3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 1

Macbeth
William Shakespeare

Guide written by Stewart Martin

A Literature Guide for GCSE

3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 4
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 5
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 6
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 7
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 8

Who’s who in Macbeth

Macbeth
Who’s who

In Act 1, Macbeth is a successful general, described as

noble, valiant and ‘brave’, and respected by his king
and his fellow soldiers. He has a significant flaw in
his nature, however – ambition. This leads him to
kill the rightful King of Scotland, and the evil of this
murder has powerful effects on him and the whole
country. Macbeth knows that what he does is evil and initially is
thrown into a moral quandary, but eventually the temptation is too
strong. The witches play upon Macbeth’s weakness and so does
his equally ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth thinks that the
supernatural powers of the witches will help him, but instead they
lead him to ruin. Macbeth’s downfall is really his own fault,
because he makes a deliberate choice to take the road to evil. He
is responsible for the murder of King Duncan, his two sleeping
guards, his colleague Banquo, Lady Macduff and her children and
Young Siward.

At the end of the play, Macbeth has changed from the ‘Noble
Macbeth’ he was at the start, to a ‘butcher’ and a ‘bloody tyrant’
hated by everyone. Macbeth is, however, a strong character and is
fully aware of the good he has rejected. He is a fascinating character
because he is much more than just a horrible monster. It is possible
to feel repelled by the evil in Macbeth and at the same time to feel
sorry for the waste of all the good things in his character.

The play has a tight, compact structure and all the action centres
on Macbeth. We are granted access to his thoughts through a
series of illuminating soliloquies in which he shares his dilemma
and future plans with the audience. As a result, we feel very close
to this protagonist.

8
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 9

You could think of Macbeth as someone who is too suspicious of

those he should have trusted and too trusting of the witches,
whom he should have suspected more. Or perhaps he is a terrified
man trying to escape from his own conscience. Some people

Who’s who
have interpreted Macbeth as a brave soldier who is also a moral
coward. When making up your own mind, it may help to think
of how Macbeth may have been seen by Banquo, Lady Macbeth
or Macduff.

Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife. At the start of the play
she seems to have a very strong character – stronger
even than Macbeth’s, for she persuades him to go
against his nature and better judgement. However,
by the end she is reduced to a pitiful figure, afraid of
the dark. At the beginning she is Macbeth’s ‘dearest
partner of greatness’, but at the end she is his ‘fiend-like queen’.

It can be tempting to see Lady Macbeth as a traditional villainess,

and certainly she has a lust for power. It is her goading that leads
Macbeth to seize the throne of Scotland by murdering King
Duncan. However, while she can talk in a brutal and aggressive way
about murdering her own baby, she cannot bring herself to murder
the king herself because he reminds her of her own father. This
detail is sentimental and suggests, perhaps, that Lady Macbeth is
all words. She can brag and bluster, but action defeats her. By the
end of the play, Lady Macbeth is shown to be unable to cope with
the evil she has unleashed. Macbeth begins to cut her out of his
plans very quickly and, left ignorant and alone to deal with her
mental anguish, she goes insane.

Lady Macbeth is often seen as a symbol of evil, like the witches, but
at the end she has become its victim, just like her husband. It seems
doubly pitiful that, even in death, her desperate attempt to find

9
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 10

rest and eternal sleep eludes her. It is suggested that she commits
suicide, and traditionally this would have meant that her soul was
not saved. She would have been destined to wander forever in
purgatory.
Who’s who

Banquo
Banquo is a loyal and honourable Scottish nobleman
who is with Macbeth when he first meets the witches.
Banquo senses that the witches are evil and is
deeply suspicious of their powers. The witches
predict that Banquo will father a line of rulers,
although he will not be one himself, and that he is ‘Lesser than
Macbeth, and greater’.

Despite their friendship, Macbeth comes to fear Banquo’s honesty

and has him murdered. A question that remains unanswered about
Banquo is whether this wise and moral man should – or could –
have taken action when he realised that Macbeth was involved in
the king’s murder. His silence after Duncan’s corpse is found is
rather telling, and later his words are chilling: ‘I fear/Thou play’dst
most foully’. Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth with the continual
reminder that Banquo’s children will be the rightful monarchs.
Perhaps this is his way of redressing the action he should have
taken earlier on in the play.

Duncan
Duncan is the rightful King of Scotland who is murdered
by Macbeth for his throne. He is noble, well-respected,
dignified and appreciative of loyalty in others. Duncan is
generous and trusting of the people around him – perhaps
too trusting – especially of the two Thanes of Cawdor, both
of whom betray him. Although we only see him in Act 1, Duncan is

10
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 11

an important symbol of all the things which Macbeth overthrows and

destroys. He represents the divine right of kings to rule, and although
in real Scottish history Duncan was a feeble and weak king, in this
play he is presented as a wise and honourable ruler.

Who’s who
Macduff
Macduff is one of the few characters who instantly
believes Macbeth to be Duncan’s murderer.
He certainly does not consider Macbeth fit to be a king
and, dramatically, refuses to attend his coronation.
Macduff is a shrewd man who rejects belief in the
powers of witchcraft. His conversation with Malcolm
shows him to be honourable, loyal and patriotic and his reaction to
the slaughter of his family reveals his tender feelings as a husband
and father. In many ways he is presented as the dramatic opposite
to the character of Macbeth. Macduff is a ‘real man’, who vows
revenge in the traditional fashion but is generally opposed to
unnecessary bloodshed.

Interestingly, Macduff takes little part in the action until the final
stages, but he is trusted by Duncan and discovers the body of the
dead king. He immediately cuts himself off from any cooperation
with Macbeth, avoiding the royal court. When he returns from
England he helps to secure the throne for Malcolm by slaying
Macbeth in hand-to-hand combat.

The witches
The witches are the physical embodiment of evil in
the play. They are described as odd male/female
creatures that look inhuman, they are insubstantial
like air, and they have the power to create storms,
cause wrecks at sea and disappear at will. They

11
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 12

represent the supernatural world and dark temptation.

The world of the witches is terrifying and their language is full of

spitefulness, violence and grisly references to mutilation. The
Who’s who

witches never tell lies but, because they speak in puzzling riddles, it
is possible for Macbeth to hear only what he wants to hear.

In Shakespeare’s day there was widespread belief in the

supernatural world and the existence of witches, but people were
also starting to question many of the older ideas and beliefs about
supernatural things. This uncertainty is reflected in the play; we are
never quite sure whether the witches have any real power or
whether they can only persuade others by suggesting things to
them. The nature of the witches and their powers is ambiguous.

Donalbain and Malcolm

King Duncan has two sons, Donalbain and Malcolm. Malcolm is
named by his father as the next king. Like his father, he values
bravery and loyalty, but unlike him he is aware that it is possible to
trust people too much. Malcolm is quick to sense the danger after
Duncan’s murder and so, while his brother escapes to Ireland, he
flees to England. He has become shrewd and self-possessed by the
time we meet him again, in England, where he tests Macduff’s
loyalty. He leads an army back to Scotland where, together with
Macduff and other nobles, they defeat Macbeth. At the end of the
play, Malcolm makes a noble speech which seems designed to
convince the audience that Scotland once again has its rightful king.

12
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 13

Themes and images

Kingship and honour
Written for King James I, the play’s primary
focus is on kingship. The opening scenes show
brave warriors fighting to stop traitors and
foreign enemies seizing Scotland’s throne.
The main purpose of the play is to illustrate
vividly what happens when men like Macbeth do not behave honourably.
These men make bad kings. It is crucial to understand the significance of
Duncan’s murder. The implication is that the rightful king maintains the balance

Themes and images

of order, not only in the state but in the natural world (see section on Order
and Chaos). Throughout the play there are many references to the crown,
which is the symbol of kingship: ‘golden round’, ‘fruitless crown’, ‘murders on
their crowns’, ‘the round and top of sovereignty’ and ‘gold-bound brow’.

At the end of the play, Macbeth refuses to take the honourable, ‘Roman’
way of dying (falling on his sword) and challenges Macduff to a duel. The
fact that Macduff is the honourable man, and is fighting for the good of the
rightful heir to the throne, means that he is ultimately victorious. The play
ends with the line ‘see us crowned at Scone’.

Evil and the supernatural

The nature and effects of evil dominate the
action of the play from the mystical, eerie
opening scene. Shakespeare presents the view
that the potential for evil is present in nature,
in man and in animals, and the play’s imagery
evokes this. Evil is a force, manifested literally
in the supernatural shape of the three witches,
but it is also present in bad omens and signs.
The ‘rooky wood’, ‘crows’ and ‘black bat’ are all symbols of witchcraft.
There are other supernatural elements: Banquo’s ghost appearing to
taunt Macbeth, the dagger hallucination, the apparitions conjured by
the weird sisters and the unnatural events occurring in nature.
Audiences would have also understood the significance of other signs
of demonic possession – Macbeth cannot say ‘Amen’, and by the end of

13
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 14

the play he loses his sense of fear. Aside from the terrific dramatic
potential these events create, they would also have served as a moralistic
warning. Meddle with the forces of right and good by embracing evil and
these are the consequences.

Blood
Macbeth is a play drenched in blood. The
opening scenes feature reports of Macbeth
Themes and images

slashing his enemies in two, while the Thane of

Cawdor is beheaded as punishment for his
treason. After the murder of Duncan there
seems to be blood everywhere: on the two
daggers, smeared over the faces of the
sleeping grooms, on Macbeth’s hands, and
Lady Macbeth wonders how the ‘old man had so much blood in him’.
(It is referred to both overtly and in euphemism as ‘colour’, ‘incarnadine’,
‘gild’ and ‘red’.) After Banquo’s murder, one of the hired killers appears at
the banquet with blood on his face, and Banquo’s ghost shakes his ‘gory
locks’ at Macbeth. Lady Macbeth goes mad, desperately trying to wash
imaginary blood from her hands. Macduff is symbolised by a ‘bloody child’
and, at the end of the play, calls for Macbeth’s blood: ‘clamorous harbingers
of blood and death’. The play ends with Malcolm, of true royal blood, being
rightfully crowned.

Darkness and light

Images of light are linked to innocence and
purity. King Duncan says that the signs of
nobility are ‘like stars’. Light is a symbol of
truth, openness and goodness. Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth are creatures of the dark
because darkness symbolises treachery, cruelty
and evil. Macbeth tells the stars to hide their
fires and Lady Macbeth calls up the blackest
smoke of Hell to hide her actions. After Duncan has been murdered, Ross

14
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 15

comments that ‘dark night strangles the travelling lamp’, and when Banquo
is killed one of the murderers asks, ‘Who did strike out the light?’ Towards
the end of the play, when Lady Macbeth is overcome by guilt, she fears the
dark and needs to have a candle next to her all night. Interestingly, when
Macbeth hears of her death he murmurs ‘Out, out, brief candle’. Perhaps
he believes that the only peace available to her is in death.

Nature

Themes and images

This is a strong motif in the play. Natural growth
is seen as a symbol of order: there are
references to the ‘planting’ of seeds and of
people, to seeds germinating and to the
goodness of things growing naturally, especially
children. Under Macbeth, Scotland becomes
‘drowned with weeds’. Using pathetic fallacy,
elements from the natural world reveal the
atmosphere at certain times in the play. Birds of prey, toads and snakes
suggest a threatening atmosphere, the witches are accompanied by
storms, and as soon as Macbeth seizes the throne, nature is shown to be
thrown into disarray, with unnatural events occurring and the natural food
chain broken. The fact that trees are mentioned so often in the play, might
be a sly reference to the royal family tree. The nature motif reaches its
visual and dramatic climax when Macbeth sees Birnam Wood literally
uproot itself and march towards the castle. When Malcolm finally appears
he is surrounded by soldiers, all carrying leafy branches. Shakespeare’s
point is clear – Macbeth’s actions go against nature itself, and because of
this, even the natural world will play its part in his final uprooting.

Appearance and reality

One of the key themes in the play is that evil lurks behind the most innocent
and pleasant façade. Just because a person or a place looks attractive, does
not mean it can be trusted. Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to look like ‘the
innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’. She wants him to present a
picture of beauty and frailty, while being ready to strike and kill. Before fleeing

15
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 16

to Ireland, Donalbain shows great perception when he notes ‘there’s daggers

in men’s smiles’. He realises that just because things seem right on the
surface, he cannot ignore the fact that someone has brutally murdered his
father, and probably intends to kill him too. Significantly, Banquo comments
on how pleasant Macbeth’s castle is, with its perfumed air and flock of house
martins. Of course this could not be further from the truth, for it becomes the
gateway to Hell after Duncan’s murder.

Additionally, the weird sisters are mistresses of deception and their own
Themes and images

appearance means that Macbeth cannot initially tell whether they are
humans or not. The fact that they have beards blurs their gender, and their
riddles are deliberately designed to make Macbeth believe one thing when
they mean something entirely different.

Order and chaos

The duality of order versus chaos runs through the play. The first scene
opens against a chaotic backdrop of heavenly disorder, with thunder,
lightning and a terrible storm. The witches chant that ‘Fair is foul, and foul
is fair’ and this paradox sets the tone. Macbeth cannot tell whether the
witches are on his side or not and his murder of the king plunges the
country into turmoil. It is significant, too, that the witches appear after a
dreadful, bloody battle, where foreign invaders were threatening the
established status quo. Chaos and disorder are suggested in many ways.
Nature is turned upside down after King Duncan’s murder, when a falcon is
killed by an owl and Duncan’s horses eat each other.

