Macbeth

Macbeth

1. Ambition

   • becomes a lust for power
     • Illustrates the dangers of un checked ambition & how it can take over from a persons moral boundaries
   • "brave macbeth" "noble macbeth" "valiant"
     • he is brave, honourable, and moral at start of play, his ambition was for good, for his king and country
     • noble- high up in society, centre of attention, well recogonised
       • looked up to... in lower position to Duncan, despite this he was still high;y honoured
   • "human kindness"
   • "I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack'd"
     • despite the fact his ambition is now for evil, he still is the person he was at the start, brave- he will fight till his death
   • "stars, hide your fires! let not light see my dark deep desires"
     • hes aware that his 'desires' are so evil he cannot let anyone know the truth
     • secrecy
       • "false face must hide what false heart doth know"
         • he knows what he will do is wrong, its 'false', yet he carries on to do it in secrety
     • no longer going to wait for 'fate' or 'chance'.. he wants to take action... to 'o'er leap'
   • "on which i must fall down, or else o'erleap"
     • he will do anything
     • he aims high
   • "nothing is/ But what is not"
     • nothing is real to him, but what is imagernary
       • fantasy is enough to 'function' his normal grip on reality

2. Kindess or Lack

   • "Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness, To catch the nearest way."
     • his wife, LMB, is scared that he is 'too full of' 'human kindness' that he cannot become evil, however the darkness takes over him later
   • "heat opprreessed brain"
     • lack of warmth
       • 'brain', asin his mind, he doesnt use his heart no more

3. Guilt

   • he cannot say "amen", as he is tormented by his own guilt
   • "hangmans hands"
     • sees himself as an executioner, as his hands are covered in blood, when he tries to wash away the blood he finds it impossible, realising the impossibility of washing away guilt
   • BLOOD- recurring theme, refers to guilt
     • "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?"
   • through Banquos ghost
     • "thou canst not say i did it, never shake thy glory locks at me"
   • "terrible dreams shake us nightly"
     • cannot sleep, having nightmares
       • IRONIC... LMB told him to sleep, but later on she felt guilt which was shown through her being afraid of the dark and then when she does sleep she is found sleepwalking

4. Consequence is guilt

   • "is this the dagger which is see before me?"
     • hallucinating, shows hes changed so much, his mindset, no longer can control fictio & reality
   • "sleep no more"
     • distraught- his fate is sealed by his own hands, his guilt has caused the unaturalness, or sleeplessness

5. Tyranny

   • once he has attained the object of his ambition, Macbeth's character undergoes a change. He is no longer the cautious and hesitating plotter, but becomes bolder and more energetic in his scheming. He now takes to bloodshed readily. Lady Macbeth's taunts are not required now to spur him on. He plans the murder of Banquo in a most careful and business-like manner. He tells the murderers:
     • "I will advise you where to plant yourselves; Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time, The moment on't; for 't must be done to-night."