William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

His life:
- He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, on 23th April 1564, St George’s Day, the patron saint
of England
- Attended the local Grammar School form the age of 7 to 13
- He married Anne Hathaway when he was 18
- In 1584 he went to London; he was an actor and playwright
- Was supported by a private patron, the Earl of Southampton

- He became a shareholder and the main playwright of the most successful company of
actors in London, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
- His company built the Globe Theatre
- He’s recognised as a genius in his own time

- In 1610 he retired from the theatre

- In 1613 the Globe theatre burnt down
(Shakespeare lost a lot of money but was still wealthy; he helped rebuild the Globe theatre)
- He died in 1616, near his birthday, April 23th, at the age of 52
- He was buried in Stratford upon Avon, in the Holy Trinity Church.

The dramatist
The dating of the plays: Only half were printed during his lifetime → difficult to date them.
Three kinds of evidence
- External: a clear mention or reference to a particular play
- Internal: the play has a reference to an identifiable historical event
- Stylistic: considers changes in Shakespeare’s style.

Comedies and Romances

Sono un sacco e per fortuna non vuole che le sappiamo tutte quindi non le ho scritte
Shakespeare’s comedies include:
- Disguise
- frustrated love
- mistaken identity
- marital and romantic misunderstandings

They end in multiple marriages

They trace the passage of young people out of their parent’s control and into marriage.

Tragedies
Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet Macbeth ecc…
Differences between Greek and Latin classical tragedies and Shakespearian’s tragedies.

In Greek and Latin classical tragedies

1. The protagonist acts against inexorable destiny
2. As the Aristotelian unities (of place, time and action (no sub-plot, but 1 single plot)) → the
one single action is limited to one place and one day
3. The turning point is where the goals of the tragic hero seem within reach.
In Shakespeare
1. Real balance between fate and human choices; flawed human beings in control of their
own destiny
2. Shakespeare freely breaks the rule of place and time unities
3. The catastrophe at the end means disaster for the tragic hero, responsible for his own fall,
although his plan was noble

History Plays
- Based on serious records like the Tudor’s chronicles, and the civil war between the Houses
of York and Lancaster
- Gave a portrait of the nation as a whole
- Were part of a process by which people came to see themselves as belonging to England
rather than to families, households or local lords.
Shakespeare’s history plays are divided into two “tetralogies” (= a group of four plays)
1. Henry VI, parts one, two and three (1592) and Richard III (1593).
2. Richard II (1595), Henry IV, Parts One and Two (1597), and Henry V (1599).
Just after he had completed the series of English political histories, Shakespeare wrote the play
Julius Caesar (1599).
Shakespeare’s language
He used lines with an arrangement of unstressed and stressed syllables known as BLANK VERSE
(unrhymed iambic pentameter).
- Pentameter: line with 10 syllables. 5 couples of syllables
- Iambic: inside each couple, first syllable unstressed, second stressed
- Unrhymed: no rime at the end of line
USE OF VERSE AND PROSE:
Verses are generally used
- By aristocratic characters
- In serious or dramatic scenes

Prose is generally used:

- By lower-class characters
- In comic scenes
- In informal conversations

IMAGERY:
- Clusters of repeated images build up a sense of themes of the play, like light and darkness
in Romeo and Juliet
- Imagery from nature
- Imagery from Elizabethan daily life, like sports and hunting; shipping; law; jewels and
medicine

