INTRODUCTION

The Tragedy of Macbeth, written around 1606, is

considered one of the most violent and psychologically
moving plays ever performed of the playwright and it
remains one of his most popular plays,with good reason.
Here we have the playwright's shortest tragedy, but
arguably his most intense, in terms both of its action and
its portrayal of human relationships.
The play is about a brave Scottish general, Macbeth, set
in the Middle Ages, most probably in the eleventh
century Scotland and briefly in England. It exposes the
various power struggles between the characters and the
conflicts they face internally trying to battle ambition
and corruption and it explores the relation between
balancing tyranny, masculinity and having the best
interests of the nation at heart.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The play was written during the days of the Stuart
monarchy when James VI of Scotland ascended the throne
of England after the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 and
thus united the two kingdoms to become James I of
England. James was a patron of Shakespeare’s acting
company, and of all the plays Shakespeare wrote under
James’s reign, Macbeth most clearly reflects the
playwright’s close relationship with the sovereign.
Shakespeare‘s choice of a Scottish hero and setting might
have been an attempt to patronize James I and to pay
homage to his king’s Scottish lineage, considering the fact
that James claim to have descended from the historical
Banquo.
 WITCHCRAFT
The fear of witches and witchcraft has a long history in Europe, and
common beliefs about witches can be found in the portrayal of the
“three weird sisters” in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Witches were
usually women because audiences believed that women became
witches by consenting to sexual intercourse with the devil or some
other evil spirit. It was believed that they allowed the devil to suck
their blood. Accused witches were examined for the “Devil’s
Mark” - a red mark on their body from which the devil had sucked
blood. If found guilty, they were famously burned at the stake.
When Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, witchcraft and supernatural
happenings were of high interest. King James I was a strong
believer in the diabolical powers of witchcraft and even wrote a
book called Daemonologie about the topic.
THE REAL MACBETH
Macbeth was a real king of eleventh-century
Scotland, whose history Shakespeare had read
in several sources, most notably the
Holinshed Chronicles. Not much is known
about the real Macbeth, but what records are
left show that his rise to the throne, while quite
different to Shakespeare’s tragedy, was no less
bloody. His ambition drove him to become
ruler of the kingdom of Scotland — a feat
achieved over the slain bodies of his enemies,
including the previous king of Scotland, whom
he killed.
 SUPERSTITIONS
For people in theater, William Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth' holds a long
legend of curses and bad luck. From its opening night, many people have
been superstitious of the play. Because of this, actors believe they should
not say the name 'Macbeth' in a theater unless they are rehearsing or
performing the play because many people believe that mentioning
'Macbeth' by name will lead to poor productions, injuries, and just overall
bad luck. In the theater, people will only refer to 'Macbeth' as the
Scottish Play, that play or the Bard’s play and if one does say the
name Macbeth, then a cleansing ritual has to be performed. The ritual
include turning three times, spitting over one's left shoulder, swearing, or
reciting a line from another of Shakespeare's plays
 According to folklore, Macbeth was cursed from the beginning. A
coven of witches objected to Shakespeare using real incantations, so
they put a curse on the play. Another tradition tells that the original
prop-master could not find a suitable pot for a cauldron and stole one
from a coven, who then cursed the play in revenge for the theft.

