MacbethWilliam Shakespeare

Macbeth – William Shakespeare• Macbeth was written in 1606 by William ShakespeareWider Reading• The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli• Macbeth: The Connell Guide by Graham Bradshaw• Hamlet by William Shakespeare• King Lear by William Shakespeare• Shakespeare’s England: Life in Elizabethan and Jacobean Times by R E Pritchard• The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer• Shakespeare’s Apprentice by Victoria Bennett• Shakespeare by Bill Bryson• Macbeth: A True Story by Fiona Watson• On The Trail of the Real Macbeth, King of Alba by Cameron Taylor• Poetics by Aristotle

Context and Literary Tradition

• The Divine Right of Kings – This doctrine implies that the king derives his right to rule directly from the will of God. Any attempt to depose the king may be classed as treason.

• The Great Chain of Being – Jacobeans believed God set out an order for everything in the universe. Every animate or inanimate thing had its place, from flowers and rocks, to animals and humans, and to God and the angels who assumed their lofty position at the top. Shakespeare’s plays were heavily influenced by this notion.

• Women – In Jacobean times, women had very little power; they belonged to their fathers until they were old enough to be married – some girls were as young as twelve when they married; others could have been betrothed even younger, in an attempt to bind families together. To a certain extent, Lady Macbeth subverts the gender roles.

Context and Literary Tradition

• The Gunpowder Plot – The infamous gunpowder plot of 1605 –spearheaded by Guy Fawkes – was an attempt to depose James I from the throne after he had ordered all Catholic priests to leave England. The plot was foiled after guards spotted Fawkes in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament, moments before lighting the fuse. Both of James’ parents had been killed in politically motivated murders.

• James I – A fan of Shakespeare’s theatre, James I was King of England from 1603 – 1625. He famously wrote a book on witchcraft, named Daemonologie.

• Religion – Almost all Jacobeans were Christians. Catholics believed a priest to be the link between God and the people, whereas Protestants believed God could be found without a Priest.

Context and Literary Tradition

• Ghosts – Interest in ghosts increased in the Elizabethan and Jacobean period. People believed ghosts died in awful, violent circumstances. Although ghosts appeared in most places (it was believed every village had one), they were typically associated with castles.

• Superstition and Witchcraft – A Shakespearean audience would have believed in witches, so their appearance would not have been a shock, though they would have been fearful of them.

• Social Class – Society was divided into a rigid class system. The nobility topped the hierarchy, with middle class workers such as craftsmen and merchants next in line – Shakespeare was in this class, given his father was a glove maker. The parish took responsibility for the lower classes, and sent them to a poor house if they were able bodied.

Act One Summary

The play begins with three Weird Sisters on a heath, discussing when they plan to meet Macbeth. A bleeding sergeant informs King Duncan of Macbeth’s bravery on the battlefield, helping Scotland win the battle against Norway,

After hearing of the betrayal of the Thane of Cawdor, Duncan has him executed and tells Ross to give his former title to Macbeth. Close to the battleground, the Weird Sisters greet Macbeth and Banquo, telling the former he will become Thane of Cawdor and later King, and the latter, that he will beget kings. The Weird Sisters then vanish into thin air.

Shortly after meeting the Weird Sisters, the first part of the prophecy comes true: Macbeth is greeted by the king’s men and is presented with the title, Thane of Cawdor. He is shocked and writes to his wife. After receiving the news and finding out Duncan is to stay at their castle, Lady Macbeth immediately plots to kill him. Macbeth isn’t sure, but by the end of the act, he is determined to go ahead with the murder.

Act Two Summary

In the play’s most famous scene, Macbeth imagines he sees a dagger before him, pointing the way to Duncan’s chamber. He kills the king, but fails to leave the daggers at the scene – Lady Macbeth takes charge, returning the daggers to the scene of the crime, and smearing the guards with blood.

The following morning, Macduff is the first to discover King Duncan has been murdered. He wakes the whole castle, screaming that there has been a treasonous murder. He informs Malcolm and Donalbain immediately. Macbeth makes a show, claiming the guards are guilty – he kills them.

