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Macbeth Themes Notes
Macbeth Themes Notes
Guilt:
Macbeth felt guilt when seeing Banquo
LM shows guilt through sleepwalking/blood on her
hands/ she could not kill Duncan because he looked too
much like ger father
In order to feel guilty you must have a conscience
Macduff when he left his wife
Appearances + reality:
Euphemism = covers up the reality
Blame is shifted on someone
Witches makes suggestions which mislead him
Ghosts + appartions show nothing as it should be
Shown in the play:
Shakespeare shows that realties can be deceptive.
Key aspects:
Seeing Things: Full of spirits + ghosts + conjure up due to guilty
acts. Difficult to admit what is happening and may be suspected
of madness.
“is it a dagger I see before me”
Blood is symbolic/Macbeth is covered with Duncan’s blood
LM Sees blood on her hands – “Than of thief had a wife”
Rhyming shows a disturbed state of mind.
Sleep and dreams: Neither Macbeth and LM cannot sleep due to
hallucinations.
Hospitality: LM and M killed Duncan in his sleep while resting in
their castle.
“look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”
Macbeth see’s Banquo ghost at the feast and says “welcome” 3
Times – Showing he is slightly nervous.
Many words of the character are twisted or have 2 meanings –
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”