People in Shakespeare’s time thought that every person and thing had a
natural place, decided by God. They also believed in the divine right of
kings to rule. This means that Macbeth’s main crime is in upsetting this
natural order. He murders people so that they die before their time. He
throws the political stability of Scotland into chaos and destroys his
marriage and his own mental ‘order’. His wife goes mad, breaking natural
order again by taking her own life. In the play, loyalty to the true king and
the state is shown as good, rebellion against it as bad. This is why traitors
are punished with death and why it is important for the audience to

16
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 17

witness the final single-handed combat between Macduff, representing

proper order, and Macbeth who stands for evil and disorder.

Children and babies

This is an important theme because children and babies represent
innocence and vulnerability. Macbeth is terrified that Banquo’s children will
be heirs to the throne. Ironically, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have no
children of their own, although Lady Macbeth hints that she knows how it

Themes and images

feels to suckle a child and talks about ‘dashing’ out the brains of a newborn
baby – words which reveal her ruthless ambition. Macbeth later has
Macduff’s children brutally slain, an action reinforced to the audience with
many references to their youth (they are called ‘fry’, meaning baby fish,
and ‘egg’). Shakespeare also features a bloody child as one of the witches’
apparitions, representing Macduff’s birth by caesarian section. So children,
in a way, are the cause of Macbeth’s final defeat.

17
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 18

About the author

Although Shakespeare is probably

recognised as the greatest playwright in
the world, very little detail is actually
known about his life. Information about
About the author

William Shakespeare

him has come to us from registrar

records, marriage certificates and
snippets of information detailed by his
rivals and fellow actors. One critic called
him ‘an upstart crow beautified with our
feathers’ and ‘the only Shakes-scene in a country’.

He was born in 1564, and although we cannot be certain of his actual

birthday, it is likely, and somehow fitting, that he was born on St
George’s Day (April 23rd) because there is evidence that he was
christened three days later.

He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the eldest son of John and Mary

Shakespeare. We know that William’s father was a town official of
Stratford and a local businessman, whose trade has been described
as a ‘glover’, because he worked with leather and produced items
like purses and gloves. Shakespeare himself is often described as a
keen businessman.

Despite the fact that his works are studied in virtually every school,
very little is known about Shakespeare’s own schooling. It is assumed
that he attended the King’s New Grammar School in Stratford, although
there is no concrete proof of this. He would have been taught basic
reading and writing, Latin and Greek history, as well as advanced
rhetoric, or the art of speech-making. Certainly, there is much evidence
in his plays of great skill in this latter subject. A lack of proof suggests
that he almost certainly never went to university.

In 1582, when he was only 18 years old, he married the much older
(and pregnant) Anne Hathaway, and by 1585 was the father of three

18
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 19

children: a daughter and a pair of twins. Never really a family man,

it is thought that around 1589 Shakespeare left his home in Stratford
to pursue his writing craft in London. For seven years he virtually
disappeared without trace – a time often referred to as the ‘Lost Years’.

About the author

It is conjectured that he may have had to flee Stratford after dicing with
the law following a spot of poaching, but nothing is known for sure.

His first poem, Venus and Adonis was entered in the Stationers’
Registrar in 1593, and two years later, pursuing his interest in the
theatre, he became a shareholder in ‘The Lord Chamberlain’s Men’,
an acting company that eventually became extremely popular.

By the end of the century, ‘The Globe’, the company’s most well-known
theatre (and recently rebuilt) opened on Bankside in London. It was
here that most of his plays were performed in the open air. His success
meant that he was awarded an accolade by King James I in 1603,
when his company was granted a royal patent. The acting troop was
renamed ‘The King’s Men’ and they played about 12 performances
each year at court.

In approximately 1609, Shakespeare is believed to have returned to

his family home and wife in Stratford, having been living virtually
permanently in London for 20 years (despite it being only four-days’ ride
away and the fact that his only son was taken ill and later died in 1596).

Shakespeare himself died in 1616, probably on his birthday, and was

later buried in Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon. In his will he
memorably left his daughter Susannah £300 and his wife, Anne, his
‘second-best bed’!

In his lifetime he wrote 37 plays and scores of sonnets and poems, and
his works were performed in front of both peasants and royalty. He is
credited with expanding the English language by some 3,000 words
(although not all are still in use today) and his legacy is a collection of
work that has never been rivalled.

19
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 20

Historical background
Shakespeare was a fine dramatist and storyteller, but he was not a
historian. He realised, however, that historical events could provide him
with superb material to be transformed into plays. For Macbeth he looked
to the historian Holinshed, who wrote The Chronicles of England, Scotland
and Ireland in 1587.
Historical background

The Scotland that Holinshed documented was a country in the

eleventh century, troubled by weak leaders and violent wars and
invasions. Murder and rebellion were commonplace and loyalty was
easily transferred between warring lords and landowners. Macbeth
was a real Scottish aristocrat, born in 1005. He was the son of a
wealthy family who ruled large portions of Scotland. His own father
was murdered and he eventually married Gruach, the granddaughter
of the High King. As in Shakespeare’s play, the Macbeths did not have
any children of their own.

The real King Duncan, unlike the one presented in the play, was a weak
and ineffectual ruler and many people were pleased when he was
killed. Macbeth was elected to replace him in 1040 and he ruled for 17
years, 10 of which were successful.

However, because Shakespeare wrote to please his own audience, he

always made changes to the sources he used. In the case of Macbeth,
it suited his story to have an ambitious warrior who wrongfully
displaced a good and honourable king. In Holinshed’s history, there is
also a suggestion that the king’s murder was performed by Macbeth
and Banquo together. As James I, the king on the throne during
Shakespeare’s life, was allegedly descended from Banquo’s line,
Shakespeare made very sure that his own Banquo was an innocent
party. He certainly did not want to upset his king and be accused of
treason – an offence punishable by death.

The witches were also added to excite and thrill a Stuart audience
fascinated by the supernatural. King James, in particular, was very
interested in witchcraft and in 1597 he published Daemonologie, a

20
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 21

book on the subject, which he made sure was printed in London in

1603. In addition, in 1590 it had been alleged that witches had plotted
to kill the king, but they were discovered and brought to trial. King James
personally interrogated one of the suspects, who was subsequently
horribly tortured.

Historical background
In order to add contextual interest, Shakespeare also made sure that
he added plenty of modern gossip and sly references to popular news
stories and events in all his plays. Macbeth is no different, and there
are many such hints and references – some from the drunken porter,
but others subtly inserted elsewhere in the play. For example, in Act 1
Scene 5 Shakespeare cleverly alludes to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
The medal minted to celebrate the defeat of the plotters showed a
snake concealed by flowers: ‘Look like the innocent flower, /
But be the serpent under’t.’

Rufus Sewell as Macbeth in the 1999, Queen’s Theatre production.

21
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 22

Text commentary
Act I

Scene 1
“
“
When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

The play starts dramatically with thunder, lightning and the

three witches. By starting the play in this way, Shakespeare
Text commentary

leaves you in no doubt about what it is going to be about.

The focus is on the struggle between the forces of good
and evil; a struggle between light and darkness. The
violent weather signifies from the very start that this is a
time of disorder and chaos. It is also clear who is to be the
target for the forces of evil: the witches make an appointment to
meet again to lure Macbeth to destruction.

Explore When the witches chant ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’
An ‘oxymoron’ is when you can guess that it is going to be hard in the play to
two opposite ideas tell the difference between good and evil. The way
are placed together. things appear may not be the way they really are. Things
The play is full of
that look good may turn out to be evil, evil things may
these contradictions.
Can you find others seem to be good; just like some characters in the play.
as you read on? The notion of appearance and reality and the ease with
which some characters are deceived is a key theme
running through Macbeth.

Greymalkin and Paddock are the witches’ familiars, demon-

companions in animal form, usually cats or toads. The fact that
Macbeth is the only other name mentioned might indicate that
he, too, will become a kind of pet for the witches.

22
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 23

Scene 2

The Captain tells Duncan about the bravery of

Macbeth and Banquo. They are in command of the
army that is fighting off an invasion. King
Duncan is grateful and makes Macbeth Thane
“
(Lord) of Cawdor.

“ The victory fell on us

King Duncan’s first words in the play are: ‘What bloody man
is that?’ Duncan is referring to the Captain, who is bleeding
because he has come straight from battle. The recurring

Text commentary
image of spilled blood appears a lot in the play. It is ironic
that Duncan should mention it first. Macbeth is ambitious to
become king and will soon make a ‘bloody man’ out of Duncan.

Explore The loyalty and bravery of Macbeth and Banquo are

Macbeth is referred contrasted with the treason and cowardice of the Thane
to as ‘Bellona’s of Cawdor, who betrayed the king and joined the enemy.
bridegroom’. Bellona
was the Roman
goddess of war. What The Captain says that Macbeth and Banquo were savage
does this say about in battle. Macbeth’s savagery is praised here because it
Macbeth and why has preserved the rightful king. Nevertheless, he is
might this be even
described using violent and blood-thirsty imagery; he
more significant when
we see his relationship delivers ‘bloody execution’ and splits a man in two,
with his wife? using his sword to ‘carve’ out a victory. Later on,
Macbeth’s savage character is condemned as evil and
his viciousness overthrows the king and creates chaos
in the land.

Images of blood are often connected with images of water in the

play. Here, Macbeth and Banquo are said to ‘bathe in reeking
wounds’. Later, Banquo will ‘bathe in blood’ and Macbeth will
describe the blood he has shed as a river. The Captain says it was

23
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 24

as if they were trying to ‘memorise another Golgotha’. Golgotha

(‘the place of the skull’) was where Christ was crucified. This is an
interesting allusion as it links Macbeth with perhaps the most
famous historical incident where goodness and holiness were
destroyed, and serves to foreshadow his later ruthless actions.
This scene gives a glowing picture of Macbeth and Banquo as
loyal and brave. “
“ What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won

When the treacherous Thane of Cawdor is captured, the king

says he must be executed, and his title is given to Macbeth.
The irony is that the new Thane of Cawdor will be even more
Text commentary

treacherous.

Explore According to the Captain, Macbeth and Banquo have

Make a list of words, triumphed over two armies: that of the rebel
images and Macdonwald and that of the Norwegian king, Sweno,
comparisons used to assisted by the traitor Cawdor. This is the first mention
describe and glorify
Macbeth. What
of the idea of dishonour. As in Act 5 (when Macbeth is
impression are we the king under attack), there is a union of discontented
given of him, so far? Scots and a foreign army.

Note that the scene is structured around two messenger

speeches, both full of ornate vocabulary and images praising
Macbeth’s valour: the first by the Captain, the second by Ross.

Scene 3 “
“ That look not like inhabitants of the earth

Macbeth and Banquo are returning from the battle when

they meet the three witches who predict that Macbeth will
be king and that Banquo will be the father of many kings.

One of the witches describes how she will punish a sailor

(the Pilot) because his wife would not give her some of the

24
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 25

chestnuts she was eating. This shows how spiteful the witches
are and how they can do a lot of harm. The witch is not powerful
enough to sink the ship, but she can make sure it is tossed about
in stormy seas, and will torment the Pilot so that he cannot
Explore sleep. The ship is a metaphor (a figure of speech) for
The witches’ scenes
the ship of state and represents Scotland, which is
have a strong and going to suffer a ‘storm’ when Macbeth is its Pilot.
distinctive rhythm and This scene further develops the idea of tempestuous
rhyme scheme. What weather. The witches can only create the climate
is the effect of this
do you think?
for evil: man alone causes chaos in the world by
destroying order. “
“ A drum, a drum, Macbeth doth come

Text commentary
As is the case with King Duncan, the first words spoken by
Macbeth are very significant. He enters to the sound of a
beating drum, a sound effect which indicates to the
audience his growing status and importance. He says
that he has never seen ‘so foul and fair a day’, meaning
that the battle has been foul but their victory has been
Explore splendid. Notice how his words are paradoxical and
What reasons can echo those spoken earlier by the witches.
Shakespeare have had
for giving Macbeth an
almost identical line to
the witches? “ “
If you can look into the seeds of time
And say which grain will grow and
which will not

The witches’ words have a powerful effect on Macbeth. Banquo

notices this and asks him if he fears their words. Banquo
cannot see why this great warrior should be afraid when he is
promised only good things. What the witches say seems to strike
a chord in Macbeth’s mind, especially the prediction that he will
be king.

Banquo introduces clothing as one of the major images in the

play. He makes a pun on ‘rapt’, meaning ‘totally involved in’, and

25
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 26

‘wrapped’, meaning ‘covered’ or ‘enveloped in’. Banquo also

calls on the witches to tell him his future and they say he will be
the father of kings.

The witches vanish and Macbeth wonders if they have

disappeared into the air: what he thought was solid has melted
away. Other things around Macbeth that he thinks are solid, like
his friends, loyalty, a good king on the throne and law and order
in the state, will also melt away under the evil influence of
the witches.