The king’s sons flee to England and Ireland, worried they will be blamed for the murder. It is not long before Macbeth starts having guilty thoughts. Ross and an unnamed old man discuss the previous night, claiming Duncan’s usually calm horses turned wild in nature, and bolted out of the stables.

Act Three Summary

Macbeth begins to have doubts about Banquo, becoming paranoid that he will reveal Macbeth as the king’s murderer. He shares his worries with his wife, who decides the best ploy is to praise Banquo at the feast. Macbeth is certain Banquo is going to reveal his secret, so he arranges for three murderers to find Banquo and his son, and kill them both. This is a turning point in Macbeth’s relationship with his wife, as he does not tell her about his plan, only asking for her approval once ‘the job’ is done.

Banquo is murdered, but Fleance escapes. When Macbeth hears this news, he becomes sick with worry; his wife chides him at the feast, telling him to get a grip. The pair toast Banquo, but as they do, Banquo’s ghost appears at the table. Macbeth is the only one who can see the ghost; his wife, realising he is giving the game away, pretends he is having a fit, a condition with which he has suffered since he was young. Macduff fails to attend the feast, and it is clear by the end of the act, that he has his suspicions about Macbeth, and has gone to England to look for support.

Act Four Summary

The scene opens with the Weird Sisters casting a spell in a bubbling cauldron. Macbeth enters the scene and demands to know the truth about the prophecies. The Sisters conjure several apparitions: the first one tells Macbeth to beware Macduff; the second tells him that he cannot be harmed by any man born of woman; and the third tells him he will not be defeated until Birnam Wood marches to Dunsinane.

Lenox informs Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England; in order to quash the threat, Macbeth has his wife and children slaughtered.

Macduff tries to rally the support of Malcolm who is instantly suspicious of Macduff’s motives. To test his trustworthiness, Malcolm tells Macduff a series of lies about his own vices, claiming he would make a terrible king. Macduff agrees and thereby proves his loyalty to Scotland. They become allies. Macduff learns that his wife and children have been slaughtered by Macbeth’s men – he vows to take revenge.

Act Five Summary

The action of the play speeds up dramatically in this act, and lots of loose ends are tied up. Guilt has taken its toll on Lady Macbeth who has begun sleepwalking and trying to rub stains from her hands. The doctor is unable to help her.

Malcolm and a group of Scottish Lords are outside Macbeth’s castle, waiting for English troops to bolster their army. In an attempt to disguise numbers, each man cuts down a branch and plans to march towards the castle with a branch in front of them.

Lady Macbeth, at her wit’s end, kills herself, but Macbeth seems numb to the news, focusing more on the imminent attack from Malcolm. He believes the prophecy and still feels safe in the knowledge that he cannot be harmed by any man born of woman. Macbeth finally encounters Macduff, and learns he was born by Caesarean section. They leave the stage fighting. In the final scene, Macduff leaves the castle carrying the severed head of Macbeth, a clear statement that he has defeated the tyrant – this marks the downfall of Macbeth and is the final step in restoring the natural order.

King Duncan

• Duncan is the King of Scotland.• He epitomises good kingship: he is honest, virtuous, and puts the

country’s needs before his own.• Duncan’s death symbolises the destruction of the political and social

order – an order which cannot be restored until another king sits on the throne.

• The Scottish rule of succession was not dependent on primogeniture.

King Duncan – Key Quotations

• “He was a gentleman on whom I built/An absolute trust.” (1:4)• “I have begun to plant thee, and will labour/To make thee full of

growing.” (1:4)• “We will establish our estate upon/Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we

name hereafter,/The Prince of Cumberland.” (1:4)• “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face” (1:4)• “This Duncan/Hath borne his faculties so meek.” (Macbeth, 1:7)• “Here lay Duncan/His silver skin laced with his golden blood/And his

gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature.” (Macbeth, 2:3)

The Weird Sisters

• It is worth noting that the Three Weird Sisters are not routinely referred to as the witches in the play – on the one occasion they are, one of the Sisters takes great offence.

• Their prophecies prompt Macbeth to kill Duncan, though they never specifically compel anyone to do anything. It makes us question whether a person’s fate is already decided or whether we can change the course of our destiny.