FIGURES:
He uses methaphors (implicit comparison) and similies (explicit and direct comparison)
He also uses personifications
 MACBETH BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE – PLOT SUMMARY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkwp8UbErcE
INTRODUCTION
1. How does the play begin?
The play begins with the appearance of three witches who plan to meet Macbeth.
2. What kind of news does King Duncan receive?
He learnt that one of his thanes, Macbeth has defeated the thane of Cawdor and Mac
Donald, leaders of a rebellion against the king.
3. What does the king decide to do?
The king decides to name Macbeth the new Thane of Cawdor.
4. Who do Macbeth and his friend Banquo meet?
They meet the three witches on the way back from the battle.
5. What are the prophecies of the three witches?
They predict that Macbeth will become king, and one of Banquo’s descendants will
someday be king and they also greet Macbeth as the Thane of Cawdor,
RISING ACTION
1. What does Lady Macbeth start do? Why?
She begins to plot the murder of King Duncan because she wants Macbeth on the throne.
2. What do Macbeth and his wife do when the king visits their castle?
They go through with the plan. Lady Macbeth gets Duncan’s guards drunk and Macbeth
kills the king. Then he returns to his wife with the blood-stained dagger. Lady M suggest to
take the dagger ack to the guards, because the action mast be their fault.
3. What happens the morning after the murder?
The next morning Duncan’s body is discovered and Macbeth kills the guards because the
bloods and the daggers are found on them. Duncan’s son Malcom and Donalbain flee the
country. Macbeth is crowned king.
4. Why is Banquo suspicious?
Banquo is suspicious because he remembers the witches’ prediction becoming a threat
5. What does Macbeth do?
He hires murders to kill Banquo and his son, but he escapes.
6. What happens at a banquet that same night?
Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost and appears insane at the court
7. What are the witches’ three new predictions? What is Macbeth’s reaction?
They say: “none of woman born shall harm you”, “you will be secure until great Birnam
wood a forest comes to Macbeth’s castle at Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth believing that the last
predictions are impossible assumes he is safe
8. What does Macduff do? What is Macbeth’s reaction?
Macduff travels to find Malcom, Duncan’s eldest son, because he wants to convince him to
fight for the Scottish throne. Macbeth orders to kill Macduff’s family.
9. What happens to Lady Macbeth?
She goes mad, and he has hallucination because of her repressed guilt
CLIMAX
1. The Scottish lords and thanes have … united against Macbeth and joined Malcom’s army
2. What is the Scottish and the English armies’ strategy? In the wood they use tree branches
as camouflage to approach Dunsinane Hill
3. When preparing for the battle, Macbeth learns two important facts: …his wife is died and
Birnamwood appears to be moving
4. Macbeth still relies on the witches’ assurance that … no man born of woman will cause him
harm
FALLING ACTION
1. When meeting Macduff on the battlefield, Macbeth learns that … Macduff was delivered by
caesarean section so he isn’t a born of woman
RESOLUTION
1. How does the tragedy end?
Macbeth is defeated and Malcom takes his place as the rightful King of Scotland

GENERAL FEATURES
It’s the shortest tragedy written by Shakespeare. The plot is short and not very complicated.
- Inside the plot you can find a great psychological analysis of the 2 protagonists: Macbeth and
lady Macbeth.
- You don’t find the villain acting against the hero because Macbeth is both the villain and also
the hero. Macbeth starts with positive features; he is described as a brave and courageous
warrior. In the development of the story, led by ambition, he chooses the evil becoming a
tyrant. Parable of the tragic hero.

THEMES
- Regicide: this particular act made by the protagonist is an act against God and nature, and it
has some bad consequences: chaos, confusion and terrible weather conditions.
We have recurring words in the play (connected with this theme).
They are blood, bleed and bloody.
- Reversal of values. At the beginning of the play one of the witches says “fair is foul, and foul is
fair”. This is the symbols of the reversal of values, the normal values haven’t importance.
- Equivocation and false appearance. It’s very difficult to understand what is real and what is
unreal.

THE PROTAGONIST: MACBETH

He is the representation of the tragic hero and he’s represented by the gradual de-humanisation
of this particular character.
He loses all human and physical relationships and he can’t feel emotions: he’s only driven by his
ambition.
Development: from brave general to murderer and villain.
M. was urged into action by his wife (cynical, practical and determinate)
At the end of the story Macbeth is completely alone.
He’s always aware of what is happening around him. He doesn’t become mad: he experiences
both physical and psychological terror. He suffers a lot; despite this he never compromises. He
fights until the very end, he faces his own destiny
HIS WIFE: LADY MACBETH
She is the opposite of his husband, also their development is opposite.
At the beginning of the story, she is cynical, practical and determinate. She was a strong-willed
woman, who supported M’s weakness.
She suppressed her womanly natural instinct in order to plan the murder. In the course of the
tragedy lady Macbeth can’t stand remorse and kills herself.

THE SUPERNATURAL
There are 3 elements connected to the supernatural.
- Three witches that makes 3 prophecies at the beginning of the story and others 3 prophecies in
the course of it.
- Chaos and confusion in nature after the murderer of king Duncan, that’s the symbol of the loss
of harmony, natural order and justice.
- Banquo’s ghost. It is visible only by Macbeth and he is the product of his hallucination (the
witches were visible by Macbeth).

