ENGL 4106 (Weekend),

ENG 4153N: Shakespeare

Dr. Witness Hassan Mdoka
(A Scholar of Environmental Literary
Studies and Indigenous Ecophilosophy)
 The Elizabethan Worldview
• The Elizabethan world was in a state of flux and people were
confused, frightened, and excited at traditional beliefs challenged by
scientific discovery, and exploration
• The Great Chain of Being – people believed that everyone and
everything was arranged in a specific order and that this order was
divinely pre-ordained. God was the head of all things; the king, his
representative on Earth
• Any break in the chain, such as killing the king, or a king abdicating,
or marriage across the social spheres, pretty portended pre-ordained
chaos
 The Elizabethan Worldview
• The Divine Right of Kings – As God’s chosen representative on
Earth, the King was the supreme upholder of order on Earth. If his
position were violated, it would destroy the perfect order of the
universe and bring strife and chaos to the world. Any act of treason or
treachery against the King was considered to be a mortal sin against
God
• The Signs of the Zodiac – in Shakespeare’s day it was popularly
believed that the fortunes of everyone and everything were affected by
events in the heavens. The signs of the Zodiac were important to
everyone. What star you were born under would determine what kind
of person you would be and what kind of life you could expect
 The Elizabethan Worldview
• The Four Elements and the Four Humours – there was also a strong
belief that everything that existed beneath the moon was made from a
combination of the four elements: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth
• The four elements had their counterparts in the four humours of the
human body: blood, phlegm, melancholy and choler
• If any of these humours predominated in the body, they determined
the mood of the person
• Hence the expressions: sanguine phlegmatic, melancholic and
choleric. A balance made for a ‘good-humour’; an imbalance made for
an ‘ill-humour’
 The Elizabethan Worldview
• The Wheel of Fortune - it was widely believed that fate (or fortune)
was the main controlling force in life. Just as part of a wheel moves
from a low to a high position or from high to low, so does a person’s
life. A person in a high position could expect (owing to a change in
fortune) to suffer some disappointment or fall. Similarly, a person in
an unhappy, lowly position could hope for a change in fortune and
consequently a rise to a higher position. However, there was no way of
knowing where the wheel would stop, and where fortune would lead.
 The Elizabethan Worldview
• Humanism - in Shakespeare’s time a movement known as
“Humanism” had a great influence on people and their philosophy of
life. Humanists had great faith in people’s ability to shape their own
future. They tended to shift the emphasis from life after death to life
on earth. The term “Humanism” refers to thoughts and actions which
are directed at improving society
• The Renaissance - the term Renaissance means “rebirth” or “revival.”
Perhaps more than any other Renaissance figure, Shakespeare revealed
an ability to use the past and shape it for his own dramatic needs
 The Elizabethan Worldview
• Humanism - in Shakespeare’s time a movement known as
“Humanism” had a great influence on people and their philosophy of
life. Humanists had great faith in people’s ability to shape their own
future.
• They tended to shift the emphasis from life after death to life on earth.
The term “Humanism” refers to thoughts and actions which are
directed at improving society
• The Renaissance - the term Renaissance means “rebirth” or “revival.”
Perhaps more than any other Renaissance figure, Shakespeare revealed
an ability to use the past and shape it for his own dramatic needs
 Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy: A
Reminder
• “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete,
and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of
artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the
play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear
affecting the proper purgation of these emotions.”
• According to Aristotle, the key elements of tragedy are the plot,
character, thought, diction, song, and spectacle. The plot must be a
unified whole with a beginning, middle, and end that moves from
complication to catastrophe
 Simple Plot and Complex Plot
• Aristotle classifies plots into two types: simple and complex. A simple
plot is a unified construct of necessary and probable actions
accompanied by a change of fortune.
• The complex plot is accompanied by two other features; peripeteia or
reversal, and anagnorisis, or recognition. It is this that Aristotle feels is
the best kind of tragic plot, in that it provides the best possibility of
delivering tragic pleasure
 Shakespeare’s Life
• William Shakespeare was born on or around April 23, 1564, and grew
up in a small town outside of London called Stratford-on-Avon.
• When he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who was 26, and six
months later they had their first daughter, Susannah. In 1585 they had
twins, Judith and Hamnet.
• During his 23 years as a playwright, Shakespeare authored 38 plays,
two narrative poems, and 154 sonnets before his death on April 23,
1616, at the age of 52.
• He is the most performed and read playwright in the world.
“If music be the food of love, play on”
Twelfth Night
All the world’s a stage /And all the men
and women merely players. / They have
their exits and their entrances, / And
one man in his time plays many parts.
— As You Like It, 2. vii
 “To be or not to be: that is the question”
Hamlet
• Hamlet’s famous “To Be or Not to Be” soliloquy happens in Act 3.i.
The soliloquy falls almost precisely in the middle of the play’s text,
effectively dividing the story.
“Alas, Poor Yorick” (Hamlet, 5.i)
“Alas, poor Yorick! I
knew him, Horatio –
a fellow of infinite
jest… Where be your
gibes now? your
gambols? your
songs? your flashes
of merriment that
were wont to set the
table on a roar?”
 Shakespearean Tragedy
• A Shakespearean tragedy features a tragic hero of high status with a
tragic flaw that leads to their downfall
• The play depicts a struggle between good and evil where evil usually
triumphs due to the hero’s flaw
• This results in a tragic waste where both good and evil are destroyed.
The hero also faces external conflicts from antagonists and internal
conflicts from their own hesitation, which prevents them from
resolving issues
• By eliciting empathy for the characters, the audience experiences
catharsis and has their emotions purged by the end
 Shakespearean Tragedy
Shakespearean tragedies have ten key elements:
1. a tragic hero with a tragic flaw (hamartia, hubris)
2. a struggle between good and evil
3. the hero’s fatal character flaw
4. the unnecessary loss of good characters
5. external conflicts from the plot or villains
 Shakespearean Tragedy
6. the hero’s internal struggle with their flaw
7. how the audience empathises with characters and has an emotional
release
8. supernatural elements like magic
9. a lack of justice with all characters meeting poor ends
10. comic relief characters to lighten the dark mood.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
• Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge of
Prince Hamlet on his uncle Claudius for the murder of Hamlet’s father
to take his throne and his wife, Gertrude
• Denmark has a long-standing feud with neighbouring Norway, and an
invasion led by the Norwegian prince, Fortinbras, is expected
• The play vividly portrays the themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and
moral corruption
 Hamlet
• The play opens at midnight in the cold winter on the “platform before
the castle” of Elsinore
• The sentry, Francisco, is keeping trusty guard when two figures
appear in the darkness, Horatio (Hamlet’s friend) and Marcellus (an
officer) who are coming to visit Bernardo (another officer)
• They discuss the recent appearance of a “dreaded sight” perhaps their
“fantasy”
 Hamlet
• The ghost appears and is described by the three witnesses as looking
like the late King Hamlet
• They endeavour to open a conversation with it, but it disappears and
later wanders back as the three men discuss Danish politics and
Fortinbras’ invasion
• They decide to tell Prince Hamlet. The scene shifts to a “room of state
in the castle” where Claudius and Gertrude talk with Laertes and his
father Polonius (Lord Chamberlain) about his trip to France
 Hamlet
• The King and Queen then turn to Hamlet, still in deep mourning for
his father and they try to persuade him to lighten up. When they leave,
he soliloquises that his mother jumped into a new marriage too quickly
after the death
• Marcellus, Horatio, and the sentry come in and tell Hamlet about the
ghost. Hamlet resolves to see the ghost himself. Two of Hamlet’s
friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are told to discover the cause of
Hamlet’s mood. Hamlet greets them warmly, but he quickly discerns
that they are spies.
 Hamlet
• That night, the ghost appears to Hamlet and tells him that Claudius
murdered him by pouring poison in his ear, and demands that Hamlet
avenges him
• Ophelia, who attempts to court Hamlet, meets Hamlet secretly and is
alarmed by his behaviour and she tells her father Polonius. At their
next meeting Hamlet, thinking of his mother’s treason, accuses
Ophelia of immodesty and tells her she should go to a nunnery.
 Hamlet
• Uncertain of the Ghost’s reliability, Hamlet sees a troupe of actors at
Elsinore and asks them to stage a play reenacting his father’s murder
to determine Claudius’s reaction. After seeing the performance,
Claudius abruptly rises and leaves the room: proof positive for Hamlet
of his uncle’s guilt.
• Gertrude summons Hamlet to her bedchamber to demand an
explanation. On his way, Hamlet passes Claudius in prayer but
hesitates to kill him, reasoning that death in prayer would send him to
heaven rather than hell. In the bedchamber, a furious row erupts
between Hamlet and his mother. Polonius spies behind a tapestry, and
makes a noise, and Hamlet, believing it is Claudius, stabs wildly,
killing him.
 Hamlet
• The ghost appears again, urging Hamlet to treat Gertrude gently but
kill Claudius. Gertrude takes Hamlet’s conversation with the ghost as
further evidence of madness
• Claudius banishes Hamlet to England closely watched by Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern. Demented by grief at her father’s death, Ophelia
wanders to Elsinore singing (a willow song)
• Her brother, Laertes, arrives back from France. Claudius convinces
him that Hamlet is responsible for his father’s death and his sister’s
madness, and proposes a fencing match between Laertes and Hamlet
with poison-tipped swords.
 Hamlet
• Gertrude interrupts to report that Ophelia has been found drowned.
• In the next scene, two gravediggers discuss Ophelia’s apparent
suicide. Hamlet returns from England with Horatio and banters with a
gravedigger, who unearths the skull of a jester from Hamlet’s
childhood, Yorick
• Ophelia’s funeral procession approaches, led by Laertes, their fight is
broken up and resumed at the fencing (duel). Laertes pierces Hamlet
with a poisoned blade but is fatally wounded by it himself
 Hamlet
• Gertrude accidentally drinks poisoned wine intended for Hamlet and
dies. In his dying moments, Laertes is reconciled with Hamlet and
reveals Claudius’s murderous plot. In his own last moments, Hamlet
manages to kill Claudius and names Fortinbras as his heir.
 Hamlet
Characters
• Claudius: The antagonist of the play and the new king of Denmark.
Claudius is the “smiling, damned villain” of the piece, a devious,
lustful, and corrupt politician and master manipulator of people and
circumstances. Despite the darkness in his soul, his seemingly genuine
love for Gertrude and his pangs of conscience over his crimes add a
more sympathetic dimension to his personality.
• Gertrude: The Queen of Denmark and Hamlet’s mother. Gertrude’s
secret affair with Claudius, her brother-in-law, culminates in their very
public marriage. While Gertrude is a loving mother to Hamlet, her
excessive sensuality and desire for social status motivate her immoral
behaviour.
 Hamlet
Characters
• Polonius: Lord Chamberlain of the Danish court and counselor to
King Claudius. Polonius is the suspicious and controlling father of
Ophelia and Laertes. He is a self-important, rather inept schemer and
Claudius’ chief spy against Hamlet.
• Hamlet: The protagonist of the play and prince of Denmark. He is
around 30 years old when the play opens. Hamlet is the natural son of
Queen Gertrude and the recently deceased old king from whom he
takes his name. As a result of his mother’s hasty remarriage to
Claudius, her former brother-in-law, Hamlet’s former uncle is now
also his step-father and the new king. Hamlet’s keen wit, intellectual
gifts, and natural tendency to question things make him an ideal
candidate for the studies he has pursued at university in Wittenberg but
the events that bring him back home to Elsinore Castle have left him
cynical and embittered.
 Hamlet
Characters
• Horatio: Hamlet’s one true friend and trusted ally. They attended
university in Wittenberg together. He has a calm, skeptical, and
dispassionate outlook that helps to balance Hamlet’s intellectual and
emotional excesses. Hamlet entrusts him with the task of telling his
story to the world after his death.
• Ophelia: Polonius’ young, beautiful, and emotionally vulnerable
daughter, sister to Laertes and Hamlet’s love interest until he ruthlessly
rejects her. Dutiful and obedient, Ophelia passively accepts her
father’s and brother’s commands to reject Hamlet’s advances. She
allows herself to be used as bait in the trap Polonius lays to spy on
Hamlet. Her madness and subsequent death fuel her brother’s desire to
take revenge on Hamlet.
 Hamlet
Characters
• Laertes: Son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. Laertes’ rash and
action-oriented approach to seeking revenge against Hamlet in the last
acts of the play contrasts sharply with Hamlet’s brooding hesitancy
over killing Claudius. In this way Laertes is a far more typical revenge
tragedy figure than Hamlet.
 Hamlet
Characters
• Fortinbras: The young prince of Norway. His father, King Fortinbras,
was slain by Hamlet’s father in one-on-one combat on the day Hamlet
was born. His fate is parallel to Hamlet’s in that both have had their
rightful place on the throne of their respective countries usurped by
uncles. A military man of action whose name means “strength in
arms,” Fortinbras responds to his fate by raising an army and
marching off to do battle. He becomes Hamlet’s chosen successor to
the Danish throne in the final scene of the play
 Hamlet
Characters
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Former university friends of Hamlet
who are brought to Elsinore by Claudius to try to find out the true
cause of Hamlet’s apparent madness. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are pawns in a deadly game of political intrigue and revenge that they
never fully comprehend.
 Act 1
• Most of the action of play occurs in and around the castle at Elsinore
in Denmark. King Hamlet is dead, and Prince Hamlet has returned to
Denmark from school in Wittenberg, Germany, only to discover that
Queen Gertrude, his mother, has married his Uncle Claudius. Claudius
has had himself crowned king. Hamlet is informed that what is
apparently the ghost o f his dead father has appeared to the palace
guards (I, ii). When he later confronts the ghost, Hamlet learns that
Claudius murdered his father and hastily married Queen Gertrude (I,
v).
 Act 1
• Throughout the play, the ongoing border disputes and political
machinations amongst Denmark, Norway, and Poland serve as a
backdrop for the action in the Danish court (I, ii; II, ii; IV, iv; V, ii).
Prince Fortinbras, whose father was killed by Hamlet’s father, is a man
of action, and his character serves as a foil to the contemplative Prince
Hamlet. Polonius (Lord Chamberlain), his son Laertes and daughter
Ophelia are also important characters in this drama. Polonius and
Laertes are concerned about Ophelia’s romantic involvement with
Prince Hamlet and caution her against such a relationship. Polonius
also provides fatherly advice to Laertes as he leaves for Paris (I, iii).
 Act 2
• Hamlet’s emotional turmoil over his father’s murder has left him in a
visibly agitated condition, which some members of the court have
interpreted as madness. Claudius and Gertrude, concerned for his
welfare, summon two of Hamlet’s oldest friends, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern, in the hopes that they can learn what is troubling him.
(II, ii). Hamlet is immediately skeptical about their surprise visit.
Anxious to confirm his own suspicions regarding the source of
Hamlet’s trouble, Polonius arranges a meeting between Ophelia and
Hamlet, as he is convinced that Hamlet’s love for Ophelia is the cause
of his suffering (II, ii).
 Act 2
• When Polonius approaches Hamlet, Hamlet answers his questions
although he believes Polonius to be a foolish old man. When a group
of players arrives at the Danish court to entertain, Hamlet arranges for
them to perform The Murder of Gonzago with the addition of lines
Hamlet has written. What Hamlet hopes is to prove Claudius’s guilt in
the murder by watching his reaction to the drama the players will stage
(II, ii).
 Act 3
• When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report back to Claudius that they
have no explanation for Hamlet’s strange behaviour, Claudius decides
to eavesdrop with Polonius on the meeting between Hamlet and
Ophelia. Although Hamlet treats Ophelia irrationally, Claudius is
suspicious of his behavior and makes plans to sent Hamlet to England
(III, i). The players perform their drama in which the events portrayed,
with Hamlet’s alterations, almost duplicate the circumstances
surrounding King Hamlet’s death.
 Act 3
• Hamlet observes that Claudius is visibly upset by the play. When he
leaves abruptly, Claudius confirms his guilt in the eyes of Hamlet and
his friend, Horatio (III, ii). Out of concern for Hamlet’s welfare,
Queen Gertrude meets privately with her son in her chambers.
Polonius, however, is eavesdropping behind a wall tapestry. Hamlet’s
rebukes cause Gertrude to cry out, and Polonius cries out as well,
fearful for her welfare. Believing he has heard Claudius, Hamlet stabs
through the tapestry, killing Polonius (III, iv).
 Act 4
• Polonius’s death provides Claudius with the opportunity to send Hamlet
to England, under the false pretense of protecting his life, when in
reality, he has asked the King of England to kill Prince Hamlet (IV, iii).
Grief-stricken by their father’s death, Laertes and Ophelia solicit
Claudius’s assistance in finding his murderer (IV, v). Meanwhile, Hamlet
sends word to Horatio that he has been taken prisoner by pirates who
have returned him to Denmark and asks Horatio to join him (IV, vi). In
order to remove Hamlet as a threat, Claudius now plans an exhibition
duel in which Laertes will use a sword tipped with poison (IV, vii).
 Act 5
• Ophelia’s madness and subsequent drowning (IV, v; IV, vii) precipitate
a confrontation between Laertes and Hamlet at her grave (V, I), but
Claudius intervenes, privately assuring Laertes that his revenge will
come in the duel which has been arranged. Hamlet seals the fate of
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by substituting another letter in the
envelope which originally contained his own death orders, requesting
that the King of England put them to death (V, ii). In spite of Horatio’s
concern, Hamlet agrees to the duel with Laertes and appears before the
court as requested.
 Act 5
• Not only does Claudius poison the tip of the sword, he also offers Hamlet
a drink from a poison cup. Instead, Gertrude drinks from the cup and
swoons from the effect of the poison, her dying words warning Hamlet of
the plot against him. As the duel progresses, Laertes and Hamlet
inadvertently exchange swords during a scuffle; consequently, both are
mortally wounded, although Hamlet manages to fatally wound Claudius
as well.
• As the play closes, Fortinbras arrives, victorious over Poland, and the
dying Hamlet names him as the new king. Fortinbras pays tribute to
Hamlet and arranges for an appropriate burial.
 Hamlet
Themes
Revenge
“If thou didst ever thy dear father love,
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.” (The Ghost,
1.v.23-5)
• Plays based on acts of personal revenge became very popular in
Shakespeare’s day. This form came to be known as the revenge
tragedy, a genre which most often included some or all of the
following:
 Hamlet
Themes
1. the ghost of a murdered family member who demands that the hero
take revenge
2. the revenger must take the law into his own hands and commit an
evil act to get revenge, which inevitably leads to his own death
3. scenes involving real and/or pretended madness
4. a play within a play
5. a graveyard scene
6. much violence and many deaths, (thus its alternate name “the tragedy
of blood”)
 Hamlet
Themes
• Hamlet contains all of these elements; the play is structured around a
double revenge. Both Hamlet and Laertes seek to avenge a father’s
murder, but while Hamlet is the revenger in the main plot, he is the
target of Laertes’s revenge in the subplot, and this dual role for Hamlet
makes it very difficult for us to tell the good guys from the bad guys.
This is one way in which Shakespeare moves well beyond the usual
revenge tragedy form in this play. It is completely dominated by his
remarkably complex characterisation of Hamlet, the brooding and
brilliant Prince of Denmark, through whom the traditional form is
opened up to become a meditation on the deep mystery at the heart of
life.
 Hamlet
Themes
Sexual, Moral and Physical Corruption
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” (Marcellus, [Link].90)
• Actions and images on the theme of corruption abound in Hamlet. The
relationship between Claudius and Gertrude that so disgusts and
enrages Hamlet brings the taint of sexual infidelity and incest to the
very center of life in the Danish court.
 Hamlet
Themes
• Add to that Claudius’ additional sins of fratricide (killing of one’s
brother) and regicide (killing of one’s king), and the moral corruption
he embodies becomes truly monstrous. And his corrupting influence is
contagious: Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
all seem to lose their moral sense while doing his bidding, with fatal
consequences for themselves. Hamlet compares the evil Claudius
represents to a “canker in our nature” that must be removed.
 Hamlet
Themes
• Ideas about the physical decay and corruption of the body also
constantly recur in much of the imagery in Hamlet. These include
poison and its effects; sickness and disease in nature and in the body;
maggots/worms breeding and feasting on flesh; and the famous
meditation over Yorick’s skull in the graveyard scene. (5.i.90 – 205;
read references to Yorick and Alexander, the Great)
 Hamlet
Themes
Madness and Melancholy
“I am but mad north-north-west.” (Hamlet, [Link].347)
• Elizabethans found the wild and unpredictable behaviour of the insane
entertaining both onstage and off.
• Hamlet’s “antic disposition” – his make-believe madness – is a pose
he hides behind while he contemplates his revenge. But his actual state
of mind seems terribly unstable at several points throughout the play
and it is difficult to know for certain whether or not he ever actually
slips over the edge into genuine madness.
 Hamlet
Themes
• Hamlet does display the classic symptoms of another kind of mental
disorder: melancholy, a pessimistic and cynical mindset, a tendency to
ruthless self-criticism, depressed mood and persistent thoughts of
suicide.
• Ophelia’s madness in 4.v is indisputable. Having been given more than
she can cope with when her father is murdered by the man she loves,
she really does lose touch with reality. Her mad ravings suggest the
deeper preoccupations that have claimed her mind: the death of a
loved one and the utter thwarting of her longing to have her love for
Hamlet returned. While Hamlet merely talks about taking his own life,
Ophelia actually does allow her own to slip away while in the grip of
the madness to which his actions have driven her.
 Hamlet
Themes
Random Fortune or Divine Master Plan? [Serendipity]
“There is a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will – ” (Hamlet, [Link].10-11)
• Overwhelmed by his own grief and the apparent triumph of good over
evil in this world, Hamlet, for much of the play, feels like a victim of a
random, indifferent universe ruled by the whims of fortune. All human
actions seem meaningless in a world governed by the perpetual,
externally imposed cycle of successes and failures symbolised by the
image of the goddess Fortune’s turning wheel in [Link].
 Hamlet
Themes
• But Hamlet undergoes a spiritual journey during the course of the
play; in Act 5 he confides in Horatio his belief in the existence of a
divine order underlying events in the world, even “the fall of a
sparrow” ([Link].215). He can accept the necessity of killing Claudius,
finally, when he can believe he is acting as the instrument of a divine
justice at work in the world, not in senseless and brutal retaliation.
Whether Shakespeare himself shared this essentially Christian vision
of human destiny is the matter of ongoing critical debate.
 Hamlet
Themes
Hesitation
• Hamlet has an obligation to avenge his father’s murder, according to
the customs of his epoch. But he also has an obligation to abide by the
moral law, which dictates, “Thou shalt not kill.”
• Consequently, Hamlet has great difficulty deciding what to do and,
thus, hesitates to take decisive action.
 Hamlet
Themes
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge has written: “He [Hamlet] is all dispatch and
resolution as far as words and present intentions are concerned, but all
hesitation and irresolution when called upon to carry his words and
intentions into effect; so that, resolving to do everything, he does
nothing. He is full of purpose but void of that quality of mind which
accomplishes purpose.... Shakespeare wished to impress upon us the
truth that action is the chief end of existence – that no faculties of
intellect, however brilliant, can be considered valuable, or indeed
otherwise than as misfortunes, if they withdraw us from or rend us
repugnant to action, and lead us to think and think of doing until the
time has elapsed when we can do anything effectually.” (italics mine)
 Inherited Sin and Corruption
• Humans are fallen creatures, victims of the devil's trickery as
described in Genesis. Allusions or direct references to Adam, the
Garden of Eden, and original sin occur throughout the play. In the first
act, Shakespeare discloses that King Hamlet died in an orchard
(Garden of Eden) from the “sting” of a serpent. In Act III, Scene I,
Hamlet alludes to the burdens imposed by original sin when he says,
in his famous “To be, or not to be” soliloquy, that the “flesh is heir to”
tribulation in the form of “heart-ache” and a “thousand natural
shocks.”
 Inherited Sin and Corruption
• In the third scene of the same act, Claudius compares himself with the
biblical Cain. In Genesis, Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, kills his
brother, Abel, the second son, after God accepts Abel’s sacrifice but
not Cain’s. Like Cain, Claudius kills his brother, old King Hamlet.
Claudius recognises his Cain-like crime when, in Act III, Scene III, he
says:
O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven;
• ........ It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t,
• “Primal eldest curse” alludes to the curse on Cain after he killed Abel.
A brother’s murder.
 Inherited Sin and Corruption
• In Act V, Scene I, the second clown tells the first clown (gravedigger) that
Ophelia, who apparently committed suicide, would not receive a Christian
burial if she were a commoner instead of a noble. In his reply, the
gravedigger refers directly to Adam:
Why, there thou say’st: and the more pity that
• ........ great folk should have countenance in this world to
• ........ drown or hang themselves, more than their even
• ........ Christian. Come, my spade. There is no ancient
• ........ gentleman but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers:
• ........ they hold up Adam’s profession.
 Inherited Sin and Corruption
• After the gravedigger tosses Yorick’s skull to Hamlet, the prince
observes:
• ........ That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once:
• ........ how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were
• ........ Cain’s jaw-bone, that did the first murder!
• All of these references to Genesis seem to suggest that Hamlet is a
kind of Everyman who inherits “the slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune” – that is, the effects of original sin.
 Sons Seeking Revenge
• Young Fortinbras seeks revenge against Elsinore because King Hamlet
had killed the father of Fortinbras, King Fortinbras. Hamlet seeks to
avenge the murder of his father, King Hamlet, by Claudius, the king’s
brother and Hamlet’s uncle. Laertes seeks revenge against Hamlet for
killing his father, Polonius, the lord chamberlain.
 Deception
• Deception and artifice make up a major motif in Hamlet. On the one
hand, Claudius conceals his murder of Hamlet’s father. On the other,
Hamlet conceals his knowledge of the murder. He also wonders
whether the ghost is deceiving him, pretending to be old King Hamlet
when he is really a devil. Polonius secretly eavesdrops on Hamlet to
Claudius. Hamlet feigns madness. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
pretend to have Hamlet’s best interests at heart while they are
attempting to carry out Claudius’s scheme to kill Hamlet. After that
scheme fails, Claudius and Laertes connive to kill Hamlet during the
fencing match. Gertrude drinks from a secretly poisoned cup.
 Ambition
• Claudius so covets the throne that he murders his own brother, King
Hamlet, to win it. In this respect he is like Macbeth and Richard III in
other Shakespeare plays, who also murder their way to the crown.
Whether Claudius’ ambition to be king was stronger than his desire to
marry Gertrude is arguable. In Act III, Scene III, when he reflects on
his guilt, he identifies both motives as causes of the guilt he feels,
saying, “I am still possessed / Of those effects for which I did the
murder, / My crown, mine own ambition and my queen.”
 Christ-like Hamlet
• Hamlet is like Christ in that he struggles against the old order, which
requires an eye for and eye, as Christ did. As George Bernard Shaw
has observed: “What happened to Hamlet was what had happened
fifteen hundred years before to Jesus. Born into the vindictive morality
of Moses, he has evolved into the Christian perception of the futility
and wickedness of revenge and punishment, founded on the simple
fact that two blacks do not make a white.”
