Unlocking Themes in Macbeth
• 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 Macbeth
• 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.
Ambition can subvert reason
• “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 subvert reason
• 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.
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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.
GOOD AND EVIL
• “But ‘tis strange! And
oftentimes, to win us to our
harm, the instruments of
darkness 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.
Disorder
• “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.
Appearances do not always 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
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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 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
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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 power
• “Glamis thou art,
and Cawdor, and
shalt be
What thou art
promised.”
• The terms "greed" and
"power" seem to go hand-inhand 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?
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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
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)
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Good/evil
Supernatural/natural
• Macbeth/Duncan (as Kings)
Order/disorder
• Macbeth/Macduff
Heaven/hell
• Macbeth/Lady Macbeth
Reality/illusion