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Macbeth as a Tragic HeroIn the classical Greek drama that Shakespeare moulded many of his plays on, a hero is a man of noble birth, who is intelligent, brave, strong and, in true epic style, battles evil forces. However, a tragic hero brings about his own downfall because of one fault or flaw in his character. Macbeth is a Scottish noble, the Thane of Glamis. We know he is brave as we hear the report of his battle with the rebels and Norwegian forces. His intelligence is seen early on in his analysis of the witches’ message and predictions and in the way he considers his options. He is strong and “resolute” until he meets his nemesis. His one fault is, perhaps, his "vaulting ambition" which leads him to act on the witches’ message in his own bloody way. Plot SummaryACT I: MACBETH’S RISING FORTUNEi The witches predict a battle and a meeting with Macbeth (M) ii Duncan gets news of Macbeth’s bravery and rewards M as Thane of Cawdor. iii The witches meet M and predict his reward. M is rewarded and begins to think of kingship. iv Duncan executes Cawdor, names Malcolm as his heir and M as his favourite. M is plots for kingship v Lady M gets M’s letter and plots D’s murder M arrives home (Inverness) vi Duncan is greeted by lady M vii M hesitates, but is persuaded by Lady M ACT II: MACBETH SEIZES POWERi Banquo and Fleance retire, Banquo reminds M of the prediction. M murders Duncan ii Lady M and M discuss the murder, Lady M frames the guards iii Comic Relief Macduff and Lennox discover Duncan’s murder. M kills the guards Malcolm & Donalbain decide to escape iv Ross and Macduff discuss M’s coronation ACT III: MACBETH’S CRUEL REIGNi M invites Banquo to dinner, then plots his murder ii Lady M and M discuss their plots iii Banquo is murdered iv M hears of Banquo’s murder M sees Banquo’s ghost at his dinner table, the party is ruined v Hecate plans M’s downfall vi Lennox reveals Macduff’s defection ACT IV: MACBETH’S CRUEL REIGNi Witches give M false courage M hears of Macduff’s defection ii M takes his revenge out on L Macduff iii Malcolm receives and wins over Macduff Ross tells Macduff of the murders ACT V: MACBETH’S DOWNFALLi Doctor treats Lady M ii Menteith, Angus, Caithness, & Lennox defect iii Macbeth hears of the English attack and defections iv Malcolm makes for Dunsinane and Birnam Wood v LM commits suicide. vi Malcolm surrounds Dunsinane vii Malcolm takes Dunsinane & M kills Young Siward (in battle) viii M and Macduff fight, Old Siward hears of his son’s death. Macduff beheads M.
SOME THEMES1. IMAGES OF NATUREIn a nutshell, conflict, rebellion, and evil are signaled by disturbances of nature. The tone of the play is set by the witches who meet in "thunder and lightning" and then later meet with Macbeth in "in thunder, lightning, or in rain" Before Macbeth meets them, he notes that "so fair and foul a day I have not seen." The witches seem to be continually associated with foul, unnatural things: they "Hover through the fog and filthy air" and then concoct that disgusting brew for Macbeth. The weather might personify the witches, meaning that the witches themselves are disturbances, though not limited to nature. The bad weather also might mean that the witches are bad or foul ("filthy air") creatures. Another disturbance in nature comes from Macbeth's mouth just before he murders Duncan, "Now o'er the one half-world / Nature seems dead." This statement might mean that wherever he looks, the world seems dead (there is no hope). It might also give him conceited ideas that the murder he is about to commit will have repercussions spreading far. Just before the discovery of Duncan's murder, there is a report that the earth was "feverous" (sick with a fever), of "chimney's blown down", "strange lamentings (wailing) heard in the air", and other natural disturbances - similar to those mentioned in Julius Caesar just before that poor man's murder. In Act II, Scene I, it is a dark night. Fleance says "The moon is down" (line 2), and Banquo says, "[Heaven's] candles are all out [there are no stars in the sky]" (line 5). Darkness evokes feelings of evil, of a disturbance in nature on this accursed night. It creates a perfect scene for the baneful murders. The doctor says in Act V, Scene i, line 10, "A great perturbation in nature," while talking about Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking. This is just another example of how nature is disturbed by evil human doings. After the Scottish nobles leave Macbeth and join Malcolm, they describe Macbeth's kindgom as sickly, it is overrun by weeds. In fact, Macbeth's downfall is brought about by someone unnaturally born and signaled by the weird event of a forest uprooting itself. 