 Serpentine Satan
• Imagery throughout the play dwells on Satan’s toxic influence on
Elsinore and its inhabitants. Particularly striking are the snake
metaphors. It is the venom of a serpent (in the person of Claudius) that
kills old King Hamlet. Claudius, remember, had poured poison into the
king’s ear as reported by the ghost of the old king: While “sleeping in
my orchard,” the ghost says, “A serpent stung me.” Later, it is a sword
– a steel snake, as it were – that kills Polonius, Hamlet, Laertes and
Claudius.
 Serpentine Satan
• (The sword that kills Hamlet and Laertes is tipped with poison).
Moreover, it is a poisoned drink that kills Gertrude. As for Ophelia, it
is poisoned words that kill her. The word poison and its forms (such as
poisons, poisoner, and poisoning) occur thirteen times in the play.
Serpent occurs twice, venom (or envenom) six times, devil nine times,
and hell or hellish eleven times. Garden (as a symbol for the Garden
of Eden) or gardener occurs three times. Adam occurs twice.
 Empty Existence
• Time and again, Hamlet bemoans the uselessness and emptiness of
life. He would kill himself if his conscience would let him. He
considers taking his life in several passages, including his famous “To
be, or not to be” soliloquy. But as a Catholic, he cannot go against the
tenets of his religion, which forbids suicide.
 “To be, or not to be”
To be, or not to be: that is the No more; and by a sleep to say we
question: end
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to The heart-ache and the thousand
suffer natural shocks
The slings and arrows of outrageous That flesh is heir to, 'tis a
fortune, consummation
Or to take arms against a sea of Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to
troubles, sleep;
And by opposing end them? To die: To sleep: perchance to dream: ay,
to sleep; there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death, what
dreams may come
 “To be, or not to be”
When we have shuffled off this mortal When he himself might his quietus make
coil, With a bare bodkin? who would fardels
Must give us pause: there's the respect bear,
That makes calamity of so long life; To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
For who would bear the whips and But that the dread of something after
scorns of time, death,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's The undiscover’d country from whose
contumely, bourn
The pangs of despised love, the law's No traveller returns, puzzles the will
delay, And makes us rather bear those ills we
The insolence of office and the spurns have
That patient merit of the unworthy takes, Than fly to others that we know not of?
 To be, or not to be
Thus conscience does make cowards • “To be or not to be” is a famous
of us all; line from Shakespeare’s play
And thus the native hue of resolution Hamlet, which essentially means to
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of live or to die, representing the
thought, protagonist’s deep contemplation
And enterprises of great pith and about whether to endure life’s
moment hardships or end his suffering
With this regard their currents turn through death; it’s a question about
awry, the value of existence in the face of
And lose the name of action. pain and uncertainty.
Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy
orisons
Be all my sins remember’d!”
 The Symbolism of Yorick’s Skull
• The skull of Yorick, the former jester of Hamlet’s late father,
represents the inevitability of death and the existential
meaninglessness of life in light of this fact.
• When Hamlet and Horatio come upon a pair of gravediggers working
merrily despite their morbid task in the first scene of Act 5, Hamlet
finds himself drawn to a skull one of the gravediggers has found and
blithely tossed aside.
 The Symbolism of Yorick’s Skull
• As Hamlet examines the skull, he laments how death comes for
everyone, stripping people of their dreams and personalities,
annihilating all they were while they lived. When Hamlet asks the
gravedigger whom the skull belonged to, the gravedigger replies that it
once belonged to Yorick. Hamlet remembers Yorick well and laments
to his friend Horatio that the same man who used to tell him jokes and
give him piggyback rides through the castle is now rotting in the
ground.
 The Symbolism of Yorick’s Skull
• Yorick’s skull, then, is a symbol of Hamlet’s ever-deepening
existentialism and indeed nihilism in the wake of his father’s death.
When Hamlet encounters Yorick’s skull, it represents a point of no
return in his inner intellectual and spiritual journey throughout the
play. Hamlet is filled with a kind of nihilism as he realises that all
humans return to dust, no matter how they live their lives on Earth –
whether a man is good or evil, joyful or plaintive, common or noble,
he will wind up in the ground.
 The Symbolism of Yorick’s Skull
• Yorick’s skull and the revelation it inspires lead Hamlet to at last
resolve firmly to kill Claudius in the following scene. However,
Hamlet’s plans for securing vengeance will go awry and he himself is
killed, an ironic confirmation of the inescapability of death.
 The Symbolism of Ophelia’s Flowers
• In the aftermath of Polonius’s death, Ophelia’s mental state is
drastically affected. With no one to trust and her lover Hamlet
seemingly having gone insane, she wanders the halls of Elsinore,
singing songs that range from childish, to overtly sexual, to grim.
• As she does so, she passes out “flowers” to those she meets, the
variety of which symbolises her complex personality.
 The Symbolism of Ophelia’s Flowers
1. She offers rosemary (often held at funerals), pansies (which are
linked to the French word for “remembrance”), fennel (which
embodies deep sadness), columbines (a token of affection shared
between lovers), and daisies (which represent fertility).
2. But Ophelia states that she has no violets left – these withered when
her father died. Violets are symbols of humility and the Virgin Mary,
indicating that Ophelia no longer cares about upholding social norms
in the wake of tragedy.
 The Symbolism of Ophelia’s Flowers
3. Her “bouquet” is contradictory, showing both sorrow and joy,
chastity and love.
4. This symbolises her multifaceted desires that have been suppressed
by society’s expectations.
• This is echoed by the “fantastic garlands” of flowers found on her
body after her suicide, which show that in her last moments, Ophelia
chose to surround herself with symbols of all she was and could have
been if she had not been restricted.
The Symbolism of Ophelia’s Flowers

In Act 4, following the death of Polonius, his

daughter Ophelia goes mad. Spurned by her
lover Hamlet, who himself seems to have lost his
mind, and is left alone in a castle with no one to
trust, Ophelia loses her grip on reality. As she
prances through the halls of Elsinore singing
songs that range from childish to bawdy to
macabre, she passes out invisible “flowers” to
those she meets, the eclectic variety of which
symbolize her own complex personality
 Polonius’ Body
• In Hamlet, the location of Polonius’ body is not explicitly stated.
However, in Act 4, Scene 3, Hamlet gives hints that Polonius’ body is
decomposing and being eaten by worms. When asked by Claudius,
Hamlet sarcastically suggests Polonius is at “supper,” implying he is
dead and the worms are feasting on him. Hamlet further implies the
body is in a place where its stench is detectable, possibly in the lobby
stairs area.
“Alexander Died”: Hamlet, 5. i. 216 – 240
Hamlet asks, “Dost thou think Alexander
looked o’ this fashion i’ th’ earth?” about
Yorick’s skull. This is in Act 5, Scene 1.

Hamlet is asking rhetorically if

Alexander the Great, the king of
Macedon who established a large
empire, has also decayed into dust
like Yorick's skull. Hamlet's question
is a reminder that no matter how
great a person is, they will eventually
die and their body will rot
 Background to King Lear
• Both Elizabethan and later, Jacobean England under James I, were
hierarchical societies. Deference and respect were shown not only to
the noble and wealthy but also to parents and the elderly.
• Adults would kneel to receive their father’s blessing, and children
were expected to remove their caps when addressing their elders. In
this context, the treatment of Lear at the hands of his daughters would
have been particularly shocking.
King Lear, Goneril, Regan & Cordelia
Lear Meets Poor/Mad Tom
Act [Link]
Kent has managed to persuade Lear to
follow him to a nearby hovel where he
can shelter from the storm. Lear sends
the Fool in first but the Fool quickly
comes back out shouting for help
because there is ‘a spirit’ inside the
hovel. The ‘spirit’ is Edgar disguised as
‘Poor Tom’ who behaves as a poor
‘mad’ beggar. Lear is convinced that
‘Poor Tom’ has been driven to this state
by his daughters. Kent and the Fool try
to keep Lear calm.
 “Nothing”
• When he exclaims: “Edgar I nothing am” he dramatically abandons all
of his previous privilege and power to be reduced to “nothing.”
Ironically in becoming “nothing” to his previous identity as Edgar, he
turns into Poor Tom, a much more extravagant and entertaining
personality.
• In the same way Cordelia’s “nothing” holds more meaning than the
manipulative words of her sisters, Edgar being “nothing” is what
makes him something of interest to the audience, adding to the play’s
theme of there being value in the concept of “nothing.”
 King Lear
Act 1
• The Earls Kent and Gloucester discuss the division of King Lear’s
kingdom. Lear has divided the kingdom into three parts, allotting the
largest to Cordelia, his most favoured of the three daughters.
• Lear first addresses his two eldest daughters, asking them to express
their love for him before they and their husbands will receive the land
he has allotted for them.
• It is a selfish request and Goneril, the eldest, responds readily. Regan
answers his request next, attempting to outdo her sister, and thus says
that she has given all of her love to Lear.
 King Lear
Act 1
• Cordelia finds her sisters extremely boorish in their exaggerated and
insincere flattery and refuses to participate.
• Upon her turn, she tells Lear that she loves him as her duty as a
daughter requires but no more, as she will save some of her love for
her soon-to-be husband.
• Lear becomes extremely angry but Cordelia still refuses to stoop to the
level of her sisters.
• As a result, Lear strips Cordelia of her inheritance and her title. Kent
steps in to support Cordelia’s behaviour but Lear will hear none of it.
 King Lear
Act 1
• Insulted by Kent’s opposition, Lear banishes him from the kingdom.
The suitors then learn of Cordelia’s position.
• Burgundy cannot accept her as a mate without the promised
entitlements but France finds her more endearing in her sincerity and
makes her his wife, Queen of France.
• Goneril and Regan plot to take all of Lear’s power out of his hands
quickly.
 King Lear
Act 1
• Edmund, Gloucester’s bastard son, vows to steal the land and
legitimacy of his half-brother Edgar by manipulating both father and
brother against each other. His father sees him hiding a letter he is
carrying and forces him to show it.
• It is a fabricated letter from Edgar asking for Edmund’s help in
overturning their father.
• Gloucester is enraged but Edmund tells him to not jump to conclusions
until he can arrange a meeting between himself and Edgar. Edmund
then finds Edgar and alerts him to Gloucester’s anger, suggesting he
flee to Edmund’s house and stay armed.
 King Lear
Act 1
• Lear resides with Goneril, who plans to drive him out of her residence
and to her sister’s by pretending that his knights and servants are
creating havoc.
• She orders her servants to treat Lear coldly. Kent returns disguised
and becomes Lear’s servant, Caius.
• Lear is outraged at Goneril’s charges and the coldness against him and
his train. He curses Goneril and her unborn children before leaving for
Regan’s home.
• Albany reproaches Goneril for her treatment of Lear. Goneril sends
her servant, Oswald, to warn her sister.
 King Lear
Act 2
• Edmund hears from a courier that there are rumors of conflict between
Albany and Cornwall. He uses this idea when he encounters Edgar,
informing him that he has offended both parties and is in danger. Upon
hearing Gloucester, Edmund has Edgar draw his sword and then run
off. Edmund wounds himself and pretends it was received in his duel
with Edgar because Edgar had wished to kill Gloucester. Gloucester
sends men out to capture Edgar and promises Edmund the land to
which he has never been privileged. Regan and Cornwall, who have
traveled to Gloucester’s castle to escape Lear's arrival, hear of Edgar's
betrayal and place their trust in Edmund.
 King Lear
Act 2
• Oswald and Kent meet at Gloucester’s castle, both delivering
messages. Kent insults him for his previous treatment of Lear and
begins to strike him. The noise brings Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester,
and Edmund. Cornwall and Regan place Kent in the stocks as
punishment. Lear arrives to find him there but cannot believe his own
daughter and son-in-law were responsible.
 King Lear
Act 2
• His Fool continuously ridicules his choices: chastising Cordelia,
trusting his other daughters, and giving up his authority. Lear sends
Gloucester for Regan and Cornwall but they refuse to see Lear until he
threatens to wake them himself. They feign happiness in seeing him.
Lear entreats Regan to feel sympathy for him because of Goneril's
treatment of him but Regan instead says he should return to her for the
intended month and apologise.
 King Lear
Act 2
• As Goneril arrives, he finally asks who put Kent in the stocks.
Cornwall admits to it. Goneril and Regan unite to oppose Lear,
claiming that he does not need one hundred knights and servants.
When Regan proclaims that he could only have twenty-five with her,
he wishes to return to Goneril whose previous promise of fifty must
mean she loves him more. The two sisters then lower the size of a train
they will allow to ten, then five, and then none.
• Lear is outraged and wishes to be with neither daughter, escaping out
into the woods. Gloucester pleads with them to allow Lear back inside
as a storm is approaching, but they refuse.
 King Lear
Act 3
• Kent encounters one of Lear’s train and sends him to Dover with his
purse and a ring to show Cordelia if he sees her. He is to fill her and
the others in as to Lear's condition and treatment. Lear is quickly
becoming one with the storm as he approaches madness, though he
reasons that the heavens owe him less than his daughters did. He rages
on and on about betrayal and filial ingratitude. Lear admits that he has
sinned but recognizes too that he was even more sinned against. Kent
tries to get Lear inside a hovel for shelter.
 King Lear
Act 3
• The Fool prophecies that when men are honest and sincere, England
will fall apart. Lear sends the Fool into the hovel first but he comes out
screaming when he meets Edgar disguised as the beggar, poor Tom of
Bedlam.
• Tom’s babble illustrates his demonic madness and Lear believes that
he must have suffered from ungrateful daughters.
• Tom tells his history as a serving man given over to lust, bringing Lear
to question the makeup of man. Lear himself approaches an
unaccommodated, essential man. He attempts to strip off his clothes
but the Fool stops him.
 King Lear
Act 3
• Gloucester confides in Edmund that he has received a letter with news
of a movement to avenge the King. He tells him to remain silent on the
issue. Gloucester then goes to find Lear, unable to follow the orders of
Regan and Goneril and hopes to take Lear to shelter. Lear would rather
stay to talk with Tom, the “philosopher.” Kent suggests that Tom
accompany Lear to the shelter and they move to it. The Fool, Lear, and
Tom muse over the definition of a madman. Lear decides to hold a
mock trial for Regan and Goneril and indict them for their offenses,
placing the Fool and Tom as the judges. Lear has lost his wits.
Gloucester returns with news of Regan and Goneril’s plot against
Lear's life. He has secured transportation for him and sends him off to
Dover. Edgar remains.
 King Lear
Act 3
• Edmund eagerly uses Gloucester’s confidence to forward his means by
divulging it to Cornwall. He pretends to be sad that he is betraying his
father. Cornwall makes him the new Earl of Gloucester, accepts him as
a son, and calls for a search for Gloucester. He then sends Goneril and
Edmund to Albany so that Edmund will not be present for his father’s
punishment. Regan and Goneril call for Gloucester to be hanged or
blinded. Gloucester is brought to Regan and Cornwall, who tie him up.
Gloucester is shocked by the rudeness of his guests.
 King Lear
Act 3
• Once they tell him they have his letter, he admits that he has sent Lear
to Dover because of the horrible cruelty of his daughters. Cornwall
blinds one of Gloucester’s eyes. A servant interjects angrily, wounding
Cornwall, and Regan slays him. Cornwall then blinds the other eye as
well and Regan notifies Gloucester that Edmund was the one who
informed against him. Gloucester realizes that he has wronged Edgar.
He is turned out into the storm, aided by a few loyal servants.
 King Lear
Act 4
• Gloucester is led by an old man though he wishes to be left alone. He
prays to be able to see his son Edgar again. When they come upon
poor Tom, Gloucester chooses to allow Tom to lead him because the
time had come when madmen were leading the blind. Gloucester asks
to be taken to a high cliff in Dover where he can commit suicide. He
gives Tom his purse to better balance the economic inequality of the
world.
 King Lear
Act 4
• When they reach Dover, Edgar tricks his father into thinking he has
climbed the steep hill. Thus, when he tries to fall off the cliff, he
merely falls flat. Before he falls, he blesses Edgar. Edgar runs back to
him, pretending to be another stranger, and tells him that it was a
miracle that he fell and did not die. He explains that a spirit left him at
the summit, insinuating that poor Tom was a spirit and Gloucester
believes him, though depressed that he is not even allowed death.
 King Lear
Act 4
• Goneril and Edmund are greeted by Oswald who alerts them to
Albany's reverse in attitude. He is pleased by the invasion of France
and displeased by Edmund. Goneril sends Edmund back to Cornwall,
with a vow to unite as mates and rulers. She finds her husband enraged
against her for the treatment he has heard she and Regan bore against
Lear. He would tear her apart if she were not a woman. He then learns
that Gloucester has been blinded and that Cornwall died from a wound
caused by the servant defending him. Goneril feels torn about
Cornwall’s death.
 King Lear
Act 4
• Albany learns that Edmund informs against Gloucester and he
promises to avenge Gloucester’s blindness. Regan is then greeted by
Oswald. She remarks that they should have killed Gloucester as his
situation arouses too much sympathy. Edmund is supposed to be
looking for him. She is worried that Edmund and her sister are
planning to become intimate and she warns Oswald to remind Edmund
of the promises he has made to her.
 King Lear
Act 4
• Kent meets the gentleman he sent ahead to Dover and learns that
the King of France has had to return, though Cordelia and others
remain. He asks how Cordelia received his message and is told that
she was a mixture of smiles and tears. Lear has not yet been reconciled
to Cordelia because he is too ashamed to face her. She worries that he
has gone completely mad but the doctor assures her that rest should
help.
 King Lear
Act 4
• Lear stumbles upon Gloucester and Edgar, rambling about the
manipulation of his daughters and the evil nature of women. He
recognizes Gloucester’s voice and mentions, ignorant of Edmund’s
betrayal, how his adulterous ways have been more fortunate than
Lear's legitimate ones. Lear tells him that blindness should in fact help
him to see and that pretense is the largest flaw of most in authority.
Cordelia’s gentlemen find Lear and try to bring him to her but he
thinks he is being captured and runs away.
 King Lear
Act 4
• Oswald tracks Gloucester down and hopes to kill him. Edgar
intercedes. They fight and Oswald falls. He tells Edgar to give the
letter he was carrying to Edmund. Edgar is infuriated to find that the
letter is from Goneril and is in reference to her wish to kill Albany and
marry Edmund. Lear has been found and given a sleeping drug by
Cordelia’s doctor. Cordelia thanks Kent for all of his support and
goodwill toward the King. She bemoans the horrific treatment her
sisters have shown him. Lear is brought into them, barely awake, and
does not recognise them. Finally, he understands that he is with
Cordelia but is still very confused.
 King Lear
Act 5
• Regan questions Edmund as to his relationship with Goneril. He
promises that he is not intimately involved with her. Goneril notes that
she would rather lose to France than to her sister for Edmund’s hand.
Goneril and Albany discuss the importance of being united with Regan
to face France. Edgar, still disguised, finds Albany and passes on the
letter from Goneril. Edgar tells him to call by herald if he is needed
again. Edmund soliloquizes on the question of which sister to choose
and decides to take Goneril if she manages to kill Albany. He is most
concerned with ruling a reunited Britain.
 King Lear
Act 5
• The battle begins. Cordelia and Lear lead one army. Edgar leaves
Gloucester safely while he fights on their side. Edgar returns after the
quick offstage war with the news that Lear and Cordelia have been
taken prisoner. Edmund is in charge of them and has them sent away
to prison. Cordelia tries to be strong and Lear hopes the time will be
one where they can catch up and talk about life. Edmund hands a death
note to a captain of his to carry out. Albany praises Edmund for his
acts of battle but reminds him he is a subordinate. Edmund lies, saying
that Cordelia and Lear are merely being retained. Regan declares that
as her new partner, Edmund is an equal, which incites Goneril’s
jealousy.
 King Lear
Act 5
• Albany responds with a claim of treason and challenges Edmund to a
duel. Regan is escorted out. The herald sounds the trumpet three times
and a disguised Edgar appears to fight Edmund. Edmund falls but
Albany spares him until he can incriminate him.
• Albany quiets Goneril with her letter though she maintains she is
above any law as she is the ruler of it. She flees his anger. Edmund
admits his guilt and Edgar reveals himself. In response to Albany’s
questioning, Edgar explains how he had been disguised as a beggar
and that he had led and cared for Gloucester until his death. He died,
overwhelmed by happiness and sadness, shortly after Edgar revealed
his identity to him. Edgar was then met by Kent who also told of his
disguise, Lear’s state, and his own coming death.
 King Lear
Act 5
• A gentleman brings in the knife Goneril used to kill herself after
admitting that she poisoned Regan. The bodies are called for. Kent
comes hoping to bid Lear goodbye which reminds Albany to ask about
Lear and Cordelia’s condition. Edmund informs them that he and
Goneril had ordered Cordelia hanged so that it would look like a
suicide. A servant tries to stop it but Lear enters with Cordelia’s body.
He had killed the man who hanged her but she does not live. Lear is
inconsolable.
 King Lear
Act 5
• Kent tries to say goodbye to him but Lear barely recognizes him and
likely does not understand that he has been undercover as his servant
Caius all along. They are told Edmund is dead. Albany gives Lear
back absolute rule and Kent and Edgar their rights. Still swooning for
Cordelia, Lear dies. Albany then gives Kent and Edgar a shared rule
but Kent notes he will soon follow Lear, thus leaving Edgar as the next
King.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
Blindness
• Blindness is a recurring motif in King Lear, in both the figurative and
literal sense. Many characters in the play are blinded by their own
egos and ambitions, most notably Lear and Gloucester, who misjudge
their own children and make fatal mistakes because of it. Gloucester is
then literally blinded in the play, a brutal scene that renders him weak,
vulnerable, but surprisingly astute. The play suggests that in losing his
eyesight, Gloucester develops a keen sense of knowledge that he did
not possess in the beginning of the play.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
The Fool
• The fool in King Lear is a famous example of a character typically
meant for comic relief playing a much more significant role in the
events of the play. Lear’s fool is perhaps the wisest of all the
characters, making observations throughout the play that both
foreshadow Lear’s fate and speak truthfully about Lear’s lack of self-
knowledge. That Lear chooses to criticize his fool rather than listen to
him suggests the extent of his ego, while at the end of the play Lear
begins speaking in a way that mirrors the language of the fool from the
earlier acts.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
Weather
• The storm that occurs in Act Three symbolises Lear’s chaotic mental
state. At one point, he even states that he has a “tempest in [his] mind”
(3.i). The thunder and lightning of the storm signifies the
uncontrollable fate of Lear and many other characters in the play,
while also suggesting England’s own descent into political turmoil
after Lear had divided his kingdom.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
Lear’s Crown
• Early on in the play, Lear’s fool remarks that Lear has mistakenly cut
his crown in two by choosing to divide his kingdom. As such, Lear’s
crown is a symbol of both his own power and his kingdom’s stability.
Later in the play, Lear appears wearing a crown made only of flowers,
a symbol that suggests his complete loss of power. This flower-crown
also associates Lear with another Shakespearean character, Ophelia
from Hamlet, who distributes wildflowers to passers-by just before her
death. Ophelia’s behaviour has often been interpreted as a form of
grief-driven madness, and the same could be said about Lear at the end
of the play.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
Nakedness
• Nakedness is a central motif of the play, as it addresses one of King
Lear’s central questions: whether there is any value or meaning to
man’s life on earth. Edgar’s disguise, Poor Tom, is a naked beggar,
while Lear, too, strips off his clothes after seeing Poor Tom’s nude
body. Lear asks whether man is “no more than this” ([Link]), suggesting
that man’s natural state is a weak and vulnerable one. This realisation
helps Lear gain the self-knowledge to which he had previously been
blind, as he comes to recognise himself as an aging and powerless man
rather than a fearsome king.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
Lear’s Threat
• When Lear declares that he will disinherit Cordelia, Kent tries to
interfere and stop him from making that mistake. Lear sternly tells
Kent, “Come not between the dragon and his wrath” (1.i). In this
metaphor, Lear compares himself to an angry dragon, threatening Kent
if he continues to be involved in Lear’s affairs. This metaphor
emphasises Lear’s lack of self-knowledge as he is, in actuality, a
feeble old man making a political mistake that will ensure his own
demise.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
Fool’s Warning
• Lear is shocked and dismayed to see Kent in the stocks when he
arrives at Gloucester’s palace. The fool explains to Lear that he has
experienced a reversal in fortune, saying, “Fortune, that fickle whore /
Ne’er turns the key to the poor” ([Link]). Here, the fool uses a metaphor
to compare fortune – which Lear previously had – to a fickle woman
who never opens the door for those less fortunate. The fool therefore
suggests that Lear is unlikely to recover and enjoy power once more.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
Gloucester’s Defense of Lear
• Gloucester explains to Regan why he continues to support Lear,
saying, “Because I would not see thy cruel nails / Pluck out his poor
old eyes, nor thy fierce sister / In his anointed flesh stick boorish
fangs” ([Link]). Gloucester compares Goneril and Regan to carnivorous
beasts attempting to attack and their father, but he also, in this
metaphor, foreshadows his own brutal mutilation with the imagery of
being blinded.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
Gloucester’s Nihilism
• Toward the end of the play, after Gloucester has been blinded, he
warns Lear that life is nothing but pain and suffering. He says, “As
flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods. / They kill us for their sport”
(4.1). In this simile, Gloucester compares mankind to insignificant
flies that young boys will kill for fun. He therefore expresses a
nihilistic view of life on earth, which is that nothing has any inherent
meaning or value.
 King Lear
Symbols, Allegory, Motifs, Metaphors and
Similes
Lear’s Fantasy
• At the end of the play, Lear has accepted his fate, and he crafts a
fantasy in which he and Cordelia will be able to live together in prison.
He says, “We two alone will sing like birds i’ the cage” (5.3). Here,
Lear uses a simile to compare himself and his daughter to two caged
birds who nonetheless continue to sing and enjoy each other’s
company. Lear’s fantasy of a joyful imprisonment with his daughter
emphasizes both his mad state at the end of the play, as well as his
newly-gained self-knowledge that allows him to see Cordelia as his
most beloved daughter once more.
 Themes
Inheritance
• The central conflict of King Lear revolves around the concept of
inheritance. At the beginning of the play, Lear aims to test his three
daughters’ loyalty before gifting them their portion of his land. The
prospect of this inheritance is what fuels the boorish behavior of
Goneril and Regan, but it is also Lear’s selfish way of wielding
continued power over his three daughters. In many ways, the
inheritance proposed at the beginning of the play represents Lear's last
form of control as a ruler.
 Themes
Order
• At the beginning of the play, Lear is represented as a controlling
authority figure. Having divided his land into three parts to be
designated to each of his three daughters, Lear wields power over his
children in a way that spurs competition between them. Lear’s bizarre
and self-aggrandising test of his daughters’ affections can be
interpreted as one of the ways he combats the reality of his age:
becoming weaker physically, Lear attempts to hold onto power and
control by orchestrating a division of his lands before his death.
 Themes
Chaos
• Predictably, Lear’s plan in Act One to impose order on his three
daughters quickly disintegrates, in part because of Lear’s own ego.
Once Cordelia confesses her true, but misunderstood, loyalty to her
father, Lear strips Cordelia of her inheritance altogether. This decision
is what leads to Goneril and Regan’s betrayal of Lear and the general
breakdown of order in the play. His decision also catalyzes his own
descent into madness and his ultimate demise.
