Themes of Macbeth

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Themes of Macbeth

• Introductory investigation for Macbeth essay
  assignment

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Reminders as you begin your essay

• Essays with no thesis statement will not be
  graded. Do the work to find a good one, and your
  paper will practically write itself!
• An acceptable thesis statement meets ALL of the
  following criteria
• It is arguabledoes more than state the obvious.
  It presents a CLAIM that you will support with
  your essay. Someone else could potentially write
  on the same general topic with a very different
  message. That is what it means to be arguable.
• It is interesting. If you are bored, your reader
  will be bored. Write about something that is
  complex and captures your attention.
• Organize your paragraphs strategically and
  logically
• Each paragraph should support one main point that
  directly supports your thesis statement.
• Paragraphs should have identifiable topic
  sentences.
• Suggestions
• Look _at_ cause and effect situations and
  compare/contrast situations. THEN merge the two
  conceptscompare and contrast, then look at the
  consequences and results of the similarities and
  differences.
• Remember to gather your raw material before you
  write. Develop your thesis statement and find
  the evidence that supports it before you write
  your first paragraph.

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Notes from Theme Presentations
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Guilt/Regret

• What cannot you and I perform on the unguarded
  Duncan, what not put upon his officersshall
  bear the guilt of our great quell-Lady Macbeth
• She persuaded M to kill D using guilt
• Cast guilt upon the guards
• I am afraid to think what I have donelook ont
  again I dare not MacB
• He is regretting murdering Duncan
• All is but toys, renown and grace is dead
• Macbeth feels regret, guilt? Act 2 scene 3
• Macbeth shows no guilt over killing Macduffs
  family, when he should have
• Until he is about to die, he has been caught
• Of all else I have avoided Macduff My soul is
  too stained with blood of thine already. (Act 5
  scene )

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Macbeths Sanity

• Witches- are they really real? Were they
  imagined?
• Hallucinations- dagger, which leads him to kill
  the king immediately after the hallucination---
  he could plead insanity in todays court system
• Banquos ghost Macbeth has lost his mind
• Hyper-focuses on Macduffparanoia
• Is insanity relevant to murdering children?
  (Fleance, Macduffs kids)
• Killing spree-paranoia again, sanity forcast not
  so great.
• Regains sanity at final moments of life, knows
  his time is come and he does not want to add
  Macduff to his list of casualties.
• Thought he was safe because he couldnt be killed
  (based on the witches predictions)

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Lady Macbeths Sanity

• When she reads the letter from macbeth, she
  starts to lose her sanity, knowing that she is
  going to have to help Macbeth mnurder the king
• Persuades Macbeth that killing the king is the
  right thing to do
• Planning to kill the king, her insanity begins.
• Suicideshe has lost the battle

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Nature

• When the witches are present, thunder and
  lightning accompany them, symbolizing their
  danger?
• The day after Duncans death was unnaturally
  dark, symbolizing the death of light
• Macbeths hands are as bloody as a sea of red
  bloodthe blood is unnaturally attached to his
  (and Lady Macbeths hands)
• Duncans horses go crazy and kill each other,
  representative of people (according to Ross)
  without a king, they go to war and fight each
  other senselessly
• Macbeth and Nature
• When he didnt want to kill Duncan
• He had guilt for killing Duncanthat is natural
• Hallucinated Banquos ghost b/c of his guilt
• Knew he could not become King by chance the
  thought of becoming King by other means scared
  him
• UNNATURAL
• -by the end, he kills Macduffs family without
  being bothered
• -wanted to stay in a daze to avoid natural
  feelings in reaction to his murders

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Lady Macbeths Nature

• I do fear thy nature is too full of the milk of
  human kindness (Lady M fears that Macbeths
  NATURE is too NATURAL)
• Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts,
  unsex me here (she wants evil spirits to turn her
  intonot a woman)
• Come to my womans breast and take my milk for
  gall (poison)
• She says she would rather dash a babys brains
  out than go back on the plan for murdering King D.

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Ambition

• Macbeth
• normal ambition in the beginningthane of
  glamis. After he is awarded Thane of Cawdor, his
  ambition is uncontrollable?
• Malcom is named as the Prince and heir to the
  throne, so Macbeth realizes his ambition will
  take a murderous leap
• When honor is dominant, ambition is in control,
  but when ambition begins to take over, honor is
  rejected (or, when honor is rejected, ambition is
  in control)
• Lady Macbeth
• She receives the letter about the witches
  prophesy and begins to find ways to make it
  happen
• Places the bloody daggers on the guards to take
  guilt off Macbeth
• Faints (fake) to take attention away from
  Macbeths guilt
• Covers for Macbeth while he is freaking out about
  Banquos ghost

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Destiny/chance

• Lady Macbeth takes it on herself to make sure
  that macbeth achieves his destiny of becoming
  King
• Shouldnt destiny make itself happen?
• Does Macbeth forget to leave the daggers on the
  guards because it is his destiny to fail?
• Chance occurrences
• Macduff arriving in the middle of the night to
  see the king
• Fleance escapes
• Murderers arriving to tell Macbeth about Banquos
  death immediate at the beginning of the banquet
• Blood will have blood