Macbeth Study Guide

Setting:
Scotland, 11th Century

Themes:
●​ Fair is foul, and foul is fair.
o​ All things that are bad are now good, and all things that are good are now bad. The world of Macbeth is
topsy-turvy. Everything is the opposite of the way it should be – things aren’t what they seem to be. This can be
seen throughout the play as the idea of a “false face,” or hiding how one truly feels, is consistently revisited.
●​ Unchecked ambition.
o​ The witches’ prophecies outlined for Macbeth drive him to do crimes and have thoughts that he never would
have fathomed before. The idea of power overwhelms both he and Lady Macbeth to the point that all they can
think about is power. Their desire to achieve higher and higher ranks outbids even their humanity, and they
commit such awful deeds without having any “check” from their conscience.
●​ The relationship between masculinity and cruelty.
o​ The characters in Macbeth often dwell on issues of gender. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by
questioning his manhood, asking that she be “unsexed,” and does not argue when Macbeth tells her she should
only give birth to male children. Macbeth then follows suit by questioning the manhood of the murderers he hires
to kill Banquo. 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. Macbeth, in Act IV, then uses this same idea of
masculinity and cruelty when he addresses the murderers and compares them to varying species of dogs. The
idea is finally righted when Macduff exclaims that he must “feel it as a man” when his wife and children are
brutally murdered, explaining that masculinity should include feeling emotion, empathy, and kindness.
●​ Power leads to corruption.
o​ The obsession and need for power far surpasses any inkling of human kindness. This overwhelming desire for
power continues on a downward spiral, destroying any sense of mercy and humanity in Macbeth. He moves from
a man of guilt to a murderous tyrant who will stop at nothing to maintain power.
●​ The Occult (Witchcraft)
o​ The occult plays a major role in the outcome of Macbeth, as it directly correlates to Macbeth’s choices and
actions. When the play was first produced, King James of England became deeply offended by the use of the
occult and banned the play for five years. The actions of witchcraft highlight the paradox of prophecy: Would
Macbeth have turned out the same way without hearing the prophecies?
●​ Appearance vs Reality
o​ Practically nothing in the play is what it appears to be. The witches’ predictions sound like good news; actually,
they lead to death and destruction. Macbeth and his wife seem like gracious hosts; actually, they are plotting
murder. The Macbeths appear to achieve their heart’s desires; in reality, they only gain torment and death. In
reading the play, we are able to examine each scene to compare what appears to be happening with what is really
happening.
●​ Honor and Loyalty
o​ In a feudal society such as the one in Macbeth, peace and order are maintained largely through honor and loyalty.
Men of honor obey certain rules. Macbeth throws all ideas of honor out the window. Once he has done that, the
country is in turmoil. Nobody knows whom he can trust. Look at what Macduff has to go through to win
Malcolm’s trust in Act IV. In Act V, it is made very clear that the few followers Macbeth has left have been
forced to stay with him. They feel no sense of loyalty toward him. When it comes time to fight, they just give
up.
●​ Fate and Destiny
o​ The play suggests that a person should trust his destiny to a higher power. After encountering the three witches,