 Themes
Aging
• Modern productions of King Lear almost always present Lear as
noticeably decrepit, and tend to emphasize his aging body as the play
progresses. This focus on aging is central to the conflicts and plots of
the play, as Lear’s age inspires both anxiety in himself and greediness
in Goneril and Regan, who eventually turn on him for their own gain.
Ironically, in Lear’s attempt to maintain political and familial control
despite his physical decline, he ends up pushing himself further into
senility.
 Themes
Madness
• Many describe Lear’s character trajectory within the play as a fall
from stern authority figure to madman. Indeed, his episode at Dover
Beach is often used as evidence for Lear’s lost grasp on reality.
However, it is important to note that in his seemingly declining state,
Lear gains insight into his mistakes as both a ruler and a father. Lear’s
“mad” ramblings even come to resemble remarks of the fool, who is
often considered, ironically, the wisest character in the play.
 Themes
Sight and Blindness
• The play is rife with imagery of light, seeing, blindness, and darkness.
This focus mirrors the figurative “blindness” that both Lear and
Gloucester are guilty of, as they severely misjudge their children in the
beginning of the play and experience the consequences thereafter.
Lear, ironically, gains figurative “sight” as he becomes more mad,
while Gloucester is literally blinded by Regan and Cornwall in Act
Three. However, just like Lear, Gloucester gains a form of “sight”
only after literally losing his ability to see, emphasising how truth
often only appears to one in retrospect.
 Themes
Justice and Nihilism
• King Lear is often discussed as a play that is obsessed with justice and
punishment: Lear strips Cordelia of her inheritance after misinterpreting her
declaration of love, Gloucester is blinded for potentially committing
treason, Lear’s mistake leads him to go mad, and Goneril and Regan’s
brutish behaviour ultimately ends in their murder-suicide. As a tragedy, the
sheer number of deaths and brutal punishments is not out of the ordinary for
the genre. However, the play suggests that these deaths derived from
misunderstanding, lack of communication, and uncertainty more generally.
As such, many argue that King Lear presents a nihilistic view of the world,
in which all values are inherently meaningless, including the concept of
justice.
 Nihilism in King Lear
• King Lear is often considered Shakespeare’s most nihilistic play. This
term, however, is a bit of a misnomer when describing a text from the
early modern period, as the philosophical concept of nihilism as it is
known today did not formally arise until the eighteenth century.
However, some philosophers maintain that nihilism is not a specific
philosophy or school of thought but instead a combination of
ideologies that existed long before Shakespeare’s time
 Nihilism in King Lear
• Put simply, a nihilistic perspective interprets everything in the world –
including mankind – as inherently meaningless. Nihilism maintains
that concepts like morality, ethics, values, knowledge, and objective
truth are nonexistent and unattainable. Modern conceptions of nihilism
are traditionally based on the work of German philosopher Friedrich
Nietzsche, who famously coined the term “crisis of nihilism.” This
idea posits that nihilism is composed of two main objectives:
destruction of higher values and rejection of the affirmation of life. In
this way, scholars across disciplines have come to associate nihilism
with cynicism, apathy, and resignation.
 Nihilism in King Lear
• King Lear is often read as a nihilist play because of the sheer extent of
its tragedy, as well as its focus on nothingness and lack of meaning.
Gloucester himself expresses a nihilistic point of view when he
compares mankind to flies that the gods enjoy killing for sport –
rendering all higher values irrelevant and meaningless. Many
maintain, however, that Lear is not a nihilist play at all, but is instead a
narrative about old age and man’s decline into senility, a decline that
inherently forces reflection and a reevaluation of life. Perhaps the best
way to reconcile these viewpoints is to consider King Lear a play that
is interested in nihilistic inquiry, but that does not necessarily endorse
a nihilistic worldview as a whole.
 Quote & Analysis
• “How, nothing will come of nothing.” (Lear, 1.i)
• When Lear asks his daughters to tell him how much they love him,
Cordelia tells him she has nothing to say. This quotation is Lear's
response, in which he implies to Cordelia that she will receive no part
of her inheritance if she remains quiet. However, this quotation also
addresses one of the major motifs in the play – nothingness.
Eventually, Lear himself is stripped of his kingdom and left with
“nothing,” and in the end, the play nihilistically questions whether
“nothingness” is the natural state of the world.
 Quote & Analysis
• “He hath ever but slenderly known himself.” (Regan, 1.i)
• In a moment of wisdom, Regan describes what will turn out to be
Lear’s fatal flaw: he has yet to realise who he truly is. Thinking
himself still a powerful king rather than an aged man, Lear’s decision
to disinherit Cordelia spurs his downfall. Ironically, it is this very fall
that helps Lear gain the self-knowledge he desperately needs, though
not before the tragic end of the play.
 Julius Caesar, the man
• Julius Caesar was born on July 12/13, 100? BC Rome, Italy
• He was a celebrated Roman general and statesman, the conqueror
of Gaul (58 – 50 BC)
• Victor in the civil war of 49 – 45 BC, and dictator (46 – 44 BC)
• Launched a series of political and social reforms
• Assassinated by a group of nobles in the Senate House on the Ides of
March; (15 March, 44 BC)
 Flavius and Marullus
• The action begins in February 44 BC. Julius Caesar has just reentered
Rome in triumph after a victory in Spain over the sons of his old
enemy, Pompey the Great. A spontaneous celebration has interrupted
and been broken up by Flavius and Marullus, two political enemies of
Caesar. It soon becomes apparent from their words that powerful and
secret forces are working against Caesar.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Two tribunes, Flavius and Murellus, find scores of Roman citizens
wandering the streets, neglecting their work to watch Julius Caesar’s
triumphal parade: Caesar has defeated the sons of the deceased Roman
general Pompey, his archrival, in battle. The tribunes scold the citizens
for abandoning their duties and remove decorations from Caesar’s
statues. Caesar enters with his entourage, including the military and
political figures Brutus, Cassius, and Antony. A Soothsayer calls out to
Caesar to “beware the Ides of March,” but Caesar ignores him and
proceeds with his victory celebration ([Link].19, [Link].25).
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Cassius and Brutus, both longtime intimates of Caesar and each other,
converse. Cassius tells Brutus that he has seemed distant lately; Brutus
replies that he has been at war with himself. Cassius states that he
wishes Brutus could see himself as others see him, for then Brutus
would realize how honored and respected he is. Brutus says that he
fears that the people want Caesar to become king, which would
overturn the republic.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Cassius concurs that Caesar is treated like a god though he is merely a
man, no better than Brutus or Cassius. Cassius recalls incidents of
Caesar’s physical weakness and marvels that this fallible man has
become so powerful. He blames his and Brutus’s lack of will for
allowing Caesar’s rise to power: surely the rise of such a man cannot
be the work of fate. Brutus considers Cassius’s words as Caesar
returns. Upon seeing Cassius, Caesar tells Antony that he deeply
distrusts Cassius.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Caesar departs, and another politician, Casca, tells Brutus and Cassius
that, during the celebration, Antony offered the crown to Caesar three
times and the people cheered, but Caesar refused it each time. He
reports that Caesar then fell to the ground and had some kind of
seizure before the crowd; his demonstration of weakness, however, did
not alter the plebeians’ devotion to him. Brutus goes home to consider
Cassius’ words regarding Caesar’s poor qualifications to rule, while
Cassius hatches a plot to draw Brutus into a conspiracy against Caesar.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• That night, Rome is plagued with violent weather and a variety of bad
omens and portents. Brutus finds letters in his house apparently
written by Roman citizens worried that Caesar has become too
powerful. The letters have in fact been forged and planted by Cassius,
who knows that if Brutus believes it is the people’s will, he will
support a plot to remove Caesar from power. A committed supporter of
the republic, Brutus fears the possibility of a dictator-led empire,
worrying that the populace would lose its voice.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Cassius arrives at Brutus’ home with his conspirators, and Brutus, who
has already been won over by the letters, takes control of the meeting.
The men agree to lure Caesar from his house and kill him. Cassius
wants to kill Antony too, for Antony will surely try to hinder their
plans, but Brutus disagrees, believing that too many deaths will render
their plot too bloody and dishonour them. Having agreed to spare
Antony, the conspirators depart. Portia, Brutus’s wife, observes that
Brutus appears preoccupied. She pleads with him to confide in her, but
he rebuffs her.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Caesar prepares to go to the Senate. His wife, Calpurnia, begs him not
to go, describing recent nightmares she has had in which a statue of
Caesar streamed with blood and smiling men bathed their hands in the
blood. Caesar refuses to yield to fear and insists on going about his
daily business. Finally, Calpurnia convinces him to stay home – if not
out of caution, then as a favour to her. But Decius, one of the
conspirators, then arrives and convinces Caesar that Calpurnia has
misinterpreted her dreams and the recent omens. Caesar departs for the
Senate in the company of the conspirators.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• As Caesar proceeds through the streets toward the Senate, the
Soothsayer again tries but fails to get his attention. The citizen
Artemidorus hands him a letter warning him about the conspirators,
but Caesar refuses to read it, saying that his closest personal concerns
are his last priority. At the Senate, the conspirators speak to Caesar,
bowing at his feet and encircling him. One by one, they stab him to
death. When Caesar sees his dear friend Brutus among his murderers,
he gives up his struggle and dies.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• The murderers bathe their hands and swords in Caesar’s blood, thus
bringing Calpurnia’s premonition to fruition. Antony, having been led
away on a false pretext, returns and pledges allegiance to Brutus but
weeps over Caesar’s body. He shakes hands with the conspirators, thus
marking them all as guilty while appearing to make a gesture of
conciliation. When Antony asks why they killed Caesar, Brutus replies
that he will explain their purpose in a funeral oration. Antony asks to
be allowed to speak over the body as well; Brutus grants his
permission, though Cassius remains suspicious of Antony. The
conspirators depart, and Antony, alone now, swears that Caesar’s death
shall be avenged.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Brutus and Cassius go to the Forum to speak to the public. Cassius
exits to address another part of the crowd. Brutus declares to the
masses that though he loved Caesar, he loves Rome more, and
Caesar’s ambition posed a danger to Roman liberty. The speech
placates the crowd. Antony appears with Caesar’s body, and Brutus
departs after turning the pulpit over to Antony. Repeatedly referring to
Brutus as “an honorable man,” Antony’s speech becomes increasingly
sarcastic; questioning the claims that Brutus made in his speech that
Caesar acted only out of ambition, Antony points out that Caesar
brought much wealth and glory to Rome, and three times turned down
offers of the crown.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Antony then produces Caesar’s will but announces that he will not
read it for it would upset the people inordinately. The crowd
nevertheless begs him to read the will, so he descends from the pulpit
to stand next to Caesar’s body. He describes Caesar’s horrible death
and shows Caesar’s wounded body to the crowd. He then reads
Caesar’s will, which bequeaths a sum of money to every citizen and
orders that his private gardens be made public. The crowd becomes
enraged that this generous man lies dead; calling Brutus and Cassius
traitors, the masses set off to drive them from the city.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Meanwhile, Caesar’s adopted son and appointed successor, Octavius,
arrives in Rome and forms a three-person coalition with Antony and
Lepidus. They prepare to fight Cassius and Brutus, who have been
driven into exile and are raising armies outside the city. At the
conspirators’ camp, Brutus and Cassius have a heated argument
regarding matters of money and honor, but they ultimately reconcile.
Brutus reveals that he is sick with grief, for in his absence Portia has
killed herself. The two continue to prepare for battle with Antony and
Octavius. That night, the Ghost of Caesar appears to Brutus,
announcing that Brutus will meet him again on the battlefield.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Octavius and Antony march their army toward Brutus and Cassius.
Antony tells Octavius where to attack, but Octavius says that he will
make his own orders; he is already asserting his authority as the heir of
Caesar and the next ruler of Rome. The opposing generals meet on the
battlefield and exchange insults before beginning combat.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Cassius witnesses his own men fleeing and hears that Brutus’s men are
not performing effectively. Cassius sends one of his men, Pindarus, to
see how matters are progressing. From afar, Pindarus sees one of their
leaders, Cassius’s best friend, Titinius, being surrounded by cheering
troops and concludes that he has been captured. Cassius despairs and
orders Pindarus to kill him with his own sword. He dies proclaiming
that Caesar is avenged. Titinius himself then arrives – the men
encircling him were actually his comrades, cheering a victory he had
earned. Titinius sees Cassius’s corpse and, mourning the death of his
friend, kills himself.
 Summary of Julius Caesar
• Brutus learns of the deaths of Cassius and Titinius with a heavy heart
and prepares to take on the Romans again. When his army loses, doom
appears imminent. Brutus asks one of his men to hold his sword while
he impales himself on it. Finally, Caesar can rest satisfied, he says as
he dies. Octavius and Antony arrive. Antony speaks over Brutus’s
body, calling him the noblest Roman of all. While the other
conspirators acted out of envy and ambition, he observes, Brutus
genuinely believed that he acted for the benefit of Rome. Octavius
orders that Brutus be buried in the most honorable way. The men then
depart to celebrate their victory.
 Climax of Julius Caesar
• The climax of the play comes when Antony, by juxtaposing Caesar’s
accomplishments, his generous will, and his corpse’s brutal wounds
with the repeated statement that “Brutus is an honorable man,”
persuades the people of Rome that Brutus and his co-conspirators
aren’t honorable at all.
 Falling action of Julius Caesar
• Titinius’ realisation that Cassius has died wrongly assuming defeat;
Titinius’ suicide; Brutus’s discovery of the two corpses; the final
struggle between Brutus’s men and the troops of Antony and Octavius;
Brutus’s self-impalement on his sword upon recognising that his side
is doomed; the discovery of Brutus’s body by Antony and Octavius
 Foreshadowing
• The play is full of omens, including lightning and thunder, the
walking-dead, and lions stalking through the city ([Link]). Additionally,
the Soothsayer warns Caesar to beware the Ides of March ([Link]);
Calpurnia dreams that she sees Caesar’s statue running with blood
([Link]); and Caesar’s priests sacrifice animals to the gods only to find
that the animals lack hearts ([Link]) – all foreshadow Caesar’s impending
murder and the resulting chaos in Rome. Caesar’s ghost visits Brutus
before the battle ([Link]), and birds of prey circle over the battlefield in
sight of Cassius (5.i); both incidents foreshadow Caesar’s revenge and
the victory of Antony and Octavius.
 Julius Caesar
• Julius Caesar opens with a scene of class conflict, the plebeians versus
the tribunes
• The plebeians are celebrating Caesar’s victory over the sons of
Pompey, one of the former leaders of Rome
• The tribunes verbally attack the masses for their fickleness in
celebrating the defeat of a man who was once their leader
 Julius Caesar
• Caesar enters Rome accompanied by his supporters and a throng of
citizens. It is the feast of Lupercalia, February 15, a day when two men
run through the street and strike those they meet with goatskin thongs.
Caesar orders Mark Antony to strike his wife Calpurnia to cure her
barrenness.
• A soothsayer calls out to Caesar as he passes and warns him against
the Ides of March, March 15. Caesar ignores the man and dismisses
him as a dreamer. Upon seeing Cassius, Caesar informs Antony that he
would rather be surrounded by men who are fat and happy than thin
men like Cassius. He is worried that Cassius is dangerous because he
“thinks too much” ([Link]). Antony tells him not to worry about Cassius.
 Julius Caesar
• Meanwhile, Brutus and Cassius meet and talk about how much power
Caesar has gained
• During their conversation, they are interrupted three times by cheers
from the crowd
• Cassius informs Brutus that he is forming a plot against Caesar and
wants Brutus to join it.
• Brutus tells him he cannot commit to anything
immediately. Casca soon joins them and informs them that the cheers
they heard were Caesar turning down the crown. According to Casca,
Antony offered Caesar a crown three times, and three times he refused
it.
 Julius Caesar
• Casca meets with Cicero and tells the orator that many strange things
are happening in Rome that night, such as a lion in the streets and an
owl screeching during the day
• Cicero tells him that men construe omens the way they see fit. Cassius
eventually arrives and learns from Casca that the senators are planning
on making Caesar a king the next morning
• Cicero starts to tell Casca about the plot to kill Caesar,
but Cinna shows up and interrupts him. He hands Cinna some letters
to plant anonymously in Brutus’s home and invites Casca to dinner
that night to convince him to join the conspiracy.
 Julius Caesar
• Brutus discovers the letters from Cinna, not knowing who wrote them.
He reads one of the letters and interprets it as a request to prevent
Caesar from seizing power. Brutus attributes the letter to Rome as a
whole, saying, “O Rome, I make thee promise” (2.i), implying that he
will carry out what he perceives as the will of the Roman people.
 Julius Caesar
• Brutus meets with Cassius and the other conspirators and shakes all
their hands, agreeing to join their plot.
• He convinces them to only kill Caesar, and not his most loyal friend
Antony, because he does not want them to “seem too bloody” (2.i).
• After the other men leave, Brutus is unable to sleep. His
wife Portia finds him awake and begs him to tell her what is troubling
him. At first, he refuses, but after she stabs herself in the thigh to prove
her strength and ability to keep a secret, he agrees to inform her
 Julius Caesar
• Meanwhile, Caesar’s wife Calpurnia dreamt of a statue of Caesar bleeding
from a hundred wounds
• Caesar, naturally superstitious, orders the priests to kill an animal and read
the entrails to see if he should go to the Senate that day
• The priests tell him that the animal did not have a heart, a very bad sign
• However, Decius, one of the conspirators, arrives and reinterprets
Calpurnia’s dream to mean that all of Rome sucked the reviving blood of
Caesar for its benefit. Caesar finally agrees with him that it is laughable to
stay home on account of a dream. The other conspirators, including Brutus
and Cassius, arrive at his house to escort him to the Senate House.
 Julius Caesar
• On the way to the Senate House Caesar is approached by the same
soothsayer that previously warned him about the Ides of March
• He again refuses to listen to the man and continues. A man
named Artemidorus then comes up to him and tries to give him a letter
revealing the entire conspiracy, but Decius cleverly tells Caesar
that Trebonius has a case he would like Caesar to read instead
• Caesar refuses to look at what Artemidorus offers him on account of
its being personal. He explains, “What touches us ourself shall be last
served” (3.i).
 Julius Caesar
• The conspirators arrive at the Senate House and Caesar assumes his
seat
• A man named Metellus kneels before him and petitions to have his
banished brother returned to Rome
• Caesar refuses but is surprised when Brutus and then Cassius come
forward and plead for the brother as well
• However, he continues to refuse to change the sentence even as all of
the conspirators gather around him
• On Casca’s comment, “Speak hands for me” (3.i) the group attacks
Caesar, stabbing him to death.
 Julius Caesar
• The conspirators, now led by Brutus and Cassius, dip their hands in
Caesar’s blood and prepare to run to the streets crying out “peace,
freedom, and liberty” (3.i).
• Antony arrives and begs them to let him take the body and give Caesar
a public eulogy
• Brutus agrees, overriding Cassius’s misgivings about allowing Antony
to speak. They move out into the streets of Rome and Cassius and
Brutus split up to speak to the plebeians.
 Julius Caesar
• Brutus defends his murder of Caesar because he was removing a tyrant
who was destroying the freedom of all Romans. He ends his speech by
asking the crowd if they want him to commit suicide for what he has
done, to which they reply, “Live, Brutus, live, live!” ([Link]). Next,
Brutus allows Antony to speak and returns home.
 Julius Caesar
• Antony takes full advantage of his speech and informs the crowd that
Caesar was a selfless man who cared for Rome above everything
• The highlight of his speech is when he pulls out Caesar’s will and
reads from it, telling the citizens that Caesar has given every Roman a
part of his inheritance, in both land and money
• The plebeians now believe Caesar to have been great and good, seize
his body, and vow revenge upon Brutus and the rest of the conspirators
• Their rioting develops into pure anarchy. Antony comments that he has
done his part in creating social upheaval, and now must wait to see
what happens
 Julius Caesar
• Brutus and Cassius are forced to flee the city, and in the meantime the
young general Octavius Caesar, loyal to Julius Caesar, arrives and
allies with Antony
• He, Antony, and Lepidus form a second triumvirate and prepare to
purge the city of anyone who is against them
• They map out their plans to clean the city and make a list of names of
those whom they wish to kill, including relatives and friends
 Julius Caesar
• Cassius and Brutus set up camp in Sardis, located in what is now
western Turkey
• Cassius arrives with his army at the campsite where Brutus is waiting
for him, but is furious with Brutus for having ignored letters he sent
asking Brutus to release a prisoner
• Brutus has instead punished the man for accepting bribes, an act
which provided one of the reasons for Caesar’s murder
• Cassius and Brutus argue until Cassius, in exasperation, pulls out his
dagger and asks Brutus to kill him if he hates so. Brutus refuses. The
two men embrace and forget their differences.
 Julius Caesar
• Next, Brutus sadly informs Cassius that his wife Portia is dead. She
swallowed live embers after Antony and Octavius assumed power.
• Brutus convinces Cassius during the strategy meeting that it would be
best for them to march to where Antony and Octavius are located in
Philippi (near modern Greece) in order to defeat them before they get
too strong, gaining additional soldiers on their march. Cassius
reluctantly agrees to Brutus’ plan and departs for the night.
 Julius Caesar
• Brutus calls some men into his tent in case he needs to send them
away as messengers during the night. He makes them go to sleep. He
himself stays up reading, but he is disturbed by the ghost of Julius
Caesar who appears. The ghost tells Brutus that he is his “evil spirit”
([Link]) and that he will be on the battlefield at Philippi.
• Brutus is so shaken by this image that he wakes up all the men in his
tent and sends them to Cassius with orders that Cassius should depart
before him the next morning.
 Julius Caesar
• On the battlefield at Philippi, Antony and Octavius agree to their battle
plans. They meet with Brutus and Cassius before entering battle, but
only exchange insults. Battle is imminent. All four men return to their
armies to prepare for war.
• In the middle of the battle Brutus sees a chance to destroy Octavius’s
army and rushes away to attack it. He leaves Cassius behind.
 Julius Caesar
• Cassius, less militarily adept, quickly begins losing to Antony’s forces.
Even worse, Pindarus misleads him, telling him Titinius has been
taken by the enemy near Cassius’s tents.
• Upon hearing this news, Cassius orders Pindarus to kill him. After
completing the task, Pindarus flees. Brutus arrives, finds his friend
dead and remarks, “O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet” ([Link]).
 Julius Caesar
• Cato is quickly killed, and Lucillius, a man pretending to be Brutus, is
soon captured and handed over to Antony
• Antony recognises him and tells his soldiers to keep attacking until
they capture Brutus
• Brutus, now almost completely defeated, begs several of his soldiers
to kill him. They all refuse and leave him rather than carrying his
blood on their hands. Finally, Strato accepts Brutus’s request. Brutus
runs into his sword as Strato holds it for him, killing himself
 Julius Caesar
• Antony and Octavius arrive and find Brutus dead upon the ground.
Antony remarks, “This was the noblest Roman of them all” (5.v).
Octavius, unemotional through all of the carnage, merely ends the play
with the lines, “So call the field to rest, and let’s away / To part the
glories of this happy day” (5.v).
 Julius Caesar
Themes
Heroes vs. Villains
• Both Caesar and Brutus are perceived to be heroes and villains
in Julius Caesar. At the play's opening, Caesar is hailed for his
conquests and admired for his apparent humility upon refusing the
crown. However, once murdered, Caesar is painted (by Brutus et al) as
a power-hungry leader to enslave all of Rome. Brutus’s speech, which
follows Caesar’s death, successfully manipulates the plebeian
perspective. By the end of his speech, the crowd is hailing Brutus for
killing Caesar, whom they now perceive as a great villain. But the
crowd is easily swayed once again when Antony speaks.
 Julius Caesar
Themes
Heroes vs. Villains
• Following Brutus’ remarks, Antony gives Caesar’s eulogy,
manipulating the crowd with stories of Caesar’s kindness, and sharing
the details of Caesar’s will, which leaves money to every Roman. At
the end of Antony’s speech, the crowd is once again supportive of
Caesar, mourns his death, and seeks to kill Brutus, Cassius, and the
other murderers. The swaying opinions of the plebeians and the great
differences in opinion that the play presents leave the audience to
determine who, if anyone, is the play’s hero and who, if anyone, is the
villain.
 Julius Caesar
Themes
Omens
• The seriousness with which Romans looked to omens is evident
throughout Julius Caesar. However ominous warnings and negative
omens are often overlooked or misinterpreted. For example, Caesar
ignores the soothsayer’s warning to “beware the Ides of March,”
ignores Calpurnia’s detailed dream of his death, and ignores the
negative omen of the sacrificial animal who has no heart. After
ignoring these omens, Caesar dies.
 Julius Caesar
Themes
Omens
• In addition, after the festival of Lupercalia, Casca sees many strange
omens, such as a man with a burning hand, a lion roaming the streets,
and an owl screeching during the daytime. Cicero, with whom Casca
confers regarding these matters, explains that people will interpret
omens as they see fit, inventing their own explanations. True to form,
Casca interprets these strange omens as warnings of Caesar’s wish to
rule all of Rome with an iron hand, and to destroy the Republic.
• Other omens that play important roles in the play include the
appearance of Caesar’s ghost and when eagles abandon Cassius’s and
Brutus’s camp and are replaced by vultures.
 Julius Caesar
Themes
Idealism
• Brutus wishes for an ideal world. He is happily married, lives in a
beautiful home, and is successful according to all measures of Roman
living. However, Brutus wishes for perfection in his life, and although
he loves Caesar, Brutus fears Caesar is too power hungry, and might
possibly destroy the Republic. Cassius understands Brutus's idealism
and takes advantage of it in order to manipulate Brutus into joining the
conspiracy against Caesar. At heart, it is Brutus's idealism that causes
his ultimate downfall. Antony recognizes this fact when addressing
Brutus’s dead body at the conclusion of the play, saying, “This was the
noblest Roman of them all” (5.v).
 Julius Caesar
Themes
Private and Public Identity
• In Julius Caesar, the audience is able to see both the private and public
sides of Caesar and Brutus. Caesar is a powerful confident man who leads
great armies and effectively rules the Roman empire, yet he is not without
weakness. He is highly superstitious, suffers from epilepsy, and ultimately
proves to be human when murdered by his closest friends. Similarly, Brutus
is strong and refuses to show weakness when in public, whether it be
speaking to the plebeians or leading an army into battle. However, we see
through his intimate conversations with his wife Portia and with Cassius
that Brutus is often plagued by uncertainty and pain. Specifically, after
fleeing Rome, Brutus learns that his wife has committed suicide, and is
heartbroken when discussing it with Cassius. However, as soon as soldiers
enter his tent, he pretends to not know of her death, and when told of it,
does not react with great emotion.
 Julius Caesar
Themes
Ambition and Conflict
• Caesar is a great man, and an ambitious man. His ambition is what
worries Brutus, and ultimately leads to Brutus joining the conspiracy
to murder Caesar. Cassius is also a very ambitious man, and because
he is so jealous of Caesar’s power, wishes to kill him to gain more
power for himself. Ultimately, the ambition of these two men leads to
their downfalls and to virtual anarchy in the streets of Rome. The play
suggests that great ambition leads to great conflict.
