’/When they did
say ‘God bless us”
• This suggests that Macbeth has damned
himself.
• The inability to pray effectively shows that
Macbeth progressed in evil as soon as he
committed regicide.
• The tone used by Macbeth carries a
suggestion of loss and some regret.
“Some say the earth/Was feverous and
did shake.”
• The evil unleashed by Duncan’s murder has
spread throughout Scotland.
• This effectively shows that regicide is a crime
against the God-created order. This is first
seen in the natural world.
• The theme, the battle between good and evil,
shows that evil has triumphed.
“Lest our old robes sit easier than our
new”
• Clothing imagery is used to show that
Duncan’s sons, not Macbeth are his rightful
heir.
• This reinforces that regicide has disturbed the
rightful order.
• This effectively reinforces the theme, the
battle between good and evil.
“Know, that it was he in the times past
which held you so under fortune, which
you thought had been our innocent
self.”
• Appearance and reality is used to show
Macbeth’s further progress in evil. He
dissembles easily.
• Macbeth has further progressed in evil shown
by the ease with which he plots the murder of
Banquo and Fleance.
• “under fortune” suggests that Macbeth’s reign
is a difficult and oppressive one.
• This links tyranny with evil.
“O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear
wife!”
• Scorpions are linked with dark and evil things in
the play.
• The use of word choice,“full” suggests Macbeth’s
thoughts are consumed with evil.
• The use of the exclamation mark suggests some
anguish on Macbeth’s part which is part of what
makes him a tragic hero.
• This effectively shows that murder and tyranny is
making Macbeth progress even further in evil.
• This further develops the play’s theme, the battle
between good and evil.
“Thou canst not say I did it;never
shake/Thy gory locks at me!”
Macbeth’s conscience is troubled as he is
haunted by Banquo’s ghost.
The exclamation mark suggests distress.
As in the Dagger scene, the supernatural has an
ambiguous attitude towards Macbeth.
These factors together add to Macbeth’s
characterisation as a tragic hero despite being
a murderous despot.
“I will tomorrow –and betimes I will-to
the weird sisters”
• Macbeth decides to seek out the witches.
• This shows a further progression in evil as he
willingly turns to the personification of evil.
• Macbeth is deluded into thinking he can
control the witches.
• This delusion contributes to his
characterisation as a tragic hero.
“From this moment/The very firstlings
of my heart shall be /The firstlings of
my hand.
• Macbeth assertion shows that he is growing
more comfortable with committing evil
deeds.
• This suggests he has progressed even further
in evil.
• Evil seems to be triumphing.
“Those he commands, move only in
command.”
• Macbeth continues to be a tyrant.
• The link between tyranny and evil continues
throughout the play.
• This is effective as it shows Macbeth is
becoming even more of a tyrant which
suggests he is continuing to progress further
in evil.
“his title/Hang loose about him, like a
giant’s robe/Upon a dwarfish thief.”
• Clothing imagery is developed to indicate
Macbeth is a usurper to the throne.
• The contrast between “giant” and “thief”
emphasises that Macbeth is not the rightful king.
• The use of word choice, “thief” reminds us that
Macbeth committed regicide to become king.
• This effectively conveys how little Macbeth
deserves to be king.
“I have supp’d full with
horrors;/Direness familiar to my
slaughterous thoughts.”
• Macbeth is aware of the person he has become.
• The metaphor compares his evil deeds to an over
indulgence of food and drink.
• This effectively suggests a huge quantity of evil deeds.
• The use of word choice, “horrors”, “Direness” and
“slaughterous” suggests the blackest deeds of evil.
• The tone is mournful, regretful.
• The use of these techniques conveys Macbeth to us as
a tragic hero.
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor
player/That struts and frets his hour
upon the stage”
• Acting imagery is used to show Macbeth’s sense
of the futility of his life.
• The use of word choice, “shadow” suggests a
sense of insignificance. This is further developed
by the use of “struts and frets” which conveys
the idea of unnecessary anxiety.
• This effectively shows that Macbeth questions
what he has achieved by resorting to evil and
promotes the characterisation of Macbeth as a
tragic hero.
“Blow wind, come wrack;/At least we’ll
die with harness on our back”
• Macbeth is purposeful and resolved. He is,
once more, the valiant soldier he had been.
• The use of commands,”Blow wind, come
wrack” suggests his determination.
• The armour metaphor conveys his
determination to fight to the end.
• This effectively develops Macbeth as a tragic
hero as we see, once more, the brave soldier
despite his being out-numbered.
They have tied me to a stake;I cannot
fly,/But bear-like I must fight the
course”
• Macbeth knows he is outnumbered.
• The bear-baiting simile emphasises his
hopeless situation.
• Macbeth is a tragic hero as he is determined
to fight to the end.
“Why should I play the Roman fool and
die/On mine own sword?
• The use of acting imagery conveys Macbeth’s
determination to fight on.
• The reference to a “Sword” reminds us of the
theme, the battle between good and evil.
• The rhetorical question suggests Macbeth
refused to even countenance suicide as an
escape.
• This effectively emphasises Macbeth as a
tragic hero.
“Of this dead butcher and his fiend-like
queen.”
• Malcolm gives this verdict on the deposed and
dead Macbeth.
• The use of word choice, “butcher” reminds us of
Macbeth’s bloodthirsty, evil deeds and reign.
• “fiend-like” reminds us of Macbeth’s link to the
witches and evil.
• However, the soliloquies and the characterisation
of Macbeth as a tragic hero prevents us from fully
agreeing with Malcolm.