The Weird Sisters – Key Quotations

• “When shall we three meet again?/In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” (1:1)

• “Fair is foul and foul is fair,/Hover through the fog and filthy air.” (1:1)• “What are these,/So withered and wild in their attire,/That look not

like the inhabitants o’th’earth,/And yet are on’t?” (Banquo 1:3)• “You should be women,/And yet your beards forbid me to

interpret/That you are so.” (Banquo 1:3)• “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (1:3)• “If you can look into the seeds of time,/And say which grain will grow

and which will not,/Speak then to me” (Banquo 1:3)

The Weird Sister – Key Quotations

• “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (1:3)• “The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,/And these are of them.”

(Banquo, 1:3)• “Into the air; and what seemed corporal,/Melted, as breath into the

wind./Would they had stayed.” (Macbeth, 1:3)• “Were such things here as we do speak about?” (Banquo, 1:3)• “And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/The instruments of darkness tell

us truths,/Win us with honest trifles, to betray in deepest consequence.” (Banquo, 1:3)

• “Double, double, toil and trouble;/Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” (4:1)

The Weird Sisters – Key Quotations

• “By the pricking of my thumb,/Something wicked this way comes.” (4:1)

• “How now, you secret, black and midnight hags?” (Macbeth, 4:1)• “Tell me, thou unknown power.” (Macbeth, 4:1)• “He will not be commanded. Here’s another,/More potent than the

first.” (4:1)• “Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth. Beware Macduff.” (4:1)• “For none of woman born/Shall harm Macbeth.” (4:1)

Macbeth

• A Scottish General and the Thane of Glamis. He fights valiantly for his country, and is highly regarded by everyone, including the king.

• Macbeth is led to evil thoughts after hearing the Weird Sister’s prophecies – urged on by his wife, he murders Duncan, employs three men to murder Banquo, and has Macduff’s family slaughtered.

• In the play’s finale, he is killed by Macduff.

Macbeth – Key Quotations

• “So fair and foul a day I have not seen.”(1:3)• “If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me” (1:3)• “Stars hide your fires,/Let not light see my black and deep desires.”

(1:4)• “My dearest partner of greatness.” (1:5)• “Yet do I fear thy nature,/It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness/ To

catch the nearest way.” (Lady Macbeth, 1:5)• “He’s here in double trust:/First, as I am his kinsman, and his

subject,/Strong both against the deed./Then as his host” (1:7)• “We will proceed no further in this business.” (1:7)

Macbeth – Key Quotations

• “I dare do all that may become a man,/Who dares do more, is none.” (1:7)• “Away, and mock the time with the fairest show:/False face must hide what

the false heart doth know.” (1:7)• “Is this a dagger which I see before me,/The handle toward my hand?”

(2:1)• “I heard a voice cry, ‘sleep no more./Macbeth doth murder sleep.” (2:2)• “Our fears in Banquo stick deep.” (3:1)• “We have scorched the snake, not killed it:/She’ll close and be herself.”

(3:2)• “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck.” (3:2)

Macbeth – Key Quotations

• “O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife: Thou knowst that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives.” (3:2)

• “Come, sealing night,/Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day.” (3:2)• “But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined.” (3:4)• “Thou canst not say I did it: never shake/Thy gory locks at me.” (3:4)• “I’ll fight, till from my bones my flesh be hacked.” (5:3)• “Out, out brief candle,/Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,/That

struts and frets his hour upon the stage,/and then is heard no more.” (5:5)• “Why should I play the Roman fool, and die/On mine own sword?” (5:8)• “I must not yield/To one of woman born” (5:8)

Lady Macbeth

• Lady Macbeth is an incredibly ambitious woman, taking charge and manipulating her husband right from the start of the play. She is ruthless in her pursuit of power, taking full control of the plot to kill King Duncan.

• As the play unfolds, she begins to suffer the ill effects of committing regicide and deteriorates to the point that she takes her own life.

• To a certain extent, she subverts the stereotypical gender roles which were so prevalent at the time.