 Julius Caesar
Themes
Power of Speech
• Speech plays an integral role in the plot developments of Julius
Caesar. The plebeians are easily swayed into greatly opposing
viewpoints through Brutus’s and Antony’s speeches. Antony's great
manipulation of the crowd causes anarchy in the streets of Rome and
creates the support for a mission to avenge Caesar's death. In addition,
Brutus is hesitant at first to join the conspiracy against Caesar, but
after speaking with the highly manipulative Cassius, Brutus is more
convinced. Then, after receiving an anonymous letter (actually written
by Cassius) that decries the rule of Caesar, Brutus is convinced he
must take action and agrees to join Cassius's murderous plot.
 Julius Caesar
Themes
Uncertainty and Unrest
• Julius Caesar takes place at a point in Rome’s history when, despite the far-
reaching borders of the Roman empire, civil unrest plagued many of the
cities. This lack of unity among the social classes, as well as among the
political actors in the play, increases the tension leading up to the eventual
murder of Caesar. Additionally, many see Shakespeare’s focus on this
uncertainty for Rome’s future as a timely reflection on the state of England
in the sixteenth century. At the time Julius Caesar was being performed,
Queen Elizabeth I was nearing the end of her life (she would die in 1603,
four years after the play was written), and because she had no children, the
question of who would succeed her sparked ongoing controversy related to
gender, religion, and the future of the English empire.
 Julius Caesar
Quote and Analysis
• “There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.” (Brutus, [Link])
• Here, Brutus is attempting to convince Cassius that it is time to begin the war with
Antony and Octavius. He compares men's fate to a body of water and argues that
they must follow the tide or ultimately perish. Though he is speaking about the
impending war, Brutus's words are also relevant for his actions earlier in the play,
when he made the decision to betray Caesar and murder him, ultimately ensuring
his own demise in the process.
 Julius Caesar
Quote and Analysis
• “He must be taught, and trained, and bid go forth—
A barren-spirited fellow, one that feeds
On objects, arts, and imitations,
Which, out of use and staled by other men,
Begin his fashion. Do not talk of him
But as a property.” (Antony, 4.i)
• Here, Antony makes remarks about Lepidus to Octavius as the men will ultimately
form the Second Triumvirate together. Antony compares Lepidus to a horse that
must be trained and act according to its owner’s bidding. Here, Antony seems to
devalue Lepidus as a political ally at the same time he sees him as a loyal and
consistent military operative, which was in itself a valuable position for Rome.
 Julius Caesar
Quote and Analysis
“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” (Brutus, [Link])
• In his eulogy for Caesar, Brutus convinces the common people that he
took part in the conspiracy because he was concerned about what
Caesar’s increasing power would mean for Rome’s future. He here
admits to betraying his friend, but argues that he did so because he
loved Rome more than he loved Caesar. In many ways, Brutus delivers
an honest eulogy that reflects his idealism over Rome and how it is
governed.
 Julius Caesar
Quote and Analysis
“And Brutus is an honourable man.” (Antony, [Link])
• Brutus allows Antony to also deliver a eulogy for Caesar, despite
warnings from other senators not to allow him to speak. Antony’s
speech is often regarded as one of the most famous in all of
Shakespeare’s oeuvre [legacy], as it is a masterclass in the power of
rhetoric: purporting to express deference toward the other senators
(like Brutus), Antony ultimately reveals to his listeners that the
senators betrayed a benevolent ruler and are not, in fact, honourable in
the least.
 Stoicism
• First of all, Brutus is a stoic. He and his wife Portia are both very
stoic, and they do not show emotions towards things. The most
striking instance of Brutus’ stoicism is when Portia commits suicide.
Cassius is having a hard time accepting Portia’s death, but Brutus just
shrugs it off. He immediately says to Cassius “Speak no more of her.
Give me a bowl of wine” (5. iii. 157-158). Another example is when
Portia stabs herself in the thigh. Even after this Brutus does not tell her
what his plan is and instead immediately sends her off. Finally, when
facing the possibility of taking his own life, he shows little emotion
and instead still thinks out everything extremely carefully.
 Stoicism
• Stoicism is a school of philosophy founded in Athens in the 3rd
century BC by Zeno of Citium. It teaches that virtue is the only good
and that we should accept what is outside our control and focus on
improving ourselves through wisdom and self-control.
 Epicureanism
• Epicureanism’s essential structure is that the objective of existence is
to live simply and practically whilst obtaining substantial moral
pleasure.
• Epicureanism means devotion to pleasure, comfort, and high living,
with a certain nicety of style.
 Assignments
1. Use examples from Julius Caesar to examine how Brutus and
Antony are Stoic and Epicurean characters, respectively.
2. In five groups, prepare presentations for each of the following plays:
a. Othello
b. The Merchant of Venice
c. Macbeth
3. Explore how female characters are portrayed in Hamlet, Macbeth,
Julius Caesar, Othello, King Lear and The Merchant of Venice.
4. Examine the portrayal of Antisemitism in The Merchant of Venice
and racism in Othello.
 Discussion Questions
1. Many of Shakespeare’s works deal with matters of romantic love.
How does he use conventions from the medieval courtly love
tradition, and in what ways does he present more progressive views
of romantic relationships?
2. How does Shakespeare make use of Renaissance conventions of
dramatic tragedy? How does he modify these for specific thematic
purposes in plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear,
or Julius Caesar?
 Discussion Questions
3. In portraying women, in what ways is Shakespeare bound by
attitudes toward gender relationships common to his own age? Is
there evidence that he represents a more modern view regarding
such relationships?
 How to analyse Shakespeare
1. Know the Genres
• Histories, Tragedies, Comedies, Late Romances
2. Read the footnotes
3. Read the text multiple times
4. Read and read aloud
5. Ignore the enjambment initially
6. Embrace ambiguity
7. Realise your critical limitations
Act III Scene 2 (Brutus’ Funeral Speech)

BRUTUS

Be patient till the last.

Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me
for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me
for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that
you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and
awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend
of Caesar’s, to him I say, that Brutus’ love to
Caesar
was no less than his. If then that friend demand
why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer:
Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome
more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all
slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?
As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was
fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour
him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is
tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his
valour; and death for his ambition.
Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any,
speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that
would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I
offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his
country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause
for a reply.

All
None, Brutus, none.
BRUTUS
Then none have I offended. I have done no more to
Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his
death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not
extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences
enforced, for which he suffered death.
3. ii (Antony’s Funeral Speech)
ANTONY
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest–
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men–
Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
 Plebians’ Reactions to Antony’s Speech
First Citizen Fourth Citizen
Methinks there is much reason in Mark’d ye his words? He would
his sayings. not take the crown;
Second Citizen Therefore, ’tis certain he was not
If thou consider rightly of the ambitious.
matter,
Caesar has had great wrong.
Third Citizen
Has he, masters? I fear there will a
worse come in his place.
 Plebians’ Reactions to Antony’s Speech
First Citizen Third Citizen
If it be found so, some will dear There’s not a nobler man in Rome
abide it. than Antony.
Second Citizen Fourth Citizen
Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire Now mark him, he begins again to
with weeping. speak.
ANTONY
But yesterday the word of Caesar might
Have stood against the world; now lies he there.
And none so poor to do him reverence.
O masters, if I were disposed to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong,
Who, you all know, are honourable men:
I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
Than I will wrong such honourable men.
But here’s a parchment with the seal of Caesar;
I found it in his closet, ’tis his will:
Let but the commons hear this testament–
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read–
And they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s
wounds
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,
And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue
Fourth Citizen
We’ll hear the will: read it, Mark Antony.
All
The will, the will! We will hear Caesar’s will.
ANTONY
Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it;
It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you.
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men;
And, being men, bearing the will of Caesar,
It will inflame you; it will make you mad:
’Tis good you know not that you are his heirs;
For, if you should, O, what would come of it!
 Synopsis & Analysis
• Strategically, Antony begins with an appeal for attention since his
audience is volatile, some hostile. He states, “I come to bury Caesar,
not to praise him,” which puts him on the side of the crowd. In his
mind, he must counter Brutus’ claims about Caesar’s ambitions; he
does this by presenting the achievements of Caesar, his victories and
being one with the poor. He says, “Yet Brutus says he was ambitious.”
 Synopsis & Analysis
• Repeating this makes Brutus’ claims seemingly lose Brutus’
credentials, which moved the crowd. He follows this with a throwback
(reversion) of what the crowd knows and loves about Caesar, stating:
“What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?” With emotional
pauses, the crowd is drawn closer to his perspective.
 Synopsis & Analysis
• He subtly attacked the crowd using their feelings. Antony successfully
used the crowd’s outrage against the conspirators while maintaining
plausible deniability. His compelling anecdotes transform the public’s
sentiments. The crowd leaves, knowing in their hearts, Caesar’s
virtuous legacy will remain, removing a taint on his name.
How to analyse a Literary Text
[Link] the literary work. The first step should be to read the piece
carefully, ideally more than once. ...
[Link] arguments for your thesis. ...
[Link] a rough outline. ...
[Link] a thesis. ...
[Link] the analysis. ...
[Link] introduction. ...
[Link] body. ...
[Link] conclusion.
What is a Literary Analysis?
• A literary analysis is an essay that aims to examine and evaluate a
particular aspect of a work of literature or the work in its entirety. It
typically analyses elements like character development, plot twists, the
sequence of events and the piece’s setting to offer the reader more
insight regarding the author’s intent and the quality of its execution.
What is a Literary Analysis?
• Knowing how to write a literary analysis is, in essence, knowing how
to read and think critically.
• Unlike literary summaries and reviews, the goal of the literary analysis
is not to create a synopsis of the whole work or offer an opinion on it,
but rather to discuss relevant elements within the text to figure out
how the piece of literature works.
What Mathematicians Do
 Antisemitism
• Among the most spread and controversial concepts of the
contemporary world, anti-Semitism seems to be the most prominent
one as it was used as a pretext to defend a minority and its religion-
based state. In this vein, The Working Definition of Antisemitism
(2005), issued by The Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, reads:
 Antisemitism
• “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be
expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical
manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-
Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community
institutions and religious facilities.”
 Antisemitism
• Klug asserts that the definition prohibits legitimate criticism of the
human rights record of the Israeli Government by attempting to bring
criticism of Israel, Israeli actions and Zionism as a political ideology
into the category of antisemitism and racially based violence towards,
discrimination against, or abuse of, Jews
 Antisemitism
• Feldman states, “I fear this definition is imprecise, and isolates
antisemitism from other forms of bigotry. Crucially, there is a danger
that the overall effect will place the onus on Israel’s critics to
demonstrate they are not anti-Semitic.” (2016: 27).
 Antisemitism
• The term “Anti-Semitism” would seem to indicate hatred and
discrimination against all the Semitic Peoples: the Arabs, Assyrians,
Samaritans, Jews, and the Ethiopians. While nowadays it is exclusive
to the prejudice and/or discrimination against Jews, individually or
collectively, that can be based on hatred against Jews because of their
religion, ethnicity, ancestry, or group membership.
Semitic Languages/Peoples
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• The Merchant of Venice has been described as a great commentary on
the nature of racial and religious interactions. The title itself is
misleading, and is often misconstrued as a reference to Shylock, the
Jew.
• However, in reality it describes the merchant, Antonio.
Unsurprisingly, this ambiguity and misinterpretation led scholars to
continue hotly debating whether Shakespeare meant to be anti-Semitic
or critical of anti-Semitism.
• His depiction of Shylock, the Jewish moneylender, causes the
audience to both hate and pity the man, and has left critics wondering
what Shakespeare was trying to achieve.
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• The choice of Venice can hardly have been arbitrary. The Venice of
Shakespeare’s day was renowned for its wealth and diversity of
cultures, for it was a cosmopolitan market where Eastern goods made
their way into the West.
• Since Shakespeare’s interactions with Jews in England would have
been limited, Venice provided him with the example of tolerance and
heterogeneity that he needed.
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• It is interesting to note that the Christians are portrayed as being an
incredibly tight, commonly bound group. Antonio rushes to
grant Bassanio a loan, even though it will bankrupt him.
• A similar example occurs later when Graciano asks Bassanio for a
favour, which is granted before Bassanio even knows exactly what
Graciano is asking for.
• However, this central community of Christians, with all of its virtue
and decency, is immediately subverted by the prodigal loss of the
money by Bassanio.
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• While it may be virtuous for Antonio to give all he has to his friend, it
is clear to the audience that it is foolish for him to give to a friend who
will gamble it away.
• In addition, the Christian’s generosity and friendship are further
undermined by the racism so apparent in their actions.
• Antonio is proud of the fact that he kicks and spits upon Shylock,
while Portia is overjoyed when the black Prince of Morocco fails to
choose the correct casket, saying, “Let all of his complexion choose
me so” ([Link].79).
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• The nature of the religious differences has a profound impact on the
way the Christians and the Jews live their lives.
• For Shylock, absolute adherence to the law is necessary, as evidenced
by his reliance on contracts. In addition, money and possessions are
things which he feels he must defend.
• Rather than try to increase his wealth, he struggles merely to maintain
it. This economic conservatism contrasts starkly with the aristocratic,
gambling nature of Bassanio and the others.
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• The characteristic generosity of the Christians is a very aristocratic
trait, based on an ideology which forces gentlemen to ignore practical
monetary concerns. Thus, Bassanio can truly say, “all the wealth I had
ran in my veins” ([Link].253-254).
• Perhaps the moment of strongest contrast between Shylock and the
Christians’ ideals concerns the contract of a pound of flesh. Shylock
directly links money and flesh as being equal, something which any
Christian would consider taboo. Antonio is unable to see this link,
thinking instead that the contract is some form of game for Shylock.
He makes the crucial mistake of believing that the contract cannot be
for real, and that Shylock must somehow have grown “kind.”
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• There is a division between the Christian portrayal of Shylock and the
words and actions of Shylock himself which cannot be overlooked.
• The Christians are convinced that he can only think of money,
whereas Shylock presents a very different, even sentimental outlook.
• Solanio claims that Shylock ran through the street crying out for his
daughter and ducats in the same breath, yet there is no evidence of this
when Shylock himself appears.
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• Later, when his daughter, Jessica, exchanges a turquoise ring for a
monkey, Shylock is not upset about the monetary loss of the ring, but
rather the sentimental value it held for him.
• Most of Shakespeare’s comedies return to the first city in which they
are set. However, this type of ending is uniquely absent in The
Merchant of Venice.
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• The final scene moves away from the abandonment of Shylock in
Venice, shifting instead to Belmont. Belmont, however, is not nearly
as idyllic as it appears throughout the play.
• Indeed, it represents wealth derived from inheritance, built on the
merchandising of Venice, and is therefore a paradise founded on the
despised trade it claims to hate.
• Ending the play in Belmont serves to remind the audience that the play
can be viewed as anything but a comedy, and that it is in many ways a
tragedy.
 The Merchant of Venice
Background
• The Christian ideals are not only undermined by this racism, this
inherent distaste for anyone different from themselves, but also by
their hypocrisy with respect to slavery
• When the Christians exhort Shylock to release Antonio, he asks them
why Antonio should be treated differently from their slaves,
considering that he was bought by Shylock via the contract
• Shakespeare thus plants doubt as to whether the Christians’ kindness
to each other is in fact as great a virtue as it would at first appear
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• The Merchant of Venice opens with Antonio, a Christian merchant, in a
depressed state. His friends try to cheer him up, but nothing works to
make him feel better.
• Finally, his friend Bassanio, an aristocrat who has lost all of his
money, comes and asks Antonio to loan him some money.
• Antonio, who has tied up all of his money in seafaring ventures, is
unable to give Bassanio a direct loan. Instead, he offers to use his good
credit to get a loan for Bassanio.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Bassanio finds Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, and convinces him to
give a loan of three thousand ducats as long as Antonio will sign the
contract.
• In a rather unusual twist, instead of charging the Christian men
interest, Shylock agrees to waive it as long as Antonio promises him a
pound of his flesh as collateral. Antonio, thinking this is a “merry
sport,” accepts the condition of the bond (contract) and signs it.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Bassanio takes the money and prepares to visit Portia, a wealthy
heiress living in Belmont.
• Portia is unmarried because her father has decreed that all suitors
must first select one of three caskets to marry her.
• The caskets, one made of gold, one of silver, and one of base lead, all
contain different messages.
• Only one of these caskets contains a picture of Portia. The suitor who
picks that casket will be granted permission to marry her.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Before Bassanio’s arrival, the Prince of Morocco tries his luck in
choosing among the caskets.
• He picks the gold casket because it contains an inscription reading
“what every man desires.”
• Instead of Portia’s picture, he finds a skull that symbolises the fact
that gold hides corruption.
• As part of losing the suit, he is further sworn to never propose
marriage to any other woman, and must return to Morocco
immediately.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• The next suitor, the Prince of Aragon, selects the silver casket bearing
an inscription stating that it will give a man what he deserves. Inside is
a picture of an idiot, indicating that his self-centered approach was
foolish. He too leaves in shame.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Back in Venice, Jessica, the daughter of Shylock, has fallen in love
with Lorenzo.
• They plan to escape one night when Shylock is invited to eat at
Bassanio’s house.
• After Shylock leaves, Lorenzo goes to his house with two friends.
Jessica appears at a window dressed as a boy and tosses a chest of
money and jewels down to them.
• She then emerges from the house and runs away with Lorenzo.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Shylock, upon discovering that his daughter has run away with a lot of
his money, blames Antonio for helping her escape.
• At the same time there are rumours developing in Venice that many of
Antonio’s ships, with which he expected to repay Shylock for the loan,
have sunk or been lost at sea.
• Shylock begins to revel in the news that Antonio is losing everything
because he wants to exact his pound of flesh in revenge for the many
insults Antonio has dealt him throughout the years.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Bassanio arrives in Belmont and meets Portia. She remembers him as
the dashing soldier with whom she fell in love several years earlier
• Portia begs Bassanio to wait before choosing among the caskets, but
he demands the right to start immediately.
• Without even properly reading the inscriptions, Bassanio selects the
lead one because he considers it a threatening casket.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Portia is overjoyed when he finds her portrait inside. She gives him a
ring to seal their engagement and they prepare to get married the next
day.
• Graciano, who has accompanied Bassanio to Belmont, tells him that
he and Nerissa (Portia’s friend) wish to be married as well
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• A messenger arrives and hands Bassanio a letter from Antonio in
which he informs Bassanio that he has lost all his money and must
forfeit a pound of flesh to Shylock.
• Bassanio immediately tells Portia what has happened. She orders him
to take six thousand ducats and return to Venice where he can pay
Shylock and cancel the contract.
• After Bassanio and Graziano have left, Nerissa and Portia depart for
Venice disguised as men.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Shylock has Antonio arrested and brought before the Duke of Venice,
who presides over a court of justice. The Duke pleads with Shylock to
forgive the contract and let Antonio go free.
• When he refuses, the Duke asks him how he expects any mercy if he is
unable to offer it. The Duke then tells the gathered men that he is
waiting for a doctor of the law to arrive.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Nerissa enters the court and hands a letter to the Duke, which notifies
him that a Doctor Bellario has sent an educated young doctor in his
place.
• Portia arrives disguised as Doctor Balthasar. She informs the Duke
that she has studied the case and will preside over it.
• She first asks Shylock for the contract and looks it over. Bassanio
offers to pay Shylock the six thousand ducats, but he refuses to accept
the money, preferring instead the revenge of killing Antonio.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Unable to find any loopholes, Portia grants Shylock his pound of flesh.
Shylock, overjoyed at winning his case, holds a knife ready to cut into
Antonio’s breast.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Portia stops him by asking if he has a surgeon present to suppress the
flow of blood
• Shylock tells her that the bond said nothing about providing a doctor
• She informs him that he may have his pound of flesh, but that if he
sheds a single drop of blood, then Venice can take away his lands and
wealth according to the law
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Shylock, clearly unable to comply with this law, asks instead that he
be given the six thousand ducats. Portia refuses his request, explaining
that she has already ruled according to the contract, and that it must be
carried out.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Portia then starts to read the contract literally, reaffirming that Shylock
must take exactly one pound of flesh, no more and no less, or he will
violate the contract and die
• Shylock tells the court that he wishes to completely drop his case and
forgive Antonio the entire three thousand ducats.
• Portia again refuses his request, explaining that the law in Venice
states that if any foreigner conspires against the life of a Venetian, half
his wealth is to be given to the man against whom he conspired, and
half is taken as a fine by the state. In addition, the Duke is granted the
power of life and death over him.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• When Shylock is pardoned by the Duke, he informs the court that he
would prefer death rather than lose everything he owns
• Antonio asks the court to return the fine of half of Shylock’s wealth
provided Shylock converts to Christianity
• In addition, Antonio declares he will keep his share in a trust for
Jessica and Lorenzo
• Portia agrees to this, and also makes Shylock promise to give all his
money to Lorenzo upon his death
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• After the trial, Bassanio thanks “Dr. Balthasar” (Portia) for “his” good
work and offers “him” anything “he” desires.
• Portia asks him for the ring she had given him earlier as a token of
their love
• He is upset about giving it to her since he thinks she is “Balthasar.”
However, after Antonio points out that he nearly lost his life for
Bassanio, Bassanio pulls off the ring and hands it to her.
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Portia and Nerissa return to Belmont dressed normally. Lorenzo and
Jessica have been living there, enjoying the comfortable life Belmont
offers. Soon after the two women arrive, Bassanio and Graciano also
return from Venice
• The happy reunion is destroyed when Portia asks Bassanio about the
ring (which he gave away). She forgives him only after Antonio
vouches for Bassanio’s fidelity
 The Merchant of Venice
Summary
• Portia then gives Antonio the ring and has him hand it to Bassanio. He
is shocked to see it is the same ring he gave “Balthasar.”
• Portia finally tells him the truth about Balthasar. The play ends with
three happy couples: namely, Lorenzo and Jessica, Nerissa and
Graciano, as well as Portia and Bassanio.
• However, Antonio and Shylock remain outcasts, separated from the
happy ending.
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
The Importance of Money
• The Merchant of Venice is a play that is fundamentally about the
exchange and value of money as compared to other things, like love
and relationships
• The play initially posits Shylock as a character who only cares about
his money, while portraying the Christian characters as more dedicated
to their families, love interests, and filial relationships
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
The Importance of Money
• However, these paradigms are challenged throughout the play and are
eventually upended by the fact that Shylock demands the pound of
flesh over any amount of money – suggesting that he is more
committed to justice and vengeance than he is to wealth
• While critics are right to point out how extensively the play presents
its Jewish characters as stereotypes, there are multiple instances in the
play that call that complicate Shylock’s character and call that reading
into question.
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Cycles of Antagonism
• Throughout the play, Shylock argues that his vengeful behaviour was
essentially inherited from the way Antonio treated him in the past,
suggesting that he learned how to be hateful and ruthless from the very
people over whom he currently has power.
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Cycles of Antagonism
• While one cannot necessarily absolve Shylock of his behaviour, his
insistence that he is simply acting under what he has experienced
raises larger questions about villainy, culpability, and the cyclical
nature of hatred.
• That Antonio demands nothing more of Shylock than a conversion to
Christianity at the end of the play suggests that this vicious cycle
might finally end through mercy and understanding.
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Friendship
• There are several close friendships portrayed throughout the play:
between Bassanio and Antonio, Gratiano and Bassanio,
and Portia and Nerissa.
• These friendships hold great power over individual characters’
decisions, and are in many ways valued above romantic
entanglements.
• Antonio, for example, willingly indebts himself to Shylock on
Bassanio's behalf, even after having financially supported his friend
many times before.
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Friendship
• Portia and Nerissa act as accomplices in their own, separate scheme to
free Antonio from Shylock’s demands, and Gratiano remains loyal to
Bassanio throughout the play.
• These relationships, the play suggests, are stronger than the appeal of
money or fortune – a philosophy that Shylock, the play’s “villain”
frequently appears to reject.
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Financial Precariousness
• The central conflict of the play revolves around money, and several
characters are presented as wealthy or financially successful (Antonio,
Portia, and Shylock, most notably)
• However, as the events of the play unfold, wealth starts to become
more of an abstract idea and is eventually portrayed as rather fickle
and unpredictable
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Financial Precariousness
• Antonio, for example, begins the play as a wealthy merchant but ends
the play unable to pay back his loan to Shylock
• Furthermore, nearly every wealthy character in the play is plagued by
a sense of sadness or lack of fulfillment
• As such, the play takes on a skeptical tone toward money and the
pursuit of wealth above all else, suggesting that things like friendship
are more certain and long-lasting
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Prejudice
• Prejudice is perhaps the single most significant motivation behind
many characters’ actions throughout the play. The most obvious form
of prejudice in the play is Anti-Semitism, or prejudice against Jewish
people.
• Antonio refers to Shylock as a “dog” multiple times in the play, and
some characters equate Shylock’s ruthlessness and miserly attitude
with his Jewish identity (a common stereotype). Shylock, too,
maintains prejudices about Christians and is appalled to learn that his
daughter Jessica has chosen to marry a Christian man.
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Prejudice
• That Shylock is forced to convert to Christianity at the end of the play,
then, is a significant punishment despite its relatively minor
consequences: the Christian characters seem to “prevail” in the end of
by stripping Shylock of his Jewishness.
• Though contemporary readers will undoubtedly perceive the entire
play as Anti-Semitic, The Merchant of Venice also interrogates the
phenomenon of prejudice more generally, suggesting that prejudice
functions in a perpetual cycle that must be broken. Whether the
characters in the play break this cycle remains a debate among readers
and scholars alike.
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Revenge
• Revenge was a popular theme on the early modern stage. It appeared
most frequently in tragedies, and in the early days of the theater was
even granted its own character
• The Merchant of Venice is a comedy, but it still features a character
who is hellbent on seeking vengeance for the wrongs done against him
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
• While readers might sympathise with Shylock initially after learning
of the abuses he has suffered at the hands of Christians, he soon
becomes blinded by his desire of revenge above all else
• Indeed, it is his pursuit of revenge rather than justice that eventually
leads to his loss when Portia discovers the loophole in his contract
with Antonio
 The Merchant of Venice
(4. iii)
The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
’ Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
 The Merchant of Venice
(4. iii)
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
 The Merchant of Venice
(4. iii)
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ’gainst the merchant there.
 Analysis
• This monologue deals with how the quality of mercy can help a person
reach the level of God. It is not a forceful quality that one has to show
out of some personal gain. Rather, it is a humane thing that a person
has to show to others. Being merciful to others is like the rain that falls
on the ground. No matter how powerful the person becomes, he cannot
control the course of rain. Mercy is such a quality.
• In the speech, the speaker presents a contrast between earthly power
and the divine one by referring to the crown and scepter of a kind.
 Analysis
• According to her, a king can become more powerful than other kings
who try to control their subjects with physical power. Mercy is a
power that wins the soul and makes it obey the person who showers
mercy. In this way, a person becomes close to God.
• The last few lines of the speech deal with the plot. The speaker, Portia
says if Shylock shows mercy he can become like the almighty. If he
refuses to do so, none can change the harsh course of justice. Only he
can, not even the duke who was overseeing the case.
 Analysis
• Portia’s speech is an act of persuasion. Through this speech, she tries to
convince Shylock to show mercy on her client, Antonio. Therefore, it is
packed with several literary devices that are needed for persuading Shylock.
