Macbeth Review Guide

• Five Elements of Tragedy
• tragic hero
• dramatic foils
• internal and external conflicts
• rises questions of existence 
• hero must be fated to fall
• Five Elements of Tragic Hero
• Noble Birth
• virtuous and loyal
• tragic flaw causes downfall
• tragic flaw
• audience must learn from the hero's mistake
• Macbeth's Tragic Flaw
• Blind Ambition
• Soliloquy
• An actor standing alone on stage reciting a speech
• Act 3, Scene 1, Banquo is talking about how he thinks Macbeth has cheated to gain his titles and hopefully what the weird sisters said about him will come true like it did for Macbeth.
• Monologue
• An actor reciting a speech to people on stage
• Malcolm's speech at the very end of the play. He tells the soldiers that he is naming all of the thanes, earls. 
• Plot
• Exposition
• The battle 
• the witches
• Inciting
• The witches tell Macbeth and Banquo Macbeth will be king but so will Banquo's children
• Rising Action
• Macbeth killing Duncan
• Macbeth becomes King
• Macbeth has Banquo and Fleance killed
• Fleance escapes
• Climax
• Witches apparitions predictions
• Falling Action
• Macduff goes to England and compiles an army
• Macbeth had Macduff's family killed
• Birnam woods 'marches' to Dunsinane. 
• Macduff kills Macbeth
• Resolution
• Macbeth dies
• Malcolm becoming king
• Themes
• Blind Ambition
• Macbeth decides to kill all of Macduff's family just because he can. 
• The Corruption of Power
• After Macbeth was crowned king, he decides to kill off everyone that was a threat to him. He hires people to kill Banquo, Fleance and Macduff's whole family. 
• Appearance VS. Reality
• In Act 1, Scene 6,Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to 'look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent underneath'. She tells him to appear kind and be a good host, but really he is plotting Duncan's death.
• Superstition and how it affects human behavior
• Macbeth thinks he is invincible because the witches' apparitions tell him seemingly impossible things. 
• Good VS. Evil
• In Act 2, Scene 3, the Porter says, "Who's there in the name of Beelzebub?" he metaphorically turns the castle to hell. and he is now the doorman to the gates of hell. 
• Characters
• Macbeth
• Turned king of Scotland
• tyrant
• dynamic
• lady Macbeth told him to kill Duncan
• Lady Macbeth was power hungry
• died because macduff kills him
• Lady Macbeth
• queen of castle
• married to Macbeth
• tells Macbeth to murder Duncan because she is power hungry
• before she dies she is constantly washing her hands 
• considered fourth witch because she lets demons into the house
• Duncan
• old king of Scotland
• murdered by Macbeth
• considered an angel or awesome king compared to any other king
• 
  
• Malcolm
• young
• becomes king of Scotland after Macbeth's death
• thought to have murdered his father (Duncan)
• 
  
• Donalbain
• youngest son
• also thought to have murdered Duncan
• 
  
• Banquo
• caption of Scotland
• strong
• witches tell him that his sons will be king
• Macduff
• thane of fife
• after the murder of Duncan, banquo, and macduff's family he helps lead an army against Macbeth
• Lady Macduff
• macduff's wife
• innocent bystander
• murdered by Macbeth to show macduff who's boss
• Lennox
• last thane to be loyal to Macbeth
• eventually goes to the good side
• 
  
• Ross
• cousin of macduff
• told macduff the fate of his family
• also present when macduff says that maybe Duncan's sons killed Duncan
• because they fled
• 
  
• Seyton
• officer for Macbeth
• tells Macbeth that lady Macbeth committed suicide
• Menteith
• commander of the Scottish army that joined Macduff's army
• thane
• The Porter
• drunken doorman at Macbeth's castle
• answers door to macduff and Lennox goes on about the things the drinking can 
• The Witches
• three witches represent the past, present and future
• three familiar
• toad
• cat
• harpier
• The Doctor
• diagnoses lady Macbeth with a disease of the mind
• flees the castle before the battle begins
• The Bloody Captain
• tells Duncan that Macbeth has won the battle
• compares Macbeth and banquo to eagle
• Fleance
• Banquo's son
• Siward
• general of the English forces 
• Macbeth kills his son
• friend of Macduff and Malcolm
• Motifs
• Washing of Hands
• represents guilt
• lady Macbeth's guilt
• supposedly, Duncan's blood is on her hands and she tries to wash it off but its 'stained' on her soul forever!
• Blood
• there is a lot of physical and metaphorical blood.
• another representation of the guilt of lady Macbeth and Macbeth
• Daggers
• they killed Duncan with daggers
• the apparitions of daggers are another representation of guilt
• Planting of seeds/ things growing
• the witches touched Macbeth's head and it starts Macbeth's new journey onto king hood and into eventually to becoming a tyrant
• eagle to the owl  
• Macbeth being good turning into a bad guy
• when a plant dies it is easily replaced by other plants
• when lady Macbeth dies that sends Macbeth into his rant about life being meaningless. he has
• Malcolm talks about planting new seeds
• they have harvested all the evil out of Scotland
• Duncan talks about making Macbeth grow
• Atmosphere of castle
• atmosphere follows Macbeth's character
• at first, Macbeth was happy, and the castle was happy
• then the Macbeth's get the idea to kill Duncan. 
• then at the end, all hell has broke loose, literally. 
• Spells, chants  and supernatural beings
• all of the supernatural beings are weird and set a haunting and creepy mood. at first they are just mentioned but then these things plague Macbeth's mind and help cause his downfall
• Weather
• the fog and depressing atmosphere sets the mood for the battle. 
• before Macbeth turns evil, the weather surrounding the castle is happy
• after he is evil, the weather is dark and gloomy 
• the final battle is also depressing and dark
• Spirits, scorpions, snakes and things in the mind
• The animals that are mentioned plague his mind and cause him to go crazy. 
• they are deadly animals, not ones you would want in your head, they represent all the people that Macbeth has killed out of blind ambition
• Birds and flying
• Eagles
• Noble, swift and valiant birds
• Macbeth is compared to because he won the battle against Macdonald
• Sparrows
• Banquo is compared to a sparrow
• Banquo helped Macbeth win the battle so he is also compared to a majestic bird 
• Owl
• Death and bad omen
• Macbeth becomes the owl because he starts killing people and becomes the symbol for death in Scotland
• Marlet
• Tiny, peaceful bird that approves of Macbeth's castle in the beginning when it is happy. When the castle turns to hell, the bird leaves. 
• Falcon
• Duncan is compared to the falcon
• Like the eagle, the falcon is also a majestic, valiant bird
• The owl kills the falcon
• Macbeth killing duncan
• Crows
• bad
• murderers 
• they represent the owls minions
• Agents of the night
• Geese
• English soldier
• they oppose the owl
• Wren
• Lady Macduff
• small
• a bird that wants to take her young ones and join the geese and fight against the owl