Macbeth Discussion Questions
1) Characterize the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. If the main theme of
Macbeth is ambition, whose ambition is the driving force of the play—Macbeth’s, Lady
Macbeth’s, or both? (discuss hamartia)
Act 3 Scene 1 serves to portray the changing nature of the relationship between Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth.
the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 7 is distorted as Macbeth,
in Act 3 Scene 1, assumes the more dominating role as he demonstrates alarming acumen and
finesse when successfully persuading the murderers to kill Banquo. Yet, although the scenes
demonstrate an apparent exchange of roles between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, the similarity
between the scenes is apparent in the way Macbeth’s closing words in Act 1 Scene 7, “I’m
settled on it then” parallel the murderer’s resolve in Act 3 Scene 1, “We’ve made up our minds,
my Lord.”
2) Two scenes are persuasion: Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare. The play has two
significant scenes of persuasion; first one in Act 1 sc vii and the second one in Act 3 sc i. There
are stark similarities and differences that draw attention of the audience.
In Act 1 sc vii, Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan when he was invited to the
castle and was fast asleep. And in Act 3 sc i, Macbeth persuades himself and the murderers (and
to certain extent Lady Macbeth) to kill Banquo.
Quasi-similar characteristic between the two scenes is that a character who is
exhorting/persuading the other character is convinced of what should be done before
convincing the other character in the play. Lady Macbeth is firm and obstinate that her husband
should be the king of Scotland as soon as she received the letter from Macbeth in Act 1 sc v –
“and shalt be/ What thou art promised”. She invites the dark forces of nature in the same scene
to aid her husband. On the day the king Duncan comes to dine and sleep in Macbeth’s castle in
Inverness, Lady Macbeth firmly believes that it is perfect time to kill him - “They have made
themselves, and that their fitness now/ Does unmake you”. Since Lady Macbeth believes it was
perfect time for deed to be done, she can convince Macbeth. Likewise, Macbeth is convinced of
necessity of killing Banquo before convincing any other character in the play. It does seem
reasonable when he makes a stand through his soliloquy. If he does not kill Banquo and his son,
Macbeth has committed regicide for no one but Banquo’s family- “for Banquo’s issue have I filed
my mind, For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered”. Since Macbeth is certain that
Banquo is going to be a stumbling stone in his way, he can go to an extent of making false
accusation against his friend in front of other people.
3) Persuasive nature of human works in favour of the witches –something witches already seem
to know. Witches can avoid sole condemnation of tragedy and consequences in life of Macbeth
and his wife. They prophesied blessings not curse, and they never mentioned there should be
bloodshed. Witches knew that human beings have persuasion skill to convince themselves and
others if they wanted something desperately. Until the end of the play, audience cannot decide
whom to blame.
4) One of the important themes in Macbeth is the idea of political legitimacy, of the moral
authority that some kings possess and others lack. With particular attention to Malcolm’s
questioning of Macduff in Act 4, scene 3, try to define some of the characteristics that grant or
invalidate the moral legitimacy of absolute power. What makes Duncan a good king? What
makes Macbeth a tyrant?
After Duncan’s death, the nobles of Scotland begin to grumble among themselves about what
they perceive as Macbeth’s tyrannical behavior. When Macduff meets Malcolm in England,
Malcolm pretends that he would make an even worse king than Macbeth in order to test
Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland. The bad qualities he claims to possess include lust, greed, and a
chaotic and violent temperament. These qualities all seem characteristic of Macbeth, whereas
Duncan’s universally lauded reign was marked by the king’s kindness, generosity, and stabilizing
presence. The king must be able to keep order and should reward his subjects according to their
merits. For example, Duncan makes Macbeth thane of Cawdor after Macbeth’s victory over the
invaders. Perhaps the most important quality of a true king to emerge in Malcolm’s
conversation with Macduff is loyalty to Scotland and its people above oneself. Macbeth wishes
to be king to gratify his own desires, while Duncan and Malcolm wear the crown out of love for
their nation.