• The speech begins with litotes. Litotes is a figure of speech that includes a
phrase in which a negative word is used to express something positive.
• The first line, “The quality of mercy is not strained” is
an ironic understatement in which the negative sense expresses an
affirmative idea.
 Analysis
• The second line contains a simile and the comparison is made between
the “gentle rain” to mercy. Shakespeare uses an epigram in the line, “It
is the mightiest in the mightiest.” He also uses metonymy by using the
word “sceptre.” It is a symbol of worldly power.
• There is an alliteration in the phrase “sceptred sway.” It also contains a
metaphor.
• Throughout this piece, readers can find the use of enjambment that
internally connects the lines. This device also maintains the flow of the
speech.
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Christianity and Judaism
• While prejudice between Christians and Jews plays a central role in
the play, Shakespeare provides Biblical precedent as an explanation
for why these characters cannot see eye to eye
• During the trial, many of the Christian characters expect Shylock to
be merciful toward Antonio – a philosophy embodied by Jesus Christ
in the New Testament
 The Merchant of Venice
Themes
Christianity and Judaism
As a Jewish person, however, Shylock abides by the Old Testament,
which features a markedly less merciful God keen on exacting
punishment for man’s disobedience
• While the play ultimately celebrates the merciful (and therefore
Christian) approach through Antonio, the fact that Portia must explain
mercy to Shylock showcases how his ruthlessness is due, in part, to his
own religious beliefs and not simply to his prejudice against Christians
 Quote and Explanation
“In sooth, I know not why I am so sad.” (Antonio, 1.i)
• Early on in the play, Antonio expresses that he is plagued by a sense of
melancholy. Here, he describes the emotion and admits that he does
not understand where it comes from – he is, after all, a wealthy
merchant at the beginning of the play. Antonio is just one of the
multiple characters throughout the play who, though financially
secure, feel generally unfulfilled by their lives. In this way, the play
suggests that fortune and wealth are secondary compared to one’s
relationships and social bonds.
 Quote and Explanation
“How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him for he is a
Christian.” (Shylock, [Link])
• There is, of course, a significant amount of prejudice expressed
throughout The Merchant of Venice. The Christian characters detest
Shylock because he is Jewish, and Shylock, in turn, detests the
Christian characters for their Christianity. Here, he explains in a rather
straightforward manner that he hates Antonio simply because he is a
Christian, showcasing the play’s interrogation of prejudice as a
phenomenon that influences people’s behaviour but has little to no
logic behind it.
 Quote and Explanation
“But love is blind, and lovers cannot see/The pretty follies that
themselves commit.” (Jessica, [Link])
• In this quotation, Jessica expresses the common trope that love is
“blind,” meaning that when one is in love, they are too frequently
unaware of any faults their beloved may exhibit. Jessica, though, also
admits that lovers fancy themselves infallible as well. The play
juxtaposes romantic love with one’s pursuit of wealth, ultimately
suggesting that both tend to “blind” the person who experiences them.
 Quote and Explanation
• “All that glisters is not gold.” (Morocco, [Link])
• This famous quotation, which is in contemporary popular culture
translated to “all that glitters is not gold,” conveys the idea that not
everything that seems precious or true turns out to be so. This
quotation comments on the nature of appearances as compared to
reality, and cautions anyone who takes appearances at face value.
 Quote and Explanation
“If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If
you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge?” (Shylock, 3.i)
• In his most famous speech in the play, Shylock asks how Jews are any
different from Christians, as they are both men.
 Quote and Explanation
• While the speech ultimately ends with Shylock justifying his staunch
pursuit of revenge, the speech is more often read as an argument for
equality – Shylock interrogates the notion that Jews are subhuman by
asking a series of simple questions leading one to the conclusion that
Jews are indeed no different from Christians.
• This speech also showcases Shylock’s rhetorical and argumentative
skill, which will reappear at the end of the play.
 Quote and Explanation
“The quality of mercy is not strained.” (Portia, 4.i)
• Portia, disguised as the doctor, here cautions Shylock against his
fervent pursuit of revenge and his refusal to act mercifully toward
Antonio. But Portia also exhibits a distinctly Christian understanding
of conflict, which is that mercy should be exhibited above punishment
(mercy, as an early modern Christian audience would understand, is
associated primarily with Christ).
 Quote and Explanation
“So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodged hate and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him.”
(Shylock, 4.i)
 Quote and Explanation
• During the trial, when asked why he feels so strongly about receiving
his pound of flesh from Antonio, Shylock admits that there is no true
reason why he holds Antonio is such contempt. Here, Shylock
becomes a representation of all prejudice, suggesting that biases held
against others usually hold no footing in reality or reason.
 Quote and Explanation
“You will answer
‘The slaves are ours.’ So do I answer you.
The pound of flesh which I demand of him
Is dearly bought. ‘Tis mine, and I will have it.”
(Shylock, 4.i)
 Quote and Explanation
• In another example of his skill as a rhetorician, Shylock compares the
pound of flesh he is owed to the slaves of Christian slave-owners. He
remarks that if Christians were told they had to free their slaves, they
would argue that the slaves are their property. Shylock compares that
ownership to his contracted ownership of Antonio’s own flesh. In this
comparison, however, the play subtly acknowledges the ridiculous
notion of humans owning other humans.
 Quote and Explanation
“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a
naughty world.” (Portia, 5.i)
• Here, Portia (in disguise) uses an extended metaphor to compare good
deeds to a candle in the darkness. She suggests that qualities like
mercy and kindness, though they may seem small and insignificant,
are in actuality capable of making a major difference in the world (like
an illuminating flame in the dark).
 Quote and Explanation
• “The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, strategems, and spoils.”
(Lorenzo, 5.i)
 Quote and Explanation
• This passage, in which Lorenzo describes the transformative power of
music, seems like an innocent expression of appreciation. However,
when one considers that earlier in the play, Shylock orders Jessica to
shut the windows so he does not hear the music coming in from the
streets, Lorenzo’s comments imply that it is someone like Shylock (or
Shylock himself) who is fit for “treasons, strategems, and spoils.”
Lorenzo therefore joins the ranks of other characters in comparing
Shylock to a subhuman entity who cannot appreciate the power of
music.
 Symbolism
The Pound of Flesh
• The pound of flesh that Shylock demands from Antonio is a symbol
with multiple meanings throughout the play
• Most notably, the pound of flesh symbolises Shylock’s worldview,
which is dominated by numerical calculations and leaves little room
for emotion
 Symbolism
The Pound of Flesh
• The pound of flesh also symbolises the connection between Bassanio
and Antonio, as it is Bassanio’s debt that Antonio would repay with his
own body.
• Finally, the pound of flesh also symbolises Shylock’s own loss in the
form of Jessica’s departure.
• The case could be made that Shylock’s fervent pursuit of the pound of
flesh rather than monetary compensation is a way of recovering his
own “flesh” and kin.
 Symbolism
The Caskets
• The three caskets from which suitors must choose to win Portia’s hand
symbolise a test, specifically a Christian test of one’s morals. The gold
casket promises to fulfill men’s desires, while the silver casket
promises to bestow what one deserves. These two false caskets are
warnings to those who would follow fickle emotions like desire or
who think that human beings are inherently deserving of God’s grace.
In the end, it is the aesthetically unremarkable lead casket that holds
the “treasure” of Portia’s hand, underscoring the Christian teaching
that appearances are deceiving and it is one’s spirit that truly counts.
 Symbolism/Motif
Leah’s Ring
• Rings are a significant motif in the play, as they are at once a symbol
of monetary value and meaningful connection. After Jessica elopes
with Lorenzo, Shylock initially seems more bothered by the fact that
she took his turquoise ring than that he lost his daughter. However,
later in the play, Shylock explains that the ring belonged to Leah, his
late wife. This is one instance in the play in which the audience’s
perception of Shylock might begin to shift, as he shows he is capable
of sentimentality and thinking beyond wealth.
 Symbolism
Portia’s Ring
• Portia’s ring that she gives to Bassanio after he chooses the correct
casket is a symbol of Portia’s commitment to her new husband. She
even announces that she and everything she owns are now his property
(a common understanding of marriage in early modern England).
However, as the play unfolds and Bassanio willingly parts with the
ring as a token of gratitude to “Balthazar” (Portia in disguise), the ring
becomes a symbol of Portia’s own power in her relationship. As a
wealthy woman, Portia’s ring comes to signify Bassanio’s own debt to
her, as she can give him more than he could ever give her in return.
 Symbolism
Cross-Dressing
• In the play, three female characters dress as men to achieve their goals:
Jessica, who escapes Venice dressed as a page, and Nerissa and Portia,
who pretend to be an officer and a doctor to free Antonio
• While cross-dressing was not an uncommon occurrence in
Renaissance plays, The Merchant of Venice uses cross-dressing to
comment on the nature of masculinity and male power.
 Symbolism
Cross-Dressing
• Portia is convinced that, after studying the ways of men, she can
outwit anyone in court.
• As such, Portia suggests that male dominance is rooted heavily in
performance rather than anything inherent to maleness itself
• Just as the play warns audiences to be skeptical of appearances, it also
suggests that one should be skeptical of traditional power structures by
showcasing how easily they can be imitated and parodied.
 Metaphor
Shylock as Animal
• Multiple characters refer to Shylock as a dog at different times
throughout the play, denigrating him and implying that he is
subhuman. The most vicious of these slurs comes from Gratiano, who
says, “O, be thou damned, inexecrable dog, / ...Thy currish spirit /
Governed a wolf who, hanged for human slaughter, / Even from the
gallows did his fell soul fleet” ([Link]). In this metaphor, Gratiano
compares Shylock to an evil and debased “spirit” that would commit
something as foul as “human slaughter.” Again, the comparison of
Shylock to a ravenous wolf or dog emphasises the Christian
characters’ perception of him as something malicious and inhuman.
 Metaphor
Antonio Anticipates his Death
• Just before the trial, Antonio is convinced that he will die after the
pound of flesh agreement is carried out. While Bassanio tries to
comfort him, Antonio uses a metaphor to compare himself to both a
weak animal and low-hanging fruit, saying, “I am a tainted wether of
the flock, / Meetest for death: the weakest kind of fruit / Drops earliest
to the ground, and so let me” ([Link]). In this metaphor, Antonio has all
but accepted what he sees as his impending death; after losing all of
his financial security, he perceives himself as vulnerable and useless.
 Metaphor
Shylock’s Rhetoric
• Early on in the play, Antonio warns Bassanio of Shylock’s rhetorical
skill. He cautions him, “Mark you this, Bassanio, the devil can cite
Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness is like a
villain with a smiling cheek” ([Link]). In this simile, Antonio compares
Shylock to the Devil deceptively quoting the bible, a contradiction that
suggests Shylock’s smooth words do not reflect his true intentions.
 Metaphor
Portia’s Picture
• During his attempt to win Portia’s hand in the casket lottery, the Prince
of Morocco flatters Portia by saying, “Never so rich a gem was set in
worse than gold” ([Link]). In this metaphor, the Prince compares
Portia’s portrait to a rare gem, saying that such a gem would never be
buried in anything less than gold (which leads him to incorrectly select
the gold casket).
 Metaphor
Jessica’s Flight
• When Jessica flees Venice to elope with Lorenzo, Solanio describes
Shylock’s reaction. He says, “And Shylock, for his own part, knew the
bird was fledged; and then it is the complexion of them all to leave the
dam” (3.i). Here, Solanio uses a metaphor to compare Jessica to a bird
who is ready to fly, as it is a natural part of growing up and becoming
autonomous.
 Othello, the Moor of Venice
Characters
1. Othello – a Moor, General in the service of Venice
2. Desdemona – his wife, a Venetian lady
3. Brabantio – her father, a Venetian senator
4. Iago – Othello’s ensign
5. Emilia – Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s waiting woman
6. Cassio – Othello’s lieutenant
7. Roderigo – suitor of Desdemona, a Venetian gentleman
 Othello
Characters
8. Bianca – a courtesan in Cyprus in love with Cassio
9. Duke of Venice
10. Senators
11. Montano – a Venetian official in Cyprus
12. Gratiano – Brabantio’s brother
13. Lodovico – Brabantio’s kinsman and Desdemona’s cousin
14. Various Officers, Gentlemen, Sailors, and Messengers
 Othello
Background
• The Venetians’ main rivals were the Turks, or Ottomans, who
controlled a vast empire stretching from the Persian Gulf in the East to
Hungary in the West, including the territories of Greece and Egypt.
• The Ottoman Empire and Venice were constantly at war.
• The objective was power and land, of course, but religion entered into
the equation as well.
• The Venetians were Christian, and the Turks were Muslim. To Venice
and, indeed, to Shakespeare’s England, the Turks were the hated
enemy whom Christians had fought during the Crusades.
 Othello
Background
• This conflict between Christian and Muslim, European and foreign,
“civilised” and “barbarian” is a major theme that runs throughout
Othello.
• The play asks us to examine which man, the Christian European Iago
or the Muslim-born, “barbarian” foreigner Othello, is the true enemy
of civilisation.
 The Moors & Race in Othello
• The Moors were a Muslim people who lived on the northern coast of
Africa, an area the Europeans called Barbary.
• These people had a mixed heritage: they were descended from the
Berbers (a Caucasian people native to north Africa) and the Arabs,
who came from the east.
 The Moors & Race in Othello
• In the eighth century, the Moors invaded Spain and brought it under
Islamic rule, in the process bringing to Western Europe their vast
knowledge of art, architecture, medicine, and science, much of which
they inherited from the Arabs and ancient Greeks.
• The Moors ruled over various parts of Spain for several centuries.
 The Moors & Race in Othello
• Several references in the play seem to describe Othello as a black
African.
• But no matter what the exact colour of his skin, the important point is
that Othello is an outsider in Venice, an exotic figure who, while being
admired and valued for his military prowess, more often provoked
curiosity, fear, and even hatred.
 The Moors & Race in Othello
• To the English of Shakespeare’s time, Africans were strange and
foreign enemies of Christianity, given to heathen practices such as
witchcraft and voodoo.
• In the literature of the time, they were invariably portrayed as villains.
The Africans who came to England were viewed with suspicion and
hostility.
 The Moors & Race in Othello
• In 1596, Queen Elizabeth I issued an edict against these unlucky
foreigners, reading as follows:
“Her Majesty understanding that several blackamoors have lately been
brought into this realm, of which kind of people there are already too
many here […] her Majesty’s pleasure therefore is that those kind of
people should be expelled from the land.”
 Characters’ Names
• The names Othello and Desdemona may be seen as symbolic of the
doom that befalls the characters in this tragedy.
• The name Desdemona (or Disdemona) is Greek for “unlucky.” Also,
it may or may not be coincidental that Othello’s name contains the
word hell and Desdemona’s name contains the word demon.
• As you read, look for other ways in which Shakespeare expands on
the motif of hell and demons.
 Characters’ Names
• Shakespeare probably molded Iago, the villain in Othello, after the
character of Vice in the medieval morality plays.
• Vice was a villainous stock character who made his intent known
through asides and soliloquies to the audience.
• In the morality plays, Vice’s role was to tempt the protagonist into
doing something that would cause his own damnation
 Othello
Act 1
• Othello begins in the city of Venice, at night. Iago, an ensign in the
Venetian army, is bitter about being passed over for lieutenant in favor
of Cassio.
• Iago tells Roderigo that he serves Othello, the Moor who is the army's
general, only to serve himself. Iago knows that Desdemona, the
daughter of nobleman Brabantio, has run off to marry Othello.
• He also knows that Roderigo lusts after Desdemona, so Iago
manipulates him into alerting Venice. Iago's duplicity arises even in
the first scene.
 Othello
Act 1
• Learning of his daughter’s elopement, Brabantio panics, and calls for
people to try and find Desdemona. Iago joins Othello, and tells him
about Roderigo’s betrayal of the news of his marriage to Brabantio.
• Cassio comes at last, as do Roderigo and Brabantio; Brabantio is very
angry, swearing to the men assembled that Othello must have
bewitched his daughter.
• Brabantio’s grievance is denied, and Desdemona will indeed stay with
Othello. However, Othello is called away to Cyprus, to defend it from
an invasion of Turks.
 Othello
Act 1
• Iago assures an upset Roderigo that the match between Othello and
Desdemona will not last long, and at any time, Desdemona could
come rushing to him. Iago decides to break up the couple, using
Roderigo as his pawn.
 Othello
Act 2
• A terrible storm strikes Cyprus, and the Turkish fleet is broken apart
by the storm. While Othello is still at sea, Cassio arrives. Iago,
Desdemona and Emilia follow in another ship. Somehow, Iago and
Desdemona enter into an argument about Iago's low opinion of
women. Othello arrives at last, and is very glad to see Desdemona.
 Othello
Act 2
• Iago speaks to Roderigo, convincing him that Desdemona will stray
from Othello, as she has already done with Cassio. He convinces
Roderigo to attack Cassio that night, as he plans to visit mischief on
both Othello and Cassio.
• While on watch together, Iago convinces Cassio to drink, knowing he
can't hold his liquor. Iago stokes a fight between Cassio and Roderigo.
The ruckus wakes Othello. Iago fills him in, making sure to
fictionalize his part in the fight.
 Othello
Act 2
• Cassio laments that he has lost his reputation along with his rank. Iago
tries to convince him that if he talks to Desdemona, maybe he can get
her to vouch for him with Othello. Iago knows he will be able to turn
their friendship against them both.
 Othello
Act 3
• Desdemona pledges to do everything she can to persuade her husband
to restore Cassio's rank. Cassio leaves just as Othello enters because he
does not wish for a confrontation. Iago seizes on this opportunity to
play on Othello's insecurities, making Cassio's exit seem guilty and
incriminating. Soon, Othello begins to doubt his wife's fidelity.
 Othello
Act 3
• Desdemona drops the handkerchief that Othello gave her on their
honeymoon. Emilia gives it to Iago, who then tells Othello that Cassio
has the handkerchief. Othello is incensed to hear that Desdemona
would give away something so valuable, and comes to believe that
Desdemona is guilty. Othello then swears revenge.
 Othello
Act 3
• Desdemona tells Cassio and Iago that Othello has been acting
strangely, and Iago goes to look for him, feigning concern. Emilia
thinks that Othello’s change has something to do with his jealous
nature. Cassio asks Bianca to copy the handkerchief that he found in
his room; Cassio has no idea it is Desdemona’s.
 Othello
Act 4
• Othello tries not to condemn Desdemona too harshly. But, soon, Iago
whips Othello into an even greater fury through mere insinuation. Iago
calls Cassio in, while Othello hides; Iago speaks to Cassio of Bianca,
but Othello, in his disturbed state, believes that Cassio is talking of
Desdemona. Convinced of her infidelity, Othello is resolved to kill
Desdemona himself, and charges Iago with murdering Cassio.
 Othello
Act 4
• When Desdemona mentions Cassio in front of nobleman Lodovico,
Othello becomes very angry and slaps her. Othello questions Emilia
about Desdemona's guilt, and she swears that Desdemona is pure and
true. Emilia thinks that someone has manipulated Othello, however,
Iago is there to dispel this opinion.
 Othello
Act 4
• Iago comes across Roderigo; he is not pleased that Iago has failed to
deliver on his promises regarding Desdemona. Iago quiets him by
making him believe that if he kills Cassio, then he will win
Desdemona; Roderigo decides to go along with it, but Iago is coming
dangerously close to being revealed.
• Desdemona knows that she will die soon; she sings a song of sadness
and resignation, and decides to give herself to her fate.
 Othello
Act 5
• Spurred on by Iago, Roderigo and Cassio fight, and both are injured
badly. Iago enters, pretending that he knows nothing of the scuffle;
Gratiano and Lodovico also stumble upon the scene.
• Roderigo is still alive, so Iago feigns a quarrel, and finishes him off.
Bianca comes by, and sees Cassio wounded; Iago makes some remark
to implicate her. Cassio is carried away.
 Othello
Act 5
• Othello enters Desdemona’s room while she is asleep. Desdemona
awakens and pleads with Othello not to kill her, but he begins to
smother her.
• Emilia knocks and Othello lets her in. He tries to conceal Desdemona,
who he thinks is already dead. Emilia brings the news of Roderigo’s
death and Cassio’s wounding.
 Othello
Act 5
• Emilia soon finds out that Desdemona is nearly dead, by Othello’s
hand; Desdemona speaks her last words, and then Emilia pounces on
Othello. Othello is not convinced of his folly until Iago confesses his
part, and Cassio speaks of the use of the handkerchief. Othello is
overcome with grief.
 Othello
Act 5
• Iago fatally stabs Emilia for uncovering his plots. The Venetian nobles
reveal that Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, is dead, and thus cannot be
grieved by this tragedy now. Othello stabs Iago when he is brought
back in; Othello then tells all present to remember him how he is, and
kills himself.
• Cassio becomes the temporary leader of the troops at Cyprus,
and Lodovico and Gratiano are to carry the news of the tragedy back
to Venice.
 Othello
Themes
Appearance vs. Reality
• This theme is especially relevant to the issue of Iago’s character. For
although he is called “honest” by almost everyone in the play, he is
treacherous, deceitful, and manipulative. This also applies
to Desdemona, as Othello believes that she is deceitful and impure,
although she is really blameless and innocent.
 Othello
Themes
Appearance vs. Reality
• This theme contributes greatly to the tragedy, as Iago is able to
engineer his schemes due to the perception of others of his honesty.
Othello’s decision to murder his wife is hastened by a conversation in
which Cassio speaks of Bianca; Othello assumes the man is talking
about an affair with Desdemona.
 Themes
Appearance vs. Reality
• Misrepresentation allows Iago to gain trust and manipulate other
people; he is able to appear to be “honest,” in order to deceive and
misdirect people.
• Although the word “honest” is usually used in an ironic way
throughout the text, most characters in the play go through a crisis of
learning who and who not to trust.
 Themes
Appearance vs. Reality
• Most of them, unfortunately, trust in Iago’s honesty; this leads to the
downfall of many characters, as this trust in Iago’s “honesty” becomes
a crucial contributor to their undoing. Discovering or uncovering
reality would have changed the course of the play.
 Themes

Race
• Race is an extremely important theme, as it leads to Othello's
insecurity, which Iago is able to manipulate. Despite his standing and
military prowess, Othello never feels comfortable in Venice because of
his otherness.
• As a Moor, he is constantly stereotyped as “savage” or “animal”, even
though he speaks eloquently and displays more gentlemanly qualities
than those who judge him.
 Themes
Race
• Thus, Othello perceives himself to be a rough outsider, though he is
nothing of the sort.
• Othello’s race sets him apart, and makes him very self-conscious; it
makes him work hard and look carefully after his reputation, so he is
regarded as equal to the white people that surround him.
• This has perhaps led to his success, but the prejudice that surrounds
him - especially with respect to his marriage to Desdemona - has tragic
consequences.
 Themes
Pride
• Othello is defensively proud of himself and his achievements, and
especially proud of the honourable appearance he presents.
• The allegations of Desdemona’s affair hurt his pride even more than
they inflame his vanity and jealousy; he wants to appear powerful,
accomplished, and moral at every possible instance, and when this is
almost denied to him, his wounded pride becomes especially powerful.
 Themes
Magic
• Othello is charged with using magic to woo Desdemona, merely
because he is black, and therefore, “pagan.” Yet, Othello does have
real magic, in the words he uses and the stories he tells.
• Magic also reappears when Desdemona’s handkerchief cannot be
found; Othello has too much trust in the symbolism and charm of the
handkerchief, which is why the object is so significant to him.
 Themes
Order vs. Chaos
• As Othello begins to abandon reason and language, chaos takes over.
His world begins to be ruled by chaotic emotions and very shady
allegations, with order pushed to the side.
• This chaos rushes him into tragedy, and once Othello has sunk into it,
he is unable to stop his fate from taking him over.
 Themes
Self-Knowledge
• Othello’s lack of self-knowledge makes him easy prey for Iago. Once
Iago inflames Othello’s jealousy and sets the darker aspects of
Othello's nature in motion, there is nothing Othello can do to stop it,
since he cannot even admit that he has these darker traits.
 Themes
Self-Knowledge
• Even after he has murdered his wife, and has learned that Iago set a
trap for him, Othello is unable to acknowledge the character flaws that
were manipulated.
• He asserts he is “honourable” even in murder.
• This theme is related to pride, as Othello’s pride blinds him to his
weaknesses, precipitating his downfall.
 Themes
Good vs. Evil
• Iago’s battle against Othello and Cassio certainly counts as an
embodiment of this theme. Iago and his evil battle to corrupt and turn
the flawed natures of other characters, and he does succeed to some
extent.
 Themes
Good vs. Evil
• By the end of the play, neither has won, as Desdemona and Emilia are
both dead, and Iago is revealed and punished.
• Othello is a tragic character, but one that is neither good nor evil. His
flaws are easily manipulated, and he is unable to see the truth while
blinded by pride.
• He is a good soldier and a good man, but this goodness is twisted, and
he commits an evil act.
 Themes
Good vs. Evil
• Desdemona is the embodiment of goodness in the play, as she has
done no wrong and seeks only to love and to help her friends.
• However, she resigns herself to her death out of this goodness. The
ruin of innocence is a key ingredient to tragedy, but one could interpret
that Desdemona did not have to suffer her fate.
• Othello represents a grey area between good and evil, where self-
interest clouds even the best intentions, and people on both sides end
up dead.
 Symbolism

Symbol: Handkerchief
• The handkerchief is the most significant symbol in Othello, as its
meaning changes depending on how each character perceives it.
• For Othello, the handkerchief is initially a symbol of his love and
affection for Desdemona.
 Symbolism
Symbol: Handkerchief
• However, the handkerchief eventually comes to symbolize (to Othello)
Desdemona’s betrayal, which is, of course, a lie made up by Iago.
• Finally, for Iago, the handkerchief symbolises the fragility of
Othello’s own relationship with Desdemona, as he is easily able to
manipulate Othello by stoking his jealousy.
 Symbolism
Symbol: “Willow” Song
• In the final act of the play, Desdemona sings a song entitled “Willow”
just before her death.
• The song tells the story of a young woman scorned by her lover when
he goes mad and even notes that her mother’s maid died while singing
the song.
• This song, therefore, becomes a symbol of Desdemona’s own
impending doom, brought on by Othello’s madness.
 Motif
Motif: Animals
• Iago frequently compares Othello to a wild animal, sometimes in
praise of his strength and other times in a secret, disdainful manner.
• The recurrence of animal imagery throughout the play reveals Iago’s
hidden prejudice against Othello as a moor, as he perceives Othello to
be fundamentally uncivilized and subject to madness.
 Motif
Motif: Green
• The color green appears in many characters’ speeches in the play. In
Act 3, Iago warns Othello of the “green-eyed monster,” jealousy, and
the dangers of succumbing to its power ([Link]).
• Green comes to signify both Iago’s envy of Othello as well as
Othello’s escalating jealousy throughout the play that eventually leads
to the murder of Desdemona.
 Motif
Motif: Red
• Like green, red is an important element of colour imagery in the play.
Red signifies both love – like the red hearts on the handkerchief that
Othello gives to Desdemona – as well as violence.
• The night after Othello and Desdemona’s wedding, there is blood on
the sheets, an image that uses red to show the conflation of love and
violence (bloodshed) together.
