MacBeth

Mutant_Fruit

Just looking for some quick ref notes for actually writing the essay.

This is a short list of points that can be made for the given question. This is all i can think of at the moment, please feel free to add to the list. This should be a good thing to read over just before you head into the exam, just to help ya remember all the points you can mention for each question that might come up.

And if you can think of any more themes/questions that come up, write up points under the title, and add it to this list.

Kingship:
1) Duncan=Weak King? He rewards MacBeth at start making him thane of cawdor, "more is thy due than more than all can pay". But his rule is weak, attacked from all sides with MacBeth the only one keeping Duncan in power.
2) Gives presents to lady macbeth
3) universally loved

4) Macbeth kills for kingship. Usurper of the throne! Known as "black macbeth" the tyrant macbeth, hellhound etc. those he commands move only in command, nothing in love. etc
5) MacDuff refuses to go to his coronation.
6) Uses his kingly powers to Kill previous friends (banquo). the very firstlings of my heart will be the firstlings of my hand...

7) Malcolm: Very wise, he carefully susses out MacDuff to make sure he isn't trying to trick him.
8) Good leadership qualities (dunsinane trees)
9) Rewards his followers after battle
9) English king is very holy. Can heal sick people. Epitome of goodness.


Good/Evil:
1) Witches at start make for an ominous beginning.
2) MacBeth fights for the good king duncan against the evil thane of cawdor etc.
3) Good king duncan rewards macbeth
4) Witchs curse the sailor and tell macbth/banquo propheses.
5)Macbeth kills the good king (an evil deed). That night was also the strangest in living memory (horses eating each other)
6) Tyrant Macbeth: kills all people who are against him.etc etc
7) King Edward in britain is very holy, he supports Malcolm. The forces of good unite (what a cliche...) and overthrow evil MacBeth, and once again scotland prospers.

Appearance/Reality:
Don't know much here...
1) Witches appear to have good news, but really they seek macbeths downfall. (win us with honest trifles...)
2) Mock the time with fairest show/Make our faces vizards to our hearts/ look like the flower, but be the serpent under't.
3) Pretend to be shocked at Duncan's killing.
4) Pretend to wish Banqou a pleasant trip, but secretly plot to kill him.
5) The ghost?
6) Malcolm appears to be bad when macduff arrives, but is really just testing macduff's motives.

Loyalty/Betrayal is a strong one:
1) Thane of Cawdor betrayed Scotland/Duncan by informing Norway about their intentions in the war.
2) The witches betray Macbeth by tempting him with prophecies, which turn out to be false.
3) Macduffs loyalty to Scotland/memory of Duncan by fleeing to England and organizing an army to defeat Macbeth. (Family slaughtered... not so much "betrayal" of family, but not exactly "loyal" to them either)
4) Lady Macbeths loyalty to her Macbeth.
5) Macbeths betrayal of Duncan/Scotland/Banquo.

EDIT: Just updating the list...

subway_ie

Loyalty/Betrayal is a strong one:
1) Thane of Cawdor betrayed Scotland/Duncan by informing Norway about their intentions in the war.
2) The witches betray Macbeth by tempting him with prophecies, which turn out to be false.
3) Macduffs loyalty to Scotland/memory of Duncan by fleeing to England and organizing an army to defeat Macbeth. (Family slaughtered... not so much "betrayal" of family, but not exactly "loyal" to them either)
4) Lady Macbeths loyalty to her Macbeth.
5) Macbeths betrayal of Duncan/Scotland/Banquo.

I'm only using it for my comparative, so I don't need to go into much detail. "Usurp" is a nice buzzword for dealing with Macbeths rise to power.

Kold

Duncan was not a good king is the sense of ruler. The kingdom was chaotic under his reign. I believe that the whole Macbeth story represents the Shakespearean ideals about resurrecting the country through bloodshed.

Duncan's reign = stagnant
Macbeth's reign = Evil taking the land by force as the power of good has dwindled
Malcolm then claims the land and shows a new strong force of good.

DS

1) Duncan=good king, rewards MacBeth at start: Makes him thane of cawdor, "more is thy due than more than all can pay"

No no no no no, Duncan is an awful King! He's hopelessly naive, and is an awful judge of character. The original Thane of Cawdor betrayed him, because "there's no art to find the mind's construction in the face" (but Malcolm shows a much better ability to suss someone out - testing Macduff), but did he learn from this lesson? No, he goes and places his trust in the man who's going to kill him. The fact that there's a rebellion going on also suggests that he does not have good control over his kingdom. He's also insensitive. He announces that Malcolm will be his heir, on a day when Macbeth should be getting all the praise. Good-natured maybe, but definitely not a good King. Malcolm is the good King character - good judge of character, well respected, able to gather forces in England, smart, knows when it's not safe to stick around, even when his reputation is threatened by fleeing.