5) How does Shakespeare present historical and biblical allegory into the play?
Historically: The Gun Powder Plot of 1605, Devine Right of Kings, and biblically: original sin –
tasting of the forbidden fruit which leads to the ultimate punishment of death for mankind, and
the crucifixion – Judas betraying Jesus.
6) An important theme in Macbeth is the relationship between gender and power, particularly
Shakespeare’s exploration of the values that make up the idea of masculinity. What are these
values, and how do various characters embody them? How does Shakespeare subvert his
characters’ perception of gender roles?
Manhood, for most of the characters in Macbeth, is tied to ideals of strength, power, physical
courage, and force of will; it is rarely tied to ideals of intelligence or moral fortitude. At several
points in the play, the characters goad one another into action by questioning each other’s
manhood. Most significantly, Lady Macbeth emasculates her husband repeatedly, knowing that
in his desperation to prove his manhood he will perform the acts she wishes him to perform.
Macbeth echoes Lady Macbeth’s words when he questions the manhood of the murderers he
has hired to kill Banquo, and after Macduff’s wife and children are killed, Malcolm urges
Macduff to take the news with manly reserve and to devote himself to the destruction of
Macbeth, his family’s murderer. Ultimately, there is a strong suggestion that manhood is tied to
cruelty and violence: note Lady Macbeth’s speech in Act 1, scene 5, when she asks to be
“unsexed” so that she can help her husband commit murder. Yet, at the same time, the
audience is clearly meant to realize that women provide the push that sets the bloody action of
the play in motion. Macduff, too, suggests that the equation of masculinity with cruelty is not
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quite correct. His comments show that he believes emotion and reflection are also important
attributes of the true man.
Discuss the motif of blood and the role it plays in Macbeth, particularly immediately following
Duncan’s murder and late in the play. What does it symbolize for Macbeth and his wife?
Discuss Macbeth’s visions and hallucinations. What role do they play in the development of his
character?
Discuss the play Macbeth as it functions as a history and a moral play? Is justice served at the
end of the play?
Discuss Shakespeare’s use of the technique of elision, in which certain key events take place
offstage. Why do you think he uses this technique? King Duncan’s murder in Act 2 and Lady
Macbeth’s death in Act 5.
Characterize Shakespeare’s writing style in relation to: poetic and prosaic technique, imagery,
symbolism, etc?
For Aristotle, Macbeth would not "count" as a tragedy, since Macbeth appears too evil to be a
proper tragic hero. But he does not begin the play as an evil character. Note statements
concerning Macbeth's past, i.e. his role and reputation prior to the beginning of the play.
What has he accomplished, and how is he rewarded? What is King Duncan's opinion of him?
Is it justified? How fundamentally does Macbeth change in the course of the play?
Discuss the 5 stages of a tragedy.
1) Encroachment. Protagonist takes on too much, makes a mistake that causes his/her "fall."
This mistake is often unconscious (an act blindly done, through over-confidence in one's ability
to regulate the world or through insensitivity to others) but still violates the norms of human
conduct. 2) Complication. The building up of events aligning opposing forces that will lead
inexorably to the tragic conclusion. "Just as comedy often sets up an arbitrary law and then
organizes the action to break or evade it, so tragedy presents the reverse theme of narrowing a
comparatively free life into a process of causation." 3) Reversal. The point at which it becomes
clear that the hero's expectations are mistaken, that his fate will be the reverse of what he had
hoped. At this moment, the vision of the dramatist and the audience are the same. The classic
example is Oedipus, who seeks the knowledge that proves him guilty of murdering his father
and marrying his mother; when he accomplishes his objective, he realizes he has destroyed
himself in the process. 4) Catastrophe. The catastrophe exposes the limits of the hero's power
and dramatizes the waste of his life. Piles of dead bodies remind us that the forces unleashed
are not easily contained; there are also elaborate subplots (e.g. Gloucester in King Lear) which
reinforce the impression of a world inundated with evil. 5) Recognition. The audience
(sometimes the hero as well) recognizes the larger pattern. If the hero does experience
recognition, he assumes the vision of his life held by the dramatist and the audience. From this
new perspective he can see the irony of his actions, adding to the poignancy of the tragic
events.
