MACBETH

MACBETH AND LADY MACBETH

• Throughout the play we have seen a sort of gender switch foreign to its time, that has Lady Macbeth as the more active & treacherous of the two, & Macbeth following her lead.
• This trope that has been present throughout the play starts to switch back to what we would expect of this time, with Macbeth becoming the more vigorous & violent.

BANQUO

• Banquo throughout the story has proven to be an essential character, providing the audience with someone of virtue to cheer for.
• Banquo has been with Macbeth since the beginning of the story, and was a good friend to him as shown in the first scene with the witches.

BANQUO (CONT.)

• Banquo continues to be a major character, and throughout the story continues to become the source for contrast of Macbeth. He received a prophecy that promised his family on the throne, but rather than using treachery and conniving his way to the throne, he stayed loyal and honorable.
• Even though Banquo died, he stayed pure throughout the play, only dying because of the Witches' prophecy

BLiND AMBITION

• In this book we see ambition playing a pivotal role throughout the plot.
• Lady Macbeth in the start was blinded by her ambition, while Macbeth is the one being influenced by his wife's ambition.
• This later comes back, as Macbeth is the one overtaken by ambition, and he starts to tell her what to do. This is a pivotal switch in the dynamic of these characters

SUPERSTITION

• Throughout the play we see the idea of balance that is so prevalent in Shakespeare.
• Weather and Witches appear at the beginning to show that something is clearly off, and thus the natural forces of the world are acting up
• We see Macbeth has a strong sense of superstition when the witches tell him of his future, as he takes it to heart, and it leads him down this path of violence and treachery

MACbeth's acts of despotism

• Macbeth commits his largest act of treachery in this act, by having hired men murder him, and attempt to murder his son.
• This deed seals Macbeth as a villain, even more so than his murder of Duncan. Duncan was someone he respected, but never cared for the way he did Banquo, who was his friend since the beginning of the play and before.

THe banquet

• In the Banquet, we see Macbeth draped in his kingly attire, and Lady Macbeth as well.
• Macbeth states that he wishes to speak with Banquo about Malcolm and Donalbain, but Banquo quickly departs
• This leads into Macbeth's soliloquy where he speaks of his fear of Banquo, and how his closest friend is the one he fears most because of the prophecy

THe BANQUET (COnt)

• His thoughts lead to him sending his men to kill Banquo, which they succeed in doing
• However, Banquo's son escapes, sealing Macbeth's fear of the Prophecy made by the witches

DIscussion questions

• What lead to Macbeth's sudden rise of ambition, even to the point of surpassing his wife's?
• In this act we see Macbeth's ambition become everything in his life, so was it the witches that started this set of events? OR were they destined to happen no matter what?

sources

• "Macbeth; Summary Act 3 Scenes 1-3." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.