Banquo seems suspicious of the witches. Unlike

Macbeth, he has no hidden ambitions. Macbeth
Text commentary

seems worried about the prediction that

Banquo’s children will be kings, as though
this is some kind of threat to his future. If
Banquo’s children will be kings, Macbeth’s rise
“
to power will be pointless if his line stops when he dies.

“ The instruments of darkness tell us truths

Soon after the witches vanish, Ross and Angus arrive with the
news that Macbeth has been given the title Thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth is amazed and, developing Banquo’s earlier metaphor,
asks them why they ‘dress him in borrowed robes’. Soon he will
also be wearing the stolen clothes of the king and, more literally,
the crown of Scotland.

Explore Macbeth says that ‘the greatest is behind’, meaning that

Shakespeare has all he has to achieve now is to become king. The word
Macbeth speaking in ‘behind’ is significant because it seems to suggest the
an ‘aside’. What is sneaky and underhand way in which Macbeth eventually
the purpose of this
dramatic technique?
seizes the crown. He betrays Duncan’s trust and
Where else is it used metaphorically ‘stabs him in the back’. He makes another
to good effect in mention of Banquo’s children being kings and the idea
the play?
seems to affect him.

26
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 27

Banquo advises caution, pointing out that the forces of

evil sometimes tell people small things that will come true
so that they can be deceived into believing greater things
which are false. He is less impressed with the truth of the
witches’ predictions and can see through their trickery.
Unlike Macbeth, he realises that minds can be easily
deceived by clever words. Banquo recognises the witches for
what they are and for the moment puts them out of his mind.
“
“ If chance will have me king,
Why chance may crown me

Macbeth speaks his first major soliloquy and asks himself two

Text commentary
questions. If what the witches said was evil, why have two
good things they said turned out to be true? If what the
witches said was good, why does his body react so
violently to their predictions? He says they ‘make my
seated heart knock at my ribs / Against the use of
Explore nature’. This suggests that he understands how even
A soliloquy is a speech having these thoughts is upsetting the natural balance
in which a character and divine order of the world.
speaks directly to the
audience and gives
insight into his or her
Notice that it is Macbeth who mentions ‘murder’,
inner thoughts. Think whereas the witches said nothing about murdering
about how a director anyone. It is Macbeth who connects the ideas of kingship
might choose to
and murder. At the moment, though, Macbeth thinks the
present this on stage.
idea of murder is ‘fantastical’, meaning that it exists only
in his imagination. Macbeth decides to leave it to chance
Explore
to decide whether he will become king or not. He uses
The idea of fortune
or chance is another vocabulary linked to the mind, with abstract nouns such
recurring motif in as ‘thought’ and ‘imaginings’, but it is ominous and
the play. Do you think significant that his words are almost exactly the same as
someone can ever
change their destiny?
his description of the witches: ‘Are ye fantastical?’

Banquo again talks about Macbeth being ‘rapt’, this time in

thought. He wonders if perhaps Macbeth’s new title – Thane of
Cawdor – feels strange at the moment. Banquo supposes that

27
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 28

Explore Macbeth will get used to his new honours and will feel
Look at Macbeth’s more comfortable wearing them.
speeches after
receiving news from
Throughout this scene it is fascinating to note when
Ross and Angus. What
do these words reveal Macbeth speaks, when he is silent and how he speaks to
about his thoughts? different people. With the witches he is firstly struck
dumb and then becomes urgent in calling after them.

Scene 4
“
“ Nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving of it
Text commentary

Macbeth and Banquo arrive at King Duncan’s court to hear of the

execution of the treacherous Cawdor. Malcolm explains that he
died in a noble and honourable fashion, confessing his crime
and begging forgiveness. This detail gives an ominous
foreshadowing of events and reminds the audience what end
befalls traitors.

Explore King Duncan says to Macbeth that he has started to

Can you find any other ‘plant’ him, meaning that he will make sure that Macbeth
examples of this theme grows greater and stronger as a reward for his service.
of fertility? Why do you This is ironic because what is growing in Macbeth is the
think it is important in
the play?
seed of his ambition to be king himself. When this seed
grows it will lead to Duncan’s death. Fertility is an
important image in the play and links all the characters together.
It begins with the witches looking into ‘the seeds of time’ and
reaches a visual climax with the uprooting of Birnam Wood.

Duncan says that his eldest son, Malcolm, is to succeed him as

king. It was the custom in Scotland for each king to be elected by
the Thanes. Duncan’s action is therefore unusual and this
announcement comes as a shock to Macbeth, who has only
recently decided to leave to chance whether or not he becomes
king himself.

28
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 29

“
“ That is a step / On which I must fall down,
or else o’erleap, / For in my way it lies

Macbeth changes his mind and decides to make his own

fortune because he now sees Duncan’s son as an obstacle
between himself and the throne. Macbeth makes a short
speech as an aside, telling the audience his thoughts.

He admits that he has ‘black and deep desires’ and calls upon
the stars not to shine their light on his thoughts. This is a brief
but powerful speech that gives the audience a real
indication of Macbeth’s evil intentions. The colour imagery
is significant and carries connotations of darkness and the

Text commentary
witches. It seems that Macbeth is already more than
prepared to shun the light of the pure of heart, and open
his mind to black thoughts.

To show his gratitude to Macbeth, the king says he will visit him
at his castle. This is a great honour for Macbeth. It is ironic that
fate seems to have given Macbeth the perfect opportunity to
fulfill his ambition. He rushes to his castle to prepare for his
honoured guest.

Scene 5 “
“ My dearest partner in greatness

Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth, telling her about

the meeting with the witches and Duncan’s forthcoming visit.
She vows to kill the king and to persuade Macbeth to join her.

Macbeth’s letter is highly revealing. His version of events is

accurate, but the events which he chooses to report to her all
point towards the possible seizure of the throne. ‘I have learnt
by the perfectest report they have in them more than mortal

29
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 30

knowledge’ suggests that he is now certain the witches are right.

His wife is ‘his dearest partner of greatness’, which indicates an
equality between them. ‘Greatness is promised’ her. Macbeth
may have pangs of conscience, Lady Macbeth may drive him on,
but you should have no doubt who first has the idea of seizing
power. “
“ too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness

Lady Macbeth is delighted with her husband’s letter.

Although she knows her husband is ambitious, she
believes he lacks ruthlessness, while she herself will stop
at nothing. She says that such ruthlessness is an ‘illness’,
Text commentary

an evil disease that Macbeth currently doesn’t have.

Macbeth, she says, will take any opportunity that comes
his way, but only wants to win his honours honestly. He wants to
be king even though the throne is not his by right, but he will not
play falsely.

Explore Lady Macbeth decides that she will have to help him to
What elements of find the necessary determination. She reveals her
Macbeth’s personality intention to pour ‘spirits’ in Macbeth’s ear. She means
does Lady Macbeth
she will talk to him and fill him with her own strength.
list? How do these add
to what we already The fact that she chooses this image, however, hints at
know of him? a link with the supernatural and the witches. Later on
she also summons ‘spirits’ of her own.
“
“ unsex me here / And fill me from the crown
to the toe topfull / Of direst cruelty

A messenger comes to tell Lady Macbeth that King Duncan will

arrive that night. Lady Macbeth is excited, seeing this as the
perfect opportunity to make Macbeth king. In a spell-like
soliloquy she calls up the spirits of darkness to take away her
natural womanliness and to fill her instead with bitterness,
poison, wickedness and cruelty. She does not want any natural

30
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 31

Explore feelings of regret or conscience to get in the way of what

Gender characteristics she intends. There is a recurring image of venom and
take on an added poison running through the play, as well as references to
depth in Shakespeare’s
dangerous creatures such as snakes and scorpions. What
theatre because all
the roles were played does this indicate about the state of Scotland?
by men. How do you
think this may have Like Macbeth, she asks the powers of darkness to hide
affected dramatic
her thoughts so that not even the forces of heaven can
interpretation?
see through the ‘blanket of the dark’. This is another
example of the clothing image, this time meaning
cloaking or hiding something so that its true nature is
concealed. It is interesting that she wants to be unsexed.
She means that she wishes to lose the gentle sensibilities

Text commentary
associated with being feminine, but in fact this might
remind us of the witches and their uncertain gender.

When Macbeth arrives to tell her that Duncan is coming to stay

for one night, Lady Macbeth predicts that Duncan will never see
another day’s sunrise. Her plans are already made. Continuing the
theme of appearance and reality, she tells Macbeth to deceive
their guest and to hide his real thoughts. She says that
people can read Macbeth’s thoughts in his face. She tells him
to be more like the poisonous serpent that lies hidden
beneath the innocent flower. She says that Macbeth must
become better at deceiving people and at being evil if he
wants to achieve his ambitions.

Lady Macbeth’s power at masking her true thoughts is clear

even when talking to her husband. She uses phrases with more
than one meaning, for example when she refers to Duncan’s
visit and says ‘he…must be provided for’. On one hand this
could suggest that she is preparing to be a good hostess, but
considering her previous soliloquy we cannot help but feel she is
implying something far more sinister. There are many similar
occasions in the play when words can be interpreted in several
ways.

31
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 32

Scene 6 “
“ This castle hath a pleasant seat

King Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle with his followers,

including Banquo. Duncan and Banquo talk about how
pleasant a place it is to visit. They say the air
‘recommends itself’ and ‘is delicate’. This is ironic in view
of Lady Macbeth’s words in the previous scene, and even
more so when compared with what the witches said about
Explore the ‘fog and filthy air’ surrounding their evil deeds.
‘Pathetic fallacy’ is a Banquo also refers to summer birds, such as house
martins, in contrast to the death-bird ravens referred to
Text commentary

term used when a

description of nature by Lady Macbeth in the previous scene.
reflects emotions. Are
there any other
examples in the play? Lady Macbeth welcomes Duncan. Her words are false,
but she has no difficulty in hiding her real thoughts. Her
concealment of her motives and feelings is all part of a very
formal scene: everybody is polite and complimentary. Lady
Macbeth is the great deceiver, of course, but Banquo also
seems to be happy to be there. Macbeth is already in the castle,
as we know, but it is interesting to note that he is not there to
welcome Duncan himself. Why do you think this is? Would Banquo
have been suspicious of this?

Scene 7

“
“ I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself

Macbeth cannot make up his mind whether or not to kill Duncan.

He wrestles with his conscience. He says that if the murder
could be done quickly, without the inevitable
consequences, then he would do it. He also knows that
the murder would be wrong and that he would end up

32
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 33

Explore paying the price for his crime. Up till now Macbeth has
List all the reasons been portrayed as a decisive man of action, but this is a
why Macbeth believes moral problem and it makes him hesitate. Macbeth lists
he should not kill the
reasons why he should not kill the king. He is Duncan’s
king. (Hint: There are
at least seven.) kinsman, his host and his subject: Macbeth should
therefore be the one to protect him.

Macbeth’s conscience is very persuasive. He tells himself that

Duncan’s goodness and kindness are such that his murder
would provoke a tremendous outcry. Duncan’s
goodness will be ‘like angels, trumpet-
tongued’ if he is murdered, and Macbeth will be
condemned to ‘deep damnation’. Shakespeare

Text commentary
includes many images of heaven and hell – because Duncan is
the rightful king, heaven would be outraged at his murder.

However, heaven and hell are not Macbeth’s only (or even main)
concern. His conscience may plague him, but his main worry is
with ‘this bank and shoal of time’: the here and now. Duncan may
be saintly, Macbeth may risk damnation, but he is prepared to
‘jump’ (risk) the life to come if he can get away with it in this life.
The problem is that the murder of a king creates a precedent and
risks the same thing happening to him – as indeed it does at the
end of the play.

Macbeth admits that the only thing driving him on is his selfish
ambition. Rather as Lady Macbeth did, he worries that his
ambition may be greater than his ability to achieve it. He may be
like a horseman who tries to vault too hastily onto his horse’s
“
back and finishes up falling off on the other side.

“ We will proceed no further in this business

When Lady Macbeth comes in he tells her he will not murder

Duncan. He says that Duncan has given him ‘new honours’ which
he wants to ‘wear’ while they are new. He sees himself ‘dressed’
in the good opinions of other people. This is the only reason

33
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 34

Macbeth gives his wife. He does not mention the many others he
has just been wrestling with himself. Perhaps he does not want
to admit that he has a conscience and is unhappy about doing
evil. Perhaps he does not want to seem weak.
“
“
Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dressed yourself?

Lady Macbeth continues the use of clothing imagery, but turns it

against Macbeth. She says that he is acting as if he were drunk
when he clothed himself in his hopes to be king. This suggests
that he was foolish and not fully aware of his intentions. There is a
suggestion that he made the decision when under the influence
Text commentary

of a powerful drink. Of course he was intoxicated, not by alcohol,

but by the witches’ prophecies.

Explore Lady Macbeth accuses him of being a coward. In a

Some critics believe powerful and violent speech she explains how far she
that this speech would be prepared to go to get what she wanted. She
suggests Lady Macbeth tells him that if, like him, she had sworn to do
has already had at least
something then, before she would go back on her
one child. What do you
think? How might this word, she would tear her own baby from suckling milk
affect her words? at her nipple and dash its brains out. To reiterate the
strength of her resolve she juxtaposes references to
tenderness – ‘suck’, ‘babe’, ‘milk’, ‘love’, ‘smiling’ – with those of
violent action – ‘pluck’, ‘dashed’. This is another example of Lady
Macbeth shunning the finer sensitivities of femininity, and the
aggressive imagery suggests an almost inhuman, brutally
masculine strength.