Macbeth tries to take fate into his own hands, and that action brings him nothing but grief. Malcolm, on the other
hand, trusts that all things will work out “...by the grace of Grace [in other words, heaven]” (Act V, Scene viii,
line 72). “Be what you’re meant to be,” the play seems to be saying.
Symbols:
●​ Three
o​ The number three and its multiples (6, 9, 12, etc.) is a number often used to represent the supernatural. It can be
found throughout Macbeth—for example: Three witches, three prophecies, occurrences at midnight, etc. The
number three can also be found in many fairy-tales.
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●​ Darkness/Light
o​ Darkness is used throughout Macbeth to symbolize evil. Evil happenings occur at night, in the dark, and the
characters often call out to the dark to cover up their evil doings. On the contrary, the light represents good, and
heaven. Lady Macbeth calls out to the light to stay away from her dark deeds.
●​ Red
o​ Red is the color of sin. It represents a stain on purity. Blood is connected to red, and blood is also a physical
representation of the guilt that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth feel regarding the murders.
●​ White
o​ White is the color of purity. White is frequently used to represent innocence. It is often contrasted with red to
show that the red is a stain on the innocence.
●​ Water
o​ Water is used to cleanse. Deriving from the Christian idea of Baptism (the tradition of washing away sins), water
is used in Macbeth as a means to try and wash away the blood (symbolic or real) of the murders that are
committed.
●​ Sleep
o​ Sleep, according to Shakespeare, is the “little death.” Each night, a person sleeps to erase the day. Shakespeare
makes the connection between a day and a person’s life. The sun rises – a person is born, the sun is in high set in
the afternoon – a person’s mid-life, the sun begins to set – a person has reached the end of their life, the sun sets
and the day has become night – a person has died. When the day ends, we begin sleep – when life ends, we begin
death.
o​ Sleep also serves a secondary purpose – as rejuvenation for the next day. During sleep, our body fixes itself and
rests so it has the capability to begin the next day. Sleep is a representation of peace. When a person can “sleep
easy,” they have a clear conscious.
o​ The idea that sleep is interrupted – whether through insomnia, sleepwalking, or nightmares—indicates that there
is a stain on the conscious—a feeling of extreme guilt.
●​ Dreams
o​ Dreams play a role as a replay of the day. In dreams, truth reveals itself – one cannot hide from his/her dreams.
●​ Milk
o​ Milk is used to demonstrate “female kindness.” Nurturing, motherhood.
●​ Dagger
o​ Macbeth’s ambition.
●​ Hands
o​ The tangible evidence of guilt. In Act II, Macbeth claims that “all great Neptune’s oceans” will not be able to
wash the guilt from his hands, while Lady Macbeth states that her “hands are of [Macbeth’s] color, but [she]
shames to wear a heart so white.” However, in Act V, Lady Macbeth’s guilt has overtaken her, as she tries to
incessantly wash the blood from her hands in her famous “Out, out, damn’d spot” speech.
●​ Banquo’s Ghost
o​ A vision of Macbeth’s guilt and inner turmoil. He is unable to sleep and having guilty hallucinations. We see his
descent to a villain.
Prophecies:
●​ In Act I, the Three Witches make the following prophecies:
o​ Macbeth:
▪​ Thane of Glamis (he acquires this title after his father dies – Act I)

