Macbeth Notes: Act Five

Act Five

Scene One -

- Middle of the night
- A doctor and Lady Macbeth's servant woman whisper together in a room of the Dunsinane castle
- The servant has called the doctor to observe Lady Macbeth's sleep walking.
- The queen rises from bed with her eyes open, as if she is awake, but she is still asleep and speaks strangely about blood on her hands.
- As the doctor watches, Lady Macbeth rubs her hands together as if washing them and cries, "Out damned spot! out, I say! . . . who would have thought the old man to have had so / much blood in him."
- Lady Macbeth speaks on about how she cannot cleanse her hands and she mentions the wife of Macduff and Banquo, practically admitting her guilt. The doctor tells the servant that guilty minds will often confess their secrets while they sleep, and so something of the same must be happening with Lady Macbeth. He tells the servant to keep an eye on Lady Macbeth. He also suggests that Lady Macbeth needs divine assistance, and not that of a physician, but he doesn't dare to speak more of what he has heard. With that advice, he leaves.

Scene Two -

- In the countryside near Dunsinane the Scottish lords who have joined against Macbeth are waiting for Malcolm, Macduff, and the English support that they will bring.
-Menteith, Caithness, Angus, and Lennox discuss what they know of Macbeth's preparations for battle.
- The king has fortified the Dunsinane castle, and they have heard word from those who hate Macbeth that he behaves madly.
- The lords decide amongst themselves that Macbeth's guilt has finally driven him crazy, and rightfully so because he has committed crimes so horrible that his own senses are reviled by his actions.
- The lords vow to fight for the rightful king, Malcolm, and to use all of their strength and ability to remove Macbeth from the throne.
- The lords and their soldiers march off to meet Malcolm and Macduff.

Macbeth Notes: Act Four

Act Four

Scene One:

-
The three witches stand around a cauldron bubbling in a cavern with thunder in the background. They chant together as they concoct a potion or a brew. Hecate appears with them and tells them that their efforts shall be rewarded before she disappears again.
Macbeth comes to the cavern and demands answers to his questions about the future. The witches call upon their potion to answer his thoughts and questions. The witches tell Macbeth to watch and speak not because the questions in his mind are known. Their master will answer Macbeth with apparitions.
Thunder sounds and a vision of an armed head rises and tells Macbeth to beware of Macduff, the Thane of Fife. The vision disappears. Macbeth tries to ask another question of that vision, but one of the witches warns the king that these visions will not be commanded.
Thunder sounds and a second vision appears--a bloody child. The vision tells him, "Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth."
Macbeth reasons that if none shall kill him, he should not fear Macduff. But just to be sure, and so that he might rest easy, Macbeth vows to kill Macduff anyway.
Thunder sounds a third time and a third and final vision appears. It is a child crowned that holds a tree in his hand. This final vision tells the king that "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until / Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill / Shall come against him."
Macbeth feels invincible at these tidings because no one can bid the forest to uproot. But Macbeth has another question that he insists the witches must answer. He wants to know if Banquo's line will ever hold the throne. Although the witches tell him to be satisfied with what he already knows, Macbeth insists they answer his last question. So they show him a line of eight kings. The last king has a glass in his hand, and Banquo's ghost follows the eighth king. Macbeth sees that all of these kings are of Banquo's line as the ghost smiles at him and points at the kings of his lineage. In the glass that the eighth holds are many more kings from Banquo's line. After answering his question, the witches, joined by Hecate, dance around and then vanish.
Macbeth calls Lennox into the cave to ask if he saw the weird sisters leaving, and Lennox did not. But while Macbeth was meeting with the witches, several riders came to give him word that Macduff had fled to England. At this news Macbeth says, "The flighty purpose never is o'ertook / Unless the deed go with it: from this moment / The very firstlings of my heart shall be / The firstlings of my hand."
With this Macbeth decides to go to Fife, Macduff's home, and murder Macduff's wife and children while he is away in England rallying forces against Macbeth.

