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Macbeth Revision BookletName_________________

English Literature Teacher___________

DON’T PANIC!

Macbeth is a long play, and there seems to be so much to learn.

However, once you have finished this revision guide, you will have reduced everything you need down into the following:

- 5 revision cards about key themes (‘big ideas’ that Shakespeare was writing about)

- A list of 10 key quotations

- 5 revision cards about context (the time that the play was written)

- A poster about how to get your grade in the exam

And that’s it; you’ll be ready.

By the way, don’t worry - we’re not expecting you to have done that before the mock! You have until the real exam, which is in on 22nd May. You have plenty of time.

So: ‘screw your courage to the sticking-place” as Lady Macbeth says, and let’s get started. Below are some things to help you along the way:

STUCK? STRETCH! These sections help you get un-stuck These sections aim for top marks

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CONTENTS

1) Plot revision p42) Character revision p63) Key vocabulary p134) Themes p135) Top Ten Quotations p146) Context p157) Language Analysis p168) Techniques p189) Exam Practice p2210) Extension: Detailed p31

quotation sheets

1) PLOT REVISIONFirst task:

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● Go to YouTube and search ‘Cliffnotes Macbeth Plot.’ ● Listen to the video● Complete the boxes below, adding in what you think are the main 5 things that

happen in each act.

Main events in Act 1

- Example: Macbeth and Banquo meet 3 witches on the way back from battle

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- Example: Macbeth and Banquo meet 3 witches on the way back from battle

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STUCK?Use what you have seen in the video to complete a comic strip version of the plot. Explain what

is happening in each panel.

STRETCH!What are the turning points in the plot of Macbeth? A ‘turning point’ is a part of the play where a character changes; they see things in a different way, or something happens that has a dramatic effect on their future. These are the parts of the play that the exam is likely to focus on. Watch a second video; go to YouTube and search for ‘Video Sparknotes Macbeth’. Then below, list what you think are the main 5 turning points in the play. These are the places that the extract in the exam is likely to come from.

2) CHARACTER REVISION

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For each character, write one thing that the chosen quotations show about their character.

STUCK?

Use the ‘detailed

quotation sheets’ at the back of the booklet

to give you some ideas

STRETCH!Use the ‘detailed quotation sheets’ at the back of the booklet to try and add some related quotations (quotations that use similar words or talk about similar ideas) to each character. Try to add at least two to each character sheet.

MACBETHAct 1At the start of the play he is: brave violent ambitious

Sargent: ‘brave Macbeth’ e.g. this shows that he is courageous on the battlefield

Macbeth: ‘I dare do all that becomes a man’

Macbeth: ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen.’

Act 2Here he becomes more: unbalanced dishonest unpredictable

He has a ‘fatal vision’ of a ‘dagger of the mind’

He ‘could not say Amen’

Act 3Here he becomes more: murderous unwell paranoid

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‘full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife’

He speaks of his ‘terrible dreams’ and how he lacks ‘sleep’.

To Lady Macbeth, who asks about his plans for Banquo and his family: ‘be innocent of the knowledge, dear Chuck’

Act 4Here he is described in terms that are: Evil Devilish Tyrannical

Wishes ‘an eternal curse’ on the witches

Malcolm: ‘black Macbeth’

Act 5At the end he is: Insane Accepting Punished

Says he has ‘I have lived long enough’

About Lady Macbeth: ‘she should have died hereafter.’

Malcolm: ‘this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen.’

Consolidation: What three songs would you associate with Macbeth, at the beginning, middle and end of the play? Write your playlist here:

1)

2)

3)

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LADY MACBETHAct 1At the start of the play she is: ambitious dominant manipulative

‘Come you spirits […] unsex me here’ ‘look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’ ‘When you durst do it then you were a man.’

Act 2Here she becomes more: unashamed aggressive deceitful

‘I shame to wear a heart so white’ Banquo says what has happened to the king is ‘not for you to hear’ Shouts ‘help me hence!’ and is ‘carried out.’

Act 3Here she becomes more: practical quick-thinking insulting

‘What’s done is done.’Tells Macbeth to ‘be bright and jovial’ Ask him ‘Are you a man?’