2. MASKS (Appearance vs Reality)The witches give us another clue as to how to read the play when they state, "fair is foul and foul is fair ... when the battle's lost and won. In other words, reality has been masked: it appears to be something, but in reality is something else. We can delve very deeply into philosophy here. Even poor old Duncan himself notes that "there's no art to tell the mind's construction in the face." The old Thane of Cawdor had appeared loyal, but turned out a traitor, just like what happens to Macbeth. In Act I, scene v, as Lady Macbeth talks to Macbeth, she gives him specific instructions: "Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye", and "Your hand, your tongue: like th' innocent flower/But be the serpent under 't." Or in other words, put on a poker face so no one will suspect us (be foul though seem fair, as the witches put it in scene one). Throughout the play, many characters put on metaphorical masks to hid their true nature, thoughts, or feelings. In scene vi, Lady Macbeth puts on her mask. She says (lines 14 - 20) that the service and hospitality are nothing "Against those honors deep and broad wherewith / Your Majesty loads our house . . ." She easily keeps any suspicion off of her in her ruse. There's one other thing before we move on. "But be the serpent under 't" (line 67). Lady Macbeth might be referring to herself, that she is the serpent under Macbeth, and that Macbeth is the mask, or screen, which diverts attention from Lady Macbeth. As said earlier, Banquo sees through Macbeth's masks. In Act III, scene i, Banquo puts up his own masks. He almost knows that Macbeth is the murderer, but he hides his suspicions while he idly talks to Macbeth. The masks aren't always limited to uses of evil. 3. THE PARADOXThe witches chorus on Act I, Scene I, line 10: "Fair is foul, and foul is fair." This is a paradox. It is also a prophecy, where one thing seems like another (the characters of the play), or about how things will change through the story (again the characters). Being so early in the play, it is a good grasper for the reader. Not being a simple statement, it makes the reader think about the line to find some meaning for themselves. This theme is a subtle theme, but no with out meaning. We will refer to this theme again and again throughout the play, adding new lines to the theme, or analyzing characters and events using this theme. The first thing that Macbeth says when he enters scene three (line 38) is, "So foul and fair a day I have not seen." Maybe when the witches said "Fair is foul, and foul is fair," during scene one, they were just referring to the condition of the day when they meet Macbeth, though I believe that there is more, something we see later in the play. 4. IMAGES
OF WOMEN
The witches are our first indication that women are given serious treatment in the play. When Macbeth first sees them he asks what they are since they look like women yet have beards! Our normal expectation of feminine beauty is upset. Women are shown to have power over men with the most terrible consequences. It is the witches and Lady Macbeth that control Macbeth's thoughts and actions, urging him to be "bloody, bold and cruel" and to act without "kindness" to catch the nearest way. It is also because of the their advice that Macbeth loses our respect as a hero and turns into a tragic figure. Lady Macbeth acts like a man. "Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here," says Lady Macbeth. She wishes she were a man, losing all her feminine qualities of kindness, love, tenderness, pity, etc. "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 compunctions visitings of nature / Shake my fell purpose, not keep peace between / Th' effect and it!" (lines 43 - 48). This is what a true man to Lady Macbeth is. To help convince Macbeth not to call the murder off, Lady Macbeth questions his manhood. She says, "When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man" (lines 49 - 51). The sad part is that Lady Macbeth truly does believe that Macbeth wouldn't be a man if he didn't agree to the killing. Probably the most direct example of manhood being a theme in Macbeth is Macduff. When Macduff gets news of his wife and children's murders, Malcolm implores him to "dispute it like a man" (line 220), Macduff says that he must also "feel it as a man" (line 221), which changes the image of a man given above by Lady Macbeth. While she portrays men as being cruel and cold-hearted, Macduff shows that a man is cruel and cold when he needs to be, but feels just as intensely as he acts. 5. Light vs DarkMuch of this play is filled with the struggle between light and darkness. Darkness is connected to Lady Macbeth and Macbeth: he asks for darkness to hide his desires, she asks for thick night to hid the muder from heaven. Strangely, Macbeth mourns his wife as a brief candle, "Out, out brief candle" - but this could mean that she can only live in darkness. He then carries on to say how we are simply shadows in this life. Macduff is the hero of the play. He is the light that will soon come to a final climactic battle with the dark (Macbeth). There is also religious meaning to this: God against the devil, Macbeth being the devil (remember how he couldn't say "Amen" in Act II? and how Macduff calls him "Hell-hound." This theme has been used in many contemporary stories; it's an epic battle of good vs. evil.
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