Page 116 - DENG403_BRITISH_DRAMA

British Drama

Notes • Lady Macbeth becomes wracked with guilt from the crimes she and her husband have
committed. She sleepwalks and tries to wash imaginary bloodstains from her hands, all the
while speaking of the terrible things she knows she pressed her husband to do.
• The plot of Macbeth is set in motion ostensibly by the prophecy of the three witches.
• The prophecy fans the flames of ambition within Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, serving as the
primary impetus for the couple to plot the death of Duncan—and subsequently Banquo.
• The witches know Macbeth’s tragic flaw: given the irresistible temptation to become King, he
will choose to commit murder even though he could simply discard their words.
• The prophecies are not only fated but fatal, as Macbeth’s confidence in the witches leads him
to fight a rash battle in the final act.
• In what concerns ghosts and visions, the relation of the natural to the supernatural in Macbeth
is unclear. The three apparitions that the witches summon, for example, are usually taken to
be real. But the matter is less clear when it comes to Banquo’ ghost.
• Macbeth is the only one who sees the ghost in a crowded room; is this yet another projection
of his feverish mind?
• If the witches’ prophecy is understood to be imposing a supernatural order on the natural
order of things, the natural order can also be understood as responding with tempestuous
signs.
• Ambition and temptation both play a key factor in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s decision to
kill Duncan. Macbeth possesses enough self-awareness to realize the dangers of overzealous
ambition. At the end, ambition and temptation prove fatal for both the Macbeths.
• Macbeth carries out the crime, precipitating his own descent into hell. Later in the play,
appropriately, Macduff calls Macbeth by the name of “hell-hound”. Indeed, the story of
Macbeth is that of a man who acquiesces in his damnation—in part because he cannot utter
words that may attenuate his crime. His fate is thus sealed entirely by his own hands.

8.4 Keywords

Traitor : A person who betrays another, a cause, or any trust. Or a person who commits
treason by betraying his or her country.
Kinsman : A person of the same nationality or ethnic group.
Prophecy : Something that is declared by a prophet, especially a divinelyinspired prediction,
instruction, or exhortation.
Merriment : Cheerful or joyful gaiety; mirth; hilarity; laughter.
Malady : Any disorder or disease of the body, especially one that ischronic or deepseated.
Guilt : The fact or state of having committed an offense, crime,violation, or wrong,
especially against moral or penal law;culpability. Or a feeling of responsibility or
remorse for some offense, crime,wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.
Remorse : Deep and painful regret for wrongdoing; compunction.
Supernatural : Pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural
law or phenomena; abnormal. Or of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or attributed
to God or adeity.
Dichotomy : Division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves orpairs.
Equivocation : The use of equivocal or ambiguous expressions, especially inorder to mislead or
hedge; prevarication.

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