Act 5At the end she is: Insane Guilt-ridden Suicidal

‘Hell is murky’ ‘will these hands ne’er be clean?’ Malcolm: ‘fiend-like queen’

Consolidation: If you were Lady Macbeth, who would you invite to your ideal dinner party? What kind of people might you get on with? Write three guests here:

1)

2)

3)

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THE WITCHESAct 1

At the start of the play they are: mysterious repulsive supernatural

‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ Macbeth: ‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen’Lady Macbeth talks to ‘you spirits’ and calls them ‘murdering ministers’

Act 2 and 3

In acts 2 and 3 there are a lot of words and phrases that remind us of the witches and evil:

Lady Macbeth hears the ‘owl scream’ just like the ‘raven’ she heard in Act 1. Macbeth talks of the ‘bat’ and the ‘crow’ at the end of Act 3.

Macbeth tells the murderers that ‘your spirits shine through you.’

Act 4

Here the witches are: All-powerful deceitful influential

‘the charm is firm and good’ ‘None of woman born shall harm Macbeth’‘Macbeth shall never vanquished be’ until Birnham wood comes to Dunsinane castle

Act 5

Malcolm:‘black Macbeth’ Macduff: ‘hell-hound.’

Consolidation: If you could summon up the witches in three objects, what would they be? List them here:

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KING DUNCANDuncan is only ever shown to be: Saint-like wise generous

Macbeth: has ‘an absolute trust’ with Duncan

Macbeth: ‘I am his kinsman and his subject’

Macduff: (Duncan is dead by this point in Act 4) ‘a sainted king’

MINOR CHARACTERSWrite a couple of sentences about who these characters are, and how they are important to the play. If you’re stuck, Google BBC Bitesize Macbeth.

Malcolm

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Macduff

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Banquo

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Fleance

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3) KEY VOCABULARYIn the boxes in the ‘character’ section, there are many key descriptive words that can be used in the exam. Write down 5 key words for each character, which you can remember for the exam.

MACBETH

1)2)3)4)5)

LADY MACBETH

1)2)3)4)5)

THE WITCHES

1)2)

KING DUNCAN

1)2)

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4) THEMES‘Themes’ are the big ideas that all books and films explore: things like love, power, and ambition. These are 5 of the main themes explored in Macbeth:

● Power and ambition● Sin and guilt● Gender (the different expectations we have of men and women)● Nature and the supernatural● Appearance and reality (this includes lies and deceit)

For each one, make a revision card. This should include:

● A title, showing the theme● A picture to represent the theme● Three key things that happen in the play, related to the theme● Two key quotations from the play● A sentence about what Shakespeare is saying about this them in Macbeth

There is an example below:

Theme: Power and ambition

Three key things:

1) The witches give Macbeth the idea of being King

2) Lady Macbeth wants to kill the king when he visits Dunsinane castle

3) Macbeth murders Banquo’s family to prevent Banquo’s sons from being kings

Two key quotations:

“Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself” shows Macbeth is nervous about his ambition.

“The fatal entrance of Duncan” shows Lady Macbeth wants to kill the king.

What is Shakespeare saying about this: Ambition and power should not stop people from knowing right from wrong.

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STUCK?

Write a single sentence about

what each of the themes actually means, e.g. ‘Power is when you can tell other people what to do and you are very

important.’

STRETCH!Once you have finished the context section, start to discover the links between theme and context by adding one element of context to each theme revision card that you have made.

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4) TOP TEN QUOTATIONS

Okay, so this has been going on for a while now. I think that you might have an idea which 10 quotations, if you only choose 10 to remember, are the most important in the play.

Have a look back through your theme revision cards, and the character revision section of this booklet. Then choose your top 10 quotations, and write them here:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

STUCK?

Stuck? Google ‘Mr Bruff

Macbeth Song’ which is awful but has some great Macbeth quotations in it. That should

help you to choose your top 10.

STRETCH!Create 3 flashcards for your top 3 groups of quotations. These could be e.g. ‘Night and darkness’ or ‘illness’ or ‘madness’. Think about what semantic fields (groups of words) keep coming up in the play. Why might this be?