Lady Macbeth – Key Quotations

• “I do fear thy nature,/It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness” (1:5)• “Hither/That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,/And chastise with the

valour of my tongue/All that impedes thee from the golden round” (1:5)• “The raven himself is hoarse/That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan”

(1:5)• “Come you spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/And fill

me from the crown to the toe top-full/Of direst cruelty.” (1:5)• “Come to my woman’s breasts,/And take my milk for gall, you murdering

ministers” (1:5• “Come thick night,/And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell” (1:5)• “Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor,/Greater than both, by the all hail

hereafter.” (1:5)

Lady Macbeth – Key Quotations

• “O never/Shall sun that morrow see.” (1:5)• “Thy letters have transported me beyond/This ignorant present.” (1:5)• “Look like the innocent flower,/But be the serpent under’t.” (1:5)• “You shall put/this night’s great business into my dispatch.” (1:5)• “From this time/Such I account thy love.” (1:7)• “What beast was’t then/That made you break this enterprise to me?”

(1:7)• “I would, while it was smiling in my face,/Have plucked my nipple

from his boneless gums,/And dashed the brains out” (1:7)

Lady Macbeth – Key Quotations

• “His two chamberlains/Will I with wine and wassail so convince,/That memory, the warder of the brain,/Shall be a fume” (1:7)

• “Bring forth men children only,/For thy undaunted mettle should compose/Nothing but males.” (Macbeth, 1:7)

• “Had he not resembled/My father as he slept, I had done’t.” (2:2)• “A little water clears us of this deed.” (2:2)• “Naught’s had, all’s spent,/Where our desire is got without content.”

(3:2)• “Out, damned spot: out, I say.” (5:1)

Banquo

• Banquo is a Scottish nobleman, who, like Macbeth, impresses people with his bravery in battle.

• He is with Macbeth when the Weird Sisters prophesise that he will beget kings. He is far more sceptical about the prophecies than Macbeth, and believes the Weird Sisters are betraying them both.

• He is the antithesis of Macbeth, being honourable despite temptation. Macbeth has him murdered because he is worried Banquo suspects him for the murder of Duncan.

Banquo – Key Quotations

• “What are these,/So wither’d and so wild in their attire,/That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth/And yet are on’t?” (1:3)

• “Look, how our partner’s rapt.” (1:3)• “Why do you start and seem to fear things that sound so fair?” (1:3)• “Were such things here as we do speak about?/Or have we eaten on the

insane root/That takes the reason prisoner?” (1:3)• “That trusted home/Might yet enkindle you to the crown.” (1:3)• “What, can the devil speak true?” (1:3)• “Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.” (1:3)• “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.” (1:3)

Banquo – Key Quotations

• “New honours come upon him,/Like our strange garments cleave not to their mould,/But with the aid of use.” (1:3)

• “There if I grow,/The harvest is your own.” (1:3)• “A heavy summons lies upon me,/And yet I would not sleep.” (2:1)• “I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters” (2:1)• “Too cruel anywhere/Dear Duff, I prithee, contradict thyself” (2:3)• “Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,/As the weird women promised, and I

fear/Thou played’st most foully for it.” (3:1)• “He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour/To act in safety” (Macbeth, 3:1)• “It will be rain tonight” (3:3)• “Oh treachery! Fly good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!” (3:3)

Macduff

• A Scottish nobleman who is suspicious of Macbeth’s kingship right from the start.

• With the help of the king’s son, Malcolm, he eventually becomes a leader of a crusade to unseat Macbeth.

Macduff – Key Quotations

• “Most sacrilegious murder has broke ope/The Lord’s anointed temple.” (2:3)

• “To leave his wife, to leave his babes,/His mansion and his titles in a place/From whence himself does fly? He loves us not.” (Lady Macduff, 4:2)

• “Not in the legions/of horrid hell can come a devil more damned/In evils to top Macbeth.” (4:3)

• “Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself;/Within my sword’s length set him.” (4:3)

• “Macduff was from his mother’s womb/Untimely ripped.” (5:8)• “Turn, hell hound, turn!” (5:8)• “Hail, King! For so thou art: behold, where stands/The usurper’s cursed

head: the time is free” (5:8)

Macbeth’s Borrowed Robes – Key Quotations

• “The Thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me/In borrow’d robes?” (Macbeth, 1:3)