At this point Lady Macbeth seems to have joined the forces

of evil. She has seen a chance to make her husband king
and is determined not to let it slip away. She is very forceful
in her language and conjures up images of brutality and
horror. She seems to have been granted her earlier wish to
the evil spirits to ‘fill [her] from the crown to the toe top-full
/ Of direst cruelty’. The horror contained within her speech,

34
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 35

with its reference to gruesome body parts – ‘gums’, ‘bone’,

‘nipple’, ‘brains’ – makes her seem even more witch-like
and is echoed by the witches themselves in their deadly
brew in Act 4. “
“ Screw your courage to the sticking place

Macbeth’s earlier decision not to kill Duncan crumbles under the

scornful attack of his wife, especially when his bravery is
questioned. However, he is still worried about what will happen
to them if they fail. Lady Macbeth tells him that they will not fail if
he keeps his nerve. She tells Macbeth the details of her plan and
he admires her determination. Developing the theme of children,

Text commentary
Explore he says that she should have only male children so
There are many that they would have all her courage and strength of
references to male character. This also reiterates her own masculine power
and female qualities and resolve.
in the play. What
characteristics do you
associate with each Manhood is a frequent theme in this scene. Lady
gender? How are Macbeth sees it simply: a man has courage to act and to
these stereotypes face danger. Macbeth (lines 47–48) says that he dares to
deliberately muddled
by Shakespeare?
do anything that is suitable to a man; to do more would
be unmanly, and possibly inhuman.

The Act ends with Macbeth finally resolved.

“
“
Away, and mock the time with fairest show;
False face must hide what the false heart
doth know

35
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 36

Quick quiz 1
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
1 Who is named as Duncan’s successor and what title is he given?
2 Who are ‘the instruments of darkness’?
3 What titles does Macbeth hold by the end of Act 1? What titles has he
been promised?
4 What is unnatural about the witches’ appearance?
5 Where do the witches first meet Macbeth and Banquo?
6 Why does Lady Macbeth say: ‘Yet I do fear thy nature’?
7 Why is Macbeth reluctant to kill Duncan (according to his words to
himself and to Lady Macbeth)?
8 How does Lady Macbeth propose to deal with Duncan’s guards?

Open quotes
Find the line and complete the phrase or sentence.
Quick quiz

1 ‘Stars, hide your fires…’

2 ‘Thou wouldst be great…’
3 ‘That but this blow / Might be the be-all…’
4 ‘I have no spur…’
5 ‘We fail!…’

Imperfect speakers?
The witches are called ‘imperfect speakers’ because their meaning seems
ambiguous. Here are some early signs that ambiguity and lack of trust are
major themes in the play.
1 What three apparently contradictory promises do the witches make
to Banquo?
2 Why might the audience already be uneasy when the witches hail
Macbeth by three titles?
3 What does Banquo suspect when the first prophecy proves true?
4 Why does Macbeth think ‘This supernatural soliciting / Cannot be ill;
cannot be good’?

36
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 37

Text commentary
Act 2

Scene 1

Briefly alone on the battlements with his son Fleance, Banquo’s

concerns and suspicions are evident. There is an edginess
about his words. His sword is out in readiness and he
talks of his ‘cursed thoughts’ that will not let him sleep.

Text commentary
Shakespeare often made use of scenes set on balconies or
battlements because the design of the theatre meant that
actors could use a real balcony. This added a sense of realism,
and separated some of the action helping the audience to
focus on the atmosphere.
Explore
Why can’t Banquo
sleep? Is he worried
Macbeth arrives and he and Banquo talk about the
about the witches predictions of the witches. Banquo reminds Macbeth
or does he have that the witches showed some of the truth to him.
suspicions of how
Macbeth now puts on the ‘false face’ his wife talked
Macbeth is reacting
to the prophecies? about and lies when he says that he has not thought
“
about the witches’ predictions at all.

“ Is this a dagger I see before me

After Banquo and Fleance leave him, Macbeth sees a vision

of a dagger covered in blood, with the handle pointing
towards him. Macbeth speaks another important
soliloquy. He wonders whether the dagger is inviting him
to execute the murder. His mind is full of dark thoughts and
this fearless soldier is now tormented by images of blood and
fear of the unknown.

37
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 38

His words are filled with references to evil and witchcraft –

‘wicked dreams’, ‘Hecate’, ‘howl’, ‘ghost’, ‘horror’ – which
show how much his mind has been tainted by the weird
sisters. This kind of killing goes against Macbeth’s nature
and against natural law. Macbeth says that across half
the world (the half in the darkness of night) nature
Explore ‘seems dead’. The darkness is a symbol of the way evil
How would you stage powers are rising up to strike at the powers of goodness
this difficult scene if and light. Macbeth wonders whether he is going insane.
you were the director?
Would you have the
The dagger is the first of several visions shown to Macbeth.
dagger as a visible
object or would you He cannot tell whether they are real or imaginary. They are
use other techniques symbols of the power of evil spirits in the world and of the
Text commentary

to suggest Macbeth’s evil that is growing in his own heart. As a bell rings (in
hallucination?
funeral tones) he goes to carry out the murder.

Macbeth is a great warrior who is used to making life-and-death

decisions in battle, but here he is torn about the murder.
Eventually he decides to do it. Maybe this is because he
really is an evil man. Maybe he is so mixed up that he
cannot sort out the difference between right and wrong.
Perhaps he is under the power of the witches. Maybe he does
not really know what to do and is acting on the spur of the
moment, without really thinking too much. Whatever the reason,
he has reached the point of no return.

Scene 2
“
“
Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done’t

It is night-time. Lady Macbeth waits anxiously for Macbeth as he

murders Duncan. Until now, Lady Macbeth has seemed very
determined and strong. Here she is very much on edge. Although
earlier she seemed able to do the most terrible deeds, now she
reveals a more sensitive side when she says that she could not

38
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 39

Explore carry out the murder herself because the sleeping Duncan
This scene is rich in reminded her of her father. This is the first sign of Lady
stagecraft and the Macbeth’s conscience and feelings of guilt. She, too,
noises and props play
seems to realise the wrongness of the murder.
key roles. How would
you present this scene
“
“
to give the maximum Macbeth does murder sleep,
effect to these the innocent sleep
additional elements?

Macbeth enters and says he has killed Duncan as he

slept. Sleep represents innocence and peace, and
Macbeth imagines he has also murdered these.
Duncan’s innocent servants can say ‘Amen’ in their
prayers, but Macbeth cannot, which is a firm indication of the

Text commentary
evilness of his crime. This is not simply an ordinary killing, but
the murder of a man chosen by God to rule. He is terrified
because he knows that he can never be forgiven for his crime.
Lady Macbeth says these worries are ‘brain-sickly’.

Lady Macbeth has been the organiser of the murder from the
outset and here, once she has again taken charge of herself,
she clears up after Macbeth’s bunglings. She ‘drugged the
possets’ of the grooms sleeping in the outer chamber;
she laid the daggers ready; all Macbeth had to do was
the deed itself. Now, here he is with two blood-stained
daggers which should have been left with the grooms,
Explore the supposed murderers.
Pontius Pilot was
the Roman senator
The terrified Macbeth is incapable of returning to the
responsible for
decreeing the murder scene, so Lady Macbeth does so, smearing
crucifixion of Christ. the grooms with blood. On her return she
He symbolically rinsed finds Macbeth transfixed with thoughts of
his hands to illustrate
blood and guilt and once again takes
that he would have
nothing more to charge of the situation. She tells Macbeth
do with Christ’s to go and wash the blood from his hands. She means the
martyrdom. Why might visible blood on his hands, but Macbeth fears for his
this be a significant
religious detail?
blood-stained soul. The two images of blood and water
are again combined, as in Act 1, Scene 1, but here they

39
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 40

are presented in a much more horrific way. The blood in Act 1

was proof of a valiant battle, here it is proof of guilt and treason.

Sleep is described here as ‘chief nourisher in life’s feast’. Sleep

and food are seen as essential parts of nature. Both are needed
for life. Macbeth has destroyed this natural order and this is
seen again later, when he destroys the calm and order of his own
coronation banquet.
“
“
These deeds must not be thought
After these ways; so it will make us mad

Shakespeare conveys Macbeth’s feelings of guilt not only in what

Text commentary

he says, but in how he says it. Most striking in this scene is that
his speeches keep turning in on themselves, constantly returning
to a word or a phrase. ‘Amen’, for instance (‘So be it’, the
traditional end of a prayer), is never out of his thoughts, though
he cannot say it and mean it. Lady Macbeth realises that they
must not dwell on their actions, or they will go insane, and in a
precursor to her later demise, there are many references to
insanity: ‘mad’, ‘hurt minds’ and ‘brain-sickly’.
“
“
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand?

To complete the deed, Lady Macbeth takes the daggers from her
husband and places them near the drunken grooms. She
chastises him for his cowardice and makes many references to
blood: ‘bleed’, ‘painted’, ‘gild’, ‘colour’, ‘red’. We are made to
realise the significance of the spilled blood, and it is an image
which will now seep into virtually every scene of the play.

Scene 3

The castle’s Porter (night watchman) answers the knocking at the

gate. Macduff has come to wake the king, but discovers his dead

40
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 41

Explore body instead. During the panic and confusion that

Notice how results, Duncan’s sons decide to escape to safety.
Shakespeare uses
language differently for
The comical Porter adds nothing to the plot, but this is
the Porter. His words
do not have the chant- not his purpose. Dramatically, shorter scenes in the play
like rhythm of the are either a reminder of what has happened so far or a
witches, nor the poetic preparation for what is coming. This scene is deliberately
sound of Macbeth’s
light-hearted and relieves the tension of the last scene,
soliloquies. Why might
a prose style have as well as contrasting with the next, when Duncan’s
been chosen for this murder is discovered.
character?

The Porter imagines he is the gatekeeper in Hell. This was

a traditional figure in plays before Shakespeare’s time, but it has a

Text commentary
special importance here. Macbeth’s castle has, in a way, become
the gateway to Hell. The Porter makes jokes about the perils of
drink and about having too much of a good thing; about a farmer
who is ruined because of his ambition; about people who
destroy themselves because they confuse truth with half-truths
(they ‘equivocate’ between the truth and lies); and about a tailor
who was hanged for stealing precious fabric. The Porter’s jokes
are cleverly designed to tell us something about Macbeth, who
you might feel is also confused; he too has become intoxicated
with evil, will be ruined by having too much ambition, believes
too much in the witches’ half-truths and he has ‘stolen’ the king’s
crown. Certainly the Porter gives a satirical picture of a
dishonest world.

The Porter also serves an additional dramatic purpose. During

Shakespeare’s time, characters such as these were almost like
stand-up comedians. The actors would have been allowed to
improvise some of their lines, making subtle and sly references
“
and jokes about topical events.

“ ’Twas a rough night

41
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 42

Macduff and Lennox have come to wake the king. They

describe the storm during the night. The description of the
storm is symbolic of the effect that Duncan’s murder is
already having on the natural balance of the world. It also
reminds us of the power of the witches, who arrive in
thunderous weather and have the power to command
Explore storms. The murder of the king has filled the night with
How should the actor screams of death and other portents. Sickness and evil
playing Macbeth say seem to have infected even the earth itself when Lennox
‘’twas a rough night’? says that he has heard that the earth ‘was feverous and
Would he be visibly
did shake’. Macbeth agrees, using dramatic irony, that
shaken or would the
evilness of his deed
make him say this line
‘’twas a rough night’. “
“
Text commentary

in a much more O horror, horror, horror

sinister way?

The imagery which Macduff uses when he tells the

others that he has found Duncan murdered is
significant. The murder has unleashed chaos on the
world and is sacrilegious (against God). Macduff says
that to look at the murdered body will ‘destroy your sight with
a new Gorgon’. The Gorgons were three sisters in Greek mythology
with snakes for hair, who were so hideous that the sight of them
turned people to stone. How do these creatures fit with the
other female characters in the play so far?

Macduff describes sleep as an imitation (‘counterfeit’) of death

and tells Banquo to rise up like a ‘sprite’ (a ghost) from its ‘grave’
(his bed) to look at ‘this horror’. Later in the play, Banquo does
actually arise as a ghost from his grave to visit another ‘horror’
when he returns to haunt Macbeth.

Showing his ‘false face’, Macbeth pretends that life now has no
meaning for him. Images of blood and water appear again: ‘the
spring, the head, the fountain of your blood / Is stopped’.
Macbeth praises the king in over-the-top, rich language, referring
to precious metals, ‘silver skin’ and ‘golden blood’. Echoing Lady
Macbeth’s pun on gild, meaning gold and guilt (Act 2, Scene 2,

42
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 43

lines 58–59), he combines imagery of jewels with references to

blood and wounds: ‘gore’, ‘steeped’, ‘colours’, ‘gashed’.