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5) CONTEXTWatch the first 9 minutes of Miss Cole’s context video (go to You Tube and search for Miss Cole Macbeth Context).

Answer the following questions to make sure that you understand what context is, and how the context of Macbeth affected the choices that Shakespeare made when he wrote this play.

1) What does ‘context’ actually mean? List 3 types of context that the video mentions:

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2) Who was on the throne when Shakespeare’s early plays were written?

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3) What did Shakespeare do to challenge stereotypes of women at the time (most people thought that women were inferior and the possessions of men)?

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4) The next person on the throne was James I. Which famous plotter tried to kill James I? How?

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5) What is regicide?

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6) Why did Shakespeare decided that Macbeth had to die at the end of the play, according to this video?

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7) Which elements of the play would appeal to James I’s interest in the supernatural?

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8) What message does the end of the play give the audience about being involved with supernatural forces such as ghosts and witches, according to this video?

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9) What happens in the play show that what Macbeth has done, when he killed the king, was a sin against God?

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10) The Great Chain of Being put Kings next to God in the natural order of the world. How does Macbeth disrupt this natural order?

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11) How does Shakespeare make sure the natural order (the Great Chain of Being) is restored by the end of the play, to please King James I?

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TEST YOURSELF!

Make a revision card, explaining what each of these things are, and what they have to do with Macbeth. If you can, find a quotation that relates to this and add it to the card.

1) James I2) Guy Fawkess3) The supernatural4) Religion5) The Great Chain of Being

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STUCK?

Just write one sentence, explaining what each of the five things on the last page has to do with Macbeth.

STRETCH!

Extension: Google ‘Stuart Knott Prezi Macbeth Tragic Hero’. Add how these are relevant to Macbeth.

Relating Macbeth to the ancient tradition of tragic theatre will really impress the examiners!

1) Tragic hero

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2) Tragic flaw

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3) Peripeteia

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4) Catharsis

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6) LANGUAGE ANALYSISSomething that makes a big difference in your grade in English Literature is how good you are at analysing language. ‘Analysing language’ means talking about:

● What words make us think about the characters● Things that we associate with these words● How these words make us feel about the characters

There is a simple acronym to remember this: ICE.

Inference (tell us all of the things that this word suggests about what is happening)

Connotations (tell us what we normally associate with this word, if it’s relevant)

Effect (tell if this changes how we think or feel, at this point in the play)

Below are some key quotations from the play. Underneath each one, please pick out some of the key words and analyse them, using ICE to help you.

1) Lady Macbeth: “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.”

Inference – what this suggests about what is happening

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Lady Macbeth is suggesting that Macbeth should lie, and cover up what he is planning to do. “Flower” suggests that he should look fragile and harmless, but “serpent” suggests the opposite. Serpents are something we associate with evil, and so this suggests that she knows what they are doing – trying to kill a king – is a sin. This is quite shocking to the audience, as we can see clearly how she is prepared to commit evil acts and then cover them up.

Connotations – what we associate with key word

Effects – if this changes what we think and feel about the characters

Now try the following four quotations – use ICE to help you. Remember – you don’t need to follow each step for each quotation (you’re not a machine!) but use them if it helps.

1) The Witches “Fair is foul and foul is fair”


2) Lady Macbeth “Come you spirits … unsex me here”

Lady Macbeth is suggesting that Macbeth should

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lie, and cover up what he is planning to do. “Flower” suggests that he should look fragile and harmless, but “serpent” suggests the opposite. Serpents are something we associate with evil, and so this suggests that she knows what they are doing – trying to kill a king – is a sin. This is quite shocking to the audience, as we can see clearly how she is prepared to commit evil acts and then cover them up.

3) Macbeth “Full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife”

Lady Macbeth is suggesting that Macbeth should lie, and cover up what he is planning to do. “Flower” suggests that he should look fragile and harmless, but “serpent” suggests the opposite. Serpents are something we associate with evil, and so this suggests that she knows what they are doing – trying to kill a king – is a sin. This is quite shocking to the audience, as we can see clearly how she is prepared to commit evil acts and then cover them up. 4) Malcolm “This dead butcher and his fiend-like queen”


Extension: One of the key skills for higher grades is to link the quotations to the play’s more sophisticated themes (which you made revision cards about in section 4) and to explore more than one interpretation of what the quotation shows about the theme.