What would you consider to be typical of Shakespeare’s writing style?
Shakespeare is considered to be a master of language. Discuss the poetic/prosaic aspects of
the play? What is the effect of such devices used in this play?
16) How would you incorporate a Freudian analysis of the play that enhances the overall
understanding for an audience? Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory (id, ego, and superego. It’s
often been said that LMB can be understood as a character that on stage reflects Macbeth’s id.
Discuss) and the Oedipus Complex – a man wanting to kill the father to possess the mother.
My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber
1) What is typical about Thurber’s writing style?
i. Calm tone and precise phrasing marked by sharp wit – comedy is
heightened by contrast between unexcitable delivery and frenetic
events.
ii. Fluid, conversational style (informal) – focuses on an area or experience
and ranges freely over the subject – introducing ideas and experiences
not always related to the subject he began with (digressions).
iii. Writes about human foibles and comic oddities
iv. Use of understatement and hyperbole to achieve comic effect
(snowballing of events)
v. Use of irony and slapstick humor
vi. Use of metaphor and simile
vii. Writing is generally confined to his experiences (based on truth but
mixed with the absurd and fantastic.
2) What would you consider to be Thurber’s more effective humor devices? Slapstick, irony
(which type?), malapropism, exaggeration, hyperbole, understatement, litotes, farce, etc.
3) The role of the ‘anti-hero’ is something that Thurber employs in many works. Why is this an
effective character to enact humor? What are some of the frustrations facing the anti hero
and how do these further the external conflict? Frustrations facing the anti-hero
i) women
iv) middle aged
vii) dreamerii) machinery
v) befuddled
trapped by
iii) physical discomfort
vi) neurotic
life
4) What is the function of the anti hero character in MLHT?
iii) help us cope through laughter with the absurd modern world and our own fallibility.
5) How is this autobiography ironic? Mocking of traditional works (some facts, but presented at
times in a fictional way) Does it offer insight into the hardships of Thurber’s time?
6) What role does chaos have in Thurber’s work?
“Night the Bed Fell” – chaos in family
“Day the Dam Broke” – chaos in the community.
“Night the Ghost Got In” – chaos in family/community
“More Alarms at Night” – chaos in family
7) What are some of the major themes present in the autobiography.
A. Conflict between the individual (free, spontaneous, eccentric) vs the
system (ordered, repressive, conventional)
- Thurber’s view of life is romantic, liberal, optimistic
E.g. “University Days” theme - revolves around regulations and
institutionalized systems – challenges basic assumptions of
science and mass education.
A. Comic disorder vs. contemporary order of society
-Principles of confusion/fantasy – nearly every story shows the disruption of
the orderly pattern of everyday life (idiosyncratic, bizarre, irrational).
- Grandfather – prime example of fantasy principle
He is remade by Thurber to be apparently incapable of dealing with the world when in fact he is
superior to it; he transcends the real world in his dream life and returns when he wants to.
A.Breakdown of bureaucratic machinery
E.g. military in “University Days”
“Draft Board Nights”
B.Unconventional People (Thurber saw as a life enhancing value;
symbolized freedom and independence from conventions)
E.g.
- grandfather’s disregard for the real world: well established business man, not in military, civil
war buff, trouble learning to drive a car, like to walk down road with rose between teeth.
- Sarah/Grace Shoaf
- grandmother (electricity leaked out of empty light sockets)
- Muggs (man’s best friend?)
- Thurber himself (nervous eccentric and comic victim often
humiliated)
- “Ghost” and “University”
8) Discuss the use of the 3 theories of humor within Thurber’s work?
The superiority theory, incongruity theory, relief theory.
9)One major theme in Thurber’s work is the criticism of bureaucracy. Elaborate on this important
theme within the autobiography.
10) What role does sarcasm and satire have within this parody?