Lennox says it appears that Duncan’s guards are guilty of

the murder. Macbeth says he was so angry when he saw Duncan’s
body that he killed them. This is a tricky moment for Macbeth. The
others would have wanted to question the guards. Macduff
wonders why Macbeth should have destroyed the only way of
finding out. Of course, Macbeth knows that the guards would
have denied the murder because they were innocent. There
was a risk that they might have been believed.

Lady Macbeth faints just at the right moment, but it may be too

Text commentary
late to save Macbeth from suspicion. This killing of the grooms is
also the first sign that Macbeth is about to go his own way; this
was not part of the plan! Interestingly, Lady Macbeth remains
silent for much of this scene, leaving Macbeth to deal with
the many questions. It is also intriguing that although
Explore Macbeth’s actions are suspicious, no one thinks to
Is Lady Macbeth’s faint question him, not even Banquo, who simply declares his
genuine? What reasons allegiance to God and vows ‘Against the undivulged
could she have for pretence I fight / Of treasonous malice’ – a clear warning
faking such an act?
“
to the treacherous Macbeth.

“
There’s daggers in men’s smiles

Explore Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, decide to

This is a confusing escape in case they too are targets to be murdered next.
scene, with multiple Donalbain does not appear again in the play but he leaves
entrances and exits, with a telling remark about how there are ‘daggers in
exclamations,
men’s smiles’ all around them. This echoes the ‘fair is foul’
rhetorical devices,
different conversations, theme of the play and shows a level of perception on
sound effects and his part. It makes us wonder if he has seen through
stage directions. How Macbeth’s act. Certainly, it would be hard for Macbeth to
would you manage to
stage such a busy
maintain the impression that he is a ‘flower’, having just
scene to best effect? admitted to a frenzied killing of two sleeping guards.
His true serpent nature is not being very well hidden.

43
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 44

Scene 4 “
“
Hours dreadful and things strange

Ross, Macduff and the Old Man discuss the current

situation. This is another scene, like the one with the Porter,
where the audience gets the chance to digest what has
happened so far. Stress is laid on the unnaturalness of the
murder and how its evil root has begun to poison all
nature. Darkness ‘strangles’ the daylight, a falcon is killed by
an owl, and Duncan’s horses have turned wild and eaten each
other. “
Text commentary

“
The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth

In answer to questions, Macduff says that because Malcolm and

Donalbain have fled, they are suspected of having paid the
guards to do the murder. Ross mentions another one of the main
themes in the play when he comments that people’s ‘thriftless
ambition’ will foolishly destroy and consume the very thing on
which their life and future depend. Meanwhile, Macbeth has
hurried off to be crowned.

Extending the clothing motif, Macduff hopes that the country’s

‘old robes’ (King Duncan) do not turn out to ‘sit easier’ (be
more comfortable) than ‘the new’ (King Macbeth). It is
significant that Macduff is staying away from the coronation
at Scone: he does not trust Macbeth, he will not be part of his
court, but for the moment he will not speak out.

44
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 45

Quick quiz 2
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
1 Who is on night watch at the castle as the Act opens?
2 Who says he does not want to sleep, though tired, and why?
3 What happened during the night, according to Lennox, Ross and the
Old Man?
4 What vision does Macbeth see and how does he interpret it?
5 Where do Malcolm and Donalbain escape to?
6 Where is Macbeth invested (crowned) as king, and who is notably
absent?
7 Why did Macbeth kill Duncan’s guards? Why does he say he did so,
and how does he get out of having to explain more fully?
8 Why can Lady Macbeth not kill Duncan herself?
9 How do the sounds of a bell and knocking connect in Macbeth’s mind
with Duncan’s death?

Quick quiz
10 How do the Porter’s anecdotes reflect on the action of the play?

Open quotes
Find the line – and complete the phrase or sentence.
1 ‘Or art thou but a dagger of the mind...’
2 ‘But wherefore could not I pronounce ‘Amen’?…’
3 ‘Will all great Neptune’s ocean…’
4 ‘There’s nothing serious in mortality…’
5 ‘Tis unnatural…’

Night moves
This Act is full of actions and images to do with sleeping, waking and
wakefulness. Find three lines in the text on each of the following themes.
1 sleep and death
2 sleeplessness
3 waking and summoning from sleep
4 dreams and nightmares

45
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 46

Text commentary
Act 3

Scene 1 “
“
I fear / Thou played’st most foully for it

Time has passed and Macbeth is now king. In this short

soliloquy, Banquo tells the audience that he suspects that
Macbeth became king by foul means. He also dwells on the
Text commentary

witches’ message for himself. Banquo does not suggest

to the audience that he feels that he is in any danger from
Macbeth and he remains loyal to him.
“
“
If he had been forgotton
It had been a gap in our great feast

Macbeth invites Banquo to the banquet even though he is about

to arrange for Banquo to be murdered (so obviously does not
expect to see him there). Lady Macbeth, now queen, is overly
flattering to Banquo and tells him that without him there would
be a space at the table. This is deeply ironic because even when
Banquo is dead there is still no empty chair, as Macbeth
discovers! Notice how Macbeth is very keen to find out if
Banquo’s son Fleance is going riding with his father. Macbeth is
afraid of Banquo because he knows too much about the
meetings with the witches. He is afraid of Fleance because
Banquo’s descendants are to become kings.

Notice how Macbeth has counted on the predictions of the

witches coming true up to this point. Now he wants to prevent
their prediction about Banquo also coming true.

46
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 47

“
“ A borrower of the night

Banquo’s comment about ‘becoming a borrower of the

night’, meaning he will be back late and it will be dark,
comes true in a way neither he nor Macbeth expects.
Banquo will indeed ‘borrow’ some time from the world
of darkness to return and haunt Macbeth. In a similar
way, Macbeth has ‘borrowed’ from the dark forces of
chaos, except that in his case he will have to repay the debt
with his life. “
“ Our fears in Banquo stick deep

Text commentary
In a soliloquy, Macbeth tells the audience why he is afraid of
Banquo. He says that Banquo is brave, clever and wise and that
he is the only man he fears. Banquo was not afraid to talk to the
witches and demanded that they tell him what the future had in
store for them. Macbeth sees his time on the throne as fruitless
because Banquo’s children will be the future kings.

Explore Macbeth’s ‘seeds’ will not grow but Banquo’s will.

How do the words of This is a reminder that King Duncan promised to make
this speech remind us Macbeth ‘full of growing’. The speech is filled with
of Lady Macbeth’s images of children and fertility – ‘father’, ‘line’,
views on children?
‘fruitless’, ‘barren’, ‘unlineal’, ‘son’, ‘issue’ and ‘seeds’ –
and contrasts the idea of Banquo’s descendants with Macbeth’s
lack of offspring.

Macbeth thinks that he has corrupted himself and murdered

Duncan for Banquo’s benefit. He has not done what he has done
just for somebody else to get the rewards. Macbeth’s battle with
fate begins as he decides to deliberately prevent Banquo’s heirs
from becoming kings. “
“
I will put that business in your bosoms

47
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 48

Macbeth has recruited murderers to kill Banquo. You

might wonder why he does not do it himself – after all,
he is a great warrior who is used to killing. Perhaps the
answer lies in his reaction to killing King Duncan. Or it
might be that he does not want to risk detection. Maybe
the reasons that Macbeth gives are actually the true ones.

Like Macbeth in Act 1, the murderers are men driven by

circumstances to turn criminal. They are not professional killers;
they have both fallen on hard times. They previously thought
that Macbeth (‘our innocent self’) was to blame for their
hardship, but he has explained that their enemy was really
Banquo. In order to maintain the dramatic pace in this scene,
Text commentary

Shakespeare has Macbeth refer to a previous meeting with the

hired killers. This maintains the momentum, but also suggests
that Macbeth is being hasty. He is spending much less time
deliberating over this next murder.

Scene 2

Lady Macbeth is very uneasy. Her anxiety is made worse

because Macbeth is keeping himself to himself instead of being
with her. She tries to encourage her husband to forget the
past, saying that ‘what’s done is done’, but she is clearly
troubled by what has happened. Perhaps she is not a
monster after all, simply a wife trying to protect, encourage
and support her husband. “
“
O full of scorpions is my mind

Macbeth says he is afflicted by terrible dreams, developing the

sleep image. He seems almost to envy the dead King Duncan
who, he says, ‘sleeps well’. Although Duncan is dead,
Macbeth says, at least nothing can hurt him any more.
Sleep is an important theme in the play, because in
Shakespeare’s time it was believed that the good and

48
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 49

Explore pure of heart found untroubled sleep, while those with

There are many evil natures could not rest and were plagued by
references to sleep in nightmares. See how this idea is developed in Act 5,
the play. Can you find
Scene 1.
other examples?

Explore Macbeth’s sleep is becoming tormented: ‘O, full of

Why doesn’t Macbeth scorpions is my mind’. This is an important metaphor and
tell his wife about his suggests that his thoughts are being tainted by venomous
plans? Is it to protect
plans. He says that as darkness falls, ‘there shall be done a
her, or do you think he
has other reasons? deed of dreadful note’ – but he won’t tell Lady Macbeth
what it is: ‘Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck.’

Macbeth’s final words in this scene are ominous and say

Text commentary
a lot about how his mind is working. He says that
wickedness grows stronger through more wickedness,
and he uses the theme of darkness and witchcraft to
illustrate his evil intentions: ‘seeling night’, ‘rooky wood’,
‘crow’ and ‘night’s black agents’. It seems that Macbeth is
now committed to the path of evil. Later, Macbeth will say that
he has gone so far along the path of evil that it is as easy for him
to go on as to turn back.

Scene 3

Explore Darkness falls and a third murderer arrives to join the

Who do you think this other two. Macbeth seems to trust no one. The identity
third killer might be? of the Third Murderer is open to question (‘the perfect
Could it be one of
spy o’ the time’ referred to in Scene 1, perhaps), but you
the other characters
in the play? should note how he takes charge, identifying victims and
assessing what is happening.

This scene is also full of references to darkness overpowering

light, which is a metaphor for evil overcoming goodness. Just
before the murder, ‘the west yet glimmers with some
streaks of day’. Banquo and Fleance arrive with a burning
torch. One of the murderers asks who struck out the light,

49
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 50

which has two meanings. The comment is echoed in Macbeth’s

later words about his wife, ‘Out, out, brief candle’.

The murder of Banquo strikes out the last glimmer of light

and hope for Macbeth’s soul, but the escape of Fleance
allows the witches’ predictions to come true. Although
‘lesser’ in power than Macbeth, he is also ‘greater’
than him in terms of goodness and future power. Banquo’s
descendants will indeed become kings in spite of all Macbeth’s
efforts to prevent this.

Scene 4 “
Text commentary

“ Play the humble host

The guests arrive at Macbeth’s celebration banquet and are asked

to take their places. At first, things seem civil and organised. Then
the murderer arrives to give Macbeth the news that Banquo is
dead, but that Fleance has escaped.

Macbeth has already imagined a dagger, now he

believes he sees Banquo’s ghost. Again, Lady
Macbeth takes command, quietly accusing
her husband of being a coward as she did
at the time of Duncan’s murder, but she
apologises to the guests and covers up for him.

Explore Macbeth throws the calm and organised atmosphere of

Do you think, like the the banquet into turmoil in the same way as his reign as
dagger, that this vision king will throw Scotland into chaos. Macbeth was
is real, or is it simply probably hoping for a dignified occasion to mark his
a sign of Macbeth’s
evil nature and his
crowning, but has ended up with confusion. This is an
guilty conscience? ominous portent of the way things are generally going
Or is he really sick? for Macbeth.

50
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 51

“
“
Explore
never shake / Thy gory locks at me!

If you were the

Macbeth fears Banquo’s ghost because it has come to
accuse him of its murder. In the previous scene Macbeth
director, how would stated how lucky Duncan was because he was at peace
you direct this scene? in death. Here, the dead rise up again, and so Macbeth
What advice would
you give to the actors
worries that even in death there may be no peace for
playing Macbeth, himself. Lady Macbeth says that all he needs is sleep,
Lady Macbeth and but this is ironic as Macbeth ‘has murdered sleep’
the startled guests
and Banquo has risen from his ‘sleep’. Remember the
about the delivery
of their lines? further irony that Macbeth asked Banquo to ‘fail not
our feast’.

Text commentary
In a sense, Macbeth summons Banquo’s ghost: each time he
sees the vision, he has just mentioned Banquo and how he misses
his presence. Notice that Banquo takes the king’s chair, in much
“
the same way that Macbeth stole it originally from Duncan.

“ Blood will have blood

After the ghost leaves and the guests have gone it is

almost dawn. Night, says Lady Macbeth, is ‘almost at odds
with morning’. She cannot tell whether it is night or day. In
their world, because they have overturned the natural
order, King and Queen Macbeth do not know darkness
from light or evil from good. Fair has become foul and foul
has become fair.

Sounding like a true tyrant, Macbeth talks about wading in

blood, an image which echoes the Captain’s speech about
‘bathing in blood’ at the start of the play. Macbeth feels that
his journey into a sea of blood has gone so far that he may
as well hold his course now. Macbeth does not allow himself
the option of turning back, even though he has already changed
fate by electing to murder first Duncan and now Banquo.