 Simile
Othello’s Appetite
• After Iago hatches his plan to destroy Othello, he tells Roderigo that
“The food that to him now is as luscious as locusts shall be to him
shortly as bitter as coloquintida” ([Link]).
• In this simile, Iago refers to Desdemona as a delicious and tempting
food (locusts were considered a delicacy at the time) that will soon be
replaced with a bitter and unappetizing plant that will repulse Othello
entirely.
 Simile
Iago’s Jealousy
• In Act 2, Iago expresses doubt over Othello’s honour, suggesting that
Othello may have slept with his wife, Emilia. He says, “For that I do
suspect the lusty Moor / Hath leaped into my seat. / The thought
whereof / Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards” (2.i).
• In this simile, Iago compares the thought of Emilia’s supposed
infidelity to a poison that eats away at him from the inside.
 Metaphor
Reputation
• Part of Iago’s manipulation of Othello relies on his convincing Othello
that the protection of Othello’s reputation is of paramount importance.
In Act 3, Iago says to Othello, “Good name in man and woman, dear
my lord, / Is the immediate jewel of their souls” ([Link]).
• Here, Iago uses a metaphor to compare one’s good reputation to a
precious gem that becomes invaluable to the owner.
 Metaphor
Jealousy
• In perhaps the most famous metaphor in the play, Iago cautions
Othello against his feelings of jealousy, saying, “Oh, beware, my lord,
of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat
it feeds on” ([Link]).
• In this metaphor, Iago compares jealousy to a monster that both
destroys its victims and taunts them while it does so. The central irony
of this quotation is that Iago is the character stoking Othello's jealousy
throughout the play.
 Simile
Desdemona’s Purity
• In the final act of the play, Othello pauses briefly and evaluates his
plan to murder Desdemona. He feels uneasy by the notion of killing
her, saying, “Yet I’ll not shed her blood, / Nor scar that whiter skin of
hers than snow / And smooth as monumental alabaster” (5.2).
• Here, Othello uses a simile to compare Desdemona’s white skin to
snow and alabaster, a white mineral. He briefly debates whether he
wants to “stain” her skin with the redness of blood, showcasing his
internal battle between his love for his wife and his raging jealousy.
Romeo and Juliet
• Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy and one of the
world’s most enduring love stories
• Set in Verona, Italy, there is an ongoing feud between the Montague
and Capulet families.
Romeo and Juliet
• The play opens with servants from both houses engaged in a street
brawl that eventually draws in the family patriarchs and the city
officials, including Prince Escalus.
• The Prince ends the conflict by issuing a decree prohibiting further
fighting at the risk of great punishment.
Romeo and Juliet
• Romeo, a young man from the Montague house, laments his
unrequited love for a woman named Rosaline, who has vowed to
remain chaste for the rest of her life.
• Romeo and his friend Benvolio stumble across a Capulet
servant, Peter, who is trying to read a list of invitees to a masked party
at the Capulet house that evening.
Romeo and Juliet
• Romeo helps Peter read the list and decides to attend the party because
Rosaline will be there.
• He plans to wear a mask so that he will nobody will recognise him as
a Montague.
Romeo and Juliet
• Romeo arrives at the Capulets’ party in costume. He falls in love with
young Juliet Capulet from the moment he sees her.
• However, Juliet’s cousin Tybalt recognises Romeo and wants to kill
him on the spot.
• Lord Capulet intervenes, insisting that Tybalt not disturb the party
because it will anger the Prince.
Romeo and Juliet
• Undeterred, Romeo quietly approaches Juliet and confesses his love
for her. After exchanging loving words, they kiss.
Romeo and Juliet
• Juliet’s Nurse tells Romeo that Juliet is a Capulet, which upsets the
smitten youngster. Meanwhile, Juliet is similarly distraught when she
finds out that Romeo is a Montague.
• Later that night, Romeo climbs the garden wall into Juliet’s garden.
Juliet emerges on her balcony and speaks her private thoughts out
loud. She wishes Romeo could shed his name and marry her.
Romeo and Juliet
• Upon hearing her confession, Romeo appears and tells Juliet that he
loves her.
• She warns him to be true in his love, and he swears by his own self
that he will be.
• Before they part, they agree that Juliet will send her Nurse to meet
Romeo at nine o’clock the next day, at which point he will set a place
for them to be married.
Romeo and Juliet
• The Nurse carries out her duty, and tells Juliet to meet Romeo at the
chapel where Friar Lawrence lives and works. Juliet meets Romeo
there, and the Friar marries them in secret.
Romeo and Juliet
• Benvolio and Mercutio are waiting on the street later that day when
Tybalt arrives.
• Tybalt demands to know where Romeo is so that he can challenge him
to a duel, to punish him for sneaking into the party.
• Mercutio is eloquently vague, but Romeo happens to arrive in the
middle of the verbal sparring.
Romeo and Juliet
• Tybalt challenges him, but Romeo passively resists fighting, at which
point Mercutio jumps in and draws his sword on Tybalt.
• Romeo tries to block the two men, but Tybalt cuts Mercutio and runs
away, only to return after he hears that Mercutio has died
• Angry over his friend’s death, Romeo fights with Tybalt and kills him.
Then, he decides to flee. When Prince Escalus arrives at the murder
scene, he banishes Romeo from Verona forever.
Romeo and Juliet
• The Nurse tells Juliet the sad news about what has happened to Tybalt
and Romeo.
• Juliet is heartbroken, but she realises that Romeo would have been
killed if he had not fought Tybalt.
• She sends her Nurse to find Romeo and give him her ring.
Romeo and Juliet
• That night, Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s room, and they consummate
their marriage.
• The next morning, he is forced to leave when Juliet’s mother arrives.
• Romeo travels to Mantua, where he waits for someone to send news
about Juliet or his banishment.
Romeo and Juliet
• During Romeo and Juliet’s only night together, however, Lord Capulet
decides that Juliet should marry a young man named Paris, who has
been asking for her hand.
• Lord and Lady Capulet tell Juliet of their plan, but she refuses,
infuriating her father.
• When both Lady Capulet and the Nurse refuse to intercede for the girl,
she insists that they leave her side.
Romeo and Juliet
• Juliet then visits Friar Lawrence, and together they concoct a plan to
reunite her with Romeo.
• The Friar gives Juliet a potion that will make her seem dead for at least
two days (48 hours), during which time Romeo will come to meet her
in the Capulet vault. The Friar promises to send word of the plan to
Romeo.
Romeo and Juliet
• Juliet drinks the Friar’s potion that night. The next morning, the day of
Juliet and Paris’ wedding, her Nurse finds her “dead” in bed. The
whole house decries her suicide, and Friar Lawrence insists they
quickly place her into the family vault.
Romeo and Juliet
• Unfortunately, Friar John has been unable to deliver the letter to
Romeo informing him of the plan, so when Romeo’s servant
(Balthasar) brings him news in Mantua that Juliet has died, Romeo is
heartbroken.
Romeo and Juliet
• He hurries back to Verona, but first, buys poison from
an Apothecary and writes a suicide note detailing the tragic course of
events.
• As soon as Friar Lawrence realises that his letter never made it to
Romeo’s hands, he rushes to the Capulet tomb, hoping to arrive before
Romeo does.
Romeo and Juliet
• Romeo arrives at the Capulet vault and finds it guarded by Paris, who
is there to mourn the loss of his betrothed.
• Paris challenges Romeo to a duel, and Romeo kills him quickly.
• Romeo then carries Paris’ body into the grave and sets it down. Upon
seeing Juliet’s “dead” body lying in the tomb, Romeo drinks the
poison, gives her a last kiss, and dies.
Romeo and Juliet
• Friar Laurence arrives at the vault just as Juliet wakes up. He tries to
convince her to flee, but upon seeing Romeo’s dead body, she takes
her own life as well.
Romeo and Juliet
• The rest of the town starts to arrive at the tomb, including Lord
Capulet and Lord Montague.
• Friar Lawrence explains the whole story, and Romeo’s letter confirms
it.
• The two families agree to settle their feud and form an alliance despite
the tragic circumstances.
 Gold vs Silver
• The themes of gold and silver play a prominent role in the symbolism
of human flaws and strengths in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare wrote
the play Romeo and Juliet in 1597 about two star-crossed lovers, who
eventually end up taking their own lives due to their feuding families
preventing their love. Shakespeare implies that the meaning of silver
shows truth, purity, and the good inside of humans. On the other hand,
he portrays gold as the root of all evil, showing the evil present inside
all humans. Throughout the play of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare
uses gold to represent greed, conversely, he uses silver to stand for true
love
 Gold vs Silver
• Throughout their many dialogues, the two lovers reference silver and
gold. In Romeo and Juliet, silver is used to represent love and beauty,
while gold is used to represent greed.
• silver to symbolize love and beauty. As Romeo is about to swear his
love to Juliet, he says, “Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear/ That
tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops”([Link].107-108). His statement
implies that love surrounds the two as they sit in the orchard.
 Gold vs Silver
• As Romeo plans to elope with Juliet, he tells her, “How silver-sweet
sound lovers’ tongues by night”([Link].165). Meaning that lovers calling
each other is the sweetest sound that a person can hear. Throughout
this play, silver is usually referenced in terms of things that are
beautiful and full of love.
 Gold vs Silver
• At the beginning of our play, Romeo is raving about the woman he
claims to be in love with, Rosaline. While explaining why they cannot
be together, he says she will not be romanced, “Nor open her lap to
saint-seducing gold”(1.i.210). In this quote, Romeo says that Rosaline
will not accept expensive gifts.
 Gold vs Silver
• Shakespeare uses gold and also silver to explore the pettiness of the
feuding between the Capulets and the Montagues. In Act V, when he
visits the apothecary, Romeo pays him in gold, stating, “There is thy
gold / worse poison to men’s souls.” This quip highlights Romeo’s
understanding that, above all, money is and has been the impetus for
the feuding between the two aristocratic families. As further proof that
neither family has learned from the tragedy, both state they will erect
golden statues in their deceased children’s honor. By contrast, silver
represents love and beauty, such as when Romeo states, "How silver-
sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night” or when a musician claims that
"Music has a silver sound.”
 Themes
Love
• Though Romeo and Juliet is arguably the most archetypal love story in
the English language, it portrays only a very specific type of love:
young, irrational, passionate love. In the play, Shakespeare ultimately
suggests that the kind of love that Romeo and Juliet feel leads lovers
to enact a selfish isolation from the world around them. Romeo and
Juliet eschew their commitments to anyone else, choosing to act
selflessly only towards one another. Sexuality does pervade the play,
both through bawdy jokes and in the way that Romeo and Juliet
anticipate consummating their marriage, but it does not define their
love
 Themes
Love
• Instead, their youthful lust is one of many reasons why their
relationship grows so intense, so quickly. Throughout the play,
Shakespeare only describes Romeo and Juliet's love as a short-term
burst of youthful passion. In most of his work, Shakespeare was more
interested in exploring the sparks of infatuation than long-term
commitment. Considering that no other relationships in the play are as
pure as that between Romeo and Juliet, though, it is easy to see that
Shakespeare respects the power of such a youthful, passionate love but
also laments the transience of it.
 Themes
Death
• In Romeo and Juliet, death is everywhere. Even before the play shifts
in tone after Mercutio’s death, Shakespeare makes several references
to death being Juliet's bridegroom. The threat of violence that pervades
the first acts manifests itself in the latter half of the play, when key
characters die and the titular lovers approach their terrible end. There
are several ways in which the characters in Romeo and Juliet consider
death. Romeo attempts suicide in Act III as an act of cowardice, but
when he seeks out the Apothecary in Act V, it is a sign of strength and
solidarity.
 Themes
Death
• The Chorus establishes the story’s tragic end at the beginning of the
play, which colors the audience's experience from the start – we know
that this youthful, innocent love will end in tragedy. The structure of
the play as a tragedy from the beginning makes Romeo and Juliet's
love even more heartbreaking because the audience is aware of their
impending deaths. The journey of the play is the cycle from love to
death, and that is what makes Romeo and Julie so lasting and
powerful.
 Themes
Age
• Throughout Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare establishes the ideological
divide that often separates youths from adults. The characters in the
play can all be categorised as either young, passionate characters or
older, more functional characters. The youthful characters are almost
exclusively defined by their energy and impulsiveness – like Romeo,
Juliet, Mercutio, and Tybalt. Meanwhile, the older characters all view
the world in terms of politics and expediency. The Capulet and
Montague patriarchs are certainly feisty competitors, but think in
terms of victory as a concept, ignoring the potential emotional toll of
their feud.
 Themes
Age
• Friar Lawrence, who ostensibly represents Romeo and Juliet’s
interests, sees their union in terms of its political outcome, while the
young lovers are only concerned with satisfying their rapidly beating
hearts. While Shakespeare does not posit a moral to the divide
between young and old, it appears throughout the play, suggesting that
the cynicism that comes with age is one of the many reasons that
humans inevitably breed strife amongst themselves. It also implicitly
provides a reason for young lovers to seek to separate themselves from
an 'adult' world of political violence and bartering.
 Themes
Identity
• Romeo and Juliet suggests that individuals are often hamstrung by the
identities forced upon them from outside. Most notably, this theme is
manifest in Juliet's balcony soliloquy, in which she asks, “Oh Romeo,
Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” (2.1.75). The central obstacle of
the play is that the two passionate lovers are separated by a feud based
on their family names. The fact that their love has little to do with their
given identities means nothing to the world around them, and so they
must choose to eschew those identities while they are together.
 Themes
Identity
• Unfortunately, this act of rejection also means Romeo and Juliet must
ignore the world outside their comfortable cocoon, and, as a result, the
violent forces ultimately crash down upon them. A strong sense of
identity can certainly be a boon in life, but in this play, it only forces
separation between the characters. Even Mercutio, who is not a
Montague, is killed for his association with that family. The liveliest
characters in Romeo and Juliet die not because of who they are, but
because of the labels that the outside world has foisted upon them.
 Themes
Gender
• In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare upends certain gender expectations
while simultaneously reminding his audience that these defined roles
do exist. Romeo arguably displays feminine characteristics, at least as
defined by his peers. He ignores all calls to action and has little use for
the aggression that most males around him exhibit. His pensive nature
is cause for his friends' mockery. Even after he falls in love, Romeo is
far less prone to action than Juliet, who, in fact, shows a tendency
towards efficient maneuvering that is otherwise exhibited by male
characters in the play. She makes quick decisions, like her idea that
she and Romeo should wed, and is not easily discouraged by bad
news.
 Themes
Gender
• In these two protagonists, Shakespeare is certainly reversing what his
Elizabethan audience would have expected, as he frequently did with
his heroines. However, the pressures on Juliet to get married,
especially from Lord Capulet, who is interested only in a good match
and uninterested in love, remind the audience that such atypical
strength in a woman can be threatening to a patriarchal society. Juliet's
individualism is quickly quashed by her father’s insistence on a
marriage to Paris, and though she ultimately outwits him, his demands
are a reminder that the world of Romeo and Juliet did not value
reversals of gender roles as much as the audience might have.
 Themes
Revenge
• Romeo and Juliet suggests that the desire for revenge is both a natural
and a devastating human quality. From the moment that the play
spirals towards disaster in Act III, most of the terrible events are
initiated by revenge. Tybalt seeks out Romeo and kills Mercutio from
a half-cooked desire for revenge over Romeo’s attendance at the
masquerade ball, and Romeo kills Tybalt to avenge Mercutio.
 Themes
Revenge
• Romeo’s desire for revenge is so overpowering that he does not pause
to think about how his attack on Tybalt will compromise his recent
marriage to Juliet. Of course, the basic set-up of the play is contingent
on a long-standing feud between the Montagues and Capulets, the
cause of which no longer matters. All that matters is that these families
have continued to avenge forgotten slights for generations. Though
Shakespeare rarely, if ever, moralizes, Romeo and Juliet certainly
presents revenge as a senseless action that always causes more harm
than good.
 Themes
Marriage
• In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare does not paint an attractive picture
of the institution of marriage. The only positive portrayal of
matrimony – between the titular lovers – can only be conducted in
secret, and even Friar Laurence slightly disapproves because Romeo
and Juliet have decided to wed so quickly. Shakespeare seems to be
suggesting that marriage based on pure love does not belong in a
world that abuses the sacred union.
 Themes
Marriage
• Lord Capulet’s insistence upon Juliet’s marriage to Paris suggests both
the way he views his daughter as an object and how marriage can
serve as a weapon against a rebellious young woman. Even the
religious figure, Friar Lawrence, sees marriage as political; he marries
Romeo and Juliet to gain political power and end the feud between
their families, and not because he necessarily approves of their love.
Ultimately, the central marriage in Romeo and Juliet ends in death,
showing that this kind of passionate, irrational union cannot exist in a
world fueled by hate and revenge.
 Macbeth
Act 1
• The play takes place in Scotland. Duncan, the king of Scotland, is at
war with the king of Norway. As the play opens, he learns of
Macbeth’s bravery in a victorious battle against Macdonald – a Scot
who sides with the Norwegians. At the same time, news arrives
concerning the arrest of the treacherous Thane of Cawdor. Duncan
decides to give the title of Thane of Cawdor to Macbeth.
 Macbeth
Act 1
• As Macbeth and Banquo return home from battle, they meet three
witches. The witches predict that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor
and king of Scotland, and that Banquo will be the father of kings.
After the witches disappear, Macbeth and Banquo meet two
noblemen, Ross and Angus, who announce Macbeth’s new title as
Thane of Cawdor. Upon hearing this, Macbeth begins to contemplate
the murder of Duncan to realise the witches’ second prophecy.
 Macbeth
Act 1
• Macbeth and Banquo meet with Duncan, who announces that he is
going to pay Macbeth a visit at his castle. Macbeth rides ahead to
prepare his household. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth receives a letter
from Macbeth informing her of the witches’ prophecy and its
subsequent realization. A servant appears to inform her of Duncan's
approach. Energized by the news, Lady Macbeth invokes supernatural
powers to strip her of feminine softness and thus prepare her for the
murder of Duncan. When Macbeth arrives, Lady Macbeth tells him
that she will plot Duncan’s murder.
 Macbeth
Act 1
• When Duncan arrives at the castle, Lady Macbeth greets him alone.
When Macbeth fails to appear, Lady Macbeth finds him is in his room,
contemplating the weighty and evil decision to kill Duncan. Lady
Macbeth taunts him by telling him that he will only be a man if he
kills Duncan. She then tells him her plan for the murder, which
Macbeth accepts: they will kill him while his drunken bodyguards
sleep, then plant incriminating evidence on the bodyguards.
 Macbeth
Act 2
• Macbeth sees a vision of a bloody dagger floating before him, leading him
to Duncan's room. When he hears Lady Macbeth ring the bell to signal the
completion of her preparations, Macbeth sets out to complete his part in the
murderous plan.
• Lady Macbeth waits for Macbeth to finish the act of regicide. Macbeth
enters, still carrying the bloody daggers. Lady Macbeth again chastises him
for his weak-mindedness and plants the daggers on the bodyguards herself.
While she does so, Macbeth imagines that he hears a haunting voice saying
that he shall sleep no more. Lady Macbeth returns and assures Macbeth that
“a little water clears us of this deed” (2. ii. 65).
 Macbeth
Act 2
• As the Thanes Macduff and Lennox arrive, the porter pretends that he
is guarding the gate to hell. Immediately thereafter, Macduff discovers
Duncan’s dead body. Macbeth kills the two bodyguards, claiming that
he was overcome with a fit of grief and rage when he saw them with
the bloody daggers. Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, fearing
their lives to be in danger, flee to England and Ireland. Their flight
brings them under suspicion of conspiring against Duncan. Macbeth is
thus crowned king of Scotland.
 Macbeth
Act 3
• In an attempt to thwart the witches’ prophecy that Banquo will father kings,
Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. Lady
Macbeth is left uninformed of these plans. A third murderer joins the other
two on the heath, and the three men kill Banquo. Fleance, however,
manages to escape.
• Banquo’s ghost appears to Macbeth as he sits down to a celebratory
banquet, sending him into a frenzy of terror. Lady Macbeth attempts to
cover up for his odd behaviour, but the banquet comes to a premature end as
the thanes begin to question Macbeth's sanity. Macbeth decides that he must
revisit the witches to look into the future once more.
• Meanwhile, Macbeth’s thanes begin to turn against him. Macduff meets
Malcolm in England to prepare an army to march on Scotland.
 Macbeth
Act 4
• The witches show Macbeth three apparitions. The first warns him
against Macduff, the second tells him to fear no man born of woman,
and the third prophesies that he will fall only when Birnam Wood
comes to Dunsinane Castle. Macbeth takes this as a prophecy that he
is infallible. When he asks the witches if their prophecy about Banquo
will come true, they show him a procession of eight kings, all of
whom look like Banquo.
 Macbeth
Act 4
• Meanwhile, in England, Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty by
pretending to confess to multiple sins and malicious ambitions. When
Macduff proves his loyalty to Scotland, the two strategize for their
offensive against Macbeth. Back in Scotland, Macbeth has Macduff’s
wife and children murdered.
 Macbeth
Act 5
• Lady Macbeth suffers from bouts of sleepwalking. To a doctor who
observes her symptoms, she unwittingly reveals her guilt as she
pronounces that she cannot wash her hands clean of bloodstains.
Macbeth is too preoccupied with battle preparations to pay much heed
to her dreams and expresses anger when the doctor says he cannot cure
her. Just as the English army led by Malcolm, Macduff, and Siward
approaches, Lady Macbeth’s cry of death is heard in the castle. When
Macbeth hears of her death, he comments that she should have died at
a future date and muses on the meaninglessness of life.
 Macbeth
Act 5
• Taking the witches’ second prophecies in good faith, Macbeth still
believes that he is impregnable to the approaching army. But Malcolm
has instructed each man in the English army to cut a tree branch from
Birnam Wood and hold it up to disguise the army’s total numbers. As a
result, Macbeth's servant reports that he has seen a seemingly
impossible sight: Birnam Wood seems to be moving toward the castle.
Macbeth is shaken but still engages the oncoming army.
 Macbeth
Act 5
• In battle, Macbeth kills Young Siward, the English general's brave son.
Macduff then challenges Macbeth. As they fight, Macduff reveals that
he was not “of woman born” but was “untimely ripped” from his
mother’s womb (5.x. 13-16). Macbeth is stunned but refuses to yield
to Macduff. Macduff kills him and decapitates him. At the end of the
play, Malcolm is proclaimed the new king of Scotland.
 Macbeth
Act 1, Scene 1
• On a heath in Scotland, three witches, the Weird Sisters, wait to meet
Macbeth amidst thunder and lightning. Their conversation is filled
with paradox and equivocation: they say that they will meet Macbeth
“when the battle’s lost and won” and when “fair is foul and foul is
fair”(10).
 Macbeth
Act 1, Scene 2
• The Scottish army is at war with the Norwegian army. Duncan, king of
Scotland, meets a captain returning from battle. The captain informs
them of Macbeth and Banquo's bravery in battle. He also describes
Macbeth's attack on the castle of the treacherous Macdonald, in which
Macbeth triumphed and planted Macdonald’s head on the battlements
of the castle. The Thanes of Ross and Angus enter with the news that
the Thane of Cawdor has sided with Norway. Duncan decides to
execute the disloyal Thane and give the title of Cawdor to Macbeth.
 Macbeth
Act 1, Scene 3
• The Weird Sisters meet on the heath and wait for Macbeth. He arrives
with Banquo, repeating the witches’ paradoxical phrase by stating “So
foul and fair a day I have not seen” (36). The witches hail him as
“Thane of Glamis” (his present title), “Thane of Cawdor” (the title he
will soon receive officially), and "king hereafter” (46-48). Their
greeting startles and seems to frighten Macbeth. When Banquo
questions the witches as to who they are, they greet him with the
phrases “Lesser than Macbeth and greater,” “Not so happy, yet much
happier,” and a man who “shall get kings, though [he] be none” (63-
65).
 Macbeth
Act 1, Scene 3
• When Macbeth questions them further, the witches vanish into thin air.
Almost as soon as they disappear, Ross and Angus appear with the
news that the king has granted Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth and Banquo step aside to discuss this news; Banquo is of the
opinion that the title of Thane of Cawdor might “enkindle” Macbeth to
seek the crown as well (119). Macbeth questions why such happy
news causes his “seated heart [to] knock at [his] ribs / Against the use
of nature,” and his thoughts turn immediately and with terror to
murdering the king in order to fulfill the witches' second prophecy
(135-36). When Ross and Angus notice Macbeth's distraught state,
Banquo dismisses it as Macbeth’s unfamiliarity with his new title.
 Macbeth
Act 1, Scene 4
• Duncan demands to know whether the former Thane of Cawdor has been
executed. His son Malcolm assures him that he has witnessed the former
Thane’s death. While Duncan muses about the fact that he placed “absolute
trust” in the treacherous Thane, Macbeth enters. Duncan thanks Macbeth
and Banquo for their loyalty and bravery. He consequently announces his
decision to make his son Malcolm the heir to the throne of Scotland
(something that would not have happened automatically, since his position
was elected and not inherited). Duncan then states that he plans to visit
Macbeth at his home in Inverness. Macbeth leaves to prepare his home for
the royal visit, pondering the stumbling block of Malcolm that now hinders
his ascension to the throne. The king follows with Banquo.
 Macbeth
Act 1, Scene 5
• At Inverness, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth that describes his
meeting with the witches. She fears that his nature is not ruthless enough –
he is “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” (15) – to murder Duncan and
assure the completion of the witches’ prophesy. He has ambition enough,
she claims, but lacks the gumption to act on it. She then implores him to
hurry home so that she can “pour [her] spirits in [his] ear” (24) – in other
words, goad him on to the murder he must commit. When a messenger
arrives with the news that Duncan “s coming, Lady Macbeth calls on the
heavenly powers to “unsex me here” and fill her with cruelty, taking from
her all natural womanly compassion (39). When Macbeth arrives, she greets
him as Glamis and Cawdor and urges him to “look like the innocent flower,
/ but be the serpent under’t” (63-64). She then says that she will make all
the preparations for the king's visit and subsequent murder.
 Macbeth
Act 1, Scene 6
• Duncan arrives at Inverness with Banquo and exchanges pleasantries
with Lady Macbeth. The king inquires after Macbeth’s whereabouts,
and she offers to bring him to where Macbeth awaits.
 Macbeth
Act 1, Scene 7
• Alone on stage, Macbeth agonizes over whether to kill Duncan,
recognizing the act of murdering the king as a terrible sin. He
struggles in particular with the idea of murdering a man – a relative,
no less – who trusts and loves him. He would like the king's murder to
be over and regrets the fact that he possesses “vaulting ambition"
without the ruthlessness to ensure the attainment of his goals (27).
 Macbeth
• Act 1, Scene 7
• As Lady Macbeth enters, Macbeth tells her that he “will proceed no
further in this business” (31). But Lady Macbeth taunts him for his
fears and ambivalence, telling him he will only be a man when he
carries out the murder. She states that she herself would go so far as to
take her own nursing baby and dash its brains if necessary. She
counsels him to “screw [his] courage to the sticking place” and details
the way they will murder the king (60). They will wait until he falls
asleep, she says, and thereafter intoxicate his bodyguards with drink.
