Macbeth

The play is set in medieval Scotland in the 11th century. It was written when King James became
King of England. It is the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies.
There is a complex psychological analysis of what takes place in the mind of the criminal.

The play tells the story of Macbeth, who is one of the bravest generals in King Duncan’s army. The
play is divided into 5 acts:

First act: It starts with the news of the invasion of Scotland by the Norwegians. Macbeth is
returning with his friend Banquo from a victorious battle. They meet three witches who tell
Macbeth that he will become “king of Scotland” and that future kings of Scotland will descend from
Banquo’s family, not from Macbeth’s. Macbeth sends a message to his wife telling her of the
prophecies. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband that he must kill the king.

Second Act: That same night Macbeth kills the king Duncan while he is sleeping. The king’s sons,
Malcolm and Donablain leave Scotland because they are afraid to be killed. Macbeth becomes
king, but Macduff and Banquo are suspicious.

Third Act: Macbeth thinks about the witches’ prophecy, so he is not he cannot find peace or feel
safe on the throne. He decides to kill Banquo and Banquo’s son Fleance, but Fleance escapes.
Banquo’s ghost prosecuted Macbeth.

Forth act: Macbeth goes to see the witches again. They warn him to beware of Macduff. So,
Macbeth kills Macduff’s wife and children.

Fifth Act: Lady Macbeth is tormented so she becomes mad and talks about the murder of Duncan
in her sleep, she walks in her sleep. In the meanwhile, Malcolm is marching into Scotland with an
army. Macbeth learns that Lady Macbeth has died but he goes into battle. Macbeth is isolated
because all the lords have allied with Macduff. Macduff kills Macbeth. The play ends with Macduff
holding up Macbeth’s head and Malcolm (Duncan’s son) becomes king of Scotland.

Setting
It is set in Scotland in the 11th century. The weather is characterised by fog and thunderstorms. The
action takes place first at Macbeth’s castle in Inverness and later at the palace in Dunsinane.
‘Darkness’ characterises the whole play. The sun shines only twice and the darkness of the night is
interrupted only by the flashes which light up horrible scenes painted in red, the colour of blood.
Night does not convey the idea of peace and rest but, on the contrary, is connected with lack of
sleep and madness, which will be respectively Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s punishments.
There is a contrast between the moor and the castle:
- the moor, where the evil witches appear, but it is a safe place,
- the castle, where Macbeth lives are described as pleasant and safe, but they are places where
murders are committed. So, it is apparently safe but unnatural foul dangerous.

The characters
The three witches: are supernatural, they have malicious intentions and prophetic powers, but they
are not active characters. Their function is to create tension and suspense and prophecies lead him
to act by following ambition. They have malicious intentions and prophetic powers but are not
active agents: they just talk and offer prophecies and potions. They are not responsible for Duncan’s
murder. They do not say anything about killing Duncan: they simply appeal to what Macbeth wants
to believe.

The two main characters of the tragedy are Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth.
The story is an example of how ambition can destroy human nature and a pure soul.
Macbeth is a tragic hero. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a respected soldier, a brave
general, a leader of Duncan’s army, but he becomes cruel, ambitious and unscrupulous. His
ambition blinds himand his actions lead ghim to damnation
Macbeth begins as a brave warrior but, led by ambition, he chooses evil and becomes a murderous
tyrant.
At the end he is totally alone cause of his ambition and his decisions. His death is a consequence of
his crimes. His loss of physical relationships is also accompanied by his loss of of any power.
Macbeth is a brave general, leader of Duncan’s army together with Banquo;
he is urged into action by htò nnis wife;
lacks moral courage;
he is ambitious and superstitious;
he becomes cruel and unscrupulous.
here is no villain acting against the hero: Macbeth is both. He begins as the heroic warrior and ends
up as a murderous tyrant

Lady Macbeth is a devoted wife, she has an ambitious plan for her husband. Lady Macbeth
appears as a strong and masculine woman. She keeps calm her husband and tries to help him telling
him what to do. She is a strong woman, she supports Macbeth in his weakness. Thanks to her
seduction and her ability to use words, she is able to convince her husband telling him what to do.
But at the she becomes mad and she kills herself. Some critics have suggested that she may be the
forth witch of the play. She had and unusual ability to control her feelings and passions, in
particularly after the murder scene, when she brings the blood dagger back to Duncan’s room. But
at the end she has a downfall which leads her to stop sleeping and becomes mad and eventually kills
herself.
At the beginning of the play, she shows great strength and she is the driving force behind her
husband’s actions. In the second part of the play, she gradually loses her confidence and finally
goes mad and dies

King Duncan symbolises social harmony, order and peace; He represents the good, honest king in
opposition to the tyrant Macbeth.