Here is an example of how to do this: Lady Macbeth’ suggestion makes a direct link between deceit (‘be like the innocent flower’) and sin

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(‘be like the serpent under it.’) Perhaps Shakespeare is reminding the audience that deceit goes against God. However, the quotation also has lots of natural imagery in it: a flower and a serpent. Maybe Shakespeare is also showing us that, even though it is a sin, it is part of human nature.

Now try this with the other four quotations in this section.

7) TECHNIQUESThere are some technical terms (specialist words that you mostly use in English lessons)

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that you need to remember for this exam, and the other English Literature exams. These are listed below:

● Verb A doing word, usually an action ● Adjective A describing word● Alliteration Words starting with the same letter, so we link them● Simile Saying something is ‘like’ or ‘as’ something else● Metaphor Saying something is something else● Personification Describing an object as if it can think or act● Onomatopoeia A sound word like ‘bang’ or ‘boom’● Soliloquy A person speaking on their own to the audience● Dialogue Two people speaking to each other● Question Often used to show uncertainty or panic● Imperative (command) Often used to show dominance or confidence● Symbol When an object or animal represents an idea● Juxtaposition Placing opposites together so we think about the links

To practice these, go back to the quotations in the previous section of the guide, and put a ring around at least one of these, and label it. There is an example below.

1) “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.”

Symbol – The serpent is a symbol of evilImperative – Lady Macbeth is commanding Macbeth to lie

2) The Witches “Fair is foul and foul is fair”

3) Macbeth “Full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife”

4) Lady Macbeth “Come you spirits … unsex me here”

5) Malcolm “This dead butcher and his fiend-like queen”

8) EXAM PRACTICESo – how do you pull all this together in the exam in 50 minutes? Easy. First, go to King

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Alfred’s Academy English Channel (on Youtube), and watch the video there, which explains how to get your target grade in the exam, either grade 5 or grades 7-9.

Then look at the example paragraphs below. These both follow the steps in the video to put their ideas into a clear paragraph. Use the key to highlight each ingredient in each paragraph. This will help you to see how the paragraph was organised.

Grade 5 (or perhaps a bit higher) example

INGREDIENTS:

How does Macbeth Present deception in this scene, and in the play as a whole?

At the start of this scene, Shakespeare presents deception by showing how much Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are suffering. Macbeth talks about how they must ‘eat our meal in fear’ as if even the basic things like eating and sleeping have been affected by what they have done: killing Duncan and then lying to cover it up. He also speaks about how they both suffer from ‘terrible dreams’ which are a ’torture to the mind’. The image of ‘torture’ is very powerful and shows how much mental pain Macbeth is in because of what he’s done. Shakespeare uses repetition of ‘peace’ and ’sleep’ twice in this scene, to show that these are going round and round in Macbeth’s head and he’s becoming obsessed by sleep. The audience can really see how he is paying for his deception; he’s starting to lose his mind. This links to later in the play when Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking in Act 5 and she’s having visions of the blood on her hands. Perhaps Shakespeare is showing us the terrible mental consequences of deception.

Later on, Shakespeare shows how Lady Macbeth is perhaps better at deception than her husband. She tells him to ‘sleek o’er your rugged looks’ and ‘be bright and jovial’. Macbeth might look ‘rugged’ because he is a soldier. We know that in Act 1 he defeated the ‘merciless Macdonwald’ and that he was a hero in battle. Now he has to pretend to be a host to the banquet, and make it seem like he’s done nothing wrong. Shakespeare uses imperatives like ‘come on, gentle my Lord’ to show that Lady Macbeth believes she can make him lie and seem ‘gentle’ when in fact he is a murderer. However, the audience at the

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time would probably want him to be discovered and punished. The killing of a king was a terrible sin, as they believed that kings were appointed by God to rule on earth, as part of the Great Chain of Being. Lying about the killing of a king would be something they’d expect to have terrible consequences.