[Stage directions]: where you find information about the setting, the different protagonist of the
scene and the atmosphere. They were added later by the editors when they printed the plays.
- The test starts with 2 stage directions: the first about setting and the second about the
weather conditions e si conclude con una.
Le streghe nonostante facciano parte del mondo sovrannaturale possono essere viste da tutti,
mentre ad esempio il Fantasma di Banquo può essere visto solo da Macbeth.
-
Traduzione Strega 1: quando
dovremmo rivederci di nuovo? Nei fulmini, nei lampi o nella pioggia?
Strega 2: Quando la confusione sarà terminata e la battaglia sarà persa o vinta.
Strega 3: Questo avverrà prima de tramonto del sole
Strega 1: in quale posto?
Strega 2: nella brughiera. (tipico paesaggio inglese)
Strega 3: lì per incontrare Macbeth.
Strega 1: Arrivo gatto grigio (sarà il suo animale)
Tutte: Il rospo chiama
Strega 3: Subito!
Tutte: Verso che simboleggia delle tematiche principali dell’opera: i valori tradizionali dopo la
morte di re Duncan non saranno più veri quindi il bello sarà come il brutto e il giusto sarà come lo
sbagliato.
“Fair” può essere tradotto come bello o giusto, “foul” può essere tradotto come brutto o sbagliato
Tutte: Planiamo attraverso la nebbia e l’aria impura.

