Macbeth

Macbeth

1. King Duncan

   • Generous
     • He cannot praise Macbeth enough
     • 'More is thy due than more than all can pay'
   • Fair and Just
     • 'So clear in his great office'
     • Example of a good king - provides a contrast to Macbeth
   • Well respected and liked - largely popular
     • 'Tears shall drown the wind'
     • Macbeth considers how the population will react to the death of Duncan
   • Sensible
     • Doesn't fight in the front lines - sends the best people instead
   • Not afraid to be emotional
     • Less aggressive and more gentle
   • Macbeth later credits qualities that Duncan displayed'
     • Macbeth - a ruler should have 'stableness', 'mercy', and 'justice'

2. Macbeth

   • He is a warrior
     • Very courageous
     • 'For brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name'
     • The captain is impressed by Macbeth's bravery
     • Ambition/Morality conflict
   • Not naturally brutal
     • Lady Macbeth - '[Macbeth is] too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way'
     • Lady Macbeth is far more evil
     • Macbeth is white and pure, like milk
   • Banquo feels that Macbeth is being corrupted after seeing the witches
     • 'Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all'
       • 'As weird women promised, and, I fear thou played most foully for't'
     • Just like the witches said: 'Fair is foul and foul is fair'
   • He is thought of as a mass murderer at the end of the play
     • 'This dead butcher'
     • 'Malcolm refuses to use his name'
   • Easily Manipulated
     • Lady Macbeth maintains easy control over him
       • 'What beast was it then'
         • 'Was the hope drunk?'

3. Lady Macbeth

   • Gains and abuses Duncan's Trust
     • Duncan - 'Our honoured hostess' 'Fair and Noble hostess'
   • Hostess emphasises that she will be inhospitable to others
   • Abuses the Trust of Macbeth
     • Macbeth - 'My dearest partner of greatness'
     • He sees her as an equal
     • Easily manipulates him
       • Dominant in the relationship
         • In control of Macbeth
   • Macbeth notes her masculine qualities
     • Macbeth - 'bring forth men-children only' 'thy undaunted mettle should compose [of] nothing but males'
     • Lack of femininity
       • 'Unsex me here'
   • Like the devil
     • 'Fiend like queen'
     • association with hell
     • 'direst cruelty'
   • Intelligent and Devious
     • Faints after "hearing" about Duncans death to cover it up.
     • Devises the plot to murder Duncan
     • Uncontextual
     • 'Look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't'
   • Sucumbs to her guilt.
     • 'Out damned spot!'
     • Kills herself shortly before the end of the play
     • Possibly due to Macbeth's distancing from her