Shakespeare also uses the symbol of the snake to show that what Macbeth does is a sin. The ‘snake’ is associated with the serpent in the garden of Eden, which tricked Adam and Eve. Shakespeare uses the image of the snake earlier in the play when Lady Macbeth told Macbeth to ‘look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it.’ This is a shocking image of evil in a time when the audience was likely to be much more religious than an audience might be today. Here Shakespeare is clearly showing that deception is extremely evil, and maybe that is why he punishes Macbeth at the end of the play, when Macduff chops off his head and puts Duncan’s son back on the throne.

In conclusion, Shakespeare is showing all the suffering that can be caused by deception, and that people who are deceptive are not rewarded in the end.

STUCK?

Watch the video again, and make

a poster explaining how to do the exam step-by-step.

You’ll need to pause the video while you’re

making your poster!

STRETCH!Look over the page!

Grade 7-9 (nearer 9) example:

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From the opening line of this extract, Shakespeare clearly emphasizes that deception is a terrible sin. The image of the ’snake’ that he says he has scorched has associations of sin and the devil, particularly to a Jacobean audience who would most likely have been more religious than an audience today. Perhaps the though of fire and snakes also has overtones of witchcraft, making the audience recall the witches and their casting of the ‘charm’ which begins the play. Additionally, we have recently heard Lady Macbeth instruct her husband to ‘be the serpent’ underneath the ‘innocent flower,’ which might be seen as another image of the Garden of Eden. Altogether, then we can see Shakespeare is evidently condemning Macbeth’s killing of Duncan. At a time when the population believed in the Divine Right of Kings, the audience would have been likely to understand that deception, and particularly the killing of a king, was a sin.

Later on in the extract, Shakespeare shows several of the terrible consequences of deception, as Macbeth becomes more and more agitated. The repetition of ‘sleep’ and ‘peace’ shows that he is becoming physically worn down, and also psychologically affected by the ‘terrible dreams’ that are a ‘torture to the mind’. Throughout the rest of the play, the Macbeths sleep less and less, as they become more paranoid about their deception of their friends the Scottish nobles, and start to believe that others are deceiving them. In Scene 5, Shakespeare shows us the most shocking consequence of this, when the audience see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, and hallucinating the ‘spot’ of blood that symbolizes her guilt. The line ‘better be with the dead’ could perhaps be seen to foreshadow Lady Macbeth’s possible suicide at the end of the play, and Macbeth’s statement in Act 5 that ‘I have lived long enough.’

Additionally, it is worth noting that Lady Macbeth is the character who encourages the deception most, by persuading Macbeth to pretend he is ‘bright and jovial.’ When she tells him to ‘sleek o’er your rugged looks’ we could possibly be reminded of the ‘brave Macbeth’ of Act 1, who fought so bloodthirstily in battle and defeated the ‘merciless Macdonwald.’ Alternatively, ‘rugged looks’ might indicate the psychological wear that Macbeth is suffering from as he continues to lie to those around him. The mention of ‘bright’ and the imagery of light is a stark contrast with the darkness that is descending on the play – perhaps symbolizing Macbeth’s descent into evil and madness.

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In conclusion, Shakespeare is clearly denouncing Macbeth’s deception; he shows its physical and psychological consequences clearly, and prepares the audience for the play’s bloody finale.

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Ok – so now you’ve seen how it’s done, it’s time to have a go yourself. Use the video to talk you through each step of planning and writing, and have a go at one of these two example questions.

Section A: ShakespeareAnswer one question from this section on your chosen text.

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Macbeth Read the following extract from the end of Macbeth and then answer the question that follows.

At this point in the play Macbeth is about to be killed by Macduff.MACDUFFDespair thy charm;And let the angel whom thou still hast servedTell thee, Macduff was from his mother's wombUntimely ripp'd.MACBETHAccursed be that tongue that tells me so,For it hath cow'd my better part of man!And be these juggling fiends no more believed,That palter with us in a double sense;That keep the word of promise to our ear,And break it to our hope. I'll not fight with thee.MACDUFFThen yield thee, coward,And live to be the show and gaze o' the time:We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,Painted on a pole, and underwrit,'Here may you see the tyrant.'MACBETHI will not yield,To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet,And to be baited with the rabble's curse.Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane,And thou opposed, being of no woman born,Yet I will try the last. Before my bodyI throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff,And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'

0.1

Starting with this extract, explain how bravery is presented.