Scene Two -

At Macduff's castle in Fife, Lady Macduff and her young son are talking with Ross. Lady Macduff is angry that her husband has fled and left his wife and children unprotected. She thinks her husband does not love them, and Ross tries to explain to her that her husband was wise to flee. Ross, however, does not tell her where her husband has gone. He is very secretive about her husband's purpose. Lady Macduff says that "when our actions do not, / Our fears do make us traitors."  So whether her husband actually was a traitor and needed to flee or not, the fact that he has fled makes him seem a traitor. Ross cannot convince her that her husband has acted in wisdom, and so he leaves.
Lady Macduff tells her son that his father is dead, but the boy argues that if his father were dead, she would be weeping. She keeps insisting that his father is dead because he is a traitor. As they argue a messenger comes in and warns her that danger is coming toward the castle and that she should take her children and flee. She has nowhere to run to, and the murderers come in disguised in horrible masks. The murderers ask her where her husband is, and she tells him that she hopes that Macduff is in a place where they shall never find him. The murderers call Macduff a traitor and the young boy calls them liars. One of the murderers stabs the boy and kills him. Lady Macduff runs screaming 'Murder,' and the villains chase after her.

 Scene Three -
Macduff arrives in England and speaks with Malcolm. Macduff encourages Malcolm to come fight and take back the throne that belongs to him. Malcolm, however, knows that before Macbeth took the throne, he and Macduff were close. Therefore, Malcolm feels the need to test Macduff's loyalty. Malcolm warns Macduff that he might not be any better a king than Macbeth. Then Malcolm makes up all of these vices and flaws that he claims to have that would make him a bad king. When Macduff says that his hopes are broken and that Scotland, under Macbeth, can no longer be his home, Malcolm sees that Macduff is trustworthy. Malcolm explains his test and assures Macduff that his hopes should live because he will be a worthy and honest king once he regains the throne that Macbeth stole away.
Ross comes in and they recognize him as a Scotsman because of his clothes. When they recognize his face, they are happy to see him to hear news of their country. But Ross' news is not happy news. He tells Macduff of the murder of his wife, children, and servants. Macduff is grief-stricken and vows to kill Macbeth in vengeance for the death of his entire family. His fury is fuel for their desire to defeat Macbeth. The three men prepare to join the English nobleman, Siward and his ten thousand soldiers that Edward, King of England, has offered to help the Scotsmen fight Macbeth and win back the throne for Malcolm.


http://www.bookrags.com/notes/mac/PART20.html

Macbeth Notes: Act Three

Act Three:

Scene One:

Banquo enters the palace at Forres, and he is alone. He speaks to himself as if he is speaking to Macbeth when he says that Macbeth has gathered all the titles that the weird sisters foretold he would. He was the lord of Glamis, became the lord of Cawdor, and then king--fulfilling the witches' predictions. Banquo, however, suspects that Macbeth pushed the prophecy to fruition through foul play. But Banquo also remembers that the witches predicted that it would be Banquo's line that would succeed Macbeth on the Scottish throne. 

In the midst of these murmurings Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and the lords and attendants of the court all enter. Macbeth invites Banquo to attend a dinner banquet in the evening as an honored guest. The king and Lady Macbeth make a big production of their fondness for Banquo and the importance that he attend the evening feast. Banquo has business to take care of in another town so he must leave, but he gives Macbeth his word that he will arrive back at the palace in time for the dinner. Just before Banquo leaves Macbeth tells him that Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain have been in England and Ireland "not confessing / Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers / With strange invention." 

Banquo exits and Macbeth sends the other court attendants and lords to amuse themselves for the afternoon until dinner. Everyone except Macbeth and an attendant exit the stage. Macbeth asks the attendant if the men he sent for have arrived and are willing to do what he asks. The attendant, sure that these murderers will follow the king's orders, goes to fetch the murderers who are waiting outside the palace.