• “New honours come upon him/Like our strange garments, cleave to their mold/But with the aid of use.” (Banquo, 1:3)

• “He hath honoured me of late; and I have bought/Golden opinions from all sorts of people/Which be worn away now in their newest gloss/Not cast aside so soon.” (Macbeth, 1:5)

• “Was the hope drunk/Wherein you dressed yourself?” (Lady Macbeth, 1:5)• “Come thick night/And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell/That my keen

knife sees not the wound it makes/Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark/To cry ‘Hold, Hold!’” (Lady Macbeth, 1:5)

• “False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” (Macbeth, 1:7)

Macbeth’s Borrowed Robes – Key Quotations

• “Scarf up the eye of the pitiful day” (Macbeth, 3:2)• “He cannot buckle his distemper’d cause/Within the belt of rule.”

(Captain, 5:2)• “Now does he feel his title/Hang loose upon him, like a giant’s

robe/Upon a dwarfish thief.” (Angus, 5:2)

Kingship – Key Quotations

• “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter.” (Weird Sisters, 1:3)• “If chance will have me king, why chance/May crown me” (Macbeth,

1:3)• “Your highness’ part is to our duties/And our duties are to your

throne and state, children and servants.” (Macbeth, 1:4)• “The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth.” (Ross, 2:4)• “Then, prophet-like,/They hailed him father to a line of kings.”

(Macbeth, 3:1)• “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown.” (Macbeth, 3:1)• “The gracious Duncan/Was pitied of Macbeth.” (Lennox, 3:6)

Kingship – Key Quotations

• “Were I king,/I should cut off the nobles of their lands,/desire his jewels and this other’s house.” (Malcolm, 4:3)

• “Bleed, bleed poor country.” (Macduff, 4:3)• “I think our country sinks beneath the yoke;/It weeps, it bleeds, and

each new day a gash/Is added to her wounds.” (Malcolm, 4:3)• “Now does he feel his title/Hang loose about him, like a giant’s

robe/Upon a dwarfish thief.” (Angus: 5:2)

Power and Ambition – Key Quotations

• “Glamis and Thane of Cawdor;/The greatest is behind.” (Macbeth 1:3)• “My thought, whose murder is yet but fantastical,/Shakes so my single

state of man/That function is smothered in surmise,/And nothing, but what is not” (Macbeth, 1:3)

• “The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step/On which I must fall down, or else o’er-leap,/for in my way it lies” (Macbeth, 1:4)

• “Thou wouldst be great/Art not without ambition” (Lady Macbeth, 1:5)• “I have no spur/To prick the side of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition,

which o’er-leaps itself,/And falls on the other.” (Macbeth, 1:7)• “But screw your courage to the sticking place,/And we’ll not fail.” (Lady

Macbeth, 1:7)

Power and Ambition – Key Quotations

• “Thriftless ambition that will raven up/Thine own life’s means. Then ‘tis most like/The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth.” (Ross, 2:4)

• “Had I power, I should/Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell,/Uproar the universal peace, confound/All unity on earth.” ( Malcolm, 4:3)

• “What man dare, I dare.” (Macbeth, 3:4)

Fate and the Supernatural – Key Quotations

• “I’th’ name of truth,/Are ye fantastical?” (Banquo, 1:3)• “What, can the devil speak true?” (Banquo, 1:3)• “And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/The instruments of darkness

tell us truths.” (Banquo, 1:3)• “This supernatural soliciting/Cannot be ill; cannot be good.”

(Macbeth, 1:3)• “They have more in them than mortal knowledge.” (Macbeth, 1:4)• “Fate and metaphysical aid doth seem/To have thee crowned withal.”

