macbeth character analysis
describe how macbeth changes throughout the play:
- he starts off as a paragon of jacobean masculinity
- he was a brave and loyal soldier to his king and country; he only uses violence to defend them
-his hamartia of ambition starts to take over and his moral conscience and integrity start to deteriorate
- his errupting ambition and rapacious lust for power ends up guiding him to commit sin and his downfall
- he is described as a tyrant [someone who rules in fear/violence]
- his paranoia, guilt and hubrism takes over and he soon holds nihilistic views
- he dies as a traitor and is described as a tragic hero [someone who starts of as a noble figure but in the end suffers a tragic downfall]
epithet quotes from act 1, scene 2:
"brave macbeth"/"noble macbeth"/"valient cousin"/"worthy gentleman"
- plethora of positive epithets: shows the perception of macbeth through others
- amplifies his loyalty and courage as his violence is celebrated due to it being used to defend his king and country, making him a paragon of jacobean masculinity
-adjectives: particularly show his boldness
- parenthetical clause "for well he deserves that name" : legitimises the praise bestowed upon him; it is not merely insubstantial flattery but instead hes earned it through courage, effort and skill
- this same audacity and courage however is condemned later in the play as its used to serve his own interests
precision quotes from act 1, scene 2:
"unseamed him from the navel to the chaps"/"carved out his passage"/"brandished steel"
- reinforces his innate capacity for violence and ruthlessness
- however this dynamic verb elevates his violence as it creates an image of a tailor carefully unseaming a garment with skill
- it also shows the extent he goes to in order to protect his king and country
- dynamic verb shows his precision and skill; it further elevates his violence and ruthlessness, presenting it as something honorable and to be admired
- periphrases: elevates the status of his weapon in war
- his violence and ruthlessness is admired; later in the play it is feared as its employed to commit treachorous acts of betrayal and serve his rapacious lust for power
foul and fair quote in act 1, scene 3:
"so foul and fair a day i have not seen"
- echoes the words of the witches
- aligns macbeth with the supernatural; foreshadows the corruption of his moral integrity which is catalysed by the witches prophecies
- also foreshadows the embodiement of the paradoxical relationship between appearance vs reality
stars quote from act 1, scene 4:
"stars hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires"
- personification: concrete noun could refer to the heavens/god
- macbeth doesnt want them to see his sins; moreover he wants to operate in darkness so he himself doesnt see his corruption and villanous acts alongside god
- juxtaposition: light symbolises his moral integrity and conscience whereas black symbolises his desire and ambition; dual/conflict between the two
- amplifies his fragmented state of mind and internal conflict
vaulting ambition quote from act 1 scene 7
"i have no spur to prick the sides of my intent but only vaulting ambition which overleaps itself and falls on the other"
- metaphor: reveals his awareness of his hamartia of ambition as well as the recognition that this impulse will lead him to overleap himself and fall to his demise
- ambition is self destructive; it overleaps itself rather than something making it overleap
- zoomorphised language: ambition is portrayed as some wayward creature that rises and falls to its own accord as it overleaps itself with an agency of its own /
externalised ambition as a seperate being / argues that future sin he comits is ironically not under his control
if good quote from act 1 scene 7
"if good why do i yield to that suggestion which doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs?"
- conditional conjunction and rhetorical question: reveals macbeths questioning of his strength and integrity in morality which is in conflict with his errupting ambition
- dynamic verb: act of surrendering to a force greater than oneself: foreshadows macbeth giving in to his ambition as its impossible to resist and morality is weak
- his horror is manifested into his physical response
- euphemistic language: refers to regicide / reveals that macbeth is aware of how morally wrong this act is and how terrible it is which makes him unable to bare saying the word
neptune quote from act 2 scene 2
"will all great neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?"
- hyperbolic language: highlights his extent of guilt and desperation to be absolved of this sin
- rhetorical question: isnt expecting as a response as he already knows what it will be but he is in denial
- referance to roman god: god of sea / reinforces the epic scale of his sin
-blood symbolises guilt and sin
- dynamic verb: allusion to christian practice of baptism- the cleansing of oneself from sin / macbeth is unable to be cleansed due to the magnitude of this cardinal sin
scorpions quote from act 3 scene 2
"o full of scorpions is my mind"
- metaphor: represents the torterous nature of his guilt which like a scorpion plagues his mind and causes psychological pain and distress / the scorpions sting and venom may symbolise his ambition which posions and infects his mind; corrupting his morality which leads him to his demise and eternal damnation
shakespeares intention
perhaps shakespeare aims to warn his audience against the corruptive power of unchecked ambition free from social moral and religious restraint. this is a message that would undoubtably appeal to shakespeares patron king james 1 who would understandably disaprove of a play depicting regicide without devistating consequences after the recent attempt on his life by the gun powder plotters
partner quote from act 1 scene 5
"my dearest partner of greatness"
- noun phrase: highlights strength of relationship
- superlative: exposes intensity of macbeths love for his wife
- noun: reveals foundation of equality upon their marriage; a power dynamic that would be shocking to a jacobean audience as husbands were the dominant force and wifes were expected to be submissive in every way
what quote juxtaposes with "my dearest partner of greatness"?
"be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck"
sleep no more quote from act 2 scene 2
"cawdor shall sleep no more macbeth shall sleep no more"
- sleep symbolises peace and innocence / macbeths guilty conscience due to his cardinal sin of regicide means he is no longer able to sleep in peace
what quote does "macbeth shall sleep no more" juxtapose with?
- "after lifes fitful fever he sleeps well"
- lmbs sleep walking
innocent of knowledge quote in act 3 scene
"be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck"
- reveals the deterioration of his relationship with his wife as he is no longer reliant on her as a source of motivation and emotional fortitude as he is now driven by his errupting ambition and paranoia
- she was once his equal however now he refuses to tell her the plan to kill banquo and commands her
- patronising term of endearment: dissmisive and infantilising attitude towards his former "partner of greatness"
- however could also show his enduring love for her as he attempts to protect her from becoming further embroiled in his trajectory of evil