Productions of Macbeth are said to have been plagued with

accidents. According to legend, this dates back to the premiere of
the play: the actor playing Lady Macbeth died suddenly, so
Shakespeare himself had to take on the part. Other rumoured
mishaps include real daggers being used in place of stage props,
mysterious deaths during productions, actors falling off the stage and
whole theaters catching fire.
 MORE FACTS
Genre: tragedy -it represents a classic tragedy in that its protagonist
travels down a dark path of treachery and violence that inevitably
leads to his own downfall and death, just as in classic greek tragedies
Tone: dark, ominous and fatalistic- violence or the possibility of
violence exists throughout, and there are very few light or playful
moments, it has little comedic relief
Point of view: we see the action mostly from the point of view of
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as well shorty from the point of view of
the three witches and Hecate
 PLOT
SUMMARY
 A fateful meeting
Macbeth, the powerful Thane of Glamis, has led the Scottish army of
King Duncan to victory against the invading force of the rebels and the
king of Norway and has personally fought bravely. As he returns from
the battle with his best friend, Banquo, they meet three Witches. They
predict that Macbeth will be made Thane of Cawdor (a more powerful
position than that he currently holds) and eventually become King of
Scotland. They also tell Banquo that although he will never be king, his
descendants will; the Witches then vanish. Almost immediately,
Macbeth receives the news that in gratitude for leading his troops to
victory Duncan is making him Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth begins to
wonder whether this means the other predictions will come true as well.
...FAIR IS FOUL AND FOUL IS FAIR...
 Murder!
Although initially prepared to wait for Fate to take its course, Macbeth is stung by ambition
and confusion when King Duncan nominates his son Malcolm as his heir. Returning to his
castle, Macbeth allows himself to be persuaded and directed by his ambitious wife, Lady
Macbeth, who realizes that regicide — the murder of the king — is the quickest way to achieve
the destiny that her husband has been promised. A perfect opportunity presents itself when
King Duncan pays a royal visit to Macbeth's castle. At first Macbeth is loth to commit a crime
that he knows will invite judgment, if not on earth then in heaven. However, his wife prevails
upon him. Lady Macbeth drugs the guards of the king's bedchamber; then, at a given signal,
Macbeth, although filled with misgivings, ascends to the king's room and murders him while
he sleeps. Haunted by what he has done, Macbeth is once more reprimanded by his wife,
whose inner strength seems only to have been increased by the treacherous killing. They try
to cover up their deed by making it seem as if the King's servants are responsible. The
following morning, Macduff discovers the King's body. In the confusion that follows, Macbeth
kills Duncan's innocent guards so that they cannot talk. Malcolm and Donalbain, the king's
sons, flee the country and the way is left clear for Macbeth to seize the throne.
“Infirm of
purpose!”-
Lady
Macbeth
taunts her
husband
A guilty conscience...
Despite being duly proclaimed the new king of Scotland, Macbeth
feels insecure and when recalling the Witches' second prophecy
(that Banquo's descendants and not his own will be kings in the
future.) he arranges the murder of his fellow soldier Banquo and his
son Fleance. The hired murderers kill Banquo but mistakenly allow
Fleance to escape. At a celebratory banquet that night, Macbeth is
thrown into a state of horror when the ghost of the murdered
Banquo appears at the dining table. Again, his wife tries to
strengthen Macbeth, but the strain of guilty conscience is clearly
beginning to show and the court begins to wonder whether Macbeth
is going mad, which plants the seed of suspicion.
More predictions...
The following day, Macbeth returns to the same Witches who initially foretold his
destiny. This time, the Witches not only confirm that the sons of Banquo will rule in
Scotland, but they also add a new prophecies:

● to beware of Macduff
● that he cannot be harmed by anyone born of a woman
● that he is safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill

As the second and third predictions are logically and physically impossible, Macbeth
feels relatively safe. However, when he is told that Macduff has deserted him,
Macbeth begins the final stage of his tragic descent. His first move is the destruction
of Macduff's wife and children. In England, Macduff receives the news at the very
moment that he swears his allegiance to the young Malcolm. Malcolm persuades him
that the murder of his family should act as the spur to revenge.
 Consequences
Meanwhile, in Scotland, Lady Macbeth has been taken ill: ever since Duncan's
death, her conscience has been troubling her- she walks in her sleep and seems to
recall, in fragmentary memories, trying to wash her hands clean of imaginary blood,
which is a trick played by her guilty conscience and ultimately, she commits suicide.
Now, in a series of alternating scenes, the action of the play moves rapidly between
the advancing army of Malcolm and the defensive preparations of Macbeth. When
Malcolm's army disguise themselves with sawn-off branches, Macbeth sees what
appears to be a wood moving towards his stronghold at Dunsinane. And when he
finally meets Macduff in single combat, his sworn enemy reveals that he came into
the world by cesarean section; he was not, precisely speaking, "born of woman." On
hearing this news, Macbeth rejects one final time the Witches' prophecy. With a
loud cry, he launches himself at Macduff and is slain. In the final scene, Malcolm is
crowned as the new king of Scotland, to the acclaim of all.
CHARACTERS
Lady Macbeth - Macbeth’s wife, a
deeply ambitious woman who lusts
for power and position. Early in the
play she seems to be the stronger and
more ruthless of the two, as she urges
her husband to kill Duncan and seize
the crown. After the bloodshed
begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls
victim to guilt and madness to an
even greater degree than her
husband. Her conscience affects her
to such an extent that she eventually
commits suicide.
Macbeth is a Scottish general and the
Thane of Glamis who is led to wicked
thoughts by the prophecies of the three
witches, especially after their prophecy that
he will be made Thane of Cawdor comes
true. Macbeth is a brave soldier and a
powerful man, but he is not a virtuous one.
He is easily tempted into murder to fulfill
his ambitions to the throne, and once he
commits his first crime and is crowned King
of Scotland, he embarks on further atrocities
with increasing ease. Ultimately, Macbeth
proves himself better suited to the battlefield
than to political intrigue, because he lacks
the skills necessary to rule without being a
tyrant. His response to every problem is
violence and murder, which proves to be his
ultimate demise
 Michael
Fassbender
as Macbeth
in the 2015
film version
of the play
 IS LADY MACBETH A
VILLAIN?
When audiences first encounter
Lady Macbeth, she seems a very
forceful and dominant personality,
and we can assume that she is the
villain, or antagonist, of the play.
However, after the murder of
Duncan and after the continuous
murders that Macbeth commits she
falls into the pit of madness, proving
that she is not simply a cold-blooded
villain, but perhaps only a woman
who fell victim to her ambitions.
IS MACBETH THE
PROTAGONIST ?
Macbeth is the protagonist of the
play because he is the main
character, even though he is not
a good or sympathetic character.
His ambition to be king at any
cost drives the action of the play.
However, at the same time,
Macbeth can be seen as his own
antagonist because he allows
himself to be blinded my
ambition and as a result, he loses
everything he previously had.
 The Three Witches- three “black and
midnight hags” who plot mischief against
Macbeth using charms, spells, and
prophecies. Their predictions prompt him
to murder Duncan, to order the deaths of
Banquo and his son, and to blindly believe
in his own immortality. In some ways they
resemble the mythological Fates of Norse
and Greek mythology who weave the
threads of human destiny (the word
“weird” comes from Old English “wyrd”
meaning fate)
Banquo - The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches’
prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo has
ambitious thoughts, but he does not turn them into action. In a sense,
Banquo’s character stands as a counterpart to Macbeth, since he represents
the path Macbeth chose not to take: a path in which ambition need not lead to
betrayal and murder

Macduff - A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth’s kingship from the start.

He eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The
crusade’s mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm, on the throne, but
Macduff also desires vengeance for Macbeth’s murder of Macduff’s wife and
young son.

King Duncan - The good King of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition
for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent, and
farsighted ruler.
THEMES
 Ambition and its corrupting power
The main theme of Macbeth is the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked
by moral constraints. Ambitions make us cross moral lines and if we allow ourselves to
be blinded by its corrupting power, nothing will stop us in our pursuit for power, which
will ultimately lead to destruction. It is precisely Macbeth’s ambition, as well his wife’s,
which aided by the prophecies of the witches, brings his downfall. His unchecked
ambition causes the loss of everything he previously had, including his life.

The fall of man

Macbeth exhibits elements that reflect the greatest Christian tragedy of all: the Fall of
Man. In the Genesis story, it is the weakness of Adam, persuaded by his wife (who has in
turn been seduced by the devil) which leads him to the proud assumption that he can
"play God." Similarly, Macbeth’s fall is partly due to the venomous whisperings of his wife
in his ear, which only fuel his ambition and lead to violence and death.
 Fortune, Fate, and Free Will
The ancient view of human affairs referred to the "Wheel of Fortune," according to which
human life was something of a lottery. One could rise to the top of the wheel and enjoy
the benefits, but only for a while. With an unpredictable swing up or down, one could
equally easily crash to the bottom. Fate, on the other hand, is fixed. The length and
outcome of one's destiny is predetermined by external forces. In Macbeth, the Witches
represent this influence. The play makes an important distinction: Fate may dictate what
will be, but how that destiny comes about is a matter of man's own choice or free will.