▪​ Thane of Cawdor (he acquires this title after the original Thane of Cawdor is found to be a traitor – Act I)

▪​ King (he acquires this title after he murders King Duncan – Act III)
o​ Banquo:
▪​ “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater”

▪​ “Not so happy [as Macbeth], yet much happier”

▪​ Be the father to kings, though he will never be king.

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Prophecies Continued:
●​ In Act IV, the Three Witches conjure three apparitions that tell Macbeth:
o​ Apparition 1 (head) – Beware of Macduff, the Thane of Fife.
o​ Apparition 2 (bloody, strangled baby) – None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.
o​ Apparition 3 (crowned child, holding a tree) – Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to
high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.
Relationships:
●​ Lady Macbeth ------- Macbeth
o​ Married couple – no children.
●​ Banquo (father) -------- Fleance (son)
●​ Banquo ------------------Macbeth (FOILS)
o​ Formally best friends and battle buddies, after Macbeth murders King Duncan and he becomes king, Banquo
becomes suspicious that Macbeth was, in fact, the murderer.
o​ Macbeth suspects Banquo’s suspicions and has Banquo murdered.
o​ Macbeth also requests the murder of Fleance, to try and beat the prophecy, but Fleance was able to escape.
●​ King Duncan (father) ----- Malcolm (son, Prince of Cumberland, heir to throne) England
​ ​ ​ ----- Donalbain (son) Ireland
●​ Macbeth ----- King Duncan
o​ Macbeth, though he used to be a devoted and loyal subject to Duncan, he kills Duncan in order to become king
himself.
o​ Macbeth smears blood on Duncan’s guards (whom he also murdered) to make it seem as though they murdered
Duncan. Macbeth also makes it seem that Malcolm and Donalbain hired the guards to have their father
murdered.
o​ Macbeth confesses to murdering the guards as a protection of his honor to Duncan (which, as we know, is not
true!).
●​ Macbeth ------- Banquo’s Ghost
o​ Banquo’s ghost is a representation of Macbeth slow shift into insanity, and a representation of his guilt.
●​ Macbeth -------- Macduff (FOILS)
o​ Former battle buddies, Macduff hates Macbeth and suspects him of the murder of Duncan and Banquo.
o​ Macbeth orders the murder of Macduff’s wife, children, and servants.
o​ Macduff, with Malcolm, plots revenge against Macbeth and eventually beheads Macbeth.
●​ Porter --- Gatekeeper of Inverness (Macbeth’s home)
o​ Comic relief
o​ Ironically seems to understand that he’s the “porter of hell-gate,” without actually knowing why
●​ Lady Macduff – Son
o​ Loving, warm, relationship highlighted by comical banter.
Important Quotations Explained (Taken EXACTLY from [Link]):
QUOTATION EXPLANATION
1.​ The raven himself is hoarse ​ “Lady Macbeth speaks these words in Act 1, scene 5,
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan ​ lines 36–52, as she awaits the arrival of King Duncan at
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits ​ her castle. We have previously seen Macbeth’s
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, ​ uncertainty about whether he should take the crown by
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full ​ killing Duncan. In this speech, there is no such confusion,
Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, ​ as Lady Macbeth is clearly willing to do whatever is
Stop up th’access and passage to remorse, ​ necessary to seize the throne. Her strength of purpose is
That no compunctious visitings of nature ​ contrasted with her husband’s tendency to waver. This
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between ​ speech shows the audience that Lady Macbeth is the real
Th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts, ​ steel behind Macbeth and that her ambition will be strong
And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, ​ enough to drive her husband forward. At the same time,
Wherever in your sightless substances ​ the language of this speech touches on the theme of
You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night, ​ masculinity— “unsex me here / . . . / . . . Come to my
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, ​ woman’s breasts, / And take my milk for gall,” Lady
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, ​ Macbeth says as she prepares herself to commit murder.
The language suggests that her womanhood, represented
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Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, ​ by breasts and milk, usually symbols of nurture, impedes
To cry ‘Hold, hold!’ her from performing acts of violence and cruelty, which
she associates with manliness. Later, this sense of the
relationship between masculinity and violence will be
deepened when Macbeth is unwilling to go through with
the murders and his wife tells him, in effect, that he needs
to “be a man” and get on with it.”

In this soliloquy, which is found in Act 1, scene 7, lines

2. If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well ​ 1–28, Macbeth debates whether he should kill Duncan.
It were done quickly. If th’assassination ​ When he lists Duncan’s noble qualities (he “[h]ath borne
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch ​ his faculties so meek”) and the loyalty that he feels
With his surcease success: that but this blow ​ toward his king (“I am his kinsman and his subject”), we
Might be the be-all and the end-all, here, ​ are reminded of just how grave an outrage it is for the
But here upon this bank and shoal of time, ​ couple to slaughter their ruler while he is a guest in their
We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases ​ house. At the same time, Macbeth’s fear that “[w]e still
We still have judgement here, that we but teach ​ have judgement here, that we but teach / Bloody
Bloody instructions which, being taught, return ​ instructions which, being taught, return / To plague
To plague th’inventor. This even-handed justice ​ th’inventor,” foreshadows the way that his deeds will
Commends th’ingredience of our poisoned chalice ​ eventually come back to haunt him. The imagery in this
To our own lips. He’s here in double trust: ​ speech is dark—we hear of “bloody instructions,” “deep
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, ​ damnation,” and a “poisoned chalice”—and suggests that
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, ​ Macbeth is aware of how the murder would open the door
Who should against his murderer shut the door, ​ to a dark and sinful world. At the same time, he admits
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan ​ that his only reason for committing murder, “ambition,”
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been ​ suddenly seems an insufficient justification for the act.
So clear in his great office, that his virtues ​ The destruction that comes from unchecked ambition will
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued against ​ continue to be explored as one of the play’s themes. As
The deep damnation of his taking-off, ​ the soliloquy ends, Macbeth seems to resolve not to kill
And pity, like a naked new-born babe, ​ Duncan, but this resolve will only last until his wife
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin, horsed ​ returns and once again convinces him, by the strength of
Upon the sightless couriers of the air, ​ her will, to go ahead with their plot.
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye ​
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur ​
To prick the sides of my intent, but only ​
Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself ​
And falls on th’other.

