Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Themes in Macbeth
- Murder
- Banquo's Murder
- Macbeth is villainous because he orders Banquo to be murdered
even though they are good friends, just because he is worried about
his position on the throne being threatened. Shows that friendship
means nothing to him, which is villainous. Also, it shows that nothing
comes before power for Macbeth
- Made up his own mind to kill Banquo and
Fleance, without consulting Lady Macbeth-
becoming more villainous because he is becoming
more ambitious about power, and there are no
soliloquys at this time to show his feelings, which
shows he is ignoring his conscience more and
becoming more ruthless.
- Macbeth is not villainous
because he orders two
murderers to kill Banquo and
Fleance, which shows he is
cowardly and too scared to
face Banquo as he kills him.
- He is also cowardly because he is prepared to kill a
good friend and his son just because they have been
predicted by witches to be a threat to Macbeth's
place on the throne.
- Not villainous because he cannot
kill them himself, which shows he
is not bloodthirsty and ruthless-
possibly considered cowardly.
- On stage because the audience needed to
be entertained by action and possible
comedy, compared to the king's death
which needed to be respectful so was
done off stage- creates contrast.
- Duncan's Murder
- Macbeth is not villainous
because he has to be
persuaded by Lady Macbeth to
go through with the murder,
and he seems too scared to go
through with it.
- The murder is performed off stage due to respect for King James, who would
have been to watch the play performed. Shakespeare didn't want the murder
to be performed on stage because the fake gore could have been seen as
comical, which would have been disrespectful. the death needed to seem
significant, important and tragic, because King James I believes in the Divine
Right of Kings, so the death can be in no way amusing.
- Macbeth murders Duncan in his sleep, which shows
he is cowardly because he wouldn't dare show his
face to the king as he killed him. Shows Macbeth feels
guilty for his decision to murder Duncan, and he
doesn't want the king to see him betray him.
- The king is murdered in his sleep out of respect for the current king at
the time, James I. the king could not be killed whilst awake because a
struggle between the king and Macbeth, ending in the kings death
would make the king seem weak, which would have been disrespectful.
- Macbeth had to be persuaded by Lady Macbeth to go
through with the murder, he shows hesitation towards
the murder.
- Macbeth is villainous because he decides to kill
Duncan, despite the fact that he thinks Duncan is a
good king and he likes him.
- When he first hears of the prophecy that he will
become king, his thoughts immediately go to how he is
going to become king, and thoughts of killing Duncan,
which shows that he is villainous. "If ill, Why hath it
given me the earnest of success".
- Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to go
through with the murder, which shows that
Macbeth must have had some willingness to
do it.
- Dagger vision and soliloquy
- Villainous
- "A dagger of the mind"
- Represents the evil in Macbeth's mind.
- Going through with it- not talking himself out
of it.
- Macduff's Family's
Murder
- This shows a side to Macbeth that is truly vicious and villainous
because he sent murderers to ruthlessly kill Macduff's family
for no reason other than that he felt threatened by him and he
wanted to send a warning not to try to overthrow him..
- Macbeth does it to show his pride and strength, and as
a warning to Macduff not to try and overthrow him.
- It shows Macbeth's villainy even more
because it is more gory and because it
shows the murder of innocent women
and children.
- Macbeth's villainy and violence gets worse and worse
throughout the play.
- On stage to show the gore and
violence to make the audience
see how villainous Macbeth is ,
because we see that the people
are defenseless and that there
was no reason to kill them.
- Does it after the prophecies, which shows he did it because he felt threatened.
- Supernatural
- Dagger
- The dagger shows the villainy in Macbeth's mind
because the dagger points him in the direction of
the Kings chamber, and appears dripping with
blood. The dagger could be a creation of
Macbeth's brain, in which case it shows how
villainous Macbeth's thoughts and conscience is. it
is pointing towards the king's chamber, which
suggests it is encouraging Macbeth, and that he
wants to do it.
- The dagger could be a part of the witch's
enchantment, in which case it emphasises the
villainy of the witches.
- Macbeth seems to know that the dagger isn't
real, and he thinks he is going mad.
- "heat oppressed brain"
- The dagger first appears clean, which
suggests that Macbeth is optimistic that he
will get away with the murder, or maybe
suggests that he has decided against killing
Duncan. It then appears with blood, which
suggests he has realised the possible
consequences of what he is about to do, and
he is feeling guilty. The blood also could imply
Macbeth's decision to murder Duncan.
- "And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood"
- "fatal vision"
- Implies murder and death.
- "A dagger of the mind"
- The dagger represents the evil in Macbeth's
mind.
- "The handle toward my hand"
- It is inviting Macbeth to take
the dagger.
- Nature
- "Nature seems dead"
- Darkness is causing death, Night is when murder happens.
- "It was the owl that shriek'd"
- The owl is shrieking at Duncan's death.
- Disruption of the natural order,
representing the killing of Duncan
(natural order)
- Shrieking at what Macbeth has done- could be
showing how Macbeth feels inside about his
actions.
- Sinister image.
- Sleep
- " wicked dreams"
- When Macbeth is asleep, his feelings of guilt are
hidden from himself and others. Now that his
sleep is disturbed with nightmares, he can't
escape from what he has done.
- He is having bad dreams, and he wishes to get away
from the guilt but he can't, which suggests a less
villainous side to Macbeth because he seems to regret
what he has done.
- "Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no
more! Macbeth does murder sleep', the
innocent sleep"
- He his hearing voices that tell him that what he has done is wrong.
He has murdered Duncan in his sleep, therefore his sleep will be
taken from him also, so that there is no escape from the guilt. The
voice he heard may have come from his own brain, in which case he
could be punishing himself for what he has done, which shoes how
guilty he feels- this suggests that Macbeth is not villainous because
he is punishing himself because he feels so bad.
- "Innocent sleep" sounds almost like he's
apologising for his actions. He realises how
innocent Duncan was, which emphasises how
villainous he must have been to kill him.
- "The death of each day's life"
- He wishes for sleep, which could suggests he wishes for death, the
guilt is consuming him so much.
- Are they visions or really supernatural?
- Supernatural would suggest villainy, i.e the witches. Link to
context- witchcraft at the time and the witches are the root
of Macbeth's ambition.
- James I was very keen on demonology.
- Visions would suggest guilt, or they could suggest villainy-
Macbeth subconsciously thinking about killing Duncan.
(When thinking of dagger- villainous, when thinking of
ghost- guilty).
- If they were visions, it could suggest villainy because they show Macbeth's conscience and
his thoughts, even if he doesn't admit he is thinking them.