Natural order and the Disruption of nature

Violent disruptions in nature — tempests, earthquakes, darkness at noon, and so on —
parallel the unnatural death of the monarch Duncan. Those disruptions arise from
disruptions in the natural hierarchy - at the top of this hierarchy is the king, seen in those
times as God's representative on Earth- and the breakage of the natural order, brought on
by Macbeth, alters the balance in the world.
"If chance will have me
king, why, chance may
crown me, without my
stir."
 Reason versus Passion
The play poses the questions: “When making important decisions in life, should you
follow your mind or your heart?” During their debates over which course of action to
take, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth use different strategies. Macbeth is rationally
contemplates the consequences and implications of his actions. He recognizes the
political, ethical, and religious reason why he shouldn’t commit regicide. On the other
hand, Lady Macbeth has a more passionate way of examining the pros and cons of killing
Duncan. She is motivated by her feelings and uses emotional arguments to persuade her
husband to commit the evil act. However, this passion of hers brings both her own
downfall and that of her husband.
The Difference Between Kingship and Tyranny
In the play, Duncan is always referred to as a “king,” while Macbeth soon becomes known
as the “tyrant.” The difference between the two types of rulers is that a real king knows
how to treat his subjects- he is the embodiment of order, justice and loyalty, whereas a
tyrant only acts from self-interest and destroys his country.
 The Relationship between cruelty and masculinity
Characters in Macbeth frequently dwell on issues of gender. Lady Macbeth manipulates
her husband by questioning his manhood, wishes that she herself could be “unsexed”-she
wants to take on masculine characteristics to be able to commit murder, which means that
she only understands manhood as the ability to be cruel and violent. But ultimately, the
play does put forth a less destructive definition of manhood- one which allows men both to
be strong and yet emotional, to be able to grieve and yet to also be able to take revenge.

Guilt
Macbeth’s guilt about murdering his king and ordering the murder of his friend, Banquo,
causes him to have guilty hallucinations. Lady Macbeth also hallucinates and eventually
goes insane from guilt and kills herself. The fact that both characters suffer as a result of
their actions suggests that they are not entirely cold-blooded. Although they commit
terrible crimes, they know, on some level, that what they’ve done is wrong.
 motifs
Is this a dagger which I see
before me,
The handle toward my
hand?
 Hallucinations
Visions and hallucinations recur
throughout the play and serve as reminders
of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s joint
culpability for the growing body count and
as supernatural signs of their guilt. When
he is about to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a
dagger floating in the air, covered with
blood which represents the bloody course
on which Macbeth is about to embark.
Later, he sees Banquo’s ghost sitting in a
chair which is his conscience reminding
him that he murdered his former friend.
Lady Macbeth also hallucinates and
believes that her hands are stained with
blood that cannot be washed away by any
amount of water
Violence
Macbeth is a famously violent play, filled with
murders and bloody battles. By the end of the
action, blood seems to be everywhere.
Prophecies
Prophecy sets Macbeth’s plot in motion—namely, the
witches’ prophecy that Macbeth will become first
thane of Cawdor and then king. The weird sisters
make a number of other prophecies: they tell us that
Banquo’s heirs will be kings, that Macbeth should
beware Macduff, that Macbeth is safe till Birnam
Wood comes to Dunsinane, and that no man born of
woman can harm Macbeth. Although most of them
do come true, prophecies are ambiguous and bring
only moral confusion.
SYMBOLS
 Blood
Blood itself — the color, the smell, and
importance — is vital to life and
shocking to see. The constant presence
of blood in Macbeth repeatedly reminds
the audience about how serious the
consequences of the characters actions
are and it symbolizes the guilt that sits
like a permanent stain on the
consciences of both Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth, one that hounds them to their
graves.
Nature
As in other Shakespearean tragedies,
Macbeth’s grotesque murder spree is
accompanied by a number of
unnatural occurrences in the natural
realm. From the thunder and lightning
that accompany the witches’
appearances to the terrible storms that
rage on the night of Duncan’s murder,
these violations of the natural order
reflect corruption in the moral and
political orders.
 OTHER Famous quotes
Stars, hide your fires! Let not There’s daggers in men’s
light see my black and deep smiles.
desires!
What’s done is done.
O! Full of scorpions is my mind!
Blood will have blood.
Be bloody, bold and resolute,
laugh to scorn the power of Out, damned spot, out i say!
men...
"Look like the
innocent
flower, but be
the serpent
under't."
Thank you for
your
attention!