Macbeth Summary

Macbeth Summary

1. Themes

   • Ambition
     • The weird sisters' prophecies spur both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to try to fulfill their ambitions
     • Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were never forced to do what they did, they acted on their own to fufil their deepest desires
   • Fate
     • From the moment the weird sisters tell Macbeth and Banquo their prophecies, both the characters and the audience are forced to wonder about fate.
   • Violence
     • Macbeth makes an important point about the nature of violence: every violent act, even those done for selfless reasons, seems to lead inevitably to the next
   • Nature and the Unnatural
     • When Macbeth disrupts the social and political order by murdering Duncan and usurping the throne, nature goes haywire. Incredible storms rage, the earth tremors, animals go insane and eat each other.
   • Manhood
     • Over and over again in Macbeth, characters discuss or debate about manhood: Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth when he decides not to kill Duncan, Banquo refuses to join Macbeth in his plot, Lady Macduff questions Macduff's decision to go to England, and on and on.

2. Characters

   • Macbeth
     • Weak, easily persuaded to kill king
     • Brave in battle: Duncan calls him "noble Macbeth" because he is so tough
     • He is tempted by ambition. He talks about his "black and deep desires" (to be king)
     • He considers killing Duncan. He thinks about "that suggestion" (of killing Duncan)
     • He is led by his wife. She tells him to "Leave all the rest to me."
     • Macbeth has hallucinations. "Is this a dagger which I see before me"
     • He has a conscience. He cannot say "Amen" after the murder
     • He regrets killing Duncan. He says he would "wake Duncan" if only he could
     • Macbeth changes in the play He becomes more confident and quick to act
     • He becomes rude. He calls a servant "whey-face"
     • He is not afraid to die. "I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack'd"

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