...Act 5 Scene 1 1.This scene takes place in Macbeth`s castle Dunsinane at a Ante-room in the castle. 2. A doctor and a gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth’s strange habit of sleepwalking. Suddenly, Lady Macbeth enters in a trance with a candle in her hand. Bemoaning the murders of Lady Macduff and Banquo, she seems to see blood on her hands and claims that nothing will ever wash it off. She leaves, and the doctor and gentlewoman marvel at her descent into madness. 3. Lady Macbeth has gone mad. Like her husband, she cannot find any rest, but she is suffering more clearly from a psychological disorder that causes her, as she sleepwalks, to recall fragments of the events of the murders of Duncan, Banquo, and Lady Macduff. These incriminating words are overheard by the Doctor and a lady-in-waiting.(Lady Macbeth - Queen/Macbeth-King) Act 5 Scene 2 1.This scene takes place in the country near Dunsinane. There is Menteith, Caithness, Angus, Lennox, and Soldiers. 2. The thanes Menteith, Caithness, Angus, and Lennox march with a company of soldiers toward Birnam Wood, where they will join Malcolm and the English army. Macbeth is fortifying his castle at Dunsinane with heavy defenses. They claim that they will "purge" the country of Macbeth's sickening influence. 3. Macbeth is a lousy king and needs to go. Thos who hate him call it brave anger. One thing is certain that he is out of control. He now feels the blood of his murdered enemies to his hands. Now, rebel armies punish him...
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...an ignorant selfish decision. When this act is supported by a friend or a spouse, it is made that much more okay to go upon it, because it isn’t blamed on only one. If one goes in, the other one will follow, whether it’s good or bad. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth is supported by his wife, Lady Macbeth to kill the king, Duncan and grab the royalty for themselves. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have many similar and different characteristics. This couple ate both egotistical, see things from face-value, and very power-hungry. While they are both very manipulative, Macbeth is easier to manipulate. Lady Macbeth is eventually guilt-ridden, while guilt never affects Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is also fine with only killing Duncan, whereas Macbeth murders everyone who he feels will take his royalty from him. The witches tell Macbeth the first three prophecies; Thane of Glams, Thane of Cawdor, and The future King. He is confused at first, but then called the witches to come back, and tell him more, this is his ego growing. He wanted to know, “to be King stands not within the prospect of belief, no more than to be Cawdor”. When news came that the Thane of Cawdor is now Macbeth, fuels the fire, his ego starts to build even more. “Glams and Thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind,” Macbeth says aside. Once he is king, to be sure he hangs on to his power, Macbeth visits the witches again for a second time, asks for prophecies. One of the four apparitions was that, “None of woman born shall...
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...evil witches are important to the play because they are the ones who instill negative thoughts and ideas into Macbeth’s head with their predictions. First of all, the witches’ predictions give him the idea of killing King Duncan. When the witches first encounter Macbeth, they say, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter” (Shakespeare 1:3 50-53). Macbeth is confused when he hears about the prediction and he is astonished when the prediction regarding Cawdor becomes true. After that, he immediately begins to think about his last prediction and imagines about committing murder. He says, “Two truths are told,/ As happy prologues to the swelling act/ Of the imperial theme./[..] My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,/ Shakes so my single state of man that function/ Is smothered in surmise, and nothing is/ But what is not” (Shakespeare 1:3 136-138, 148-151). Macbeth already has ambition towards becoming king. However, only after listening to the witches’ words he begins to have a wicked thought of acquiring kingship through murdering...
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...What part does the supernatural play in Macbeth? The word supernatural is defined as ‘Not being able to be explained by the laws of nature’. The majority of us would link the word supernatural to ghosts and paranormal activities, which these days can be proved by using complex technology. However if we look back at Shakespeare’s era in around 1606 the majority of the people there completely believed in the supernatural. Their main belief was that witches existed and had great power to change what ever they wanted. It was believed so much in this time that even King James believed that these supernatural beings existed. Although nowadays it is completely the opposite, most of us believe that these supernatural beings are just mythological. The play Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare during the time that probably he himself and the rest of the population believed in the supernatural, it includes several supernatural events and the general atmosphere is a sinister one. The very first part of the play Macbeth includes three witches other wise described by Shakespeare as the weird sisters. These three witches plan to meet Macbeth upon a heath in the storm which is surrounding them. The effect of this automatically gives the reader the feeling that the play is a sinister one. The witches communicate to each other by speaking in riddles, such as “Fair is foul and foul is fair”. We learn two things from this first part of speech from the witches, firstly we can see that...