While the attendant is gone, Macbeth spouts off about the danger that Banquo poses to Macbeth's position as king. Macbeth also remembers the witches' prophecy that Banquo's line would rule Scotland after Macbeth, and so Macbeth knows that in order to prevent such a thing, he must destroy Banquo and his son, Fleance. Macbeth believes that Banquo has a royal and commanding air about him that threatens Macbeth more than the fear of murdering Banquo. To prevent Duncan's murder being wasted on Banquo's line, Macbeth knows that he must kill the lord and his son. That is why he has called upon the murderers who wait outside the palace.

The attendant brings in the two murderers. The king speaks with them recapping a conversation they had the day before about Banquo. Macbeth has convinced these beggars turned murderers that Banquo is responsible for their ill fortune. Macbeth goads them into a rage that demands Banquo's death and the death of his son, Fleance, to satisfy their vengeance. Macbeth tells the murderers that Banquo is also his own enemy. He explains that he wishes to see Banquo destroyed but cannot do so himself because of mutual, powerful friends who would be upset to see Banquo killed. Therefore, Macbeth entreats the murderers to kill Banquo, their enemy as well as his, but to keep it under wraps that the king wanted Banquo dead. The murderers agree to lie in wait for Banquo and Fleance as they come back to the palace that night for the dinner that Macbeth has insisted that they attend. The trap is set.

Scene Two:

Lady Macbeth enters asking if Banquo has left the palace yet. Learning that Banquo is gone but will return again tonight, Lady Macbeth sends the servant to tell her husband that she wishes to speak with him in private. The servant goes to bring the king to his wife. Lady Macbeth feels that if her husband does not enjoy his royalty, then all of their deceit and treachery has been for nothing. If he does not seem happy, it would have been better if they had not killed the king to take his throne in the first place.

When Macbeth enters the room, she asks him why he is still thinking about Duncan when nothing can be done to revive the murdered king. "Things without all remedy / Should be without regard: what's done is done."  Macbeth responds that they have not yet finished securing his throne and they are not yet safe. He says that Duncan lying quiet in his grave has it better than Macbeth who lives in fear and guilt after murdering the king. Lady Macbeth asks him to at least fake cheerfulness at dinner that night so that his guests will feel at ease and suspect nothing. He promises his wife that he will pretend to be happy and at ease and tells her to play up to Banquo and to speak well of him so that no one will suspect the malice that both Macbeth and his lady feel toward him. Macbeth's only comfort is that Banquo and Fleance can be killed. He warns Lady Macbeth that before the night is over another terrible deed will be done, but he does not tell her of his conspiracy to kill Banquo and his son. Night begins to fall around the castle.

Scene Three: 

The murderers wait in a park near the palace and a third joins them at Macbeth's order. As they wait, horses approach. They hear Banquo call for a light and then he and Fleance approach with a torch. The murderers leap from their hiding places and attack Banquo, but Fleance escapes. The murderers cannot find Fleance because the torch has been extinguished in the struggle. One of the murderers goes to the palace to tell Macbeth that Banquo is dead, but his son has escaped.

Scene Four: 