51
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 52

Scene 5 “
“
Explore
riddles and affairs of death

Can you find any

Hecate scolds the other witches for not including her
in their dealings with Macbeth, and says she will be
evidence in the
characterisation or with them next time they meet him. Many commentators
style of the language think that this short scene was not written by Shakespeare
which might suggest but was added later by a lesser playwright, and some
that this was written
versions of the play leave it out.
by someone other
than Shakespeare?
Scene 6
“
Text commentary

“ Our suffering country

Under a hand accursed

Lennox and another Lord discuss the terrible state of Scotland

under Macbeth’s rule, and hope that the King of England will
help them. Lennox’s initial speech is presumably ironic.
He determinedly praises Macbeth, reiterates Macbeth’s
version of the events on the night of Duncan’s murder and
talks about the new king’s ‘noble’ actions. However, in a
following line he refers to Macbeth as the ‘tyrant’. He echoes
strong themes in the play by longing for better, ordered
times when food cupboards are well stocked, nights are for
sleeping and when banquets do not contain ‘bloody knives’.
More importantly, they desperately need a good king.
The first mention of English assistance comes in the news
that Macduff is to plead with the English king and Siward to help
restore peace in Scotland.

This scene is another example of minor characters describing

events so far. This helps the audience keep up to date with
events that have happened or are happening somewhere else;
and reminds them of the important ideas in the play.

52
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 53

Quick quiz 3
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
1 Who is charged to ‘fail not our feast’, and why is this ironic?
2 What empty signs of kingship have been given to Macbeth if Banquo’s
son lives?
3 What is life in Scotland like under Macbeth’s kingship?
4 Where is Macduff and what is he doing? Where should he be?
5 Where is everyone when Banquo is attacked?
6 Why does Macbeth not sit down when invited to do so by Ross at the
feast?
7 Why does Macbeth envy Duncan?
8 How does Macbeth justify the attack on Banquo, to himself and to
the murderers?
9 How does Banquo deal with the witches’ prophecy?

Quick quiz
Open quotes
Find the line – and complete the phrase or sentence.
1 ‘Thou hast it now…’
2 ‘To be thus is nothing…’
3 ‘Naught’s had, all’s spent…’
4 ‘I am in blood / Stepped in so far…’
5 ‘Better be with the dead…’

Creature features?
The use of animal imagery continues in this Act.
1 What dark creatures are mentioned in Scene 2 by Macbeth?
2 Who is the ‘worm’ that ‘Hath nature that in time will venom breed, /
No teeth for the present’?
3 What exotic, ferocious beasts does Macbeth dare the spirit to
manifest rather than Banquo’s likeness?

53
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 54

Text commentary
Act 4

Scene 1 “
“ Double double, toil and trouble

Disgusting objects are thrown into a

steaming pot as the witches concoct a
charm. The dismembered bits of animals and
Text commentary

humans are symbols of the witches’

destructive behaviour in the play.
Throughout this speech the witches talk in
rhyme, which makes everything they say sound like a
Explore magic spell being chanted.
Why are some of these
gruesome ingredients The witches’ ‘gruel’ is also an image of formless
so appropriate? Do
any of the creatures
confusion, the primaeval chaos into which the powers
mentioned have any of evil are constantly striving to plunge creation. This
significance according reflects the Elizabethans’ belief about the nature of the
to superstition or
world and the relationship between good and evil, order
religion?
and disorder.
“
“
By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes

The witches indicate that Macbeth is wicked like themselves. In

contrast to Act 1, Scene 3, Macbeth now talks to them in an
almost conspiratorial, conversational way. He does
not seem afraid as he was at first. Macbeth doesn’t care
how much damage or chaos he causes, he just wants to
know the future, and demands that the witches show it to

54
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 55

him. Macbeth seems to have dismissed Banquo’s warning that

the witches will use Macbeth’s readiness to believe their
predictions as a way of destroying him. Macbeth has
conveniently forgotton that words can be twisted and that
appearances can be very deceptive.
“
“ Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth:
beware Macduff

Macbeth is shown three apparitions and a vision of the

future. The first apparition is of a decapitated head
wearing armour. It knows Macbeth’s thoughts and tells
him to beware of Macduff. Although Macbeth probably

Text commentary
thinks that the head is a vision of Macduff, you will see by
the end of the play that it might also be Macbeth’s head
that has been cut off.
“
“
None of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth

The second apparition is of a child covered in blood. It tells

Macbeth that he cannot be killed by anyone ‘born of woman’.
There are various candidates for the ‘bloody child’: Fleance has
just escaped a bloody ambush, Macduff’s children are about to
die at Macbeth’s bidding and Lady Macbeth talks of slaying an
innocent baby. However, given the message he later imparts, the
most telling identification is with Macduff who, unknown to
Macbeth, was ‘from his mother’s womb untimely ripped’.

“
“ Macbeth shall never vanquished be until
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him

This third apparition is of a child wearing a crown and holding a

branch. This could represent Malcolm, who later on in the play
orders his army to conceal its size by hiding behind branches from
Birnam Wood. It also gives the audience a visual reminder of

55
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 56

Explore Macbeth’s family tree, which is barren, and indicates

In superstition, three that Macbeth has even tampered with the natural world.
is a powerful number. It is significant that two of the three apparitions are
How many lists of
children. Macbeth has been afraid of children all through
three can you find in
the play? the play, because of what they may grow into. He is
also desperate to be reassured about his future.
Remember Hecate’s words: ‘And you all know, security /
Is mortal’s chiefest enemy.’ “
“ will the line stretch out to th’ crack of doom?

When the witches show Macbeth a fourth vision, his worst fears
are realised – his hold on the crown will only be temporary. He
Text commentary

finds it painful to look at what the witches show him. He sees a

row of kings stretching out before him with Banquo smiling and
pointing at them to show that they are his descendants.

The ball and sceptre that the kings hold are symbols of the
future joining together of England and Scotland. What
Macbeth sees in the glass (a crystal ball) is King James
I and his line of ancestors. Since James I was king
when Shakespeare wrote the play and was known to have a deep
interest in witches and the supernatural, the play would have
been a favourite of his. The first performance is supposed to
have been at King James I’s court.

Explore
The witches mock Macbeth with words, but they know
How does Macbeth
take the witches’ how shocked he is and pretend to cheer him up with
news? What do you music and dancing. Then they vanish forever from the
think it will prompt play. The prophecies resemble those of the ancient
him to do? “
oracles, which never told lies but often deceived.

“ Macduff is fled to England

News arrives that Macduff has fled and Macbeth is once again the
man of action. Without hesitation, he commands that Macduff’s
castle is to be attacked and everyone in it murdered. He is now

56
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 57

ruthless and decisive and has no time for the kind of soul-
searching he engaged in earlier in the play. Neither does
he even consider sharing his plans with his wife, who
now seems to have taken a more subservient role.
His character is very much that of a ruthless dictator
who knows no moral quandary.

Scene 2

Lady Macduff is fearful and outraged that her husband has left
his family. Ross reassures her that Macduff is merely being
wise, and says that the times are uncertain. His short speech

Text commentary
stresses the deep suspicion that now runs through the land
ruled by Macbeth. He says that people are afraid, like those
who ‘float upon a wild and violent sea’, and that men are now
traitors and do not know themselves. In both of his comments
you should be able to see references to some of the main
“
themes in the play, as well as to Macbeth’s current state.

“
Explore
Young fry of treachery!

Lady Macduff only

After Ross has gone, Lady Macduff talks to her son about
his father’s absence. Their conversation is full of light-
features in one scene, hearted jokes but is serious underneath. They talk about
but she has an
traitors and whether Macduff is one, but ironically the boy
important role in the
play. Why do you think humorously makes the point that there are more traitors
Shakespeare chose than honest men. Lady Macduff has no ambition and is not
to add this character, interested in power.
and with whom does
she contrast?
A messenger arrives to warn Lady Macduff to run away
because danger approaches. She says that although she has
done no harm, she knows that doing harm is sometimes
applauded while doing good is sometimes dangerous. This
echoes the witches’ first appearance and emphasises the way in
which fair is foul and foul is fair under Macbeth’s rule. The
murderers appear and begin to carry out Macbeth’s orders.

57
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 58

Lady Macduff’s death and that of her son are important in

the play because they are examples of the tyranny and evil
of Macbeth. The vulnerability and age of the babies is
emphasised by descriptions such as ‘little ones’, ‘fry’
(meaning baby fish) and ‘egg’. Unlike the previous
murders, these deaths serve no purpose. They represent
brutality for its own sake and mark the lowest point in
Macbeth’s moral decline. The deaths also indicate an important
turning-point in the action of the play. Macduff was already
convinced that Macbeth was a cruel tyrant who should be toppled
from the throne, but his personal grief sets him on the path of
revenge that gives him added determination to kill Macbeth.
Text commentary

Scene 3 “
“
Explore
Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell

This is a unique scene

This important scene reintroduces Malcolm and shows
how mistrust and suspicion have grown between people
in the play. It is the under Macbeth’s rule. The scene opens with Macduff
only one set in telling Malcolm how every morning there are new
England, away from
widows in Scotland.
the action and away
from Macbeth. What
dramatic purposes Malcolm seems worried and suspicious of Macduff. Of
does this scene serve? course, Macduff was once loyal to Macbeth, he was one
of those in the castle the night Duncan was murdered,
he has not yet been harmed by Macbeth, and he has left his
family behind in Scotland. Malcolm comments that even the devil
started life as an angel in Heaven. Neither man yet knows about
the murder of Macduff’s family. “
“ It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash

Malcolm talks about the state of Scotland, using blood imagery

to compare the land to an open wound, like a cut earned in
battle. The image also suggests that Macbeth’s actions are
literally bleeding the country dry.

58
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 59

Explore In a long conversation with Macduff, Malcolm tests

Personification is a his loyalty by pretending to be more wicked and cruel
technique where an than Macbeth. Many of the crimes he says he would
inanimate object, like
commit are things which Macbeth has already done
the land of Scotland, is
given human qualities. to Scotland. Malcolm lists the qualities that kings
Can you find other should have.
examples in the
play? What effect is
By the end of this conversation Malcolm is sure of
created here?
Macduff’s loyalty. Loyalty is an important idea in
Explore the play, but unthinking loyalty to the king is not
What noble qualities enough. Sometimes the king is a man like Macbeth.
does Malcolm list and Loyalty was supposed to be to the state and to the
how many does
idea of order, not just to the individual who happened
Macbeth possess?

Text commentary
Has Macbeth changed to be king. This view was very important to the
from the beginning of people of Shakespeare’s time, which is why it plays
the play? such a big part in the story of Macbeth. It was
important for Shakespeare to establish that Malcolm
will be a good king and that his is a crusade for the
powers of goodness and justice against the evil
“
tyrant that Macbeth has become.

“
He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy

The English Doctor tells Malcolm and Macduff about the King of
England and how noble and good he is. He says that the king is
so holy that just by touching the sick he can cure them because
he has a ‘heavenly gift of prophecy’. Shakespeare’s audience
would have considered this as the opposite of the witches’
powers, although it may sound like a parallel to us.

These superstitions were questioned even in Shakespeare’s day,

but they are used here to reinforce the idea that the rightful king
was appointed by God and was a force for good, supported by
the powers of heaven. Contrast the English king’s healing powers
with the way Macbeth cannot cure himself of his suffering. Later
on, the Scottish Doctor cannot cure Lady Macbeth of her illness
because it, too, is a sickness of the mind.

59
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 60

“
“
Be this the whetstone of your sword

Acting again as a messenger in the play, Ross arrives with the

latest bad news from Scotland. He reluctantly tells Macduff
about his murdered family. Macduff swears revenge, which in
those days was thought to be a proper and manly feeling. Even
Malcolm encourages Macduff to use his anger and grief to
sharpen the blade of his sword, so he can kill the wrongful king.

At the start of the play, King Duncan said he would ‘plant’

Macbeth. Banquo asked the witches to look into the ‘seeds
of time’ and say which ones would grow and which would
Text commentary

not. The idea that all things have a natural cycle or season
is repeated here. Malcolm describes himself as the angel
of death or a deadly harvester, with Macbeth as a fruit ‘ripe
for shaking’ that will soon fall.

60
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 61

Quick quiz 4
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
1 Who is ‘bloody, luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, / Sudden,
malicious’?
2 Who is with Lady Macduff just before she is attacked?
3 What gifts is Edward said to possess?
4 What is Malcolm’s plan when Macduff arrives?
5 Where does Macbeth meet the witches this time?
6 Why, does Malcolm imply, might Macduff still be loyal to Macbeth?
7 Why, according to Malcolm, should Macduff be generally hopeful?
8 How does Macbeth resolve to ‘make assurance double sure’,
and why is this ironic?

Open quotes
Find the line – and complete the phrase or sentence.

Quick quiz
1 ‘Be bloody, bold and resolute:...’
2 ‘No boasting like a fool...’
3 ‘Angels are bright still...’
4 ‘Each new morn...’
5 ‘Macbeth is ripe for shaking...’

A matter of trust
Trust and loyalty have also become a major issue in the play by this time.
Two major incidents in this Act outline the theme.
1 List the three apparitions shown to Macbeth: why are they
ambiguous or ‘equivocal’?
2 Who says of the witches: ‘damn’d all those that trust them!’, and why
is this ironic?
3 Who implies that Macduff is a traitor, and why?
4 Who is a ‘child of integrity’?
5 Why is Macduff confused by Malcolm’s confession, and whose
situation does this echo?