Write about: • how Shakespeare presents Macbeth and Macduff in this extract • how Shakespeare presents bravery/ brave characters in the play as a whole.

[30 marks] AO4 [4 marks]

Second example question:

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Section A: ShakespeareAnswer one question from this section on your chosen text.

Macbeth Read the following extract from Act 5 Scene 1 of Macbeth and then answer the question that follows.

At this point in the play Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking, being observed by her Doctor..

LADY MACBETHThe thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?--What, will these hands ne'er be clean?--No more o'that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all withthis starting.DoctorGo to, go to; you have known what you should not.GentlewomanShe has spoke what she should not, I am sure ofthat: heaven knows what she has known.LADY MACBETHHere's the smell of the blood still: all theperfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this littlehand. Oh, oh, oh!DoctorWhat a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged.LADY MACBETHWash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not sopale.--I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; hecannot come out on's grave.

0.1

Starting with this extract, explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as weak.

Write about:

• how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in this extract • how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in the play as a whole.

[30 marks] AO4 [4 marks]

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Want to know what grade you got?

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1) Highlight the ingredients in your answer, just like you did in the example essays

2) Use the marks scheme below to mark your work, and discuss the mark with your teacher

Spelling and Grammar

Content

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What else can I do?

These web sites are all really useful to revise Macbeth:

1) GCSE Bitesize: Macbeth revision

2) Youtube: Macbeth Animated Tales

3) Vimeo Macbeth Great Performances

If you have any questions please email your English Literature teacher!

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10) Extension: Detailed Quotation SheetsMacbeth

At the start of the play he is: brave violent loyal But he is also: ambitious dishonest afraid

Act 1

The sergeant calls him ‘brave Macbeth’ as he has defeated ‘the merciless Macdonwald’King Duncan calls him ‘noble Macbeth’ all of which show his courage.

He talks about ‘loyalty’ and ‘duty’ towards his king, and later how ‘I am his kinsman and his subject.’ This would be what Jacobean audiences would expect of a nobleman.

However, he is starting to be influenced by the witches’ prophesy, using their words when he says ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen.’

He starts to be overtaken by ‘vaulting ambition’ and wants to hide this. He asks ‘stars, hide your fires’ so that heaven won’t see ‘my black and deep desires.’

He tells his wife ‘we will proceed no further’ with the plan to murder Duncan, because he fears ‘deep damnation’ if he does. He is clearly afraid of hell at this point in the play.

He insists that he is still a man, saying ‘I dare do all that becomes a man’ but he is clearly worried, asking ‘If we should fail?’ He doesn’t want his manhood to be questioned.

Lady Macbeth fears that he is ‘too full of the milk of human kindness’ so she needs to persuade him; in Act two she calls him ‘infirm of purpose.’

Act 2

Here he becomes more: unbalanced dishonest unpredictable

He has a ‘fatal vision’ of a dagger, even though he knows it’s just ‘a dagger of the mind’

He talks about ‘the present horror’ of the murder; Lady Macbeth says he thinks ‘brainsickly of things’. He has another vision of ‘all great Neptune’s ocean’ turning red with blood. He talks about how ‘every noise appals me’ and is evidently becoming unbalanced.

He ‘could not say Amen’ when he heard Duncan’s children praying, because of guilt.

He tells Ducan’s children that their father is dead.

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He lies and says that he killed the guards in a fit of rage.

Banquo calls his crime ‘gainst nature’ and blames it on ‘ambition.’

Act 3

Here he becomes more: murderous unwell paranoid

Banquo says Macbeth acted ‘most foully’ to murder Duncan. He’s afraid he will gain a ‘fruitless crown’ because he has no children to inherit it; Banquo has.

He says ‘full of scorpions is my mind’ showing how evil and disturbed his mind has become.

He says he has ‘a strange infirmity’ and calls the vision he has of Banquo’s ghost a ‘fit’ as if he’s suffering from a disease.

He speaks of his ‘terrible dreams’ and how he lacks ‘sleep’.

He has a vision of Banquo’s ghost.

He decides not to tell his wife about the muder of Banquo’s family: ‘be innocent of the knowledge’ he says.