(Lady Macbeth, 1:5)

Fate and the Supernatural – Key Quotations

• “But in these cases,/We still have judgement here.” (Macbeth, 1:7)• “As by the strength of their illusion,/Shall draw him onto his

confusion./He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear his hopes ‘bovewisdom, grace and fear.” (Hecate, 3:6)

• “Devilish Macbeth,/By many of these trains hath sought to win me/into his power” (Macduff, 4:3)

• “What’s the boy Malcolm?/Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know/All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus.” (Macbeth, 5:2)

Violence – Key Quotations

• “What bloody man is that? He can report,/As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt/The newest state.” (Duncan, 1:2)

• “For brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name, /Distaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/Which smoked with bloody execution” (Captain, 1:2)

• “As cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they/doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe.” (Captain, 1:2)

• “He unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps” (Captain, 1:2)• “Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds/Or memorise

another Golgatha” (Captain, 1:2)

Violence – Key Quotations

• “When in swinish sleep/their drenched natures lie as in death,/What cannot you and I perform on th’unguarded Duncan?” (Lady Macbeth, 1:7)

• “Where we are/There’s daggers in men’s smiles; the near in blood,/The nearer bloody.” (Donalbain, 2:4)

• “Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief/Convert to anger; blunt not the heart, enrage it.” (Malcolm, 4:3)

• “He has killed me, Mother.” (Macduff’s son, 4:3)

Blood as a Motif – Key Quotations

• “What bloody man is that?” (Duncan, 1:2)• “Make thick my blood;/Stop up the success and passage to remorse

(Lady Macbeth, 1:5)• “And on thy blade, and dudgeon, gouts of blood” (Macbeth, 2:1)• “It is the bloody business which informs/Thus to mine eyes.”

(Macbeth, 2:1)• “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/Clean from my hand?

(Macbeth, 2:2)• “My hands are of your colour; but I shame/To wear a heart so white

(Lady Macbeth, 2:2)

Blood as a Motif – Key Quotations

• “The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood/Is stopped, the very source of it stopped.” (Macbeth, 2:3)

• “Their hands and faces were all badged with blood” (Lennox, 2:3)• “It will have blood they say: blood will have blood.” (Macbeth, 3:4)• “I am in blood/Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more,/Returning

were as tedious as go o’er.” (Macbeth, 3:4)• “Twenty trenched gashes on his head.” (Murderer, 3:4)• “Never shake thy/Gory locks at me.” (Macbeth, 3:4)• “Avaunt! And quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee/Thy bones are

marrowless, thy blood is cold.” (Macbeth, 3:4)• “Cool it with a baboon’s blood.” (Weird Sisters, 4:1)

Blood as a Motif – Key Quotations

• “The blood bolter’d Banquo smiles upon me.” (Macbeth, 4:1)• “Bleed, bleed, poor country!” (Macduff, 4:3)• “Nation miserable,/With an untitled tyrant bloody sceptre’d” (Macduff, 4:3)• “Out, damned spot: out, I say.” (Lady Macbeth, 5:1)• “Yet who would have thought the old man to have/had so much blood in

him?” (Lady Macbeth, 5:1)• “Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten

this little hand.” (Lady Macbeth, 5:1)• “Revenges burn in them; for their dear causes/Would to the bleeding and

the grim alarm/Excite the mortified man.” (Menteith, 5:2)

Order and Disorder – Key Quotations

• “There’s husbandry in heaven,/Their candles are all out.” (Banquo, 2:1)• “Hark, peace; it was the owl that shrieked,/The fatal bellman.” (Lady

Macbeth, 2:2)• “The night has been unruly: where we lay/Our chimneys were blown down,

as they say,/Lamentings heard I’t’air, strange screams.” (Lennox, 2:3)• “The obscure bird/Clamour’d the livelong night. Some say, the earth/Was

feverous and did shake.” (Lennox, 2:3)• “By th’clock tis day,/And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp.” (Ross,

2:4)• “On Tuesday last/A falcon towering in her pride of place/Was by a mousing

owl hawked at and killed.” (Old man, 2:4)

Order and Disorder – Key Quotations

• “And Duncan’s horses…Turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out/Contending ‘gainst obedience,/As they would make war with mankind.” (Ross, 2:4)

• “Who can impress the forest, bid the tree/Unfix his earth-bound root?” (Macbeth, 4:1)

Allusions - Golgotha

• “Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds/Or memorise another Golgatha.” (1:2)

• A reference to Christ’s death at Golgotha/upon Mount Calvary, known proverbially as ‘the place of dead men’s skulls’.