This will allow them to murder Duncan and lay the blame on the two
drunken bodyguards. Macbeth is astonished by her cruelty but resigns
to follow through with her plans.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
Fate, Prophecy, and Equivocation
• Just as the Porter in Act 2 extemporizes about the sin of equivocation,
the play figures equivocation as one of its most important themes.
Starting from the Weird Sisters’ first words that open the play,
audiences quickly ascertain that things are not what they seem.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “equivocation”
has two different meanings – both of which apply to this play. The first
is:
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• “The use of (a word) in more than one sense; ambiguity or uncertainty
of meaning in words; also […] misapprehension arising from the
ambiguity of terms.”
• This definition, as simple verbal ambiguity, is the one that audiences
are most familiar with – and one that plays an important role in the
play. The Porter’s speech on equivocation in Act 2, however, refers to
a more active type of equivocation. The second definition in
the Oxford English Dictionary reads:
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• “The use of words or expressions that are susceptible of a double
signification, with a view to mislead; especially the expression of a
virtual falsehood in the form of a proposition which (in order to satisfy
the speaker's conscience) is verbally true.”
• This kind of equivocation is similar to lying; it is intentionally
designed to mislead and confuse.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• The intentional ambiguity of terms is what we see in the prophesies of
the Weird Sisters. Their speech is full of paradox and confusion,
starting with their first assertion that "fair is foul and foul is fair" (1.i.
10). The witches' prophesies are intentionally ambiguous. The
alliteration and rhymed couplets in which they speak also contributes
to the effect of instability and confusion in their words. For many
readers, more than one reading is required to grasp a sense of what the
witches mean. It is not surprising, therefore, that these "imperfect
speakers" can easily bedazzle and confuse Macbeth throughout the
course of the play ([Link].68).
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• Just as their words are confusing, it is unclear as to whether the
witches merely predict or actually effect the future. Banquo fears, for
example, that the witches' words will "enkindle [Macbeth] unto the
crown"—in other words, that they will awaken in Macbeth an
ambition that is already latent in him (I iii 119). His fears seem well-
founded: as soon as the witches mention the crown, Macbeth's
thoughts turn to murder. The witches’ power is thus one of prophecy,
but prophecy through suggestion. For Macbeth, the witches can be
understood as representing the final impetus that drive him to his pre-
determined end. The prophecy is in this sense self-fulfilling.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• The oracular sisters are in fact, connected etymologically to the Fates
of Greek mythology. The word "weird" derives from the Old English
word “wyrd,” meaning "fate." And not all fate is self-fulfilling. In
Banquo's case, in contrast to Macbeth’s, the witches seem only to
predict the future. For, unlike Macbeth, Banquo does not act on the
witches' prediction that he will father kings – and yet the witches'
prophesy still comes true. The role of the weird sisters in the story,
therefore, is difficult to define or determine. Are they agents of fate or
a motivating force? And why do they suddenly disappear from the
play in the third act?
 Macbeth
• The ambiguity of the Weird Sisters reflects a greater theme of
doubling, mirrors, and schism between inner and outer worlds that
permeates the work as a whole. Throughout the play, characters,
scenes, and ideas are doubled. As Duncan muses about the treachery
of the Thane of Cawdor at the beginning of the play, for example,
Macbeth enters the scene:
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• KING DUNCAN: There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face.
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, ROSS, and ANGUS.
To MACBETH: O worthiest cousin,
The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me! ([Link].11-16)
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• The dramatic irony of Duncan’s trust is realized only later in the play.
Similarly, the captain in Scene 2 makes a battle report that becomes in
effect, a prophecy:
For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name! –
Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour’s minion
Carved out his passage till he faced the slave,
Which ne’er shook hands nor bade farewell to him
Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’chops,
And fixed his head upon our battlements. (1.i.16-23)
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• The passage can be interpreted as follows: Macbeth “disdains fortune”
by disregarding the natural course of action and becomes king through
a “bloody execution” of Duncan; Macduff, who was born from a
Caesarian section (his mother being “unseamed. . . from the nave to
th’chops”) and who “ne’er shook hands nor bade farewell” decapitates
Macbeth and hangs his head up in public.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• As in all Shakespearean plays, mirroring among characters serves to
heighten their differences. Thus Macbeth, the young, valiant, cruel
traitor/king has a foil in Duncan, the old, venerable, peaceable, and
trusting king. Lady Macbeth, who casts off her femininity and claims
to feel no qualms about killing her own children, is doubled in Lady
Macduff, who is a model of a good mother and wife. Banquo's failure
to act on the witches' prophesy is mirrored in Macbeth's drive to
realize all that the witches foresee.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• Similarly, much of the play is also concerned with the relation between
contrasting inner and outer worlds. Beginning with the equivocal
prophecies of the Weird Sisters, appearances seldom align with reality.
Lady Macbeth, for example, tells her husband to "look like the
innocent flower, / but be the serpent under’t" (63-64). Macbeth
appears to be a loyal Thane, but secretly plans revenge. Lady Macbeth
appears to be a gentle woman but vows to be "unsexed" and swears on
committing bloody deeds. Macbeth is also a play about the inner world
of human psychology, as will be illustrated in later acts through
nightmares and guilt-ridden hallucinations. Such contrast between
"being" and "seeming" serves as another illustration of equivocation.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
The Macbeths and The Corruption of Nature
• One of the most ambiguous aspects of the play is the character of Macbeth
himself. Unlike other Shakespearean villains like Iago or Richard III,
Macbeth is not entirely committed to his evil actions. When he swears to
commit suicide, he must overcome an enormous resistance from his
conscience. At the same time, he sees as his own biggest flaw not a lack of
moral values but rather a lack of motivation to carry out his diabolical
schemes. In this he resembles Hamlet, who soliloquizes numerous times
about his inaction. But unlike Hamlet, Macbeth does not have a good reason
to kill, nor is the man he kills evil—far from it. And finally, while Macbeth
becomes increasingly devoted to murderous actions, his soliloquies are so
full of eloquent speech and pathos that it is not difficult to sympathize with
him. Thus at the heart of the play lies a tangle of uncertainty.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• The Macbeths and The Corruption of Nature
• If Macbeth is indecisive, Lady Macbeth is just the opposite—a
character with such a single vision and drive for advancement that she
brings about her own demise. And yet her very ruthlessness brings
about another form of ambiguity, for in swearing to help Macbeth
realize the Weird Sisters' prophecy, she must cast off her femininity. In
a speech at the beginning of Scene 5, she calls on the spirits of the air
to take away her womanhood:
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• Come you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood,
Stop up th'access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
Th'effect and it. (1.v.38-45)
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• Lady Macbeth sees "remorse" as one of the names for feminine
compassion – of which she must rid herself. Thus, she must be
"unsexed." This does not mean, however, that in rejecting her
femininity she becomes manly. Instead, she becomes a woman devoid
of the sexual characteristics and sentimentality that make her a
woman. She becomes entirely unnatural and inhuman. Like the
supernatural Weird Sisters with their beards, Lady Macbeth becomes
something that does not fit into the natural world.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• The corruption of nature is a theme that surfaces and resurfaces in the
same act. When Duncan greets Macbeth, for example, he states that he
has “begun to plant thee and will labor / to make thee full of growing"
(I iv 28-29). Following the metaphor of the future as lying in the
“seeds of time,” Macbeth is compared to a plant that Duncan will look
after (I iii 56). By murdering Duncan, then, Macbeth perverts nature
by severing himself effectively from the very "root" that feeds him.
For this reason, perhaps, the thought of murdering Duncan causes
Macbeth's heart to "knock at [his] ribs / Against the use of nature" (I iii
135-36). Just as the Weird Sisters pervert the normal course of nature
by telling their prophecy, Macbeth upsets the course of nature by his
regicide.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• Reflecting the disruption of nature, the dialogue between Macbeth and
Lady in the scene following the murder becomes heavy, graceless, and
almost syncopated. Lady Macbeth, for example, says:
What thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false
And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou'd'st have, great Glamis,
That which cries "Thus thou must do," if thou have it,
And that which rather thou dost fear to do,
Than wishest should be undone. (1.v.28-23).
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• The repetition of the phrase "thou wouldst," in all its permutations,
confounds the flow of speech. The speech is clotted with accents,
tangling meter and scansion, and the alliteration is almost tongue-
twisting, slowing the rhythm of the words. Just as Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth have corrupted nature, the language Shakespeare uses in
these scenes disrupts the flow of his usually smoothly iambic meter.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• Yet another part of the theme of corruption of nature lies in the compression
of time that occurs throughout the act. When Lady Macbeth reads
Macbeth’s letter, she states: Th[ese] letters have transported me beyond /
This ignorant present, and I feel now / The future in the instant" (I v 54-56).
By telling the future to Macbeth and Banquo, the Weird Sisters upset the
natural course of time and bring the future to the present. Thus when
Macbeth vacillates over whether or not to kill Duncan, he wants to leap into
the future: "If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well / It were done
quickly" (I vii 1-2). He wants the murder to be over quickly—indeed so
quickly that it is over before the audience even registers it. Just as
equivocation twists the meaning of words, Macbeth's murderous desires
twist the meaning of time.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 1
• Thus beginning with the Weird Sisters, equivocation in all its
permutations is threaded throughout the fabric of the first act. Over the
course of the play, the breach between the worlds of reality and
illusion that is the core of equivocation grows ever wider.
 Macbeth
Act 2, Scene 1
• Banquo, who has come to Inverness with Duncan, wrestles with the
witches' prophecy. He must restrain himself the “cursed thoughts” that
tempt him in his dreams (2.i.8). When Banquo raises the topic of the
prophecy as Macbeth enters the scene, Macbeth pretends that he has
given little thought to the witches' prophesy. After Banquo and his
son Fleance leave the scene, Macbeth imagines that he sees a bloody
dagger pointing toward Duncan's chamber. Frightened by the
apparition of a "dagger of the mind," he prays that the earth will "hear
not [his] steps" as he completes his bloody plan (38, 57). The bell
rings – a signal from Lady Macbeth – and he sets off toward Duncan's
room.
 Macbeth
Act 2, Scene 2
• Lady Macbeth waits fitfully for Macbeth to return from killing Duncan.
Upon hearing a noise within, she worries that the bodyguards have
awakened before Macbeth has had a chance to plant the evidence on them.
• Macbeth enters, still carrying the bloody daggers with which he killed
Duncan. He is deeply shaken: as he entered Duncan's chamber, he heard the
bodyguards praying and could not say "Amen" when they finished their
prayers. Lady Macbeth’s counsels to think "after these ways” as “it will
make [them] mad" (32).
 Macbeth
Act 2, Scene 2
• Nonetheless, Macbeth also tells her that he also thought he heard a
voice saying, "’sleep no more, / Macbeth does murder sleep. . . Glamis
hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more,
Macbeth shall sleep no more" (33-41). Lady Macbeth again warns him
not to think of such "brain-sickly of things" and tells him to wash the
blood from his hands (44). Seeing the daggers he carries, she chastises
him for bringing them in and tells him to plant them on the
bodyguards according to the plan. When Macbeth, still horrified by the
crime he has just committed, refuses to reenter Duncan’s chamber,
Lady Macbeth herself brings the daggers back in.
 Macbeth
• Act 2, Scene 2
• While she is gone, Macbeth hears a knocking and imagines that he
sees hands plucking at his eyes. He is guilt-stricken and mourns: “Will
all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / clean from my hand?” (58-
59)? When Lady Macbeth hears his words upon reentering, she states
that her hands are of the same color but her heart remains shamelessly
unstained. “A little water,” she continues, “will clear [them] of th[e]
deed” (65). As the knocking persists, the two retire to put on their
nightgowns so as not to arouse suspicion when others arrive.
 Macbeth
Act 2, Scene 3
• In a scene of comic relief, the Porter hears knocking at the gate and
imagines that he is the porter at the door to Hell. He imagines
admitting a farmer who has committed suicide after a bad harvest, an
"equivocator" who has committed a sin by swearing to half-truths, and
an English tailor who stole cloth to make fashionable clothes and
visited brothels. Since it is "too cold for hell" at the gate, he opens the
door instead of continuing with a longer catalogue of sinners (16).
Outside stand Macduff and Lennox, who scold him for taking so long
to respond to their knowcking. The Porter claims that he was tired
after drinking until late and delivers a short sermon on the ills of drink.
 Macbeth
Act 2, Scene 3
• Macbeth enters and Macduff asks him whether the king is awake yet.
On hearing that the king is still asleep, Macduff leaves to wake him.
While he is gone, Lennox tells Macbeth that the weather by night was
full of strange events: chimneys were blown down, birds screeched all
night, the earth shook, and ghostly voices were heard prophesying
ominously. A stunned Macduff returns with the news that the king is
dead. He tells them to go see for themselves and calls to the servants
to ring the alarm bell.
 Macbeth
Act 2, Scene 3
• Lady Macbeth and Banquo enter, and Macduff informs them of the king’s
death. Macbeth and Lennox return, and Macbeth laments the king's death,
proclaiming that he wishes he were dead instead of the king. When
Malcolm and Donalbain arrive, Lennox blames the regicide on the guards
by pointing to the incriminating bloody evidence. Macbeth states that he has
already killed the bodyguards in a grief-stricken rage. At this point, Lady
Macbeth feigns shock and faints. Aside, Malcolm and Donalbain confer and
decide that their lives may be at risk and that they should flee Scotland. As
Lady Macbeth is being helped off-stage, Banquo counsels the others to
convene and discuss the murder at hand. Left behind on stage, Malcolm
decides that he will flee to England while Donalbain will go to Ireland.
 Macbeth

Act 2, Scene 4
• Ross and an old man discuss the unnatural events that have taken place
recently: days are as dark as nights, owls hunt falcons, and Duncan's
horses have gone mad and eaten each other. When Macduff enters,
Ross asks whether the culprit has been discovered. Macduff tells him
that the bodyguards killed the king. The hasty flight on the part of
Malcolm and Donalbain, however, has also cast suspicion on the two
sons as well. Ross comments that Macbeth will surely be named the
next king, to which Macduff responds that he has already been named
and has gone to Scone to be crowned. Ross leaves for Scone to see the
coronation while Macduff heads home to Fife.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 2
• Macbeth's famous soliloquy at the beginning of this act introduces an
important theme: visions and hallucinations caused by guilt. The
"dagger of the mind" that Macbeth sees is not "ghostly" or
supernatural so much as a manifestation of the inner struggle that
Macbeth feels as he contemplates the regicide. It "marshal[s] [him] the
way [he] was going," leading him toward the bloody deed he has
resolved to commit, haunting and perhaps also taunting him (II i 42).
The same can be said for the ghostly voice that Macbeth hears after he
kills Duncan, as well as the ghost of Banquo that appears in Act 3.
Indeed, almost all the supernatural elements in this play could be—and
often are—read as psychological rather than ghostly occurrences.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 2
• (But if this is the case, one also wonders about the witches: are they,
too, products of Macbeth's fevered mind? The fact that merely give
voice to the Macbeth’s dormant ambitions would seem to confirm this
idea, but this is countered by the fact that Banquo also sees the same
witches and hears them speak.)
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 2
• The "dagger of the mind" is only one of many psychological
manifestations in the play. As the bodyguards mutter “God bless us” in
their drunken stupor, Macbeth finds that he is unable to utter the
prayer word “Amen.” A psychological literary analyst may perceive
this as a physical inability to speak, caused by Macbeth's paralyzing
doubt about the correctness of the murder. The inner world of the
psyche thus imposes itself on the physical world. The same can be said
for the voice that Macbeth hears crying "Macbeth shall sleep no more"
(II ii 41). An overwhelming sense of guilt will prevent “innocent
sleep” from giving Macbeth respite from his tormented conscience.
While he has consigned Duncan to eternal rest, he himself lives now in
eternal anxiety.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 2
• In addition to his troubled existence, Macbeth's perturbed sleep can
also be read as a metaphor for the troubled state of the country.
In Macbeth—as with many other Shakespearean plays—there is a
close and mirrored relationship between king and the country. In
scene 4, for example, Ross reports that "by the clock ‘tis day, / And
yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp" (II iv 6-7).
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 2
• This image of the darkness strangling the light of day is a
meteorological manifestation of the murder of Duncan; the light of
nature is suffocated just as Duncan's life is extinguished. Victorian
writer John Ruskin called such mirroring of a character's psychological
state in inanimate natural objects "pathetic fallacy." In animate
natural objects too, a similar mirroring occurs. The old man describes
Duncan's noble horses eating each other and an owl eating a falcon--
events that echo the slaughter of Duncan by Macbeth. Thus the
unnatural death of Duncan plunges the country into both physical and
spiritual turmoil.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 2
• The image of an owl hunting a falcon is part of a greater framework of
symbolism surrounding birds in the play. When Duncan approaches
Inverness in Act 1, for example, he comments on the martlets that he
sees nesting on the castle walls. He takes this as a good sign—martlets
are lucky birds. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, mentions earlier in
this scene that there are ravens croaking on the battlements. She takes
this as a harbinger of Duncan's death. Duncan, the trusting optimist,
sees lucky birds, whereas Lady Macbeth sees ominous ones. One sign
does not exclude the other: for Duncan, "fair" becomes "foul" as the
lucky martlets metamorphose into the deadly ravens.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 2
• In Act 2, characters discuss or see birds in almost every scene. While
Lady Macbeth is waiting for Macbeth to finish killing Duncan, for
example, she hears an owl hooting and calls the owl a "fatal
bellman"—a bird whose call is like a bell tolling for Duncan's death (II
ii 3). The owl could also be "fatal" as an instrument of Fate, just as
Macbeth is in some ways an instrument of Fate through the
intervention of the Weird Sisters (keeping in mind that "wyrd" derives
from the Old English word for "fate"). In this respect, one observes a
mirroring between Macbeth and the owl: both hunt at night; the owl is
observed killing a falcon, just as Macbeth kills Duncan.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 2
• Over the course of Macbeth, dreams, symbols, fantasy, and visions
impinge upon the "real world." The witches' fantastic prophecy is
realized. The "dagger of the mind" points the way to a murder
committed with a real dagger. And in the Porter scene, the Porter,
imagining that he guards the gate to Hell, ironically creates a gate of
“real” hell caused by regicide. When the Porter opens the gate for the
thanes, he mentions that he and his friends were out "carousing till the
second cock" ([Link].23). This statement calls to mind the cock that
crows in the New Testament after Peter betrays Jesus by denying
knowledge of him (Matthews 26; Luke 22). In Macbeth, the betrayal
occurs in a more active form as Macbeth murders Duncan after the
crows of the cock.
 Macbeth
Act 3 Summary
Act 3, Scene 1
• Alone at Macbeth's court, Banquo voices his suspicions that Macbeth
has killed Duncan in order to fulfill the witches' prophesies. He muses
that perhaps the witches' vision for his own future will also be
realized, but pushes the thought from his mind. Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth enter to the fanfare of trumpets, along with Lennox and Ross.
Macbeth announces that he will hold a banquet in the evening and that
Banquo will be honored as chief guest. Banquo states that he must ride
in the afternoon but will return for the banquet. Macbeth tells him that
Malcolm and Donalbain will not confess to killing their father. After
confirming that Fleance will accompany Banquo on his trip, Macbeth
wishes Banquo a safe ride.
 Macbeth
Act 3 Summary
Act 3, Scene 1
• Left alone, Macbeth summons the two murderers he has hired. While he
waits for them, he voices his greatest worry of the moment—that the
witches' prophecy will also come true for Banquo, making his children
kings. He will put an end to such worries by hiring two men to kill Banquo
and Fleance. The men are not professional assassins, but rather poor men
who are willing to work as mercenaries. Macbeth has already blamed their
current state of poverty on Banquo. He now tells them that while Banquo is
his own enemy as much as theirs, loyal friends of Banquo's prevent him
from killing Banquo himself. Macbeth proceeds to detail the particulars of
the murder: they must attack him as he returns from his ride, at a certain
distance from the palace, and they must also kill Fleance at the same time.
 Macbeth
Act 3 Summary
Act 3, Scene 2
• Alone on stage, Lady Macbeth expresses her unhappiness: there seems to be
no end to her desire for power, and she feels insecure and anxious. Macbeth
enters looking upset, and she counsels him to stop mulling over the crimes
they have committed. But Macbeth declares that their job is not done: he
still spends every waking moment in fear and every night embroiled in
nightmares. He even envies Duncan, who now sleeps peacefully in his
grave. Lady Macbeth warns him to act cheerful in front of their dinner
guests. She also tries to comfort him by reminding him that Banquo and
Fleance are by no means immortal. Macbeth responds by telling her that "a
deed of dreadful note" will be done in the night, though he will not divulge
the details (33).
 Macbeth
Act 3 Summary
Act 3, Scene 3
• The two murderers are joined by a third, who says that he has also
been hired by Macbeth. Horses are heard approaching, and Banquo
and Fleance enter. The murderers attack Banquo, but Fleance manages
to escape. The murderers leave to report back to Macbeth.
 Macbeth
Act 3 Summary
Act 3, Scene 4
• At the banquet, a murderer arrives and reports to Macbeth just as the
dinner guests begin to arrive. He informs Macbeth that Banquo is dead
but Fleance has escaped. Shaken, Macbeth thanks him for what he has
done and arranges another meeting on the following day. The
murderer leaves and Macbeth returns to the feast.
 Macbeth
Act 3 Summary
Act 3, Scene 4
• Looking over the table, Macbeth declares that the banquet would be perfect if only
Banquo were present. At this point, Banquo’s ghost appears unobserved and takes
Macbeth’s seat. The guests urge Macbeth to sit and eat with them, but Macbeth
says that the table is full. When Lennox points to Macbeth’s empty seat, Macbeth
is shocked to see Banquo’s ghost. He addresses the ghost, saying, “Thou canst not
say I did it. Never shake / Thy gory locks at me” (49-50). The guests, confused by
his behavior, think that he is ill. Lady Macbeth reassures them, however, by saying
that he has had similar fits since his youth and that he will soon be well. She draws
Macbeth aside and attempts to calm him by asserting that the vision is merely a
“painting of [his] fear”— just like the dagger he saw earlier (60). Ignoring her,
Macbeth charges the ghost to speak, but it disappears. After Lady Macbeth scolds
him for being "unmanned in folly" (73), Macbeth returns to his guests and claims
that he has "a strange infirmity," which they should ignore (85).
 Macbeth
Act 3 Summary
Act 3, Scene 4
• Just as the party resumes and Macbeth is offering a toast to Banquo,
the ghost reappears. As Macbeth once again bursts out in a speech
directed at the ghost, Lady Macbeth tries to smooth things over with
the guests. In response to Macbeth’s exclamation that he sees sights
that make his cheeks “blanched with fear,” Ross asks what sights
Macbeth means (114). Lady Macbeth asks the guests to leave, since
Macbeth's "illness" seems to be deteriorating. Alone with Lady
Macbeth, Macbeth expresses his deep anxieties and vows to return to
the Weird Sisters.
 Macbeth
Act 3 Summary
Act 3, Scene 5
• On the heath, the witches meet Hecate, queen of witches, who
chastises them for meddling in Macbeth's affairs without involving her
or showing him any fancy magic spectacles. She tells them that
Macbeth will visit them tomorrow and that they must put on a more
dramatic show for him.
 Macbeth
Act 3 Summary
Act 3, Scene 6
• Lennox and another lord discuss politics. Lennox comments sarcastically on
the recent deaths of Duncan and Banquo. He suggests that it seems
implausible for Malcolm and Donalbain to be inhuman enough to kill their
father. Moreover, Macbeth's slaying of the bodyguards seemed very
convenient, since they probably would have denied killing Duncan. Lennox
proposes that if Malcolm, Donalbain, and Fleance were in Macbeth's prison,
they would also probably be dead now. He also reveals that since Macduff
did not attend Macbeth's feast, he has been denounced. The lord with whom
Lennox speaks comments that Macduff has joined Malcolm at the English
court. The two men have apparently asked Siward to lead an army against
Macbeth. Lennox and the lord send their prayers to Macduff and Malcolm.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 3
• The “be a man” theme recurs in Macbeth’s address to the murderers. When
Macbeth demands whether the murderers have the courage to kill Banquo,
they answer "we are men, my liege" (3.i.92). But their answer does not
satisfy Macbeth, who berates them as less-than-exemplary examples of
men. Macbeth thus uses very much the same goading tactics his wife used
in compelling him to kill Duncan. But what does it mean, exactly, to “be a
man”? Both Macbeth and his Lady seem to have a clear idea of properly
masculine actions. In Act 1, Lady Macbeth suggests that masculinity is
largely a question of ruthlessness: one must be willing to “das[h] the brains
out” of one’s own baby (58). She claims that she herself is less "full o' th'
milk of human kindness" than Macbeth, that is, more capable of casting
away the last shreds of compassion, tenderness, loyalty, and guilt.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 3
• Lady Macbeth is not the only character that values ruthlessness as a
masculine trait. Duncan, too, evaluates heroic action on a rather gory
scale. When the captain describes how Macbeth “unseamed
[Macdonald] from the nave to th’ chops” with “his brandished steel /
Which smoked of bloody execution,” Duncan responds with high
praise: "O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman" (I ii 17-22)! A "real
man” in Macbeth, then, is one who is capable of copious bloodshed
without remorse. The catch, of course, is that the bloodshed must be
justified. Whereas Macbeth needs no reason to slay Macdonald in
battle per se, the two murderers require the justification that Banquo is
an evil man.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 3
• As for the terms of murder, Macbeth warns the murderers to kill Fleance
and thus “leave no rubs nor botches in the work" (III i 135). Macbeth
"require[s] a clearness”, that is, a clearance from suspicion but also a mental
and physical cleanliness. The theme of stains and washing runs throughout
the play. From Macbeth's cry about all “great Neptune’s ocean” in Act 2, to
his instructions to the murderers in Act 3, to Lady Macbeth's famous “Out,
damned spot" speech in Act 5, the Macbeths are haunted by the idea that
they will be forever stained. Even when Macbeth has Banquo killed at a
safe distance from himself, the spilled blood still returns to haunt Macbeth.
When the murderer shows up to report his success, Macbeth observes:
"There's blood upon thy face" (III iv 11). The blood itself serves as a sign
and reminder of the Macbeths’ culpability, ultimately driving Lady Macbeth
mad.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 3
• Banquo's murder itself makes use of a common theme in Shakespeare's
plays: the contrast between light and dark. While the murderers wait for
Banquo and Fleance to approach, one of them observes that the sun is
setting. This is no coincidence: Banquo serves as a bright contrast to the
dark night that accompanies Macbeth's rise to power. He is a man who does
not allow his ambitions to eclipse his conscience. At the moment that he
dies, therefore, it is appropriate for the last remnant of sunlight to fade
away. Such symbolism is reinforced by the fact that Banquo and Fleance
approach the murderers carrying a torch. The torchlight is the first thing that
the murderers see: "a light, a light" notes the second murderer (III iii 14).
And after the deed is finished, the third murderer asks: "who did strike out
the light?" (III iii 27). At the same moment that the good and kind Banquo
dies, the light is extinguished.
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 3
• Another aspect of Banquo's murder has intrigued generations of
scholars: who is the third murderer? Some believe that it is Lady
Macbeth, who expressed curiosity about Macbeth’s plans in Scene 2.