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...impatient ambition. Immediately after the first prophecy of being Thane of Cawdor becomes true the "horrid image" of the murder of King Duncan in order to become king himself crosses his mind. He is not totally cold and solely ambitious as shown by his terror of the murder image, which thoroughly defies his loyalty. There is love in Macbeth as shown by his letter to Lady Macbeth in which he calls her his "dearest partner of greatness." Macbeth is already thinking about being king but he is undecided about whether it is better to succumb to the temptation presented by the witches or to wait for Fate to crown him. Banquo warns him that at times evil forces "tell us truths . . . to betray's in deepest consequence." Even though he does not state it out loud, Macbeth does care about morality and religion, as demonstrated in his soliloquy (I, IV, 12-28) where he lists the three reasons why he should not kill Duncan: he is "his kinsman," "his subject" and "his host." Macbeth adds that "Duncan hath born his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels." Lady Macbeth knows her husband and feels that he is "too full o' th' milk of human kindness." To counter this she accuses Macbeth of being a coward if he does not kill Duncan. Macbeth does not want to be a coward, either as soldier or as husband, so he accepts to murder Duncan. His ambition and self-image of bravery win over his virtues. Nevertheless he is remorseful after murdering Duncan...
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...strong woman (who cast a spell to become a “man). She seemed very fearless and non paranoid while plotting and assisting in the murder of Duncan. Gentlewoman tells the Doctor how Lady Macbeth had been getting up from bed, taking paper, writing on it, reading it, and then going back to bed (all in her sleep). When Gentlewoman declines to reveal what Lady Macbeth was saying, Lady Macbeth enters with a candle (taper). Now, both Gentlewoman and the Doctor witness and observe Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking. Her sleepwalking reveals that her ramshackle conscious is restraining her from staying calm. It also...
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...In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the three weird sisters, otherwise known as the witches, merely report what is destined to be for Macbeth. I believe that Macbeth would not have taken part in the same actions, if the witches hadn’t given him any predictions. He would not have had any reason to commit murder if he hadn’t known that he may become king. Throughout the play, there several instances where Macbeth approaches the witches to receive future predictions for his life. Some of the predictions may still have come true without Macbeth doing the things he did, but most of them would have been false without the murders. In Act I, Scene III, Banquo and Macbeth meet the three witches for the first time. In this scene, the witches give predictions...
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...ambition. Immediately after the first prophecy of being Thane of Cawdor becomes true the "horrid image" of the murder of King Duncan in order to become king himself crosses his mind. He is not totally cold and solely ambitious as shown by his terror of the murder image, which thoroughly defies his loyalty. There is love in Macbeth as shown by his letter to Lady Macbeth in which he calls her his "dearest partner of greatness." Macbeth is already thinking about being king but he is undecided about whether it is better to succumb to the temptation presented by the witches or to wait for Fate to crown him. Banquo warns him that at times evil forces "tell us truths . . . to betray's in deepest consequence." Even though he does not state it out loud, Macbeth does care about morality and religion, as demonstrated in his soliloquy (act 1 scene 4 line 12-28) where he lists the three reasons why he should not kill Duncan: he is "his kinsman," "his subject" and "his host." Macbeth adds that "Duncan hath born his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels." Lady Macbeth knows her husband and feels that he is "too full o' th' milk of human kindness." To counter this she accuses Macbeth of being a coward if he does not kill Duncan. Macbeth does not want to be a coward, either as soldier or as husband, so he accepts to murder Duncan. His ambition and self-image of bravery win over his virtues. Nevertheless he is remorseful after murdering...
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...king-“Macbeth met the Norwegian attacks shot for shot, as if he were the goddess of war’s husband. Finally he broke the enemy’s spirit, and we were victorious.” This image of bravery and loyalty is soon contradicted when after hearing of the witches’ prophecy, Macbeth pleads “Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” Immediately, the effects of his ambition is shown, as thoughts of murder and corruption fill his head. Despite the questions of morality that could stop Macbeth from committing these horrid acts, his ambition and the influence of those around him corrupted by ambition cause him to kill both King Duncan and his servants. Murder, driven by ambition, causes Macbeth to deteriorate, eventually finding solace only in his ambition. This mental degradation is portrayed in Macbeth’s post-murder, mindless babbling: “Me thought I heard a voice cry, “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”—the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care, The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, Chief nourisher in life’s feast.” As the play continues, Macbeth becomes more and more corrupted by his ambition, killing his former friend Banquo, and eventually going to battle based on the words of the witches. This greed-driven madness shows how Macbeth’s ambition caused his mental deterioration and the development...