- Meanwhile, back at the dinner party, the Macbeths make a big show of welcoming their guests.
- The first murderer enters as everyone is being seated. Macbeth darts off to see the first murderer, who informs him that they've slit Banquo's throat, but that Fleance has escaped.
- Ooh. Not good. Macbeth is pretty sure that this is really going to tick Fleance off.
- And now the fun begins: Banquo's ghost shows up. Because the ghost is silent, he gets to creep around quite a bit before anyone notices.
- While everyone is busy not noticing, Macbeth raises a toast and calls special attention to Banquo's absence as unkindness or mischance on Banquo's part.
- This is particularly hilarious given the presence of…Banquo's ghost.
- Again Macbeth is invited to sit, and in the spot they've reserved for him sits…Banquo's ghost. Naturally, - -- Macbeth goes into a fit, and the lords all take notice, while Lady Macbeth excuses him for these "momentary" fits he has had since childhood.
- She urges them to keep eating, and then corners Macbeth, who is still hysterical.
- Lady Macbeth asks if Macbeth is a man, because he's not acting like one so much as he is acting like a sissy. Lady Macbeth dismisses the vision as a painting of his own fear.
- Meanwhile, Macbeth is discoursing with the ghost that only he sees, and it disappears.
- Everything is just getting back to normal when the ghost reappears. Again Macbeth calls out a toast to the missing Banquo (he's just asking for it now) and noting the ghost, screams out at him that if he appeared in any other form, Macbeth's nerves would not tremble.
- After some challenging along this line, it's pretty clear the party's over, and though Macbeth tries to recover, he scolds everyone else for seeming to be so calm in the face of such a horrible sight.
- Lady Macbeth tells the now very worried lords to leave immediately, and as they exit, Macbeth philosophizes that blood will have blood.
- Morning is now approaching, and Macbeth points out that Macduff never showed at the party. - He lets out that he has had a spy in Macduff's house. He promises to go to the witches the next day, and announces that he's in so deep a river of blood, it would be as hard to go back as to cross.
- Lady Macbeth suggests that maybe he just needs a good night's sleep, and so they go off to bed. Sweet dreams, you crazy kids!

Scene Five: 

- The witches again meet at an open place, this time with Hecate, the goddess of witches, who lays into the weird sisters in a lengthy, rhyming speech that sounds a bit like a nursery rhyme.
- She's super irritated that they were meddling in the affairs of Macbeth without consulting her first, as she could've done a better job. Also, she points out, Macbeth isn't devoted to them, but to his own ends.
- But, FINE, Hecate will clean up this mess. She tells them to all meet in the morning, when Macbeth will come to know his destiny, whatever that means.
- Then there's a catchy witch song and dance, and everyone exits after Hecate.
- FYI: Some literary critics believe that these scene is way too hokey to be Shakespeare's work, so it must have been added to the play some time between the time the play was first written (1606) and its publication in the first folio (1623), which was after Shakespeare's death (1616). A fellow playwright, Thomas Middleton, may have written the snazzy songs in this scene.


Scene Six: 
- Meanwhile, elsewhere in Scotland:
- The nobleman Lennox discusses Scotland's plight with another lord. Isn't it weird that Duncan was murdered, that his run-away sons were blamed, that Banquo has now been murdered, that hisrun-away son (Fleance) is being blamed, and that everyone has a major case of déjà vu. Plus, the murders of Banquo and Duncan were too conveniently grieved by Macbeth, who had the most to gain from the deaths.
- They call Macbeth a "tyrant," and then note that Macduff has joined Malcolm in England.
- Malcolm and Macduff are doing a pretty good job of convincing the oh-so gracious and "pious" King Edward of England, along with some English noblemen, to help them in the fight against Macbeth, the tyrant.
- FYI: Shakespeare's giving England and King Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) some serious props here.
- The other noblemen pray that Malcolm and Macduff might be successful and restore some order to the kingdom, even though news of the planned rebellion has reached Macbeth and he's preparing for war.
- Sorry to say, it's not looking too good for Macbeth at this point.