61
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 62

Text commentary
Act 5

Scene 1

Until now, Lady Macbeth has not seemed bothered by bad

dreams. Now she spends her nights wandering about – literally
a lost soul – and insists that a light is on continually because
she is afraid of the darkness (perhaps in more senses than
one). The doctor says that Lady Macbeth’s eyes are open,
Text commentary

but the gentlewoman says that ‘their senses are shut’,

“
meaning that she is unconscious.

“ Out damned spot!

In her waking nightmare, Lady Macbeth cannot wash spots

of blood from her hands. Compare this with her behaviour
following Duncan’s murder, when she counselled Macbeth
that a little water would wipe away all trace of the
murder. At the time the play was written, people thought that
witches carried the Devil’s mark on their bodies somewhere, so
the ‘spot’ could be a metaphor for this. In what other ways has
Lady Macbeth been linked with the witches and dark forces?

Explore Lady Macbeth’s speeches allow the audience an insight

Look closely at Lady into her mental state. She is a very different character
Macbeth’s language. now from the one we first met. By contrast, in this Act
How have her speech Macbeth becomes more like the decisive man of action
patterns changed?
from the play’s opening.

62
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 63

Scene 2
“
“
He cannot buckle his distempered cause
Within the belt of rule

In this scene and the following three short scenes, the action
moves quickly from place to place towards the climax. In addition,
several of the main themes in the play appear in rapid succession.

The Scottish Lords begin to gather their army against Macbeth.

Angus says that Macbeth’s title of king now hangs ‘loose about
him like a giant’s robe upon a dwarfish thief’ (clothing). Caithness
says that Macbeth’s cause is ‘distempered’, meaning weak or

Text commentary
diseased, because it is not properly tempered or hardened (chaos).
He also talks about their army as medicine for the diseased country
– ‘sickly weal’. Lennox says the bloodletting – ‘purge’ – that is
coming is needed to ‘drown the weeds’ (nature and return to order).

Scene 3 “
“ I am sick at heart

Macbeth is told that the English army is approaching his castle.

He tries to reassure himself that everything could still turn
out for the best, although he knows that this is really a
false hope. In a short soliloquy, he admits that by his
actions he has denied himself all the good things that
Explore
should come with old age, such as love, honour and
How does Shakespeare
friends. In spite of all the evil deeds he has done,
use language and because of Shakespeare’s skilful work here it is possible
imagery to provoke for the audience to feel sorry for Macbeth.
pity for Macbeth in
this scene?
Notice Macbeth’s use of imagery about withering plants
and the suggestion that his own growing season is ended.
He seems to know that the time for his end has come. Having
accepted this, he calls for his armour. In some productions,

63
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 64

Seyton’s name is pronounced ‘Satan’. Do you think Shakespeare

deliberately included this possibility? If so, what might he be
trying to suggest? Something of the warrior we first knew is
reappearing, as Macbeth says he will fight until his flesh is
hacked from his bones.

The doctor tells Macbeth that his wife must cure herself,
because she is suffering from a troubled mind rather than a
physical illness. Macbeth’s anger at this could well be
because he knows that both he and his wife are now beyond
the help of this world. Only their deaths will ‘cure’ them.

Scene 4 “
Text commentary

“
Let every soldier hew him down a bough

All the nobles from earlier in the play have come together at
Birnam Wood to join Malcolm’s army. Their calm and determined
mood contrasts with Macbeth’s bouts of fury and shouting.
Malcolm’s clever strategy (they cut branches to hide their
number from Macbeth’s forces) allows the audience to suddenly
understand how the witches may have duped Macbeth, and
how easily the meaning of their predictions could be twisted
into falsehood.

Scene 5 “
“
Out, out, brief candle

Macbeth says that once he would have been frightened by a

shriek in the night. This is a reminder of the owl-cry heard at
Duncan’s murder. Now, Macbeth feels he can no longer be
frightened because he has seen so many horrors. At once,
and ironically, he is startled by a cry.

64
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 65

Explore Macbeth seems numb at the news of his wife’s death. He

‘All the world’s a stage’. talks about the pointlessness of life, which ends only in
Macbeth’s words echo ‘dusty death’. It is significant that he compares Lady
those spoken by Macbeth’s life to a flickering candle, easily and suddenly
Jacques in As You
Like It. Look up this
snuffed out – particularly as, in her last few months, she
soliloquy and compare was terrified of the dark. He realises that all his efforts
its sentiments with have been fruitless. Using one of Shakespeare’s favourite
those spoken by
images, he compares life to a passing show, a shadow, a
Macbeth.
fleeting thing. He says life is as meaningless as the sound
and fury of an idiot’s tale, performed on the stage, but with
no real substance or truth.
“
“ Blow wind, come wrack;

Text commentary
At least we’ll die with harness on our back

Explore The witches did not lie to Macbeth, but their predictions
Who do you think is have come true in a way that he could not have foreseen.
more responsible for It looks as if the wood is moving towards Macbeth’s castle.
Macbeth’s situation –
himself or the witches?
Macbeth is weary of life, but vows to die a warrior.
Throughout the play, Macbeth is associated with drums, bells,
alarms, storms, lightning, the screeching of wild animals and
other sudden loud noises. Calling now upon the ‘sound and
fury’ of alarm bells, storms and shipwrecks, Macbeth goes out
to do battle. It is visually important that he chooses to dress
himself again in the vestments of a soldier. Macbeth feels safest
dressed as a warrior.

Scenes 6, 7 and 8 “
“
Explore
Bear-like I must fight the course
Bear-baiting was one
of the Elizabethans’
favourite pastimes. The attacking army arrives at the castle. Macbeth takes
Research others and comfort in the only prediction of the witches that has not
see if you can find
yet turned against him – no man born of woman can harm
references to them in
this play. him. Using an animal simile, he compares himself to a bear,
tied up and over-powered, but angry and strong to the end.

65
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 66

“
“
I bear a charmed life

Macbeth kills Young Siward, emphasising his savage nature,

but the castle is conquered. Macbeth is then confronted by
Macduff, but is reluctant to fight him because of what he has
already done to Macduff’s family. Macbeth learns that
Macduff was taken from his mother’s womb early (probably a
Caesarean birth): ‘untimely ripp’d’. Macbeth sees that he has
again been tricked by the witches and refuses to fight. Macduff
says that, in that case, he will be tethered and put on show like a
rare monster. This is too much for Macbeth, who has personal
pride and honour and could not bear his life to end this way. He
Text commentary

hurls himself at Macduff. He is killed and his severed head is put

on display for all to see. “
“
Invite to see us crowned at Scone

At the start of the play the first Thane of Cawdor died

bravely, and Malcolm said that ‘nothing in his life became
him like the leaving it’. You should think about whether
this was also true of Macbeth (the second Thane
of Cawdor). Did he die more nobly than he lived? The final speech
in the play comes from Malcolm, the new king, who announces
that he will reward the nobles who have helped him. The
imagery of planting and growing appears again. His final
judgement is that Macbeth was a ‘butcher’ and Lady Macbeth
his ‘fiend-like queen’. You should look back though the play and
come to your own verdict.

66
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 67

Quick quiz 5
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
1 Who refuses to fight anybody except Macbeth himself?
2 Who becomes King of Scotland?
3 What has Lady Macbeth been seen to do on previous occasions when
sleepwalking?
4 What does the doctor say of Lady Macbeth’s condition?
5 Where are Young Siward’s wounds, and why is this important?
6 Where exactly is Macbeth’s castle (previously referred to as Inverness),
and why is this significant?
7 Why, according to Macbeth, does he no longer start at the sound of
cries?
8 Why is Macbeth reluctant to fight Macduff?
9 How does Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane?
10 How is Macduff able to kill Macbeth despite the prophecies?

Quick quiz
Open quotes
Find the line – and complete the phrase or sentence.
1 ‘Here’s the smell of the blood still…’
2 ‘And that which should accompany old age…’
3 ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…’
4 ‘I pull in resolution…’
5 ‘And be those juggling fiends…’

General question on the whole play

Use the following phrase as a memory aid. List all the themes you can
think of in the play that start with each letter.
MACBETH SOLD

67
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 68

Writing essays on Macbeth

Exams

G To prepare for an exam, you should read the text in full at least
twice, preferably three times. You need to know it very well.
G If your text is to be studied for an ‘open book’ exam, make sure
that you take your book with you. However, you should not rely
too much on the book – you haven’t got time. If you are not
allowed to take the text with you, you will need to memorise brief
quotations.
G You need to decide fairly swiftly about which question to answer.
Choose a question which best allows you to demonstrate your
understanding and personal ideas.
G Make sure you understand exactly what the question is asking you
to do.
G Plan your answer (see page 75).
Writing essays

G Always have a short introduction, giving an overview of the topic.

Refer to your plan as you write to ensure you keep on task. Divide
your ideas into paragraphs; without them you may not get above
a D grade. Try to leave time for a brief conclusion.
G Remember: point–quotation–comment:
The witches talk in riddles and use oxymoron [point], declaring
‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ [quotation]. This shows that while their
words and predictions seem to make sense, what they are
actually saying depends on the interpretation of the listener
[comment].
G The key word in writing essays in exams is timing. You must know
how long you have for each question and stick to this.
G Leave yourself a few minutes to check through your work. It does
not look impressive if you misspell the names of characters,
settings or the author.

68
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 69

Coursework

G Timing is not so crucial for coursework essays, so this is your

chance to show what you can really do, without having to write
under pressure.
G You can obviously go into far more detail than you are able to in
an examination. You should aim for about 1000 words, but your
teacher will advise you further.
G If you have a choice of title, make sure you select one that grabs
your interest and gives you a lot of opportunity to develop
your ideas.
G Plan your work (see page 75). Make sure that you often refer to
the plan and the title as you write, to check that you are not
drifting off course.
G Use quotations frequently but carefully and try to introduce them
smoothly. It is often effective to quote just one or two words:

Writing essays
The first mention of Macbeth is a positive one and he is hailed as
‘brave’, ‘valiant’ and a ‘worthy gentleman’.
G Try to state your own opinion with phrases such as ‘This suggests
to me …’. You will be credited for your ideas, as long as you
explain why you think them.
G Putting the play in context is very important. Include relevant
background detail and explain how the cultural and historical
setting affects the writer’s choice of language.
G Make sure that you include a short conclusion, by summing up
your key ideas.
G Don’t be tempted to copy large chunks of essays available on the
Internet. Your teacher will immediately notice what you have
done and will not reward it.
G It is a good idea, if possible, to word process your essay. This will
enable you to make changes and improvements to your final draft
more easily.

69
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 70

Key quotations “
“ Fair is foul and foul is fair (Act 1, Scene 1)

This line indicates the way in which the witches speak in riddles
and paradoxical statements. It can be used in an essay about the
supernatural or about Macbeth (as he virtually echoes this line
when he first appears on stage). “
“ Too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness
(Act 1, Scene 5)

This line is important because it tells us about Macbeth’s character.

Although he is a great warrior, he is sensitive and caring. Use this
quotation in a character essay, or even to examine the changes in
Macbeth from the start to the end of the play.
“
“
False face must hide what the false
heart doth know (Act 1, Scene 7)
Key quotations

Lady Macbeth has warned her husband that he must pretend to

be honourable and loyal when, in fact, he has murderous
intentions. This line emphasises the difference between
“
appearance and reality that runs though the play.

“ unsex me here (Act 1, Scene 5)

Lady Macbeth delivers these words after receiving Macbeth’s

letter. This conjures an image of a character calling to the
supernatural world to make her hard and ruthless. There are
lots of references to male and female qualities in the play and this
is a key reference. It could be used in an essay on Lady Macbeth
or on the influence of the supernatural.

70
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 71

“
“
Blood will have blood (Act 3, Scene 4)

Macbeth cries this line after seeing Banquo’s ghost in the banquet
scene. It is a good example of the blood image that occurs
throughout the play, but it also carries the notion of prediction.
Macbeth is right – the blood he has spilled will only lead to
more bloodshed.
“
“
By the pricking of my thumbs / Something wicked
this way comes (Act 4, Scene 1)

This is a useful quotation to remember because it shows the way

that Macbeth and the witches are inextricably linked. They sense
when he is near, and he cannot resist their temptation. The fact that
he is referred to as wicked is significant and could be used in a
character-based essay or a thematic one based on the supernatural.
“
“
Macbeth doth murder sleep,

Key quotations
the innocent sleep (Act 2, Scene 2)

Spoken by Macbeth after his slaughter of the king, sleep here is

used as a metaphor for innocence and purity. The good at heart
can find peace in sleep, but those who are evil are condemned to
find no rest. This would be an excellent line to use in an essay
about either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth, or on the recurring
images used in the play.
“
“
This dead butcher and his
fiend-like queen (Act 5, Scene 9)

This is one of the most significant lines in the play and would be
essential in any essay looking at the characters and development
of either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth.

71
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 72

Exam questions

1 ‘This dead butcher and his fiend-like queen.’ To what extent is this
a fair comment on the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?

