TEXT: Macbeth CHARACTERS METHOD ENABLING PLOT LANGUAGE

Macbeth and Banquo meet witches who offer them prophecies. Cawdor is CHARACTER NAME /BRIEF Apparition: A vision executed. Lady Macbeth receives a letter STRUCTURE Act 1: from Macbeth about the witches. FORM LANGUAGE or a ghost. Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle. BIO.

Macbeth: A loyal warrior Macbeth sees a dagger, which reflects Concealment: The action who becomes duplicitous as Lady Macbeth: Macbeth’s wife his doubts about murdering Duncan. who drives his ambition at the Five Act of hiding something or Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to go he grows increasingly Act 2: through with the murder. Malcolm flees beginning but is consumed by Soliloquy Semantic Field preventing it from being and Macbeth is crowned King. obsessed with the witches’ guilt in the end. Structure prophecies. known.

Banquo: Macbeth’s close friend The witches: Also known as the Iambic Pentameter: The most Banquo suspects Macbeth and Macbeth and ally who also receives weird sisters. Offer a series of common meter in English verse. It becomes increasingly paranoid. Macbeth prophecies from the witches. Is prophecies to Macbeth and consists of a line ten syllables long Act 3: kills Banquo, but Banquo’s son Fleance Tragedy Imagery Off‐stage action escapes. Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost. eventually killed by Macbeth. Banquo. They mesmorise that is accented on every second Returns as a ghost. Macbeth. beat.

Macduff: A brave warrior who is The witches offer more prophecies. King Duncan: Portrayed as a Prophecy: A prediction Macbeth orders the deaths of Macduff’s strong and respected leader loyal to King Duncan and wife and children. Macduff and Malcolm suspicious of Macbeth. Joins Dramatic Irony Symbolism Climax of what will happen in Act 4: agree to invade Scorland and challenge at the start of the play. Killed forces with Malcolm to defeat Macbeth’s reign. the future. by Macbeth. Macbeth.

Malcolm: King Duncan’s son Lady Macbeth’s mental state Fleance: Banquo’s young son Stage deteriorates and she kills herself. who flees after his father’s who flees when his life is Development of Prose: The written form Malcolm’s army invades Scotland, death. Overthrows Macbeth Directions + Paradox Act 5: through Burnham Wood, and Macbeth is and takes his rightful place as threatened by Macbeth’s of ordinary language. defeated. Malcolm is crowned King. conflict King. murderers. Props

Regicide: The deliberate KEY THEMES EXPLORED CONTEXT AO1 AO2 AO4 killing of a King.

King James was fascinated by Power + Appearance + witchcraft and it is likely that Macbeth is loosely based on Setting: The location of they were included in the play, true events in feudal the action of the play. ambition reality by Shakespeare, to please him. Scotland in the 11th Century. James I inherited the throne from his Personal Analysis of James I believed in the ancestors Banquo and Spelling, Fate + free Divine Right of Kings, Fleance, who appear is the response + form, Kingship meaning that any attempt to play. punctuation Thane: A Scottish Lord. will depose a King went directly textual language + against God. + grammar. detail. structure. Both King James’ parents were killed in politically motivated Verse: Writing arranged moves to secure power. James I’s life was threatened in the within a metrical rhythm, Visions Gender gun powder plot. Shakespeare echoes this interest in typically having a rhyme. usurpation in the murders in the play.