Macbeth: Themes by https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653 Act / Scene / Quote(s) / Explanation / Interpretation en-us 2022-01-16 16:21:29 UTC 2026-01-21 04:27:40 UTC hello@padlet.com Macbeth is a play full of antitheses, of pairs of opposing themes. The opening scene announces the central opposition - between good and evil. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994447082 2022-01-16 16:26:50 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994447082 (I, i, 12) "Fair is foul, and foul is fair": a world under the influence of dark, supernatural forces, where good and evil are utterly confused. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994449945 2022-01-16 16:29:26 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994449945 (I, iii, 129-139) Macbeth observes that the witches prophecy "cannot be ill, cannot be good": again, good and evil are in a disarray 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994453471 2022-01-16 16:31:53 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994453471 (IV, ii, 73-75) Lady Macduff, when advised to escape, reflects about living in a "world where to do harm is often laudable, to do good sometime accounted dangerous folly": there is no moral guidance, no certainty in this world. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994456101 2022-01-16 16:34:11 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994456101 Scottish King Macbeth as evil tyrant juxtaposed to English King Edward as a figure of supreme goodness. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994457827 2022-01-16 16:35:51 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994457827 (V, ix, 39) Ultimately, goodness triumphs over evil; Malcolm promises to do good "by the grace of Grace", in the name of God. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994459173 2022-01-16 16:37:16 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994459173 The need for order was a fundamental idea in the Elizabethan worldview. It was believed that everyone had a fixed place in a "Great Chain of Being", which extended from God right down to the lowest forms of life. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994461473 2022-01-16 16:38:49 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994461473 (II, iv, 14) Behaviour of animals 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994462101 “Duncan’s horses beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, turn’d wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, contending ‘gainst obedience, as they would make war with mankind” : with the horse supposed to being beautiful and the best of their race, the order in his play is shown. On the other hand, the horse is characterized as wild and not listening to Duncan’s orders. This shows the disorder. ]]> 2022-01-16 16:39:30 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994462101 (III, iv,52) Coronation banquet 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994463096 “Sit, worthy friends.” order: Macbeth is very polite to his guests. 
Contrastive to this, as it becomes apparent when he talks to the appearing ghost, his maybe even mental disorder is pictured. (“To all, and him, we thirst, and all to all.”) ]]> 2022-01-16 16:40:30 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994463096 In a world where the king has absolute, God-given authority, rebellion is regarded as sacrilege and is automatically punishable by death. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994465071 2022-01-16 16:42:27 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994465071 (I, iv) Thane of Cawdor's last words 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994465666 "he confess'd his treasons, Implor'd your highness' pardon, and set forth A deep repentance" His punishment for being a traitor is death. He confesses his guiltyness in hope of not being killed.]]> 2022-01-16 16:43:06 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994465666 (I, vii) Macbeth tormented by thoughts 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994468240 In the begining of Act I Scene VII Macbeth is unsure if he wants to kill King Duncan. He said also, that Duncan didnt use all his allowed power. But in the end of this scene Macbeth and lady Macbeth decided to kill him without exceptions and fails.]]> 2022-01-16 16:45:15 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994468240 (V, ix) The ultimate punishment 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994469237 “Behold, where stands th’usurper’s cursed head” (l.20-21) 
“Of this dead butcher, and his fiend-like Queen, who, as ‘its thought, by self and violent hands took off her life;” (l. 35-37) 
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have ultimately both been punished for everything they have done (mainly the murders of King Duncan, Banquo and Macduff’s family). Macbeth is killed by Macduff, who turned his grief into anger and used it to seek revenge on Macbeth by taking his life.]]> 2022-01-16 16:46:09 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994469237 Throughout the play, appearances are constantly deceptive. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994470242 2022-01-16 16:47:10 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994470242 (I, vi) Duncan's praise of Macbeth's castle 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994470761 „the air is delicate“ (l.9), but in reality this is to be setting for devious murder. Duncan asks after Macbeth with his new life. ]]> 2022-01-16 16:47:41 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994470761 (IV, i) vs. (V) The apparitions and their true meaning 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994474117 2022-01-16 16:51:07 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994474117 One of the principal themes in Macbeth is the ways in which the natural order of the world is upset by unnatural actions. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994476840 2022-01-16 16:53:54 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994476840 (I, iii) Macbeth's description of the witches 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994478162 2022-01-16 16:55:13 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994478162 (I, v) Lady Macbeth's call on spirits 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994481161 2022-01-16 16:58:10 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994481161 (V, i) Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking as described by the doctor 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994481972 2022-01-16 16:58:57 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994481972 Ambition can be a positive human quality, but in Macbeth we see the destructive effects of ambition when it is corrupted. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994484033 2022-01-16 17:00:51 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994484033 (I, v) Lady Macbeth's evaluation of her husband's ambition 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994484460 She thinks her Husband is not eager enough to kill Duncan to be King. She thinks his nature "is too full o' th' milk of human kindness" (l.15 ff.).]]> 2022-01-16 17:01:25 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994484460 (V, iii) Macbeth reflects on the results of his "vaulting ambition" 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994485640 Macbeth is realising that his high and vaulting ambition might disseat him and might not have been good for him. --> "I am sick at heart, when i behold [...] This push Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now."]]> 2022-01-16 17:02:43 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994485640 Tyranny is always achieved and sustained with violence and Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most violent plays. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994489396 2022-01-16 17:06:17 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994489396 The guilt felt by Macbeth and by Lady Macbeth is what makes their characters interesting and also the source of much of the play's dramatic tension. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994490434 2022-01-16 17:07:10 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994490434 The Witches' prophecies and Macbeth's reactions to them create the conflict in the play between destiny and free will. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994491339 The witches makes Macbeth to feel in false security
Act IV.1 L.80/81 " The power of man, for none of women born, shall harm Macbeth." 
Maybe it is because they have done a false decission and don`t want to feel Macbeath to confident not getting killed by anyone. ]]> 2022-01-16 17:08:11 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994491339 The concept of manliness is questioned throughout the play. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994491572 2022-01-16 17:08:26 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994491572 Equivocation - telling a half-truth so as to avoid actually lying - was a notion that had captured the public's imagination in Elizabethan England. 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994492520 2022-01-16 17:09:26 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994492520 Violent deaths in the play: Macdonald, Duncan, ... 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994554324 2022-01-16 18:12:59 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994554324 (IV, iii) Scotland suffering under Macbeth's rule 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994567692 Bleed, bleed, poor country! Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure, For goodness dare not check thee (32-33)