• Golgotha is a Aramaic word meaning ‘skull’ and Calvary is from the Latin word ‘calva’ meaning ‘bald head’ or ‘skull’.

• The actual site of Christ’s crucifixion is unclear, with many believing it took place on a steep rocky ridge outside the walls of Jerusalem. The ridge contained two large sunken holes, resembling the face of a skull.

• A bleeding sergeant tells King Duncan of Macbeth’s bloody exploits on the field of battle; his actions were so bloody, that the captain wonders whether Macbeth and Banquo were trying to replicate the scenes at Christ’s crucifixion.

• It could also be suggested that just as Christ was killed by soldiers, Duncan will potentially suffer the same fate.

Allusions – Bellona’s Bridegroom

• “Till that Bellona’s bridegroom, lapped in proof/Confronted him with self-comparisons/Point ‘gainst point, rebellious arm ‘gainst arm/Curbing his lavish spirit.”

• Courage and bravery are themes which continue to emerge throughout the play, and Shakespeare’s comparison to Bellona portrays Macbeth as a true warrior.

• Bellona was the Roman goddess of war. (Her name is derived from the Latin word ‘bellum’, meaning war).

• It is believed that Bellona used to inspire a warlike frenzy, in which Roman legionnaires would fight with uncontrolled hysteria and rage.

• Such was her influence, that a festival named Dies Sanguinis (Day of Blood) took place in Rome every year, and was also known as Bellona’s Day. Devout aficionados and priests would cut themselves and drink the sacrificial blood to propitiate the goddess.

• A Shakespearean audience would have been familiar with the reference and the implied ruthlessness with which Macbeth fought.

Allusions – Old Testament

• “I have begun to plant thee, and will labour to make thee full of growing. Noble Banquo,/That hast no less deserved, let me infold thee/And hold thee to my heart.” (1:4)

• The notion that man could be planted and flourish is an ancient concept that can be found repeatedly in the Old Testament.

• In Jeremiah 12:2, it states about Jehovah, ‘Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.’

• King Duncan is responsible for doing the planting of both Macbeth and Banquo; both burst forth in very different ways: Macbeth, shortly after this scene, plots to kill Duncan, therefore destroying the roots.

Allusions – Sextus Tarquinius

• “Witchcraft celebrates/pale Hecate’s offerings, and withered murder,/Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,/Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace/With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design/Moves like a ghost.” (2:1)

• Sextus Tarquinius, the youngest son of the King of Rome, raped his cousin’s wife, Lucretia, after a dispute about her virtue. This drove her to suicide, and with that, Tarquinius had committed a double crime.

• According to some, this was a pivotal event in the overthrow of the monarchy and the subsequent establishment of the Roman Republic, as this brought an end to the kingship of Tarquin the proud.

• This reference not only shows how sinful Macbeth is, but that he knows exactly what he is about to do; he is about to commit a serious crime, and more importantly, would be aware of the consequences of killing a king.

• Sextus fled to Gabii, hoping to become King there, but he was killed for his previous crimes, a fate which also befalls Macbeth.

Allusions – Pontius Pilate

• “A little water clears us of this deed/How easy it is, then!” (2:2)• Many people in Shakespeare’s audience would have recognised the biblical

reference to the washing of hands. The reference is, of course, to Pontius Pilate who publicly washes his hands and claims he is not guilty of condemning Christ to death, rather buckling under the pressure from Jewish leaders who believed Jesus was a threat to Roman rule and must be dealt with.

• It could be said that Lady Macbeth is behaving in a similar vein, simply washing her hands of the situation and hoping the water will wash away the ‘stain’ of Duncan’s death. Some readers may even go as far as to say the Weird Sisters are to blame for Duncan’s death by prophesising Macbeth’s ascension from Thane, to God’s representative on Earth.

• As the play unfolds and the Macbeths begin to suffer the consequences of committing regicide, Lady Macbeth in particular thinks she sees blood on her hands – perhaps a manifestation of the guilt she failed to feel immediately after the murder of Duncan.