Others believe that it is Macbeth himself, who could not trust the
murderers fully. The third murderers could even be the three witches
in disguise. In any case, introducing a third murderer rounds out the
number of murderers so that they balance the three witches. There is
power in the number three: Macbeth meets three witches, commits
three separate murders, and sees three apparitions. The number three
recurs throughout the play, adding to its mysterious and magic
atmosphere
 Macbeth
Analysis Act 3
• Finally, one of the most compelling scenes in Macbeth takes place at
the banquet haunted by Banquo's ghost. Once again, the boundaries
between reality and the supernatural are blurred as Banquo's ghost
appears twice, both at exactly the moment Macbeth mentions him. It
seems that the vision of Banquo accompanies the idea of Banquo in
Macbeth’s mind. The ghost thus seems more like the manifestation of
an idea, a figment of the imagination, rather than a “real” ghost. Lady
Macbeth says as much when she pulls Macbeth aside: “This is the very
painting of your fear; / This is the air-drawn dagger which you said /
Led you to Duncan" (III iv 60-62). Just like the dagger, Banquo's
ghost appears to be a realization of Macbeth's guilt. Even if the
occurrence is supernatural, the event is very real for Macbeth.
 Macbeth
Act 4 summary
Act 4, Scene 1
• The witches circle a cauldron, mixing in a variety of grotesque
ingredients while chanting "double, double toil and trouble; / Fire
burn, and cauldron bubble" (10-11). Hecate appears, they sing all
together, and Hecate leaves. Macbeth then enters, demanding answers
to his pressing questions about the future. The witches complete their
magic spell and summon forth a series of apparitions. The first is an
armed head that warns Macbeth to beware the Thane of Fife
(Macduff). The second apparition is a bloody child, who tells him that
"none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth" (96-97).
 Macbeth
Act 4 summary
Act 4, Scene 1
• This news bolsters Macbeth spirits. The third apparition is a crowned
child with a tree in its hand, who says that "Macbeth shall never
vanquished be until / Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill /
Shall come against him" (107-09). This cheers Macbeth even more,
since he knows that nothing can move a forest. Macbeth proceeds to
ask his last question: will Banquo's children ever rule Scotland?
 Macbeth
Act 4 summary
Act 4, Scene 1
• The cauldron sinks, and a strange sound is heard. The witches now
show Macbeth a procession of kings, the eighth of whom holds a
mirror in his hand, followed by Banquo. As Banquo points at this line
of kings, Macbeth realizes that they are indeed his family line. After
the witches’ dance and disappear, Lennox enters with the news that
Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth resolves that he will henceforth
act immediately on his ambitions: the first step will be to seize Fife
and kill Macduff's wife and children.
 Macbeth
Act 4 summary
Act 4, Scene 2
• At Fife, Ross visits Lady Macduff, who is frightened for her own
safety now that her husband has fled. He reassures her by telling her
that her husband did only what was right and necessary. After he
leaves, Lady Macduff engages her son in a conversation about his
missing father. The little boy demonstrates wisdom well beyond his
years. A messenger interrupts them with a warning to flee the house
immediately. But before Lady Macduff can escape, murderers attack
the house and kill everyone including Lady Macduff and her son.
 Macbeth
Act 4 summary
Act 4, Scene 3
• Macduff arrives at the English court and meets with Malcolm. Malcolm,
remembering his father's misplaced trust in Macbeth, decides to test
Macduff: he confesses that he is a greedy, lustful, and sinful man who
makes Macbeth look like an angel in comparison. Macduff despairs and
says that he will leave Scotland forever if this is the case, since there seems
to be no man fit to rule it. Upon hearing this, Malcolm is convinced of
Macduff's goodness and reveals that he was merely testing him; he has none
of these faults to which he has just confessed. In fact, he claims, the first lie
he has ever told was this false confession to Macduff. He then announces
that Siward has assembled an army of ten thousand men and is prepared to
march on Scotland.
 Macbeth
Act 4 summary
Act 4, Scene 3
A messenger appears and tells the men that the king of England is
approaching, attended by a crowd of sick and despairing people who wish
the king to cure them. The king, according to Malcolm, has a gift for
healing people simply by laying his hands on them.
• Ross arrives from Scotland and reports that the country is in a shambles.
When Macduff asks how his wife and children are faring, Ross first
responds that they are “well at peace” (180). When pressed further, he
relates the story of their death. Macduff is stunned speechless, and Malcolm
urges him to cure his grief by exacting revenge on Macbeth. Macduff is
overcome with guilt and sorrow from the murders that occurred while he
was absent. Again, Malcolm urges him to put his grief to good use and seek
revenge. All three men leave to prepare for battle.
 Macbeth
Act 4 Analysis
• As the act opens, the witches carry on the theme of doubling and
equivocation that threads throughout the play. As they throw
ingredients into their cauldron, they chant "double, double, toil and
trouble“, a reminder that their speech is full of double meanings,
paradox, and equivocation (IV i 10). The apparitions that the witches
summon give equivocal messages to Macbeth, and they appear to
know quite consciously that he will only understand one-half of their
words. Although Macbeth himself has previously acknowledged that
"stones have been known to move and trees to speak" (III iv 122), the
apparitions give Macbeth a false sense of security. He takes the
apparitions' words at face value, forgetting to examine how their
predictions could potentially come true.
 Macbeth
Act 4 Analysis
• The theme of doubling is amplified when the witches summon the
"show of kings." Each king who appears looks "too like the spirit of
Banquo," frightens Macbeth with their resemblance (IV i 128). For
Macbeth, it is as if the ghosts of Banquo have returned to haunt him
several times over. In the procession of kings, Macbeth also notes that
some carry "twofold balls and treble scepters“, as if even the signs of
their power have been doubled.
 Macbeth
Act 4 Analysis
• On a historical note, it is generally thought that the eighth king holds
up a mirror to pander to James I. This last king, the eighth-generation
descendant of Banquo, is none other than a figure of James I himself.
He thus carries a mirror to signal as much to the real James I, who sits
at the forefront of the audience. A similar moment of pandering occurs
when Malcolm notes that the king of England has a special power to
heal people affected by “the evil” (147). In various subtle ways,
Shakespeare complimented King James I, a legendary descendant of
Banquo and author of a book on witchcraft (Daemonologie [1597]).
 Macbeth
Act 4 Analysis
• James I is not the only character who is doubled in Macbeth. Throughout
the play, characters balance and complement each other in a carefully
constructed harmony. As a man who also receives a prophecy but refuses to
act actively upon it, Banquo serves as a sort of inverse mirror image of
Macbeth. Although he has troubled dreams like Macbeth, his arise from the
suppression of ambitions, whereas Macbeth's arise from the fulfillment
thereof. Other major characters, including Malcolm, Macduff, and Lady
Macbeth, can also be seen as foils or doubles for Macbeth. Particularly
interesting is the case of Lady Macbeth, who in some sense “switches roles”
with Macbeth as the play progresses. Whereas she first advises Macbeth to
forget all remorse and guilt, Lady Macbeth becomes increasingly troubled
by her own guilt as Macbeth begins to heed her advice.
 Macbeth
Act 4 Analysis
• Another form of doubling or equivocation is found in the theme of
costumes, masks, and disguises. While planning Duncan's murder, Lady
Macbeth counsels Macbeth to "look like the innocent flower, / But be the
serpent under’t”, to "beguile the time" by disguising his motives behind a
mask of loyalty (I v 61). After the murder, Lady Macbeth paints the
bodyguards' faces with a mask of blood to implicate them. Similarly, while
preparing to kill Banquo, Macbeth comments that men must "make [their]
faces visors to [their] hearts, / Disguising what they are" (III ii 35-36). Thus,
when Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty, he begins appropriately by saying
that "all things foul would wear the brows of grace" (IV iii 23). Even the
most foul of men, perhaps like Macbeth and the murderers, are able to
disguise themselves. Just as the witches’ equivocation covers up the true
harm within their alluring words, disguises and masks hide the inner world
from the outer.
 Macbeth
Act 4 Analysis
• Finally, during the scene in which the murders occur, Lady Macduff
reflects the bird symbolism that began in Act 1. When Lady Macduff
complains to Ross about the abrupt departure of Macduff, she states:
"the poor wren / The most diminutive of birds, will fight, / Her young
ones in her nest, against the owl" (IV ii 9-11). Her metaphor comes to
life when she and her son are attacked by Macbeth's men. Macbeth, as
earlier established, is identified with the owl; so, Lady Macduff, trying
to protect her son, becomes the wren in a realization of her own figure
of speech. It is with particular pathos that the audience sees Macduff’s
precocious son fall prey to the swords of Macbeth’s ruthless
murderers.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 1
• At the Scottish royal home of Dunsinane, a gentlewoman has
summoned a doctor to observe Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking. The
doctor reports that he has watched her for two nights now and has yet
to see anything strange. The gentlewoman describes how she has seen
Lady Macbeth rise, dress, leave her room, write something on a piece
of paper, read it, seal it, and return to bed—all without waking up. The
gentlewoman dares not repeat what Lady Macbeth says while thus
sleepwalking.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
• Act 5, Scene 1
• The two are interrupted by a sleepwalking Lady Macbeth, who enters
carrying a candle. The gentlewoman reports that Lady Macbeth asks to have
a light by her all night. The doctor and the gentlewoman watch as Lady
Macbeth rubs her hands as if washing them and says " Yet here's a spot. . .
Out, damned spot; out I say” (27-30). As she continues to "wash" her hands,
her words betray her guilt to the two onlookers. Lady Macbeth seems to be
reliving the events on the night of Duncan’s death. She cannot get the stain
or smell of blood off her hand: "What, will these hands ne'er be clean. . . All
the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (37-43). As the
sleepwalking Lady Macbeth imagines she hears knocking at the gate and
returns to her chamber, the doctor concludes that Lady Macbeth needs a
priest's help and not a physician's. He takes his leave, asserting that he and
the gentlewoman had better not reveal what they have seen or heard.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 2
• The Thanes Menteith, Caithness, Angus, and Lennox march with a
company of soldiers toward Birnam Wood, where they will join
Malcolm and the English army. They claim that they will "purge" the
country of Macbeth's sickening influence (28).
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 3
• At Dunsinane, Macbeth tires of hearing reports of nobles who have
defected to join the English forces. He feels consoled, however, by the
witches' prophesy that he has nothing to fear until Birnam Wood
comes to Dunsinane, or until he counters a man not born of woman.
Since both of the events seem impossible, Macbeth feels invincible.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 3
• A servant enters with the news that the enemy has rallied a thousand men
but Macbeth sends him away, scolding him for cowardice. After calling for
his servant Seyton to help him put on his armor, Macbeth demands the
doctor’s prognosis about Lady Macbeth. The doctor replies that she is “not
so sick” but troubled with visions (39). In some way or other, she must cure
herself of these visions, an answer that displeases Macbeth. As attendants
put on his armor, he declares that he would applaud the doctor if he could
analyze the country's urine and therein derive a medicine for Lady Macbeth.
Abruptly, Macbeth leaves the room, professing once again that he will not
fear “death and bane” until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane (61). Aside,
the doctor confesses that he would like to be as far away from Dunsinane as
possible.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 4
• Malcolm, Siward, Young Siward, Macduff, Mentieth, Caithness, and
Angus march toward Birnam Wood. As they approach the forest,
Malcolm instructs the soldiers to cut off branches and hold them up in
order to disguise their numbers. Siward informs Malcolm that
Macbeth confidently holds Dunsinane, waiting for their arrival.
Malcolm comments that almost all of Macbeth’s men have deserted
him. The army marches on.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 5
• Macbeth orders his men to hang his banners on the outer walls of the
castle, claiming that it will hold until the attackers die of famine. If
only the other side were not reinforced with men who deserted him, he
claims, he would not think twice about rushing out to meet the English
army head-on. Upon hearing the cry of a woman within, Macbeth
comments that he has almost forgotten the taste of fears. Seyton
returns and announces the death of Lady Macbeth. Seemingly unfazed,
Macbeth comments that she should have died later, at a more
appropriate time. He stops to muse on the meaning of life:
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.” (23-27)
• A messenger enters and reports that he has seen something
unbelievable: as he looked out toward Birnam Wood, it appeared that
the forest began to move toward the castle. Macbeth is stunned and
begins to fear that the witch's words may come true after all. He
instructs his men to ring the alarm.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 6
• Malcolm tells his soldiers that they are near enough to the castle now to
throw down the branches they carry. He announces that Siward and Young
Siward will lead the first battle. He and Macduff will follow behind. The
trumpeters sound a charge.
Act 5, Scene 7
• Macbeth waits on the battlefield to defend his castle. He feels like a bear
that has been tied to a stake for dogs to attack. Young Siward enters and
demands his name. Macbeth responds that he will be afraid to hear it.
Macbeth kills Young Siward in the ensuing duel, commenting that Young
Siward must have been “born of woman" (12).
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 8
Macduff enters alone and shouts a challenge to Macbeth, swearing to
avenge the death of his wife and children. As he exist, he asks Fortune
to help him find Macbeth.
Act 5, Scene 9
• Malcolm and Siward enter and charge the castle.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 10
• Macbeth enters, asserting that he should not “play the Roman fool” and
commit suicide (2). Macduff finds him and challenges him. Macbeth replies
that he has thus far avoided Macduff but that he is now ready to fight. As
they fight, Macbeth tells him that he “bears a charmed life”: he will only
fall to a man who is not born of woman (12). Macduff replies that the time
has come for Macbeth to despair: "let the angel whom thou still hast served
/ Tell thee Macduff was from his mother's womb / Untimely ripped. “
Macduff was born through the equivalent of a caesarian section (13-16).
Hearing this, Macbeth quails and says that he will not fight. Macduff replies
by commanding him to yield and become the laughing stock of Scotland
under Malcolm's rule. This enrages Macbeth, who swears he will never
yield to swear allegiance to Malcolm. They fight on and thus exit.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
Act 5, Scene 11
• Malcolm, Siward, and the other Thanes enter. Although they have won
the battle, Malcolm notes that Macduff and Young Siward are
missing. Ross reports that Young Siward is dead and eulogizes him by
stating that “he only lived but till he was a man, / The which no sooner
had his prowess confirmed / In the unshrinking station where he
fought, / But like a man he died” (6-9). After confirming that his son’s
wounds were on his front, in other words, that the Young Siward died
bravely in battle, Siward declares that he does not wish for a better
death for his son.
 Macbeth
Act 5 summary
• Macduff enters, carrying Macbeth's severed head and shouting, "Hail,
King of Scotland!" The men echo this shout, and the trumpets flourish
as Malcolm accepts the kingship. Malcolm announces that he will
rename the current thanes as earls. He will call back all the men whom
Macbeth has exiled and will attempt to heal the scarred country. All
exit towards Scone, where Malcolm will be crowned as King of
Scotland.
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
• Until Act 5, Macbeth has been tormented with visions and nightmares while
Lady Macbeth has derided him for his weakness. Now, the audience
witnesses the way in which the murders have also preyed on Lady Macbeth.
In her sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth plays out the theme of washing and
cleansing that runs throughout the play. After killing Duncan, she flippantly
tells Macbeth that "a little water clears us of this deed" (II ii 65). But the
deed now returns to haunt Lady Macbeth in her sleep. Lady Macbeth's
stained hands are reminiscent of the biblical mark of Cain – the mark that
God placed on Cain for murdering his brother Abel (Genesis 4:15). But
Cain's mark is a sign from God that protects Cain from the revenge of
others. Lady Macbeth's mark does not protect her from death, as she dies
only a few scenes later.
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
• The doctor's behavior in Act 5, Scene 3 resembles that of a
psychoanalyst. Like a Freudian psychoanalyst, the doctor observes
Lady Macbeth's dreams and uses her words to infer the cause of her
distress. Lady Macbeth's language in this scene betrays her troubled
mind in many ways. Her speech in previous acts has been eloquent
and smooth. In Act 1, Scene 4, for example, she declares to Duncan:
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
“All our service,
In every point twice done and then done double,
Were poor and single business to contend
Against those honors deep and broad wherewith
Your Majesty loads our house. For those of old,
And the late dignities heaped upon them,
We rest your hermits.” (I vi 14-19)
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
• In this speech, Lady Macbeth makes use of metaphor (Duncan's honor
is "deep and broad"), metonymy (he honors "our house," meaning the
Macbeths themselves), and hyperbole ("in every point twice done and
then done double"). Her syntax is complex but the rhythm of her
speech remains smooth and flowing, in the iambic pentameter used by
noble characters in Shakespearean plays. What a contrast it is,
therefore, when she talks in her sleep in Act 5:
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
“Out, damned spot, out, I say! One. Two. Why then, ‘tis time to do't.
Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear
who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would
have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him. . . The
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
with this starting.” (V i 30-48)
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
• In this speech, Lady Macbeth's language is choppy, jumping from idea
to idea as her state of mind changes. Her sentences are short and
unpolished, reflecting a mind too disturbed to speak eloquently.
Although she spoke in iambic pentameter before, she now speaks in
prose, thus falling from the noble to the prosaic.
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
• Lady Macbeth's dissolution is swift. As Macbeth's power grows,
indeed, Lady Macbeth's has decreased. She began the play as a
remorseless, influential voice capable of sweet-talking Duncan and of
making Macbeth do her bidding. In the third act, Macbeth leaves her
out of his plans to kill Banquo, refusing to reveal his intentions to her.
Now, in the last act, she has dwindled to a mumbling sleepwalker,
capable only of a mad and rambling speech. Whereas even the
relatively unimportant Lady Macduff has a stirring death scene, Lady
Macbeth dies offstage. When her death is reported to Macbeth, his
response is shocking in its cold apathy. (Here again, Macbeth stands in
relief to Macduff, whose emotional reaction to his wife's death almost
"unmans" him.)
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
• As the play nears its bloody conclusion, Macbeth's tragic flaw comes to the
forefront: like Duncan before him, his character is too trusting. He takes the
witches' prophesies at face value, never realizing that things are seldom
what they seem, an ironic flaw, given his own treachery. He thus foolishly
fortifies his castle with the few men who remain, banking on the fact that
the events that the apparitions foretold could not come true. But in fact, the
English army does bring Birnam Wood to Dunsinane. And Macduff, who
has indeed been "untimely ripped" from his mother's womb, advances to kill
Macbeth. The witches have equivocated; they told him a double truth,
concealing the complex reality within a framework that seems simple. (As a
side note, it may also be worthwhile to consider the dramatic “weight” of
such a conclusion: does it appear strange that such a tragic play should be
resolved through a more or less frivolous play on words?)
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
• It is fitting that the play ends as it began, with a victorious battle in
which a valiant hero kills a traitor and holds high the severed head.
The first we hear of Macbeth in Act 1 is the story of his bravery in
battle, wherein he decapitated Macdonwald’s and displayed it on the
castle battlements. At the end of the tragedy, Macbeth, himself a traitor
to Duncan and his family, is treated in exactly the same manner. After
killing Macbeth, Macduff enters with Macbeth's severed head and
exclaims, "behold where stands / Th'usurper's cursed head" ([Link].20-
21). The play thus ends with the completion of a parallel structure.
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
• One moral of the story is that the course of fate cannot be changed.
The events that the Weird Sisters predicted and set in motion at the
beginning of the play happen exactly as predicted, no matter what the
characters do to change them. Macbeth tries his hardest to force fate to
work to his bidding, but to no avail. Banquo still becomes the father of
kings, and Macbeth still falls to a man not born of a woman. The man
who triumphs in the end is the one who did nothing to change the fate
prescribed for him. The prophecy is self-fulfilling.
 Macbeth
Act 5 analysis
• The river of time thus flows on, despite the struggles of man. Although
Macbeth's reign of terror has made “the frame of things disjoint,” by
the end of the play, the tide of time has smoothed over Scotland (III ii
18). The unnatural uprising of Macbeth now in the past, Macduff
comments that “the time is free” (V xi 21). And Macbeth’s life proves
to be indeed a “tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing” (5.v.27-29). Time washes over his meaningless,
bloody history: Banquo’s family will give rise to the line of Stuart
kings, and Malcolm will regain the throne his father left him, all
exactly as if Macbeth had never dared to kill Duncan.
 Macbeth
Motif: The Supernatural
• Supernatural forces play a paramount role in Macbeth. Starting as
early as the first scene, audiences see the supernatural at work in the
form of the three witches who predict Macbeth's rise to power.
Macbeth's hallucinations could also be considered elements of the
supernatural, and after having Banquo and his sons murdered,
Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost. The supernatural elements of the play
were both methods of entertainment for early modern audiences and
contribute to the play's major themes of uncertainty, madness, and
ambition.
 Macbeth
Symbol: The Dagger
• In Act Two, Macbeth hallucinates a dagger floating in front of him and
longs to clutch its handle. The dagger symbolizes the treacherous and
doomed path that Macbeth will travel for the rest of the play, starting
with the murder of Duncan and continuing with the murders of anyone
who threatens Macbeth's crown. In this way, the dagger – which
Macbeth sees as a sign of his own power – foreshadows Macbeth's
own doom without his knowledge.
 Macbeth
Symbol: Bloody Hands
• Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth struggle to rid themselves of
Duncan's blood after his murder. Macbeth wonders if his hands will
ever wash clean. Bloody hands therefore symbolize guilt and shame,
which, though physically clean, will inevitably leave behind anxiety
and worry over the sin committed.
 Macbeth
Motif: The Weather
• Many early modern plays make use of the weather in order to cultivate
a certain mood for a performance. Macbeth is not exception, and is
perhaps one of the plays most famous for its inclusion of weather
events in its plot. The play is perpetually dark, full of storms, clouds,
and ominous weather that makes characters question their sanity. In
this way, the weather helps maintain the play's overall bleak and
doomed tone.
 Macbeth
Symbol: Sleep
• In the play, sleep symbolizes peace and tranquility. When Macbeth
murders Duncan in his sleep, he disturbs not just Duncan's slumber but
his own ability to find inner peace for the rest of the play. Macbeth is
plagued with a restless sleep for the remainder of the performance. As
such, Macbeth serves as a disruption to an otherwise peaceful and
prosperous reign, especially considering how well-liked Duncan was
as a ruler.
 Macbeth
Macbeth's Face (metaphor)
• Lady Macbeth cautions Macbeth against showing his every emotion,
and encourages him to be more stoic so as to conceal his inner
thoughts. She tells him, "Your face, my thane, is as a book where men /
May read strange matters," using a simile to suggest that Macbeth's
face is easily readable by others (1.5).
 Macbeth
Appearance (simile)
• Following her accusation that Macbeth does not conceal his anguish
well enough, Lady Macbeth encourages him to "Look like th' innocent
flower, / But be the serpent under ’t" (1.5). In this metaphor, Lady
Macbeth is telling her husband to appear benevolent while secretly
maintaining his hidden agenda of murdering Duncan.
 Macbeth
Duncan's Death (metaphor)
• After Macbeth murders Duncan, he is tasked with telling Malcom and
Donalbain that their father has died. He says, "The spring, the head,
the fountain of your blood / Is stopped; the very source of it is
stopped" (2.3). In this metaphor, Macbeth compares Duncan to the
origin of the boys' own lives, showcasing the play's interest, once
again, in patrilineal inheritance.
 Macbeth
Banquo and Fleance (metaphor)
• Once Macbeth learns that Banquo's sons are to inherit the crown, he
becomes anxious about Banquo and his young son, Fleance. Seeing
them, he says to himself, "There the grown serpent lies. The worm
that’s fled / Hath nature that in time will venom breed; / No teeth for
th’ present" (3.4). In this metaphor, Macbeth compares Banquo to a
snake who threatens his power, while also comparing Fleance to a
young serpent who will eventually also pose a threat. These thoughts
are what lead Macbeth to order the murder of Banquo and his son.
 Macbeth
Macduff's Grief (metaphor)
• After learning of the murder of his wife and children, Macduff
laments, "All my pretty ones? / Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? /
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam / At one fell swoop?" (4.3).
In this metaphor, Macduff affectionately refers to his wife and children
as a family of chickens while also comparing Macbeth to a murderous
kite, or bird of prey.
 Macbeth
Duncan's Arrival (irony)
• In Act One, when King Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle, he says,
"This castle hath a pleasant seat" (1.6). This statement is an example of
verbal irony because, though Duncan feels welcome and comfortable
in the castle, the audience knows it will soon be the setting for his
murder.
 Macbeth
Macbeth's News (irony)
• After murdering Duncan, Macbeth informs Malcom and Donalbain of
their father's death, saying, "The spring, the head, the fountain of your
blood / Is stopped; the very source of it is stopped" (2.3). Here,
Macbeth appears aggrieved and shocked by Duncan's death, but in
actuality is the very murderer who took the king's life.
 Macbeth
Lady Macbeth (irony)
• Lady Macbeth's incessant washing of her hands represents a moment
of dramatic irony in the play. While the other characters in the scene
assume she has simply gone mad, the audience knows that her
behavior stems from her own sense of guilt over having taken part in
Duncan's murder.
 Macbeth
Macduff (irony)
• The witches’ prophecy that Macbeth will become king and will not be
overthrown by any man "of woman born" (4.1). Their prophecy leaves
little doubt over Macbeth's continued rule, but the audience knows
that Macbeth is a tragedy and that the lead character will soon fall. The
witches' prophecy therefore represents a moment of situational irony,
as the audience knows that their prediction will in some way be
challenged, despite not knowing how (eventually, the audience will
learn that Macduff was born by Caesarian section, and therefore not
"of woman").
 Macbeth
Clothing (imagery)
• Throughout Macbeth, characters make frequent reference to clothes
and clothing, as related to one’s station or occupation. Often, these
remarks usually concern clothing that is ill-fitting or simply “wrong”
for someone to be wearing. The clothing imagery that appears in the
play therefore, underscores the eerie sense in the play that something
is amiss, or that someone is wrongfully "impersonating" somebody
else, such as, of course, Macbeth becoming king only after secretly
murdering Duncan.
 Macbeth
Blood (imagery)
• Like most Shakespearean tragedies, blood plays a central role as an
image in Macbeth. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth experience
anxiety as they attempt to wash blood from their hands, blood which is
likely already gone but which they perceive as lingering because of
their crippling guilt. In the play, blood signifies violence, of course,
but also the shame associated with perpetrating such violence, which
both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth struggle to conceal.
 Macbeth
Sleep (imagery)
• Sleep, or lack thereof, also plays an important role in developing the
dramatic imagery of the play. Macbeth kills Duncan in his sleep, an
action that catalyzes Macbeth's own restless sleep for the remainder of
the play. While sleep signifies peace and tranquility, the number of
sleepless nights that occur in the play suggests the paranoid and guilt-
ridden conscience with which Macbeth grapples.
 Macbeth
Children (imagery)
• Multiple characters make reference to children throughout Macbeth,
but none so famously as Lady Macbeth, who recounts having nursed
an infant while also stating that she would have murdered her child for
power. This disturbing imagery helps paint a portrait of Lady Macbeth
as a more complex character while also defying the conventions of
how women, specifically noblewomen, should behave. Furthermore,
the repeated imagery of babies, children, and sons throughout the play
emphasizes Macbeth’s preoccupation with succession, as only first-
born sons could inherit the throne, and he and Lady Macbeth have no
children.