MACBETH

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeares shortest and bloodiest tragedy, Macbeth tells the story of a brave Scottish general (Macbeth) who
receives a prophecy from a trio of sinister witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed with
ambitious thoughts and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and seizes the throne for
himself. He begins his reign racked with guilt and fear and soon becomes a tyrannical ruler, as he is forced to
commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. The bloodbath swiftly propels
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to arrogance, madness, and death.
Macbeth is not Shakespeares most complex play, but it is certainly one of his most powerful and emotionally
intense. Whereas Shakespeares other major tragedies, such as Hamlet and Othello, fastidiously explore the
intellectual predicaments faced by their subjects and the fine nuances of their subjects characters, Macbeth
tumbles madly from its opening to its conclusion. It is a sharp, jagged sketch of theme and character; as
such, it has shocked and fascinated audiences for nearly four hundred years.
Macbeth
Because we first hear of Macbeth in the wounded captains account of his battlefield valor, our initial impression
is of a brave and capable warrior. This perspective is complicated, however, once we see Macbeth interact with
the three witches. We realize that his physical courage is joined by a consuming ambition and a tendency to
self-doubtthe prediction that he will be king brings him joy, but it also creates inner turmoil. These three
attributesbravery, ambition, and self-doubtstruggle for mastery of Macbeth throughout the play.
Shakespeare uses Macbeth to show the terrible effects that ambition and guilt can have on a man who lacks
strength of character. We may classify Macbeth as irrevocably evil, but his weak character separates him from
Shakespeares great villainsIago in Othello,Richard III in Richard III, Edmund in King Learwho are all
strong enough to conquer guilt and self-doubt. Macbeth, great warrior though he is, is ill equipped for the
psychic consequences of crime.
Before he kills Duncan, Macbeth is plagued by worry and almost aborts the crime. It takes Lady Macbeths steely
sense of purpose to push him into the deed. After the murder, however, her powerful personality begins to
disintegrate, leaving Macbeth increasingly alone. He fluctuates between fits of fevered action, in which he plots a
series of murders to secure his throne, and moments of terrible guilt (as when Banquos ghost appears) and
absolute pessimism (after his wifes death, when he seems to succumb to despair). These fluctuations reflect the
tragic tension within Macbeth: he is at once too ambitious to allow his conscience to stop him from murdering
his way to the top and too conscientious to be happy with himself as a murderer. As things fall apart for him at
the end of the play, he seems almost relievedwith the English army at his gates, he can finally return to life as a
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warrior, and he displays a kind of reckless bravado as his enemies surround him and drag him down. In part, this
stems from his fatal confidence in the witches prophecies, but it also seems to derive from the fact that he has
returned to the arena where he has been most successful and where his internal turmoil need not affect him
namely, the battlefield. Unlike many of Shakespeares other tragic heroes, Macbeth never seems to contemplate
suicide: Why should I play the Roman fool, he asks, and die / On mine own sword? (5.10.12). Instead, he
goes down fighting, bringing the play full circle: it begins with Macbeth winning on the battlefield and ends
with him dying in combat.
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeares most famous and frightening female characters. When we first see her,
she is already plotting Duncans murder, and she is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband.
She seems fully aware of this and knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. At one
point, she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself. This theme of the relationship
between gender and power is key to Lady Macbeths character: her husband implies that she is a masculine soul
inhabiting a female body, which seems to link masculinity to ambition and violence. Shakespeare, however,
seems to use her, and the witches, to undercut Macbeths idea that undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing
but males (1.7.7374). These crafty women use female methods of achieving powerthat is, manipulationto
further their supposedly male ambitions. Women, the play implies, can be as ambitious and cruel as men, yet
social constraints deny them the means to pursue these ambitions on their own.
Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his objections; when he
hesitates to murder, she repeatedly questions his manhood until he feels that he must commit murder to prove
himself. Lady Macbeths remarkable strength of will persists through the murder of the kingit is she who
steadies her husbands nerves immediately after the crime has been perpetrated. Afterward, however, she begins a
slow slide into madnessjust as ambition affects her more strongly than Macbeth before the crime, so does
guilt plague her more strongly afterward. By the close of the play, she has been reduced to sleepwalking
through the castle, desperately trying to wash away an invisible bloodstain. Once the sense of guilt comes
home to roost, Lady Macbeths sensitivity becomes a weakness, and she is unable to cope. Significantly, she
(apparently) kills herself, signaling her total inability to deal with the legacy of their crimes.
The Three Witches
Throughout the play, the witchesreferred to as the weird sisters by many of the characterslurk like dark
thoughts and unconscious temptations to evil. In part, the mischief they cause stems from their supernatural
powers, but mainly it is the result of their understanding of the weaknesses of their specific interlocutorsthey
play upon Macbeths ambition like puppeteers.