3. Whence is that knocking?— ​ Macbeth says this in Act 2, scene 2, lines 55–61. He has
How is’t with me, when every noise appals me? ​ just murdered Duncan, and the crime was accompanied
What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. ​ by supernatural portents. Now he hears a mysterious
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood ​ knocking on his gate, which seems to promise doom. (In
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather ​ fact, the person knocking is Macduff, who will indeed
The multitudinous seas incarnadine, ​ eventually destroy Macbeth.) The enormity of Macbeth’s
Making the green one red. crime has awakened in him a powerful sense of guilt that
will hound him throughout the play. Blood, specifically
Duncan’s blood, serves as the symbol of that guilt, and
Macbeth’s sense that “all great Neptune’s ocean” cannot
cleanse him—that there is enough blood on his hands to
turn the entire sea red—will stay with him until his death.
Lady Macbeth’s response to this speech will be her
prosaic remark, “A little water clears us of this deed”
(2.2.65). By the end of the play, however, she will share
Macbeth’s sense that Duncan’s murder has irreparably
stained them with blood.
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4. Out, damned spot; out, I say. One, two,—why, then ’tis These words are spoken by Lady Macbeth in Act 5, scene
time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and 1, lines 30–34, as she sleepwalks through Macbeth’s
afeard? What need we fear who knows it when none can castle on the eve of his battle against Macduff and
call our power to account? Yet who would have thought Malcolm. Earlier in the play, she possessed a stronger
the old man to have had so much blood in him? resolve and sense of purpose than her husband and was
the driving force behind their plot to kill Duncan. When
Macbeth believed his hand was irreversibly bloodstained
earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth had told him, “A little
water clears us of this deed” (2.2.65). Now, however, she
too sees blood. She is completely undone by guilt and
descends into madness. It may be a reflection of her
mental and emotional state that she is not speaking in
verse; this is one of the few moments in the play when a
major character—save for the witches, who speak in
four-foot couplets—strays from iambic pentameter. Her
inability to sleep was foreshadowed in the voice that her
husband thought he heard while killing the king—a voice
crying out that Macbeth was murdering sleep. And her
delusion that there is a bloodstain on her hand furthers the
play’s use of blood as a symbol of guilt. “What need we
fear who knows it when none can call our power to
account?” she asks, asserting that as long as her and her
husband’s power is secure, the murders they committed
cannot harm them. But her guilt-racked state and her
mounting madness show how hollow her words are. So,
too, does the army outside her castle. “Hell is murky,” she
says, implying that she already knows that darkness
intimately. The pair, in their destructive power, have
created their own hell, where they are tormented by guilt
and insanity.
5. She should have died hereafter. ​ These words are uttered by Macbeth after he hears of
There would have been a time for such a word. ​ Lady Macbeth’s death, in Act 5, scene 5, lines 16–27.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow ​ Given the great love between them, his response is oddly
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day ​ muted, but it segues quickly into a speech of such
To the last syllable of recorded time. ​ pessimism and despair—one of the most famous speeches
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools ​ in all of Shakespeare—that the audience realizes how
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle. ​ completely his wife’s passing and the ruin of his power
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player ​ have undone Macbeth. His speech insists that there is no
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, ​ meaning or purpose in life. Rather, life “is a tale / Told by
And then is heard no more. It is a tale ​ an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.”
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, ​ One can easily understand how, with his wife dead and
Signifying nothing. armies marching against him, Macbeth succumbs to such
pessimism. Yet, there is also a defensive and
self-justifying quality to his words. If everything is
meaningless, then Macbeth’s awful crimes are somehow
made less awful, because, like everything else, they too
“signify nothing.”
Macbeth’s statement that “[l]ife’s but a poor player / That
struts and frets his hour upon the stage” can be read as
Shakespeare’s somewhat deflating reminder of the
illusionary nature of the theater. After all, Macbeth is only
a “player” himself, strutting on an Elizabethan stage. In
any play, there is a conspiracy of sorts between the
audience and the actors, as both pretend to accept the
play’s reality. Macbeth’s comment calls attention to this
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conspiracy and partially explodes it—his nihilism
embraces not only his own life but the entire play. If we
take his words to heart, the play, too, can be seen as an
event “full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.”