Sources: 

http://www.shmoop.com/macbeth/act-3-scene-6-summary.html


http://www.bookrags.com/notes/mac/PART14.html

Macbeth Notes: Act Two

Act Two

Scene One:

- Banquo and Felance are talking just before they go to bed.
- Banquo us uneasy and cannot sleep
- Macbeth enters and Banquo tells them that Duncan is happy being at Macbeth's castle
- Macbeth and Banquo agree to discuss the prophecies at a later date
- When he is left alone, Macbeth imagines a dagger which is a prearranged signal from Lady Macbeth that Duncan's servants are asleep and Macbeth can carry out of the murder

Hecate: the goddess of witches, sorcerers
Macbeth - decided to kill Duncan
Banquo - loyal to Duncan

-- Is this a dagger which I see before me
the handle toward my hand

Scene Two:

- Lady Macbeth is waiting for Macbeth to murder Duncan and return to her
- She is very tense
- She admits that she was unable to kill Duncan
- Macbeth returns and describes the sounds he heard
- He imagined he heard people praying and warning that "Macbeth shall sleep no more"
- Macbeth has brought the daggers back with him
- Macbeth has to take them back to the sleeping guards
- She returns and tells Macbeth that a little water will clear them of the deed

Lady Macbeth - for the first time she is showing a little weakness

-- a little water clears us of this deed

Scene Three:

- The castle is awakened from drunken sleep by knocking at the castle gates
- as he moves to the gate he pretends to be the porter of the gate of hell.
- eventually he opens the gate to Macduff and Lennox, who have been asked by Duncan to awaken him early.
- Macbeth enters, coming to investigate who has been knocking
- Macduff goes to Duncan's chamber while Lennox describes the unnatural disturbances of the night
- Macduff returns, announcing that Duncan has been murdered
- Macbeth and Lennox go to view the murder
- When they return Macbeth reveals he has killed the guards, hearing this Lady Macbeth faints
- Malcolm and Donalbain leave the country.

Theme: Divine Right of Kings

Macduff - notice his loyalty
             - his belief in the Divine Right of Kings
Lady Macbeth - maintains her composure and faints to take the heat off Macbeth
                     
-- the tight had been unruly
-- most sacrilegious murder hath broke open


Scene Four:

- We learned of more unnatural events that happened the night of Duncan's murder
- This is the day following the murder and the sun has not risen
- Macduff informs us that Malcolm and  Donalbain have been accused of murdering their father
- Duncan's body has been taken for burial
- Macbeth has been named King
- Macduff refuses to attend Macbeth's coronation and returns home to Fife
- hinting that he hears the changes that are happening are not for the better

Theme: unnatural events

Macduff - shows that her does not like or trust Macbeth

-- Malcolm and Donalbain, the King's two sons are stol'n away.

Macbeth Character Analysis

Macbeth: 
is the Scottish general and the Thane of Glamis who is led to wicked thoughts by the prophesies of the three witches, especially after their prophecy that he will be made Thane of Cawdor comes true. He is a brave soldier and a strong 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 the king of Scotland , he embarks on further atrocities with increasing ease. Macbeth proves himself better suited to the battlefield than the political intrigue, because he lacks the skills of necessary to rule without being a tyrant. 
- week minded 

Lady Macbeth: 
is one of Shakespeare's most famous and frightening female characters.
when we first see her, she is already plotting King Duncan's murder.
she is stronger, more ambitious, more ruthless than her husband.
she manipulates her husband. 

Three Witches: 
- referred to as "weird sisters"
- All have super natural powers, which they use to to feed the easy manipulated Macbeth with ambition 
- give Macbeth the sense of security more than urging or tricking him into committing murders

Duncan:
- king of Scotland 
- might as well be your dad
- he is king, generous, benevolent 
- gets murdered
- his death symbolizes the destruction of and order in Scotland that can be restored, only when Duncan line, once more occupies the throne.

Macduff: 
- Scottish nobleman 
- hostile to Macbeth's kingship from the start 
- eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth
- desires vengeance for Macbeth's murder of Macduff's wife and young song.