The witches beards, bizarre potions, and rhymed speech make them seem slightly ridiculous, like caricatures of
the supernatural. Shakespeare has them speak in rhyming couplets throughout (their most famous line is probably
Double, double, toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble in 4.1.1011), which separates them from the
other characters, who mostly speak in blank verse. The witches words seem almost comical, like malevolent
nursery rhymes. Despite the absurdity of their eye of newt and toe of frog recipes, however, they are clearly
the most dangerous characters in the play, being both tremendously powerful and utterly wicked (4.1.14).
The audience is left to ask whether the witches are independent agents toying with human lives, or agents of
fate, whose prophecies are only reports of the inevitable. The witches bear a striking and obviously intentional
resemblance to the Fates, female characters in both Norse and Greek mythology who weave the fabric of
human lives and then cut the threads to end them. Some of their prophecies seem self-fulfilling. For example,
it is doubtful that Macbeth would have murdered his king without the push given by the witches predictions. In
other cases, though, their prophecies are just remarkably accurate readings of the futureit is hard to see
Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane as being self-fulfilling in any way. The play offers no easy answers. Instead,
Shakespeare keeps the witches well outside the limits of human comprehension. They embody an unreasoning,
instinctive evil.

Themes
The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition
The main theme of Macbeththe destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints
finds its most powerful expression in the plays two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general
who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills
Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he
descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with
greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of
Shakespeares most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and
urges him to be strong in the murders aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of
Macbeths repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambitionhelped, of course, by the malign
prophecies of the witchesis what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play
suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further ones quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are
always potential threats to the throneBanquo, Fleance, Macduffand it is always tempting to use violent
means to dispose of them.
The Relationship Between Cruelty and Masculinity

Characters in Macbeth frequently dwell on issues of gender. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by
questioning his manhood, wishes that she herself could be unsexed, and does not contradict Macbeth when he
says that a woman like her should give birth only to boys. In the same manner that Lady Macbeth goads her
husband on to murder, Macbeth provokes the murderers he hires to kill Banquo by questioning their manhood.
Such acts show that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth equate masculinity with naked aggression, and whenever
they converse about manhood, violence soon follows. Their understanding of manhood allows the political order
depicted in the play to descend into chaos.
At the same time, however, the audience cannot help noticing that women are also sources of violence and evil.
The witches prophecies spark Macbeths ambitions and then encourage his violent behavior; Lady Macbeth
provides the brains and the will behind her husbands plotting; and the only divine being to appear is Hecate,
the goddess of witchcraft. Arguably, Macbeth traces the root of chaos and evil to women, which has led some
critics to argue that this is Shakespeares most misogynistic play. While the male characters are just as violent and
prone to evil as the women, the aggression of the female characters is more striking because it goes against
prevailing expectations of how women ought to behave. Lady Macbeths behavior certainly shows that women
can be as ambitious and cruel as men. Whether because of the constraints of her society or because she is not
fearless enough to kill, Lady Macbeth relies on deception and manipulation rather than violence to achieve her
ends.
Ultimately, the play does put forth a revised and less destructive definition of manhood. In the scene where
Macduff learns of the murders of his wife and child, Malcolm consoles him by encouraging him to take the news
in manly fashion, by seeking revenge upon Macbeth. Macduff shows the young heir apparent that he has a
mistaken understanding of masculinity. To Malcolms suggestion, Dispute it like a man, Macduff replies, I
shall do so. But I must also feel it as a man (4.3.221223). At the end of the play, Siward receives news of his
sons death rather complacently. Malcolm responds: Hes worth more sorrow [than you have expressed] / And
that Ill spend for him (5.11.1617). Malcolms comment shows that he has learned the lesson Macduff gave him
on the sentient nature of true masculinity. It also suggests that, with Malcolms coronation, order will be restored
to the Kingdom of Scotland.
The Difference Between Kingship and Tyranny
In the play, Duncan is always referred to as a king, while Macbeth soon becomes known as the tyrant. The
difference between the two types of rulers seems to be expressed in a conversation that occurs in Act 4, scene 3,
when Macduff meets Malcolm in England. In order to test Macduffs loyalty to Scotland, Malcolm pretends that
he would make an even worse king than Macbeth. He tells Macduff of his reproachable qualitiesamong them a
thirst for personal power and a violent temperament, both of which seem to characterize Macbeth perfectly. On
the other hand, Malcolm says, The king-becoming graces / [are] justice, verity, temprance, stableness, / Bounty,
perseverance, mercy, [and] lowliness (4.3.9293). The model king, then, offers the kingdom an embodiment of
order and justice, but also comfort and affection. Under him, subjects are rewarded according to their merits, as
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when Duncan makes Macbeth thane of Cawdor after Macbeths victory over the invaders. Most important, the
king must be loyal to Scotland above his own interests. Macbeth, by contrast, brings only chaos to Scotland
symbolized in the bad weather and bizarre supernatural eventsand offers no real justice, only a habit of
capriciously murdering those he sees as a threat. As the embodiment of tyranny, he must be overcome by
Malcolm so that Scotland can have a true king once more.
Motifs
Hallucinations
Visions and hallucinations recur throughout the play and serve as reminders of Macbeth and Lady Macbeths joint
culpability for the growing body count. When he is about to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger floating in the
air. Covered with blood and pointed toward the kings chamber, the dagger represents the bloody course on which
Macbeth is about to embark. Later, he sees Banquos ghost sitting in a chair at a feast, pricking his conscience by
mutely reminding him that he murdered his former friend. The seemingly hardheaded Lady Macbeth also
eventually gives way to visions, as she sleepwalks and believes that her hands are stained with blood that cannot
be washed away by any amount of water. In each case, it is ambiguous whether the vision is real or purely
hallucinatory; but, in both cases, the Macbeths read them uniformly as supernatural signs of their guilt.
Violence
Macbeth is a famously violent play. Interestingly, most of the killings take place offstage, but throughout the play
the characters provide the audience with gory descriptions of the carnage, from the opening scene where the
captain describes Macbeth and Banquo wading in blood on the battlefield, to the endless references to the
bloodstained hands of Macbeth and his wife. The action is bookended by a pair of bloody battles: in the first,
Macbeth defeats the invaders; in the second, he is slain and beheaded by Macduff. In between is a series of
murders: Duncan, Duncans chamberlains, Banquo, Lady Macduff, and Macduffs son all come to bloody ends.
By the end of the action, blood seems to be everywhere.
Prophecy
Prophecy sets Macbeths plot in motionnamely, the witches prophecy that Macbeth will become first thane of
Cawdor and then king. The weird sisters make a number of other prophecies: they tell us that Banquos heirs will
be kings, that Macbeth should beware Macduff, that Macbeth is safe till Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane, and
that no man born of woman can harm Macbeth. Save for the prophecy about Banquos heirs, all of these
predictions are fulfilled within the course of the play. Still, it is left deliberately ambiguous whether some of them
are self-fulfillingfor example, whether Macbeth wills himself to be king or is fated to be king. Additionally, as
the Birnam Wood and born of woman prophecies make clear, the prophecies must be interpreted as riddles,
since they do not always mean what they seem to mean.
Symbols
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Blood
Blood is everywhere in Macbeth, beginning with the opening battle between the Scots and the Norwegian
invaders, which is described in harrowing terms by the wounded captain in Act 1, scene 2. Once Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth embark upon their murderous journey, blood comes to symbolize their guilt, and they begin to feel
that their crimes have stained them in a way that cannot be washed clean. Will all great Neptunes ocean wash
this blood / Clean from my hand? Macbeth cries after he has killed Duncan, even as his wife scolds him and says
that a little water will do the job (2.2.5859). Later, though, she comes to share his horrified sense of being
stained: Out, damned spot; out, I say . . . who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in
him? she asks as she wanders through the halls of their castle near the close of the play (5.1.3034). Blood
symbolizes the guilt that sits like a permanent stain on the consciences of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, one
that hounds them to their graves.
The Weather
As in other Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeths grotesque murder spree is accompanied by a number of unnatural
occurrences in the natural realm. From the thunder and lightning that accompany the witches appearances to the
terrible storms that rage on the night of Duncans murder, these violations of the natural order reflect corruption in
the moral and political orders.