Themes
Macbeth is the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies. The plot is simple but complex is the
psychological analysis of the mind of Macbeth. Macbeth is a complex figure. He is both hero and
villain. He begins as a heroic warrior, but led by ambition he chooses evil and becomes a murderer.
The main themes are:
- Regicide: the murder of a good king is an act against nature which brings chaos (which is
signified by the terrible weather conditions). It was considered an act against nature because
it broke the Great Chain of Being. It disrupts the political, social and natural order. When
Macbeth breaks this order through regicide, nature is affected: there are terrible storms, the
earth trembles and animals become insane and eat each other. The consequences of
Duncan’s death: since Duncan is the symbol of social harmony, order, justice and honesty,
his death is connected with ‘exceptional natural events’. After his death the macrocosm of
 nature mirrors the chaos of the social microcosm: the sky is troubled, darkness covers the
earth during the day, Duncan’s horses break their stalls and eat one another.
- Reversal of values introduced by the three witches, it represents the darkest, the dangerous
part. ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’.
- Fate: man cannot change what is pre-ordained;
- Ambition: at the beginning of the Macbeth is a good general, but ambition transforms him
into a heartless killer. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth sacrifice their morals and honour to
ambition. Uncontrolled ambition can transform people into monsters and destroy everyone.
He becomes a monster that destroys everyone.
- The theme of false appearance.
- Supernatural themes:
1. the three witches and their prophecies lead Macbeth to success;
2. the chaos of nature on the night of Duncan’s murder;
3. Banquo’s ghost.

A blind leader and intimidating leader.

The exploration of the theme of leadership works in three different levels:
on one hand Shakespeare represents King Duncan as the symbol of a good leader, a father who
people respect, but who cannot foresee the dangers that may destroy his authority.
On the second level, Shakespeare represents Macbeth as a man of action, a brave soldier who takes
the initiative and changes the course of the events but fails to understand the leadership without
humanity and wisdom means tyranny.
The third character is represented by Lady Macbeth, who uses her seductive powers to force her
husband to kill Duncan and gain the power she wants for him and for herself. Howerevr, her
uncontrolled thirst for power drives her mad and is cause of her damnation.
But Duncan and Macbeth fail as leaders.
Macbeth becomes a tyrant. Duncan does the same. Duncan had blind trust in Macbeth’s character,
because he truly believed that Macbeth’s inner thoughts and personality were expressed fully
through his outer actions.
Both Duncan and Macbeth put their kingdom at risk and fail to protect it from dangers of war and
destruction.

Imagery
The is the use of imagery.
Clusters of imagery:
- blood: bloody and to bleed are the most frequent words in the play, they appear about 100 times.
- the darkness of the night is not connected with rest and peace but with lack of sleep and madness
which will be Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s punishments.
- exceptional natural events take place after the murder (the earth trembles, horses eat each other).

There are also many images connected with the animal world to convey Macbeth’s troubled mind.
For example, Shakespeare defines Macbeth as a disgusting insect.

The animal world  night and disgusting animals are used to convey Macbeth’s troubled mind.
Images connected with growth, babies, seeds and plants  linked to the theme of the future.
Images of clothing  linked to the theme of false appearances.
Style
There is the use of blank verse, which is basically unrhymed iambic pentameter:
Macbeth does murther Sleep, - the innocent Sleep;
Sleep, that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care (Act II, Scene 2)
 similes:The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures (Act II, Scene 2)
 metaphors: Life’s but a walking shadow (Act V, Scene 5)
 symbols: the innocent Sleep A little water clears us of this deed (Act II, Scene 2)

Use of dramatic irony:

Duncan’s appreciation of the beauty of Macbeth’s castle

Macbeth is tragedy and it has all the typical features:

• division in five acts
• ends with a catastrophe
• the characters are fatally flawed and lead to self-destruction
• it focuses on noble people
• it gives a moral lesson to the audience

The curse of the “Scottish play”

Macbeth is surrounded by superstition and actors fear its curse, for this reason the saying that the
play’s name in a theatre cause bad luck. This comes from the 16th century. The Scottish King
James was obsessed with witchcraft. He even wrote a work on black magic. Shakespeare is said to
have included the witchcraft in Macbeth in order to please the king.
However, legend says that the play has brought bad luck to actors since their first performance,
where the actor playing Lady Macbeth died suddenly. It also says that there were many deaths and
accidents during productions.