Analisi
1. The three witches: they are called weird sisters. It could mean strange or mysterious sisters.
They are part of the supernatural world but they are real characters and not hallucination.
(Different by Banquo)
They are alone in the stage and visible to the spectators.
2. Stage directions: 3 different stage directions that give different information: setting, weather
conditions, the protagonist. The witches enter to the trap door in order to increase the
supernatural effect.
3. Natural elements in line 2: these specific elements (thunder, lighting and rain) are symbols of
terror and darkness, typical element of this tragedy
4. Line 3, “hurly-burly”: it means confusion. The sense in “when the confusion of the war is over”
5. Line 8, first allusion to Macbeth: We have the first mention to the protagonist of the place. The
first time of mentions is associated to the typical confusion of the tragedy: terror, confusion and
reversal of the tragedy
6. Setting and atmosphere of this scene: the scene is very short and set in an open space.
Probably the stage was empty. This particular setting has got an effect on the audience.
The functions are:
- to disconnect the scene from any logical attitude
- arouse audience’s curiosity.
The atmosphere is upsetting, disturbing and unsettled.
7. First word spoken in the play: When: connected to time. It’s important because it wants to
introduce something about the future. It’s connected to the theme of the future and to the 3
prophecies made by the witch.
8. When will the three witches meet again and where?
The 3 witches will meet before the setting of the sun and in the heath.
9. Who will they meet?
They will meet Macbeth, the winner off the battle, after it.
10. How do the witches move?
They fly, they don’t move like normal people.
11. Features of the air: It’s a filthy and corrupted kind of air because in this scene Shakespeare is
introduced the 3 witches, connected to the 3 prophecies, linked to the tragic end.
12. Figures of speech employed by Shakespeare:
- paradox (= PARADOSSO) = apparent contradiction: line 2 (3 different natural element, presented
by him by separated natural phenomena, because they aren’t separated phenomena, they are all
connected), 4 (you lost or won, not both), 12 (what is good is also bed, what is beautiful is also
ugly, and the contrary)
13.Meaning of line 12: it introduces the most important theme, that is confusion of values and
madness.
After Duncan’s murder
Inizio: Stage direction [entra Macbeth, con un pugnale insanguinato]
L: Mio marito?
M: Ho fatto il fatto. Nono hai sentito il rumore? (Dids e thou arcaici)?
L: Ho sentito il gufo gridare e i grilli cantare. Non hai parlato?
M: quando?
(…)
M: ascolta, chi sta nella seconda camera?
L: Donaldabin
[Si guarda le mani] scena importante
M: Questa è una scena spiacevole. (The sight of his hand is negative because they are full of king’s blood)
L: è un pensiero sciocco dire che è una vista penosa
M: Ce n’era uno che rideva nel sonno, e un altro ha urlato “assassinio”. In modo tale che si sono svegliati
l’un l’altro ma loro hanno detto le loro preghiere e si sono rimessi a dormire. (parla delle guardie del re)
L: Ce ne sono 2 alloggiate insieme
M: Uno ha urlato “Dio benedica” e “amen” l’altra. Come se loro mi avessero visto con queste mani da
carnefice. Ascoltando la loro paura, non ho potuto rispondere amen quando loro hanno detto Dio ci
benedica
L: Non ci pensare
M: Ma per quale motivo non sono stato in grado di dire amen, avevo un bisogno esagerato di benedizione e
la parola amen si è bloccata nella mia gola
L: Non bisogna pensare a questi fatti in questo modo, se lo fai diventeremo matti.
Riga 23 e 27-28 are 2 premonitions or bad omes by lady Macbeth because in the future both lm e m will
become mad. Because of their cruel actions, what they did
M: mi è sembrato di sentire una voce che gridava non si dorme più, Macbeth ha ucciso il sonno, il sonno
innocente. Il sonno sbroglia la matassa intricata degli affanni, la conclusione della vita di ogni giorno. Un
bagno ristoratore dell’affanno, balsamo per le menti ferite, il piatto principale nel grande banchetto della
natura, il piatto principale nella festa della vita.
“Sleeps” is combined to something positive, in this part you have a comparison between frayed dress and a
person’s day. Function of sleep: to mend a person’s day, it’s a solution to preoccupations.
L: Cosa intendi?
M: Ancora gridando “non si dorme più” il signore di Glamis (title at the origin of the story) ha ucciso il
sonno, di conseguenza il signore di Cawdor (title after war) non dormirà più, Macbeth non dormirà più.
We can make a comparison between sleeps and King Duncan (Simbolo di ordine e giustizia), they both have
good characteristics, If Macbeth kills the king, he is also responsible of the death of the sleep and the death
of the values that they represent. From that moment we have the reverse of values and nothing will be the
same.
L: perché degno barone sprechi la tua nobile forza a pensare in maniera così ossessiva alle cose? Vai a
prendere dell’acqua e lava via questo testimone sporco (sangue di Duncan) dalla tua mano. Perché hai
portato questi pugnali dalla stanza di Duncan, devono rimanere là, riportali là e sporca le guardie
addormentate con il sangue.
Lady Macbeth shows her rational side.
M: non ci andrò più. Ho paura di pensare a cosa ho fatto, non oso guardarlo di nuovo (il corpo del re)
L: privo di fermezza!
Dammi i pugnali, l’addormentato e il morto sono solo immagini, è soltanto l’occhio dell’infanzia che ha
paura di un diavolo dipinto. Se lui sanguina io coprirò con il sangue i volti delle guardie perché deve
sembrare colpa loro
[esce]. [Si sente bussare]
M: Da dove viene questo rumore, cosa mi sta succedendo visto che ogni rumore mi spaventa, che mani ho
qui. Mi strappano via gli occhi! (non riesce a guardarle perché sono iene di sangue). Tutti i mari saranno
capaci di lavare via il sangue dalla mia mano? Iperbole e metafora
No, questa mia mano piuttosto tingerà di rosso la moltitudine dei mari, rendendo il verde rosso.
[entra Lady Macbeth]
L: Le mie mani sono del tuo stesso colore ma io mi vergognerei ad indossare un cuore così bianco.
Il cuore bianco è quello di un codardo.
Analisi– After Duncan’s murder
1. How is tension expressed in the first few lines (l. 1 – 10)?
We have short lines and broken pieces of dialogue. Listen to sounds, nervous, they fear to be
discovered. Lady Macbeth is an active character, she plans to murder the king and she’s the brain of
the action.
Macbeth is passive and psychologically affected by his action.

2. Functions of the dialogue in this passage:

- Reveal features of the 2 characters Lady M, and M.
- To establish the relationship between them.
- Thanks to the dialogue you can also understand what is happening offstage.

3. References to pictures, paint and colours (l. 46 – 64):

v. 51 pictures
v.52 painted
v.53 gild
v.60 incarnadine
v.61 green, red
v.63 colour
v.64 white
Colours are important in the story because they are linked to different images and have different
meanings.
→RED, negative colour because it’s linked to blood, and it spoils (rovina) what is natural.
→GREEN, positive colour because it’s the symbol of the nature
→WHITE, it’s associated to the heart, in this case is a negative colour because it is symbol of
cowardice, fear and terror. Normally it’s linked to something pure, not in this case.