FULL TITLE The Tragedy of Macbeth

AUTHOR William Shakespeare
TYPE OF WORK Play
GENRE Tragedy
LANGUAGE English
TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN 1606, England
DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION First Folio edition, 1623
TONE Dark and ominous, suggestive of a world turned topsy-turvy by foul and unnatural crimes
TENSE Not applicable (drama)
SETTING (TIME) The Middle Ages, specifically the eleventh century
SETTING (PLACE) Various locations in Scotland; also England, briefly
PROTAGONIST Macbeth
MAJOR CONFLICTS The struggle within Macbeth between his ambition and his sense of right and wrong;
the struggle between the murderous evil represented by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and the best interests of the
nation, represented by Malcolm and Macduff
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RISING ACTION Macbeth and Banquos encounter with the witches initiates both conflicts; Lady Macbeths
speeches goad Macbeth into murdering Duncan and seizing the crown.
CLIMAX Macbeths murder of Duncan in Act 2 represents the point of no return, after which Macbeth is forced
to continue butchering his subjects to avoid the consequences of his crime.
FALLING ACTION Macbeths increasingly brutal murders (of Duncans servants, Banquo, Lady Macduff and
her son); Macbeths second meeting with the witches; Macbeths final confrontation with Macduff and the
opposing armies
THEMES The corrupting nature of unchecked ambition; the relationship between cruelty and masculinity; the
difference between kingship and tyranny
MOTIFS The supernatural, hallucinations, violence, prophecy
SYMBOLS Blood; the dagger that Macbeth sees just before he kills Duncan in Act 2; the weather
FORESHADOWING The bloody battle in Act 1 foreshadows the bloody murders later on; when Macbeth
thinks he hears a voice while killing Duncan, it foreshadows the insomnia that plagues Macbeth and his wife;
Macduffs suspicions of Macbeth after Duncans murder foreshadow his later opposition to Macbeth; all of the
witches prophecies foreshadow later events.