PHB

You also have to meantion how Malcolm gives hope for the new kingdom, and how Edward(the english king I can't remember his name) is the epitome of kingship, he who rules by gods divine grace and has the ability to heal.

Malcolm has the judge of character, he is shrewed(how he checks that guy) but is still generous and kinglike.

Kingship is a great question but I honastly don't think it will ever come up, because everbody is always prepared for it

V3003

the most likely this year is supposed to be either:
a minor character (witches or banquo)
or madness (hasnt come up in 10 years)

subway_ie

Originally posted by V3003
the most likely this year is supposed to be either...or madness (hasnt come up in 10 years)

That's a really, really dangerous thing to say about anything on the english exam. They made a point of showing people that anything can come up, anytime, as often as they chose. Everything has an equal probability of coming up, just look at the Heaney thing in poetry a few years ago.

Swifty

Wasn't it Malcolm who made the long statement about himself not having any "king-becoming graces"? I suppose we're to presume he's being modest, but it seems here like he's comparing himself to Duncan. All of the characters in the play seem to hold high opinions of duncan through the play after he's dead.

DS

Might want to read that scene again He was testing Macduff's patriotism, making himself out to be a crap King to see how Macduff would react. That particular scene is one of the best examples of why Malcolm is such a good King, and it very deliberately shows a weakness in Duncan's ability to judge people.

All of the characters in the play seem to hold high opinions of duncan through the play after he's dead.

Because he's a nice guy, but not a good King.

Swifty

Read that again, looking at it now that could be a better way of looking at the whole kingship thing. For my pre I had Duncan as being the perfect and good king in my answer... Ooops

I blame the teacher she always explained Duncan in that way.

V3003

That's a really, really dangerous thing to say about anything on the english exam. They made a point of showing people that anything can come up, anytime, as often as they chose. Everything has an equal probability of coming up, just look at the Heaney thing in poetry a few years ago.

yeh but those a just the one that il prepare that bit better

subway_ie

Originally posted by Swifty
I blame the teacher she always explained Duncan in that way.

It can really be "explained" either way... it's more your personal interpretation of it than what's strictly right or wrong. They'll give you the marks whatever approach you take, as long as it's coherent, logical and sticks to the question.

DS

People use that "no such thing as a wrong answer" thing a LOT in English, and it's true most of the time, but sometimes things are fairly black and white. Like this scene. Malcolm goes way over the top about how greedy he is and everything, if it were true it would kind of make a mockery of the whole good vs evil theme, seen as Malcolm and Macduff are supposed to be the personification of good. Anyway, he goes onto make it absolutely clear to Macduff that he was talking through his arse: "Unspeak mine own detraction....." So saying he was comparing his inadequacies to Duncan's strengths is just missing the point, when in fact he was displaying one of his best qualities as a King. I think if kingship does come up, going down the good King Duncan route is a bad idea, when there's so much evidence to the contrary.

Mutant_Fruit

a minor character (witches or banquo)
or madness (hasnt come up in 10 years)

Witches could be covered from the theme of Good/Evil and appearance and reality. Their influence is the cause of the whole thing. Without them, MacBeth would never have thought of killing duncan, ,his wife would never have forced him to do it etc etc.... so thats easily covered (i did a question like that a few months ago and got 78 in it, the highest i ever got )

But how could you cover a question about madness?

Kold

I really doubt madness would come up as Lady Macbeth is the only sufferer. It's not a theme.

mayordenis

know loyalty and betrayel and the king becoming graces they are essential

Mutant_Fruit

updated the above list... keep ideas coming.

subway_ie

Light vs. Dark (A bit like Good vs. Evil, but usable)
Much of this play is filled with the struggle between light and darkness (symbolizing Macbeth-- he asks for darkness to hide his desires in Act I, and then darkness shrouds the night of the murder)
The light in the first two acts is King Duncan, but the struggle went in favor of darkness. This struggle occurs in every act of the play.
Macduff can't rest until he gets revenge on the killer of his family, something Malcolm and Fleance (whose family was also killed by Macbeth) didn't say.
Macduff is the hero of the play. He is the light that will soon come to a final climactic battle with the dark (Macbeth).