4. Image of SLEEP:
- Metaphors related to this theme: (between line 30 and 34) In this part sleep is connected to a
positive idea so all the metaphors have different good meanings as peace, relief and rest. Killing the
king, he also kills the sleep and the values that it represents, he couldn’t have peace, relief and rest
anymore.
- “Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep” (l. 29 – 30):
It foreshadows Macbeth’s punishment.

5. Images of BLOOD and WATER:

- What does each image symbolise? They are symbols of something important, blood is a negative
symbols water is positive.
Blood symbolises the guilt of the murder, it stays on Macbeth’s hands, he can’t wash it away. So
there’s not the possibility from Macbeth to repent (pentirsi).

The possibility of redemption is given by water.

- What are the different attitudes of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to their bloodstained hands?
Both Lady Macbeth and also Macbeth have bloodstained hands.
They have two different reactions:
Macbeth is obsessed with the sight of blood; it recalls him on the crime that he has committed.
In the 1st part Lady Macbeth is much more practical, she suggests to use water in order to remove
blood on his hands.
Extract from Act V, Scene V
MACBETH
I have almost forgot the taste of fears;
The time has been, my senses would have cool'd
To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in't: I have supp'd full with horrors;
Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts
Cannot once start me.
Re-enter SEYTON guardia di M
Wherefore was that cry?
SEYTON
The queen, my lord, is dead.
MACBETH
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Enter a Messenger
Thou comest to use thy tongue; thy story quickly.
Messenger
Gracious my lord,
I should report that which I say I saw,
But know not how to do it.
MACBETH
Well, say, sir.
Messenger
As I did stand my watch upon the hill,
I look'd toward Birnam, and anon, methought,
The wood began to move.
MACBETH
Liar and slave!
Messenger
Let me endure your wrath, if't be not so:
Within these three miles may you see it coming;
I say, a moving grove.
Ho quasi dimenticato il sapore delle paure;
C’è stato un tempo in cui mi avrebbe raggelato il sangue
Nel sentire un grido nella notte, e i capelli e il cuoio
a un racconto pauroso si rizzavano
fremendo come avessero anima. Ho fatto il pieno di
orrori; il terrore, familiare ai miei pensieri assassini non mi
può più far trasalire
Cos’era quel grido?
La regina, mio signore, è morta
Sarebbe morta prima o poi.
Sarebbe venuto il momento per quella parola…
Domani, e domani, e domani,
striscia così, col suo misero passo, di giorno
in giorno, fino alla zeta del tempo scritto;
e tutti i nostri ieri han rischiarato ad altri pazzi
la strada della polverosa morte. Spegniti, spegniti breve
candela! La vita non è che un’ombra vagante, un povero
attore che avanza tronfio e smania la sua ora sul palco, e
poi non se ne sa più nulla. È un racconto fatto da un
idiota,pieno di grida e furia,
che non significa niente.
Tu vieni a usare la lingua, presto sputa!
MESSAGGERO
Mio buon signore,
io dovrei riferire che ciò che dico l’ho visto,
ma non so in che modo dirvelo
MACBETH
Beh, dite, signore.
MESSAGGERO
Mentre stavo facendo la guardia sulla collina, e ho girato
l’occhio verso Birnam e, a un tratto m’è parso che il bosco
Incominciasse a muoversi.
M: Bugiardo e Schiavo.
MESSAGGERO
Subirò la vostra ira se non è vero.
A tre miglia, si può vederlo arrivare.
Dico, una selva in marcia.
MACBETH
If thou speak'st false,
Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive,
Till famine cling thee: if thy speech be sooth,
I care not if thou dost for me as much.
I pull in resolution, and begin
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth: 'Fear not, till Birnam wood
Do come to Dunsinane:' and now a wood
Comes toward Dunsinane. Arm, arm, and out!
If this which he avouches does appear,
There is not flying hence nor tarrying here.
I gin to be aweary of the sun,
And wish the estate o' the world was now undone.
Ring the alarum-bell! Blow, wind! come, wrack!
At least we'll die with harness on our back.
MACBETH
Se dici il falso
ti faccio appendere vivo dall’albero più vicino
finché la fame ti secca. Se dici il vero,
fa lo stesso con me, non me ne importa niente.
Io freno la mia risolutezza e comincio
a sospettare l’equivoco del demonio
che mente col vero. «Non temere finché il bosco di
Birnam non arrivi a Dunsinane» – e ora un bosco viene
a Dunsinane. All’arme, all’arme, e fuori!
Se ciò che questi afferma è vero e appare
è inutile arroccarsi, inutile scappare.
Io incomincio a essere stanco del sole, (di vivere)
e vorrei che crollasse tutto l’orbe.
Suonate l’allarme! Soffia, vento, vieni, crollo,
almeno moriremo con la corazza addosso.