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...sake. Macbeth, with assistance from his wife, Lady Macbeth, kills the beloved King Duncan after finding out from the Weird Sisters that he would be king. After the murder, Macbeth starts slowly losing his mind leading to him seeing apparitions and hearing voices. These occurrences lead him to become paranoid causing him to kill off his closest friend Banquo and Macduff’s family. Feeling helpless and alone, not even trusting his own...
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...1. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship was described as high in affection, love and commitment. Macbeth is described as the loyal soldier who is controlled by the words of his wife. Lady Macbeth was the stronger one in this relationship of two. After Macbeth listened to the witches’ prophecies, he started hoping for something to happen in order to become the king of Dunsinane. However, after informing his wife with the prophecies, Lady Macbeth couldn’t wait ;instead, her bold ambition and greed triggered her into taking actions ,therefore, started to plot the murder of King Duncan. Macbeth falls under the control of his wife’s ambitions and kills Duncan. After the murder was committed, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth...
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...Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles & Mary Lamb (1807), Illustrated By Arthur Rackham (1899/1909) [pic] When Duncan the Meek reigned King of Scotland, there lived a great thane, or lord, called Macbeth. This Macbeth was a near kinsman to the king, and in great esteem at court for his valour and conduct in the wars; an example of which he had lately given, in defeating a rebel army assisted by the troops of Norway in terrible numbers. The two Scottish generals, Macbeth and Banquo, returning victorious from this great battle, their way lay over a blasted heath, where they were stopped by the strange appearance of three figures like women, except that they had beards, and their withered skins and wild attire made them look not like any earthly creatures. Macbeth first addressed them, when they, seemingly offended, laid each one her choppy finger upon her skinny lips, in token of silence; and the first of them saluted Macbeth with the title of thane of Glamis. The general was not a little startled to find himself known by such creatures; but how much more, when the second of them followed up that salute by giving him the title of thane of Cawdor, to which honour he had no pretensions; and again the third bid him "All hail! king that shalt be hereafter!" Such a prophetic greeting might well amaze him, who knew that while the king's sons lived he could not hope to succeed to the throne. Then turning to Banquo, they pronounced him, in a sort of riddling terms, to be lesser than...
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...him a sequence of demons and spirits who present him with further prophecies: he must beware of Macduff, a Scottish nobleman who opposed Macbeth’s accession to the throne; he is incapable of being harmed by any man born of woman; and he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane...
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...Oedipus, blindness first shows itself in the case of regicide. In the plot, after Oedipus is told by a seer that he was going to kill his father, he tries to avoid his fate by running away but when he is confronted by a difficult situation he chooses to kill. This proves that he kills even though he knew he was going to kill his father. He is blinded to his fate although it is revealed to him. On the other hand, Macbeth’s blindness shows itself in the case of Macduff. Macbeth is foretold that he needs to beware of Macduff, he is incapable of being harmed by any man born of woman, and he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle. Macbeth, even though, knows all these prophecies kills Macduff’s family because of insecurity and startles Macduff. In the battle English army shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood and Macduff advances on Dunsinane Castle and it is revealed that Macduff is not born but ripped from her mother’s womb. Macbeth, in the hands of Macduff, meets his doom. This shows that...
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...Relationships can be complicated, but add a manipulative wife, a pushover husband, and a treacherous plan to be king into the mix, it can lead to divorce…or in this case, death. In the play Macbeth, gender roles and relations are a prominent theme throughout the play. This recurring thematic element is especially illustrated in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's actions as individuals as well as a couple. Their perception of gender specific roles for male and females, as well as their personal adaptation to unforeseen situations in the play, caused them to reexamine the preconceived notions of acceptable male - female relations and ultimately led to their demise both as individuals and as a couple. During the opening acts of the play, specifically acts I and II, Macbeth’s persona could be described as timid and humble; on the other hand, his counterpart -Lady Macbeth, had ruthless, devious, and manipulative character traits. From the beginning, Lady Macbeth was undoubtedly not a typical wife. She broke the status quo of the stereotypical 11th century wife of the soon-to-be Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. She did not stay in her castle and perform mundane wifely duties; on the contrary, she was a go-getter, and her robust nature often made her seem more manly than her husband. In fact, she wanted to become a man, so she could do the things her timid husband would not. She knows Macbeth is ambitious, but fears he is too “full o th’ milk of human kindness” to take the necessary...
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