Macbeth wrap-up English 4 CP February 26, 2014
King James I and Macbeth
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King James believed in witches and was interested in how they captured souls (equivocation)
The play Macbeth claims that James descends from Banquo and has the legitimate right to the
English throne.
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When Malcolm puts Duncan’s crown on, justice and good are restored to Scotland. He is the
king by divine right, just like King James.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
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They love each other and work as a couple towards their goal.
Macbeth is heartbroken to see his wife’s insanity and suicide.
Lady Macbeth pushes her husband to kill Duncan, but she can’t live with the guilt.
Lady Macbeth
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She calls on evil spirits to “unsex” her (to block her feelings of compassion).
Even while the murder is still going on, she is losing her self-control.
Finally, she hallucinates blood on her hands and constantly tries to wash it off.
Macbeth
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He
He
He
He
He
He
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Since Macbeth is never the “real” king, the role doesn’t fit him and he is always uncomfortable
and anxious. (Act 5 Scene 2 lines 17-22) This is when everyone is about to abandon Macbeth.
despises the witches, but he lets them use him to reach his ambition.
commits the first murder against his conscience and his better judgement.
is a first-rate fighter and shows courage.
keeps escalating his crimes (Duncan, Banquo, Macduff’s family).
sees Banquo’s ghost, just as his wife sees blood on her hands.
falls for the equivocation of the Apparitions after he drinks the potion.
Angus:
Now does he feel
His secret murders sticking on his hands;
Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach;
Those he commands move only in command,
Nothing in love: now does he feel his title
Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe
Upon a dwarfish thief.
Macduff
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He never trusts Macbeth, and he doesn’t hide it.
He can’t rest until he gets revenge personally on Macbeth.
He is “not of woman born.” (His mother died in childbirth and he was taken by caesarian birth
Some important themes in the play
Deception and disguise
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Why do you dress me in borrowed robes?
Act 1 Scene 3 line 109
Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent beneath it. Act 1 Scene 5 line 62
Was the hope drunk wherein you dressed yourself? Act 1 Scene 7 line 36
A little water clears us of this deed. Act 2 Scene 2 Line 65
Where we are, there's daggers in men's smiles. Act 2 Scene 3 line 130
Nature’s reaction to evil
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Act 2 Scene 3 lines 46-53
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Act 2 Scene 4 lines 1-19
Equivocation
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The witches equivocate by telling Macbeth that no man “of woman born” can harm Macbeth.
Macbeth considers himself unbeatable after this promise.
The witches also equivocate when they tell Macbeth that he will never be defeated until the
forest at Birnham moves to his castle at Dunsinane.