New Literary Elements:

Pathetic Fallacy --- Giving emotions to inhuman objects or animals. A sub-sect of personification, but is specific to
human emotion and usually pertains to nature. For example: “crickets cry.”
Paralipsis – Mentioning by not mentioning. Paralipsis is the rhetorical concept that you state that do not want to draw
attention to something, thus drawing specific attention to it. For example: “I don’t want to be rude, but…,” “Ignore this
text.”
Antithesis – The opposition of an idea within the same sentence. “Fair is foul, foul is fair.”
Flat Character - A character that is not well-described; the audience only sees one aspect of him/her.
Round Character – A character with a lot of dimension, often coming through in hearing his/her personal thoughts.
Static Character – A character whose personality does not change from the beginning to the end.
Dynamic Character – A character who makes a change in personality from the beginning to the end.
​ Character Types can be described as: Flat & Static, Flat & Dynamic, Round & Static, or Round & Dynamic.
Hubris – Excessive pride.
Foil – A character, when juxtaposed to the protagonist, illustrates the opposite.
The 9 Elements of Shakespearean Tragedy at a Glance:

Elements Explanation

Tragic Hero A main character cursed by fate and possessed of a tragic flaw.

This struggle can take place as part of the plot or exist within the main
A Struggle Between Good and Evil
character.

Hamartia The tragic flaw.

The good being destroyed along with the bad at the resolution of the play.
Tragic Waste Often played out with the unnecessary loss of life, especially of "good guy"
characters.

This can be a problem facing the hero as a result of the plot or a "bad guy"
External Conflict
character.

Internal Conflict The struggle the hero engages in with his/her fatal flaw.

Catharsis The release of the audience's emotions through empathy with the characters.

Supernatural Elements Magic, witchcraft, ghosts, etc.

Lack of Poetic Justice Things end poorly for everyone, including the "good guys."

One or more humorous characters who participate in scenes intended to

Comic Relief
lighten the mood.

Hubris Tragic flaw of excessive pride.

Macbeth recites seven soliloquies. Here are the first lines of each:
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1st [Act I, scene iii, Page 23] (“This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good.”)
❖​Macbeth is thinking about the witches’ prophecies and becoming king.
2nd [Act I, scene vii, Page 39] (“If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly.”)
❖​Macbeth is grappling with why he shouldn’t murder Duncan.
3rd [Act II, scene i, Pages 51-52] (“Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?”)
❖​Macbeth is preparing to kill Duncan, but is imagining seeing a dagger.

❖​This soliloquy is loaded/dominated by imagery.

4th [Act III, scene i, Page 85] (“To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus.”)
❖​Macbeth worries obsessively about Banquo.
5th [Act IV, scene i, Page 131] (“Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits.”)
❖​Macbeth worries obsessively about Macduff.
6th [Act V, scene iii, Page 169-171] (“This push will cheer me ever or disseat me now.”)
❖​Macbeth realizes that he’s in a do or die situation and that he’s all alone.
7th [Act V, scene v, Page 177-179] (“She should have died hereafter.”)
❖​Macbeth focuses on the brief/short nature of life.

❖​Macbeth would have said this soliloquy depressingly slow.

WORKS CITED
Rafiq, Muhammed. “Definition and Characteristics of a Shakespearean Tragedy.” Owlcation. Web. 19 Dec. 2019 ​
[Link]

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Folger Shakespeare Library. New York: 1992. Print.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Macbeth.” [Link]. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.