Boundless Intemperance in nature is a tyranny; it hath been
th'untimely emptying of the happy throne, and fall of many kings (67-69)]]> 2022-01-16 18:26:33 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994567692 (II, ii) Macbeth's feelings of guilt immediately after the regicide 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994568615 2022-01-16 18:27:32 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994568615 (V, i) Lady Macbeth overwhelmed by feelings of guilt 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994569401 2022-01-16 18:28:29 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994569401 How concrete the Witches' prophecies are: 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994572294 The prophecies are very concrete because they clearly are telling the audiance how the situation will appear and what will happen. 
Act IV.1 L.92/93 "Macbeth shall never vanquish`d be, until ...."]]> 2022-01-16 18:31:52 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994572294 The choices made by the Macbeths: 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994572505 They always don`t make their decissions wiesly and don`t over think them. Maybe it is because they are not prpeared enough for them.
Act IV.2 "Time, thou [...] Come bring me where they are." (L.144-156)]]> 2022-01-16 18:32:06 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994572505 (IV, iii) Macduff finds out about his wife's and child's death: "dispute it like a man" - "feel it as a man" - "play the woman" - "this tune goes manly" 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994574702 "dispute it like a man" (IV, iii , v.220)
"feel it as a man" (IV, iii , v.222)
"play the woman" (IV, iii , v.230)
"this tune goes manly" (IV, iii , v.236)

]]> 2022-01-16 18:34:42 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994574702 (III, iv) Lady Macbeth's reaction when her husband breaks down the banquet 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994576176 (III, iv v.57)
"Are you a man?"
Lady Macbeth knows how to push her husband’s attitude toward the assassination of Duncan. Therefore, she directly ask him about his manhood, questioning his courage in order to manipulate him to kill Duncan.

]]> 2022-01-16 18:36:22 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994576176 (I, iii) Banquo suspects the Witches of equivocation 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994577809 2022-01-16 18:38:09 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994577809 (V, v) Macbeth (too) late recognizes the equivocation of the Witches 4r6ghf56x7 https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994578828 2022-01-16 18:39:24 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1994578828 „One cried, „God bless us!“ and „Amen“, the other“ (p.34, l.27) https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995716872 2022-01-17 11:57:19 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995716872 „I could not say „Amen“ (…). But wherefore could not I pronounce „Amen“? I had most need of blessing, and „Amen“ stuck in my throat.“ (p.35, ll.27-32) https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995719979 2022-01-17 11:59:45 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995719979 „I‘ll go no more; I am afraid to think what I have done. Look on‘t again I dare not“ (p.36, ll.49-51) https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995722433 2022-01-17 12:01:26 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995722433 Violence and Tyranny go hand in hand in the play. As Macbeth becomes more of a tyran, his crimes become more violent and he shows less regrets. lennartstaudigel https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995724541 2022-01-17 12:03:08 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995724541 Macbeth feels for the victims & is ashamed of himself. He even feels that God is not besides him to support him. Furthermore, he is even afraid of himself https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995725772 2022-01-17 12:03:54 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995725772 Lady Macbeth is overwhelmed by feelings of guilt since she sleepwalks & is talking about her guilt which she can‘t stand. https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995727233 2022-01-17 12:04:51 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995727233 „Will these hands ne‘er be clean?“ (l.41) https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995727911 2022-01-17 12:05:16 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1995727911 "The power of man, for none of woman born"(l.82" https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1998576213 There were three prophecies and they gave Macbeth a false sense/feeling of condfidence  and pride because he now thinks of himself as undefeatable. He believed that the murders will never come back and that he will be the king for his entire life, but the prophecies came true and in the end he died.]]> 2022-01-18 17:38:08 UTC https://padlet.com/4r6ghf56x7/3tnf4jzsrac1653/wish/1998576213