Knows that his behaviour will cause more death: ‘blood will have blood’ this is almost fatalistic, suggesting that the whole thing is outside of his control.

Act 4

Here he is described in terms that are: Evil Devilish Tyrannical

He says to the witches ‘I conjure you’ to tell him what will happen next, in language that makes him seem like a witch. He wishes ‘an eternal curse’ on them, again like a witch.

He has a vision of a never-ending line of Banquo’s children as kings.

Malcolm calls him a ‘tyrant’ and ‘black Macbeth,’ which associates him with evil. Macduff calls him ‘this fiend of Scotland’ which associates him with the devil. They plan to put an end to the ‘night’ of Macbeth’s rule; again, night is associated with evil and witchcraft.

Act 5

At the end he is: Arrogant Accepting Punished

Says he’ll fight the English army ‘till from my bones my flesh be hacked’ which foreshadows the end, when Macduff enters ‘with Macbeth’s head’

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Asks the doctor if he’ll minister to ‘a mind diseased?’

When he hears of his wife’s suicide, he only says ‘she should have died hereafter.’ His ‘charmed life’ ends when he is killed.

The final word comes from Malcolm, who describes him as ‘this dead butcher.’

Lady MacbethAct 1

At the start of the play she is: ambitious dominant practicalBut she is also: evil decisive manipulative

Macbeth calls her ‘my dearest partner of greatness’ hinting that he knows that she’ll help his ambitions.

Says she fears his ‘nature’ as it is ‘too full of the milk of human kindness’ – she rejects the idea of ‘milk’ which the audience might associate with a woman and motherhood.

She later says she would have ‘dash’d the brains out’ of a feeding baby, if she had promised to. She asks the spirits to ‘unsex me here’ as if her role as a women is holding her back. This behaviour, from a woman, would have shocked a Jacobean audience.

She wants to ‘pour my spirits in thine ear,’ using language which reminds of us of the witches. She also commands ‘come you spirits’ and wishes for the ‘smoke of hell.’ She tells Macbeth to ‘be the serpent’ like in the Garden of Eden. This association with the Devil and hell would be very shocking for a contemporary audience.

A raven crows to mark ‘The fatal entrance of Duncan’ to her castle, making it seem like he is destined to die.

She is confident, telling Macbeth to ‘leave all the rest to me’ and asking him ‘art thou afeard?’ as if she can’t believe he is scared.

She comes up with the plan to drug the guards and murder Duncan.

She also says that if he daren’t do it, he’s not manly, saying ‘When you durst do it then you were a man.’

Act 2

Here she becomes more: fragile aggressive deceitful

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Says Duncan ‘resembled my father’ as he slept, otherwise she’d have done it. Shows that she does have some family feeling and is not as cold as she would like to think.

Hears the ‘owl scream’ just like the ‘raven’ she heard in Act 1, showing that she is becoming more fragile and paranoid.

Says Macbeth thinks ‘brainsickly of things’ – she has noticed that his mind is suffering.

She comes up with the plan of framing the guards

She says ‘I shame to wear a heart so white,’ using the colour we associate with innocence and Christ as an insult.

Banquo says to Lady Macbeth that what has happened to the king is ‘not for you to hear’ because she is a woman’

She pretends to faint, shouting ‘help me hence’ and is ‘carried out.’ She has fooled everyone.

Act 3

Here she becomes more: practical quick-thinking insulting

She is more realistic and says ‘what’s done is done.’

Macbeth starts to protect her, telling her to be ‘innocent of the knowledge’ of what he intends to do to Banquo’s family, and calling her ‘dear chuck.’

Tells him to ‘be bright and jovial’ in front of his guests, thinking that this kind of deceit is easy. When Macbeth sees the ghosts, she explains it quickly as an illness that her husband has. She says ‘the fit’ is temporary.

Speaking privately to Macbeth, she asks him ‘Are you a man?’ Using the more familiar ‘you’ to be more insulting.

Act 5

At the end she is: Insane Guilt-ridden Suicidal

She is sleepwalking; we see this on stage. She has visions of blood on her hands.

