CHARACTERS
Macbeth
"A tale told by an idiot"
Monologue about the futility of life
The days suceeds in a meaningless way
Every past moment is a preparation for a dusty death
Life is something that easily disappears like a shadow
Life is a not skillful player
Life has no meaning
Metaphors based on something that is less important
Type of character
Protagonist (main character)
At the beginning, he is a brave, courageous and respected soldier
During the play we can see his downfall
He becomes a beast because he loses his humanity, his feeling and his relationships
Dehumanization
When he kills Duncan.
He feels guilty and he can't even pronounce the word "murdered"
In his imagination he would be punished because he killed a man in the helpless sleep
He is a weak person
With the character of Macbeth, Shakespeare descrives to us how ambition can destroy human being and pure souls
Lady Macbeth
Type of character
Protagonist (main character)
She is able to overcome Macbeth's excitation
She is a strong and powerful woman
She knows what to do and she makes the decisions: she has a great strength of will
When Macbeth kills Duncan
She show a plan, she is a cold blood and a confident person
Lady Macbeth advises Macbeth not to take this moment in consideration and not to think over and over
In the second part of the play, she is a different character
She's mad
She feels guilty
She sleepwalks and sleeptalks
She loses her confidence
She wants to wash away the blood from his hands
She overcomes by madness and then she dies
Three witches
Antagonist
They have malicious intentions, prophetic and supernatural powers
They don't really act because they work on something is already present in the protagonists
Where does the story takes place?
Scotland
This play is also named "The Scottish Play" because it's the only play set in Scottish
11th century
This play begins with a witchcraft and it ends with a bloody severed head
This play is about the story of a Scottish nobleman who steals the throne and who created a reign of terror and for this reason he meets a bloody end
Three witches appear and they announce they are looking for a Scottish nobleman called Macbeth
They met Macbeth and Banquo and they prophesied Macbeth would become king and then he thinks how to get the power
Macbeth and his wife organise murders, lies and betrayals to get the power
Holinshed's Chronicles: a popular story from Ireland
The situation in England in 1603
King Elizabeth I died without an heir and then James Stuart (King of Scotland) became king, but after two years he was killed by an assissination attempt
It's Shakespeare's shortest tragedy
From this play we can find some common expressions we use everyday because Shakespeare language lives still today
"The milk of human kindness"
"Double double toil and trouble fire burn and cauldron bubble"
"What's done is done"
guilt
Macbeth feels guilty
ambition
It's something already present in Macbeth and in his lady
Ambition leads Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to fulfill their desires, but transforms them into heartless killers
uncontrolled ambition
power
violence
BLOOD
It's the most used word in the play
Macbeth is a blood bath
The play is full of battles, murders, suicides and the play ends with the beheading of Macbeth
It's a powerful symbol of guilt
abuse of power
betrayal
political conflicts
questions of morality
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth sacrifice their morals and their honor to ambition
obsessions
the prophecy must become true
Macbeth feels gulty when he kills king Duncan
Regicide
Killing a king is an act agains God and Nature
After Duncan's death, there are terrible storms, earth trembles and animals become insane
Fate and witchraft
The play begins with the witches' propechies: Macbeth will become king by killing Duncan and Macbeth will do anything to control his own fate