Exeunt

Act V, Scene V – A tale told by an idiot

1. Macbeth’s features in this extract: he hears cries of women but he isn’t scared about it
because he doesn’t know fear anymore.
He has got a cynical reaction to the news of his wife’s death, like he didn’t care. According to
him life has no meaning. Life is only a way that leads to death. Disillusioned vision of life.
Cynical, pessimistic, cruel, fearless, tyrant, murderer. Caratteristiche differenti negative. Ma
soprattutto per come prende la parte finale è anche strong and proud.

2. Section 1 (lines 1 – 7): in this part you have the representation of Macbeth’s change
3. Section 2 (lines 10 – 21): Macbeth learns the death of his wife and we can say that Macbeth
doesn’t have a particular reaction; she should die sooner or later; he doesn’t a reaction
because the life is futility and uselessness of life

4. fears, night-shriek, dismal treatise, horrors, slaughterous thoughts (l. 1 – 7): same of semantic
area → horror and darkness, important themes of the play, they are also recurring themes

5. time (X 2), to-morrow (X 3), day (X 2) (l. 10 – 14):

Are all connected to the same semantic area of the passing of time. The function is to stress
the obsessive presence of time

6. fools (l. 15): tutto il nostro passato ha mostrato agli sciocchi la via verso una morte polverosa.
Fools is a metaphor for men in comparison to time. Men are called fools by Macbeth; the
reason is that he has realised that men live with the illusion to be able to change time but it
isn’t possible. Every step is in the direction of his destiny.

7. Metaphors for life (l. 16 – 21): Are the metaphors are negative, life is compared to different
things. They’re linked to each other and they have a short duration, they don’t last for a long
period of time. They are insubstantial because they aren’t what they seem. It’s connected to
 the theme of false appearances. The consequence is that Life doesn’t interest Macbeth
anymore.
Life is compared to flickering light. (Dice breve candela).
x
Actor playing a role.
Meaning less story

8. Technique employed in this extract: 1-21, 33- until the end (2nd part partially used). It’s a
monologue when the protagonist talks directly to the audience and talks about inner thoughts.
Thanks to this monologue the spectator knows Macbeth’s thoughts.

9. Tone of Macbeth’s words: resigned, cynical, disillusioned, indifferent, lucid

10. Features of the tragic hero: He never gives up, he fights until the end
11. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth – at the beginning VS. at the end of the play: They are one the
opposite of the other, specular characters.
Macbeth At the beginning
of the tragedy was a brave and victorious general, he meets three witches, they told him he will
become king. He was ambitious, the central characteristic of him but in the origin, he is weaker
than his wife: the reason why lady M persuades M to kill Duncan (she’s stronger than him).
At the beginning he has positive characteristics but ambition and the thirst (sete) of power spoil
and ruin him.
At the beginning he is: honest, noble-hearted, undecided. At the end he is cruel, tired and
disillusioned but also fearless proud and brave also at the end.
In the course of the plot, he shows psychological trouble (squilibrio psicologico). He suffers of
hallucinations: sights of Banquo’s ghost + he kills many people. Despite this he doesn’t become
entirely mad.

Lady Macbeth
At the beginning she is cynical, determined to kill Duncan because she wants M. to fulfil his goal.
She is practical, controlled (doesn’t shows feelings and emotions). She is pitiless and feels no
remorse.
At the end, she can’t bear/stand/endure her crimes and becomes mad, that’s the reason why she
become completely mad, she’s overcome/crushed by the remorse. She probably committed
suicide because she didn’t stand remorse anymore.