She insists that she ‘has light by her’ at all times, recalling the light of heaven. However, she announces that ‘Hell is murky’ which suggests that she is actually in hell.

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She says ‘out, damned spot,’ and asks ‘will these hands ne’er be clean?’ This spot of blood is symbol of her guilt; the question shows that it is now her that is fragile and unsure, not Macbeth.

We don’t see her die; we only hear that there is ‘A cry of women within.’ This foreshadows Macbeth’s death later, which also happens off-stage.

Macbeth’s dismissive reaction to her death (‘She should have died hereafter’) suggests that there was little love between them.

The final words about her are spoken by Malcolm: she calls him Macbeth’s ‘fiend-like queen’ which shows her status and importance, but also associates her with the Devil (who is also called a ‘fiend’.)

The WitchesAct 1

At the start of the play they are: mysterious repulsive supernatural

The stage directions specify thunder and lightening when the witches enter. This could imply that the natural order has been disturbed by the entrance of these evil characters.

One of their earliest lines, ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ blurs the line between good (fair) and evil (foul).

They appear to have supernatural powers, if they can ‘hover through fog and filthy air.’ The

They announce that ‘The charm’s wound up’ meaning that the spell is cast. A fatalistic view of the play could argue that they are therefore responsible for everything that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do, if they have put them under a spell or ‘charm.’

Macbeth uses their line in reverse later on, saying ‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen,’ illustrating that he is under their influence already.

They tell him the first three prophesies:

1) He will be Thain of Cawdor 2) He will be King ( ‘ thou shalt be king hereafter’)3) Banquo’s children will be kings (‘thou shalt get kings, though thou be none’)

Banquo asks them if they can ‘look into the seeds of time and say which grain will grow’ which we see later that they can; all their prophecies come true.

Macbeth admits he has been ‘supernatural soliciting’ (asking for with witches) and this

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shows that he is responsible too; he wanted to ask for their help.

Lady Macbeth later asks ‘come you spirits’ and later calls these spirits ‘you murdering ministers.’ This could be seen as a kind of evil spirit, reminding the audience of the witches

Act 2

In acts 2 and 3 there are a lot of words and phrases that remind us of the witches and evil:

Lady Macbeth hears the ‘owl scream’ just like the ‘raven’ she heard in Act 1; these haunting noises create an atmosphere of night-time and evil.

Act 3

Macbeth tells the murderers that ‘your spirits shine through you’ recalling the evil spirits in act 1, and the ‘spirits’ and ‘murdering ministers’ that Lady Macbeth calls on in Act 2.

Macbeth talks of the ‘bat’ and the ‘crow’ at the end of Act 3, at the onset of night, recalling again the ‘owl’ that Lady Macbeth heard in Act 2. Perhaps this also foreshadows the scream we hear in Act 5 when Lady Macbeth kills herself.

Act 4

Here the witches are: All-powerful deceitful influential

They announce that ‘the charm is firm and good’ meaning their spell is now working.

Macbeth says ‘I conjure you’ to come and answer his questions; again, he sounds like a witch here.

The witches make three more prophesies:

1) Macbeth should ‘ beware Macduff’ 2) ‘None of woman born shall harm Macbeth’3) ‘Macbeth shall never vanquished be’ until Birnham wood comes to Dunsinane castle

Macbeth a vision of a long line Banquo’s children as kings

Macbeth wishes ‘an eternal curse’ on the witches; he is now casting his own spells.

Perhaps this is why later Malcolm calls him ‘black Macbeth’ and at the end of the play, Macduff calls him ‘hell-hound.’

King Duncan

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Duncan is only ever shows to be: Saint-like wise generous

Macbeth says he and Duncan have built up ‘an absolute trust’ with each other.

He is a ‘worthiest cousin’ to Macbeth

He promises that he’ll make Macbeth ‘full of growing’ in Act 1 (that is, he will promote Macbeth and look after him)

Macbeth talks about ‘loyalty’ and ‘duty’ to the king in Act 2.

Macbeth says that he’s in their house ‘in double trust’ because ‘I am his kinsman and his subject’ (meaning a member of his family and also someone he rules over).

Macduff remembers how Duncan (who is dead by this point) was ‘a sainted king’ in Act 4.

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