Macbeth Soliloquy #2

If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well

It were done quickly. If the assassination

Could trammel up the consequence, and catch

With his surcease success; that but this blow

Might be the be-all and the end-all here,

But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,

We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases

We still have judgment here, that we but teach

Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return

To plague th' inventor: this even-handed justice

Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice

To our own lips. He’s here in double trust:

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,

Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,

Who should against his murderer shut the door,

Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been

So clear in his great office, that his virtues

Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against

The deep damnation of his taking-off;

And pity, like a naked newborn babe,

Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed

Upon the sightless couriers of the air,

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,

That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur

To prick the sides of my intent, but only

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself

And falls on th' other.

in my own words:

Macbeth is saying that there are a couple of problems with murdering King Duncan.  First of all, in general, when you do something evil, it tends to come back and get you.

Macbeth Soliloquy #1

(aside)      Two truths are told,

As happy prologues to the swelling act

Of the imperial theme. (to ROSS and ANGUS) I thank you, gentlemen.

(aside) This supernatural soliciting

Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,

Why hath it given me earnest of success,

Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor.

If good, why do I yield to that suggestion

Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair

And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,

Against the use of nature? Present fears

Are less than horrible imaginings.

My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,

Shakes so my single state of man

That function is smothered in surmise,

And nothing is but what is not.

(aside) If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me

Without my stir. 

(aside)      Come what come may,

Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.

 in my own words:

In the "Two Truths Are Told" Soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 3, Macbeth is speaking or thinking to himself about what Angus and Ross have told him compared to what the witches have said. Previously the witches have met Macbeth and Banquo after the battle, and told them that Banquo will have sons that are kinds but he will not be one and he will be lesser than Macbeth but greater and not as happy as Macbeth but happier.
 They tell Macbeth that he was the thane of Glamis, now the thane of Cawdor and will be future king, giving him past present and future. In the scene that the soliloquy is set Angus and Ross have brought Macbeth the news that he is now the thane of Cawdor, proving that what the witches said was true.

 In the soliloquy, Macbeth stepped aside to think to himself and to the audience aloud. He talks about that the witches have told him two things that have come true, him being the thane of Glamis and Cawdor and he sees this as a prologue or events leading up to him being king. He thinks that the supernatural prediction of the witches cannot be good, but it cannot be bad either. He says that it can't be bad because he is being promoted and has already climbed the ranks as a land owner. So far only good has come to him from the witches so he sees that this can't be bad. He also says that is can't be good because he is considering having to murder King Duncan. He states that "Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair/ And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,/ Against the use of nature" meaning that the thoughts of having to kill King Duncan make Macbeth's hair stand on end and his heart beat against his chest. He think such poorly and negative of this murder, although he has just came from a war where he committed many murders, because it was seen in this time period that a king was appointed his duties by God and killing a member of the religious family or showing a lack of respect towards sacred beings or objects. By killing the king he would be guilty and sent to hell. Macbeth realizes that the dangers that he presently endures are less than what he is imagining in the thoughts of having to kill the king and these thoughts scare him so much that he begins to feel as though he does not know who he is. It suggests that he does not often have these thoughts and that he values keeping his conscience clear and has the ability to realize what is right and what is wrong. 

     He continues to be horrified by his own thoughts and says that if his mind is troubling him this much, he can't understand what actually killing the king would do to his self and his conscience. To counter act these thoughts Macbeth makes a decision to not act and kill the king on a prophecy that may or may not be true. It may be the power of putting an idea in someone's head and having that person act because they believe it is what was meant to happen opposed to finding out without acting. This is what Macbeth decides to do and he makes the decision to leave the possibility of him being king up to faith opposed to him killing a king, or a representation of God. Macbeth says, "Come what may,/ Time and the hour runs through the roughest day." This means that he knows that everything is going to continue on despite his decision and what is going to happen is going to happen. This soliloquy is the horror Macbeth has at his tarnished thoughts at the idea of killing the king and the result of this conflict is that he will leave his destiny up to fate without making a rash act or damning himself to a horrific life to come.