2 Justify how far we can hold Macbeth fully responsible for the evil
deeds committed in the play.

3 Imagine you are Macbeth writing to your wife from the battlefield.
Explain how the battle went, your thoughts on the traitor Cawdor
and your loyal friend Banquo, and the meeting with the witches.

4 How wicked is Lady Macbeth?

5 Explore the significance of the role played by the supernatural

in Macbeth.

6 Macbeth is a play about murder and killing. What kinds of death

are featured in the play and how does Shakespeare portray their
differences, dramatically?

7 In Act 1, Scene 1, the Captain gives news of the victory against

the Norwegians to King Duncan. Write his official report of the
battle. Remember to include details about the enemy attack,
the treacherous behaviour of the Thane of Cawdor, as well as
of Macbeth’s bravery and the eventual victory.
Exam questions

8 You are Macbeth. Write a diary entry, detailing your thoughts

after meeting the weird sisters and then being awarded the title
‘Thane of Cawdor’.

9 Explore the importance of sleep and sleep imagery in the play.

10 Who is responsible for the eventual downfall of Macbeth?

11 How does Shakespeare use soliloquy to reveal character?

Choose two examples from the play and explain how they
develop character.

12 Discuss the relationship between Macbeth and his wife. How

does this relationship change during the course of the play, and
why do you think this is?

72
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 73

13 Explore the theme of nature in the play.

14 How well does the opening scene prepare the audience for the
themes and imagery contained within the rest of the play?

15 Shakespeare uses many contrasting ideas in Macbeth. How is the

notion of contrast used to develop character, themes and motifs
in the play?

16 Discuss the changes in Lady Macbeth’s character and explore

why she continues to fascinate audiences today.

17 Explore the role of the various women in Macbeth.

18 Act 3, Scene 4 – the banquet scene which features Banquo’s

ghost – is dramatically rich. As a director, what decisions would
you make about the staging of this scene and what advice would
you give to the actors?

19 Discuss how the theme of appearance versus reality is explored in

Macbeth.

20 The story of Macbeth is a typical tragedy – a great man is

brought down by a fatal flaw. How far do you agree with this view
of the play?

Exam questions
21 Consider the ways in which the recurring imagery within Macbeth
adds to the power of the play.

Spidergrams for questions 5, 6 and 10 are shown on pages 75–77.

73
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 74

Planning an essay

It is very important to be organised in your approach. Time spent in

planning your response will be reflected in the grade you receive.
G The first thing to do is to read the question very carefully to make
sure you fully understand it, and then highlight key words.
G You will need to make some notes on the topic to help you. This can
be done in various ways: a list; subheadings; a spider diagram; or a
mind map.
G The advantage of using a spidergram is that it lets you expand your
ideas in a clearly linked, visual way. Put the essay title in the centre
of the page. From this a number of key ideas will come out in the
form of branches.
G By focusing on each key idea in turn, you will be able to branch out
further, as your brain makes connections between the ideas.
G Since a spidergram is a way of charting your knowledge, it is also an
excellent revision aid. You could work through a number of essay
titles in this way.
G Some people prefer to make a spidergram even more visual, by
colour coding ideas and even adding pictures or symbols.
Planning an essay

G In the planning stage of an essay, it is a good idea to jot down some

useful quotations. These need not be lengthy and can be added to
your spidergram.
G Each branch of a spidergram might form a separate paragraph in
your essay. You can number the branches, so that you are clear
about the order of your points. Deal with the main points first.

Some pupils say that they do not like planning and that they never do
so, but the majority of candidates do significantly better when they
plan their answers.

74
 brutal
hero ambitious
warrior
3115_001-088

‘bloody determined ruthless

tyrant’
10/5/07

attacks his
prepared to after manliness
murder anyone start of
Duncan's ‘was the
in his way play
death character persuasive hope
drunk?’
11:20

calls him
a coward
Banquo becomes Macbeth's
independent character
Lady role
Page 75

Macbeth of wife
desire to
be Queen?
Lady ‘be innocent
Macduff guards of the
knowledge’
Who is responsible
supportive
for the eventual
downfall of
Duncan's
Macbeth?
seed sown by
murder
witches,
executed by meddle with play with ‘a drum, a drum,
Macbeth witches fate and the lives Macbeth
destiny of men doth come’

destroyed
no going
the natural
back Act 4
order dramatic audience
contribution expectations
effect
to downfall

‘If chance will

‘We are yet
have me king,
but young
chance will appearance spells
in deed’
crown me’

75
Spidergram essay plans
 Spidergram essay plans

76
‘Bellona's killing
madness bridegroom’ enemies
3115_001-088

guilt and
traitors ‘unseamed
Macbeth from the
Lady Cawdor nave to the
Macbeth and
Banquo chaps’
‘Out, out execution
audience
10/5/07

brief of traitor
sympathy
candle’
brutal biblical
presentation suicide war imagery
shows
presentation
11:20

Macbeth's
lack of
concern
heroic
Macbeth is a play featuring
women enables
and murder and killing. What kinds Macbeth to
seize throne
Page 76

children of death are featured in the

horrific presentation
play and how does Shakespeare
murder sons
portray their differences? flee to
of Duncan
England
political
Macduff's references Lady
reaction to youth Macduff ‘filthy
against the
presentation witness’
natural order

horrific
audience ‘making
disbelieving ‘egg’ ‘Young fry’ blood the green
sympathy
imagery one red’
execution
of tyrant
beheading
‘All my of
pretty Macbeth
ones?’ killed loyal
through friend Banquo
paranoia
friends reassertion fight
ghost presentation of natural between good
haunts
planned order and evil
Macbeth hired
and presentation
killers
calculated

‘never full
shake thy operatic in
audience
gory locks intensity
view
at me!’
 horses ‘Is this a
hallucinations cannot
eating each dagger I see
and visions say amen
other before me?’
3115_001-088

Ross' chaos in echoes the ‘so fair

news weather witches' and foul
words a day’
birds of prey
10/5/07

attacking Macbeth's
each other harbours
character susceptible
solar secret
unnatural to temptation
eclipse ambitions
events
11:20

‘rapt’ by ‘stay you

‘never imperfect
shake thy Explore the role the witches'
real or speakers’
gory locks news
imaginary? played by the
at me!’
Page 77

Banquo's supernatural in
ghost Macbeth
sign of historical public Christian
Macbeth’s and cultural superstition beliefs
guilt significance

Daemonology,
witch King James
ability to weird appear and written by the
‘I'll give thee trials of fascinated by
affect the sisters disappear King, published
a wind’ 1590 witchcraft
weather at will in 1597

‘no man speak in raise dramatic

that's born ‘fiend-like
riddles and visions and effect
of woman’ queen’
half-truths demons
Lady
Macbeth
Banquo's three calls on
spells and spirits to give ‘Come you
future apparitions stagecraft
chants her strength spirits’

speaks in
special audience sleep-
trap-door chant-like
effects expectation walking
rhythm

77
Spidergram essay plans
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 78

Sample response
C Grade

How does Lady Macbeth convince Macbeth to kill the king in Act
1, Scene 7?

This scene comes after Macbeth has seen the witches and been told
that he will become king. He wrote a letter to his wife and explained
what happened, and they decided that he needed to kill the king.
Lady Macbeth knows that her husband is probably too nice to go
through with the murder so she tries to persuade him that he
needs to be strong and manly. 
She starts by asking him ‘was the hope drunk wherein you dressed
yourself?’ This means that she thinks he was drunk and not being
clear-headed when he earlier suggested that he kill his king. She asks
him if it is ‘green and pale’, which makes me think she is accusing
him of being feeble and scared. If you are nervous and frightened you
would probably be shaking and white.  Lady Macbeth accuses him
of being too timid to go for what he wants and asks him if he is
‘afeard’ to do something to make his dreams come true.
Lady Macbeth uses very brutal imagery to compare herself to her
husband and explains that she would never say she would do
something and then not go through with it.  She talks about
killing a baby and says, ‘I know how tender ‘tis to love the babe
Sample responses

that milks me’. This means that even though she is a woman, she
would still rather kill her own baby than go back on her word. 
The fact that she uses this horrible image shows that she is stronger
than Macbeth. This would probably make him ashamed.  This
would also be shocking to the audience.
Macbeth looks to Lady Macbeth to make him feel better and to tell
him what would happen if things go wrong. This shows that she can

78
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 79

calm him down by giving him reassurance. She gives him a long
list of practical things that she will take care of, like waiting until
Duncan is asleep and giving his grooms lots of alcohol to drink so
they will fall unconscious. 
By the end of the scene Macbeth is obviously feeling better and
more determined because he says that Lady Macbeth should
only have ‘men-children’ because they are stronger. In his final
couplet  he says that ‘false face must hide what the false heart
doth know’. This shows that he has been convinced because he is
using a similar image to the one Lady Macbeth used in the
previous scene when she tells him that he must look like a ‘flower’
but be the ‘serpent’ underneath it. 
In this scene Lady Macbeth manages to convince her husband
because she firstly accuses him of being a coward, then she
explains how she could do it, to make him feel ashamed. She also
stops him worrying about the practical details of the murder, so by
the end he is ready to go through with the deed. 

Examiner’s comments
This is a balanced response which is closely focused on the title.
Sample responses
Quotations are used appropriately, illustrating that this candidate
understands the author’s craft. There is a little straying into
telling the story in the introduction and the points, although
accurate, are not developed enough. This candidate shows a
personal engagement with the text and understands authorial
intent. There is language focus but there needs to be more
reference to the drama within the scene and to the dramatisation
of the characters. The response is clearly structured with an
introduction and a conclusion.

79
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 80

Sample response
A Grade

How does Lady Macbeth convince Macbeth to kill the king in Act
1, Scene 7?

In this scene Lady Macbeth uses different powers of persuasion to

encourage her husband to kill King Duncan. She knows he is aware
that murder is the only way to make the witches’ predictions come
true, but she also believes that Macbeth might be ‘too full o’ th’
milk of human kindness’. Here, she uses several techniques to
stiffen his resolve.
She begins by asking him, ‘was the hope drunk wherein you dressed
yourself?’ She uses the metaphor of alcohol to imply that his
courage and bravado was the result of intoxication and not genuine
determination.  Macbeth is a great warrior, and the audience
has already heard of his brutal fighting skills, so by accusing him of
being a drunken show-off, she will be offending his manliness. 
She takes this image further by accusing him of being feeble and
scared: ‘green and pale’. She also accuses him of being too timid
and ‘afeard’ to do something to make his dreams come true.
Macbeth has probably never been accused of being a coward,
so this would be a very effective technique. 
Sample responses

Lady Macbeth then uses very brutal imagery, juxtaposing herself

with her husband.  She declares that she would never say she
would do something and then not go through with it.  She talks
about killing her own baby and says, ‘I know how tender ‘tis to love
the babe that milks me’. This means that even though she is a
woman, she would still rather kill her own baby than go back on
her word. By using an image suffused with tenderness and
sensitivity, with words such as ‘milk’, ‘suck’, ‘smiling’ and then

80
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 81

brutally contrasting this with verbs such as ‘plucked’ and ‘dashed’

she creates a horribly violent image, which shows that she is
stronger than Macbeth.  This would make him ashamed
and would also be shocking to the audience.
Lady Macbeth also focuses on his manliness and strikes at his male
pride saying, ‘then you were a man’. She knows that her husband
would be moved by this accusation and would want to prove to her
that he is still a strong warrior and husband. He would not want to
let her down. 
Macbeth looks to his wife to make him feel better and to tell him
what would happen if things went wrong. When he talks about failing,
she says, ‘we fail?’ The actress playing this part would probably
say this as if she is full of disbelief and would not even begin to
consider their plan going wrong. This would show Macbeth that
he needs to think positively and not dwell on the negative. 
Lady Macbeth calms her husband down by giving him reassurance
and explaining all the practical considerations that she has already
taken care of, such as drugging the grooms and ensuring they are
free to do the deed. I notice that she is also careful not to mention Sample responses
the actual word murder anywhere in this scene. She calls it ‘great
quell’, which is an example of euphemism.  By not calling it what
it is, it does not seem so bad, and the word ‘great’ even suggests
that what they are doing is a brave and honourable thing. 
By the end of the scene, Macbeth is obviously feeling stronger and
in his final couplet he says that ‘false face must hide what the false
heart doth know’. This shows that he has been convinced because

81
3115_001-088 10/5/07 11:20 Page 82

he is using a similar image to the one Lady Macbeth used in the

previous scene when she tells him that he must look like a ‘flower’
but be the ‘serpent’ underneath it. 
In this scene Lady Macbeth manages to convince her husband by
accusing him of being a coward, asking lots of rhetorical questions
to make him think of the consequences, using herself as a
comparison to question his gender, and explaining how she could
do it to make him feel ashamed. She also stops him worrying about
the practical details of the murder, so by the end he has no reason
not to go through with their plans. 

Examiner’s comments
This is a very strong answer which is well structured and closely
focused on the title. Quotations are used in interesting ways to
support the candidate’s ideas and there is a confidence in
interpretation. Linguistically, this candidate understands authorial
intention as well as dramatisation of the characters. There is clear
appreciation of this scene as a piece of drama, and consideration
is given to audience and purpose. Good contextual understanding
is shown and original and interesting links are made.
Sample responses

82