Manhood/Masculinity:
Banquo says to the witches, "you should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so" The "should" means that they look like women, probably because they are wearing dresses. Part of the weird sisters' weirdness is the fact that they appear to be both women and men.
When Lady Macbeth is telling herself that she can murder King Duncan, she cries out, "Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty!". If the spirits "unsex" her, she won't be bothered by a woman's kindess or remorse. She will be a cruel killer, like a man.
When Macbeth tells his L. Macbeth that they're not going to kill King Duncan, she accuses him of being a coward. He says that a real man wouldn't commit murder. His wife has the opposite view, and sarcastically replies, "What beast was't, then, / That made you break this enterprise to me? / When you durst do it, then you were a man". Needless to say, she wins.

V3003

how could madness come up? it already has
Lady macbeth is the only one to go mad? What about Macbeth?

Madness
1/ intro
2/ Witches -> provoke the madness
3/ Macbeth -> dagger etc kills duncan
4/ Madness in scotland after duncans death "breach in nature" etc
5/ Lady Macbeths madness
6/ Macbeth totally loses grip on reality -> reliance on witches
7/ Final scene -> paradoxically macbeth finally realises betrayal and that "life in a tale told by an idiot...."
8/ Conclusion

Kold

Macbeth doesn't go mad. He becomes desperate.

mayordenis

actually he does go mad - the scene where he thinks he sees banquo's ghost

nesthead

theres loads of stuff on madness!!! the fact that they already asked a question on madness justifies they can do it again.

theres Macbeths madness, Lady M madness, a "general and widespread madness" that decends on scotland. all the supernatural events can be lumped into this catagory. Madness is seen as a sickness over the country, Malcolm being the cure. every thing in the play can have duplicitous meanings, either something is as it appears to be, or you have eaten the "insane root that takes the mind prisoner":P

elle

if something does come up on minore characters i doubt it'll be banquo-he was on the mock paper!Witches i think maybe or evilness something like that!

Suaimhneach

The likeliness of a minor charachter question coming up is greatly improved by the chances of TWO minor charachters in the one Q.

For example: Discuss the role of Macduff and Banquo and the effects they had on the main characters in the play Macbeth by Shakesphere.

Suaimhneach

What do you mean? Like what they would ask on?

Generally somethign to do with the plot/main charachters. Like what purpose do they serve?

Suaimhneach

Em, I can get you basic points. I can't write the whole thing up! Not enough time!

Suaimhneach

Banquo represents what Macbeth could have been if he wasnt so flawed with ambition.

Banquo can admit to thinking of the sisters "I dreamt of the three weird sisters". Whereas Macbeth just brushes them off. Honesty against dishonesty.

When Macbeth murders Banquo, it serves the purpose of showing just how far gone out of control Macbeth really is. Killing his kinsman and whatnot!!

Em, I have more upstairs, hang on.

DS

Banquo:

Unlike Macbeth, he's aware of the equivocation of the witches.
-"instruments of darkness tell us truths..."

The prophecies trouble him, but he has the moral strength to resist the temptation.
-he gives his sword to Fleance at one point, symbolising his rejection of violence

He knows Macbeth was involved in Duncan's murder, this is the weakness in his character. He doesn't act on this knowledge, and he pays the price. He is driven by the ambition for his children to become kings. He's blinded by this ambition and is no longer able to identify the "instruments of darkness" i.e. Macbeth. His death saves him from a dishonourable end.
Malcolm sums it up - "a good and virtuous nature may recoil in an imperial charge"

Suaimhneach

I'm signing off for the night. Good luck all.


AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

Ahem.

Smellyirishman

Pretty much as above. Banquo is Macbeth`s foil.

When talking the Duncan after Macbeth recieves his new title Macbeth says

"The service and loyalty I owe, in doing it, pays itself. Your higness`part is to recieve our duties; and our duties are to your throne" this shows Macbeth`s obvious unease and already he is beginning to get carried away in his "poetry"

Banquo`s reply to similar compliments from the king is

"If there I grow the harvest is your own" simple effective and most importantly the truth.

Also Banquo prays to "good" gods and not the "common enemy of man"


"Merciful powers restain in my the cursed thought that nature gives way to in repose"

And To follow up on previous ambition yet lack of action posts a good quote is

" My they not be my oracles as well and set me up in hope. But hush, no more"

Banquo thinks about what may happen yet quickly pushes it out of his mind.

Also he wishes to "lose none in seeking to augment it"

Thats a bit more info but its not terribly well put together. just giving you some more ideas

DS

already he is beginning to get carried away in his "poetry"

A good point to make about Macbeth's poetry aswell is that it shows the complexity of his character. He commands our interest much more than Malcolm and Macduff, for example, who use simple, direct language. It shows Macbeth's potential for greatness were it not for his fatal moral flaws.