Macbeth Notes Act One

Beginning of Macbeth

 - based on a true story 

the real Macbeth was a Scottish King who rules in the eleventh century (1040ish) 

 - written around 1600

not necessarily history, based on true facts, but is fiction

- Shakespeare made up many words and phrases used in the English language today 

- women weren't allowed to act (men played females)

- plays were considered anti-religious and low class

- yet they were very exciting (nothing else to do but work) 

Scene One

- witches (supernatural)

- power of women

- Shakespeares knowledge: you are how you look

witches - evil = ugly = disease = contagious = repulsing (ugliness is often created by disease)

looks = value

taking away looks is taking away value

- feminism (theme)

- they are the (greek) 3 fates (past, present, future) aka 3 Norns 

- "Fair is foul and foul is fair/ Hover through the fog and filthy air"

witches cast a spell

people, potions, environment, spirit (witches power)

spell inverts EVERYTHING

motif of inversion, things are reversed 

Scene Two 

- Macbeth killed everybody and killed the leader of the battle (rebels)

- he beats Norway as well

- Macbeth with become thane of Cawdor as well (currently thane of Glamis)

- Macbeth is incredible, powerful, loved, superman,  

- he is a tragic hero (starts high, ends low)

hubris: suffering is all his own fault, brought on by sin (sin or ambition and overconfidence)

Scene Three

- witches cast a spell to punish a sailor

- they have beards ( ugly = no power)

- witches tell Macbeth his past (thane of Glamis), his present (thane of Cawdor), and his future (king)

- put it in his head that he'll be king

- contrast ( not happy yet happier)

- what we think is what we do

 self fulfilling prophecy 

- tells Banquo that his children will be King

- Ross is everywhere (with whoever is highest 

- Ross tells Macbeth that he is now the thane of Cawdor 

- the witches were right

- Banquo says that sometimes evil gives us a small truth to create a bigger problem

- Macbeths's first soliloquy "two truths are told"

S

Scene Four

- placebo effect *

- self fulfilling prophecy

- Thomas theorum 

-Duncan rewards Macbeth and goes to his house

- Macbeth is sinner (through thoughts)

- tragic hero (he's at high, but already falling due to his own flaws, brought on by hubris

- insecurities of Macbeth (ego)

- is Macbeth being manipulated by spells and magic or what he was told?

- as humans, we like to see the strong fall, this is why it is in movies and books so much 

- root of evil: perhaps not money but ego, and the root of that is insecurity?

Scene Five

- in a way, Macbeth is appealing to his wife

- Macbeth loves her 

"my dearest partner of greatness"

women were considered lesser at the time, property, yet he considers her his partner

rule of thumb (thoughts on women at the time) 

Shakespeare might not have meant anything by the word partner but we can pull more out

partner means equal 50/50

she is his equal

- Lady Macbeth says he has potential but is too nice to get what he wants 

you have to cheat to get what you want 

its already decided so i'll help you get it 

persuasion 

poison is a woman's weapon

- Macbeth: violence 

Lady Macbeth: persuading, manipulating, secret, trickery, seductive, more layers 

Lady Macbeth is the first one to actually say that the King must be killed 

shes gets the last words

this scene shows her power

against natural order

-should be: guest>host, men>women, king>people

due to inversion in Scene One's spell?

line 30: is she a witch? casting a spell?

Scene Six

- "This castle hath is a pleasant seat"
dramatic irony: king says the castle is a nice place, readers/viewers know that it's not, he'll be murdered

comparison: Friday the 14, hears a noise, goes outside, we know Jason's there, they do not

 Scene Seven 

- inversion: she's aggressive, he's resistant 

-goes against the common thought that women are fragile, shes doing more than expected

small fragile woman bossing around huge muscular husband

she strips away his manhood (calling him weak, not a man)

is also stripping away her womanhood (has a huge hunger for power, says she’d bash a baby’s head in)

Lady Macbeth makes the plan to kill the King

vacillation: going back and forth: bipolar: psychosis

being suggestive or easily manipulated can be a sign of mental problem: suggestibility