Macbeth Themes

Question 1

List all key themes

Answer 1

Ambition and power
Appearance Vs reality
Supernatural
Guilt
Fate Vs free will
Loyalty and betrayal
Gender roles
Corruption of nature
Madness
Kingship
Relationships
Fear

Question 2

Ambition and power

Answer 2

Shows how a desire for power corrupts Macbeth and leads him to tyranny, which destroys natural order

Question 3

Appearance and reality

Answer 3

Characters hide true intentions . Macbeth’s innocent exterior masks his murderous ambition

Question 4

Quotes that link to appearance vs reality

Answer 4

Fair is foul, foul is fair.
Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.

Question 5

Supernatural

Answer 5

Witches prophecies and Banquo’s ghost indicate prophecy, fate and psychological torment

Question 6

Guilt

Answer 6

Hallucinations like Banquo’s ghost makes Macbeth paranoid, undermining his sanity.
Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking

Question 7

Fate Vs free will

Answer 7

Explores whether Macbeth is a victim of destiny, or makes his own evil choices. Even so, his choices are influenced by external forces. So the question is, how much is Macbeth to blame for what happened?

Question 8

Loyalty and betrayal

Answer 8

Juxtaposition of Macbeth’s betrayal of Duncan with the loyalty of the likes of Banquo and Macduff

Question 9

Gender and masculinity

Answer 9

Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth to be ‘manly’ enough to kill, which unleashes the beast within him, who will kill anyone to get what he wants. (Question of whether he was always like this, as he killed anyone on the battlefield. This is different though, as he was fighting for his country and now he is fighting his country and being tyrannical in nature

Question 10

Corruption of nature

Answer 10

Macbeth’s evil acts disrupt the natural world, as shown through the unnatural weather and events. Disorder of hierarchy due to regicide

Question 11

Kingship