Allusions – Satan/Seyton

• “Seyton, I am sick at heart/When I behold – Seyton, I say! – This push/Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now…bring me my armour and send out more horses; skirr the country round;/Hang those that talk of fear” (5:3)

• The audience would not fail to notice the name of Macbeth’s servant, and the implications this has. The question is whether Macbeth is merely calling for his servant, or whether Shakespeare’s implication is that he is calling on the devil? Incidentally, we do not hear anything from the character of Seyton until the latter stages of the play.

• If he had been introduced before Macbeth became a murderer, it is possible that the audience would not have made this link between Macbeth and the devil. His actions throughout the play ensure he would have been damned, so Seyton’s introduction at this point serves as an interesting structural device used by Shakespeare, in order to highlight the fact he is doomed to spend eternity in the fiery furnace.

Key Vocabulary

• Apparition (noun) – a ghost or ghost-like image of a person.• Avaricious (adjective) – having extreme greed for wealth or material gain.• Broil (noun) – battle, fight.• Dichotomy (noun) – a division or contrast between two opposite things.• Golgotha (noun) – the site outside Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.• Hallucinate (verb) – think you can see something which isn’t really there.• Harbinger (noun) – a thing or person that signals the approach of something else.• Heath (noun) – an open area, uncultivated land.• Heinous (adjective) – totally wicked and evil.• Incarnadine (adjective) – a bright crimson, or flesh-red colour.• Lineage (noun) – direct descent from an ancestor.

Key Vocabulary

• Monarchy (noun) – a form of government with a monarch at the head.• Nonpareil (noun) – having no match or equal; unrivalled.• Prophecy (noun) – a prediction of what will happen in the future.• Regicide (noun) – the action of killing a king.• Somnambulate (verb) – sleepwalking.• Succession (noun) – the action or process of inheriting a title.• Superstition (noun) – a firm belief in the supernatural.• Thane (noun) – a man who held land granted by the king.• Treason (noun) – the crime of betraying your country.• Unlineal (noun) – not of the family line.• Usurper (noun) – a person who takes a position of power illegally.

What Does the Question Look Like?

AQA Paper 1, Section A, Shakespeare• This question is worth 34 marks and you should spend around 45

minutes answering it.• You will be given a key extract from the play and will be required to

write about both the extract and the play as a whole.• Read the question carefully and ensure you make a plan – this will

provide you with a clear structure.

Sample Extract

• At this point in the play, Macbeth is speaking. He is weighing up the consequences of killing King Duncan.

“We still have judgment here; that we but teachBloody instructions, which, being taught, returnTo plague the inventor: this even-handed justiceCommends the ingredients of our poison’d chaliceTo our own lips. He’s here in double trust; First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,Who should against his murderer shut the door,Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this DuncanHath borne his faculties so meek, hath beenSo clear in his great office, that his virtuesWill plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, againstThe deep damnation of his taking-off;And pity, like a naked new-born babe,Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsedUpon the sightless couriers of the air,Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,That tears shall drown the wind.

Sample Questions

Starting with this extract, explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Macbeth as nihilistic and lawless. Write about:• How Shakespeare presents Macbeth as nihilistic and lawless in this

extract.• How Shakespeare presents Macbeth as nihilistic and lawless in the

whole play.• 34 marks.

Sample Answer

At this early point in the play, I don’t feel that Macbeth is presented wholly as nihilistic and lawless; he is clearly in two minds about whether he should murder Duncan. He describes how the ‘bloody instructions’, once taught, come back to ‘plague the inventor’ and ultimately make up the ingredients of ‘our poison’dchalice’. Shakespeare’s use of metaphorical language here implies that Macbeth cannot commit the murder without there being any repercussions. Indeed, the word ‘plague’ here suggests that Duncan’s murder would blight Macbeth indefinitely – Macbeth being the ‘inventor’ of the atrocious deeds. At this point, we are also reminded of what a heinous crime it would be to kill a king; the Jacobean audience had a firm belief that the king was God’s representative on earth, and this compounds Macbeth’s crime – making it even more corrupt than it would be considered today.

Macbeth’s loyalty to the king falters swiftly after this scene. Encouraged unceremoniously by his wife, Macbeth plans to go ahead with the murder of Duncan…