Complete Macbeth Exam Guide: Plot, Characters, Themes & Context

This is the only video you need to pass your exams on McBTH because we are going to cover it all from the plot to

context, characters, themes, and more. Take lots of notes and keep an eye out for key quotes throughout the video. And

if you want the best grades, watch until the end for some secret weapons to help you ace your exams. Let's get started

with a one-minute recap of the plot. After a heroic victory in battle, McBth meets three witches who predict that he

will become the king of Scotland. Encouraged by their words and his manipulative wife, McBth murders King

Duncan and takes the throne for himself. But his guilt and paranoia quickly consume him. And spurred on by more

prophecies from the witches, he becomes a tyrant, ordering more killings to keep his power, including his friend Banquo,

and the family of his rival McDuff. As McBth is haunted by his sins, McDuff joins with Duncan's son, Malcolm, to

overthrow him, while Lady McBth's guilt drives her mad, and she takes her own life. In a final battle, Malcolm's army

defeats McBth, who realizes too late that the witches had tricked him into believing that he was safe. With the

tyrant dead, Malcolm becomes king and restores order to Scotland once again. But to really understand McBth, we need

to look at the historical context because it heavily influenced both Shakespeare and his audience. In the

early 1600s, James I was king of England and claimed to be a descendant of Banquo, the historical figure that this

character is based on. He was also Shakespeare's patron. So, it makes sense that this play was partly written to

appease him. For instance, it was common belief that kings were chosen to rule by God, a principle known as divine right.

So when McBth kills Duncan, it is portrayed as a crime against heaven that actually upsets the balance of nature.

This was especially relevant to remind audiences of because just one year before McBth was first performed, Guy

Fox and a group of conspirators had tried to blow up Parliament and kill the king in the infamous gunpowder plot.

Even the presence of the witches and supernatural in this play were drawing from popular culture. As in the 1600s,

witches were seriously feared. King James I actually wrote a book called demonology on how to identify and punish

witches which people found very unsettling because they were women. In those days there were very strict gender

rules that prevented women from having any sort of power or agency over their own lives. It was believed that women

were supposed to be soft and innocent. So anyone who went against these traits were accused of being unnatural. Just

like women, men also had gender expectations of violence and cruelty. But as you'll see later on, many of

these roles are twisted in the play, which raises some very interesting questions on what it means to be a woman

or a man. And speaking of men, let's look at the main man himself, the title figure and tragic hero, McBth. You might

automatically associate McBth with being a murderer and a tyrant, but there's much more to him than that. Like all of

Shakespeare's tragic heroes, he starts off noble and respected, but is brought down by his fatal flaw, which in his

case is ambition. So, let's find out how his character transforms from brave McBth to dead butcher. When we first

hear about McBth, he's described as a war hero. The captain calls him brave McBth. Well, he deserves that name, and

the king refers to him as valiant cousin, worthy gentleman. But everything changes when McBth meets the witches who

prophesy that he will be king hereafter. Instead of being happy, however, his friend Banquo says that he seems to fear

their words. And this is because their prophecy has just brought his deepest darkest desires to light. McBth is

afraid of his own ambition, and for good reason. However, his self-proclaimed vaulting ambition is balanced at first

by his pesky conscience, which sets off a massive inner conflict that is visible to the audience through his many, many

saliloquis. This is done on purpose to let us see that he is a three-dimensional character with

humanity, guilt, and fear, not just a ruthless, cold-blooded murderer. And when he does finally commit the act, he

is immediately overwhelmed by regret and paranoia, saying, "I am afraid to think what I have done. Look on it again. I

dare not." This isn't due to cowardice because we know that he is a brave soldier who earlier cut the king's enemy

in two from the nave to the chops and fixed his head upon our battlements. Rather, it's because he knows that what

he has done is really wrong. Not just because Duncan is an innocent sleeping guest, but because of the principle of

divine right that I mentioned earlier, he has just defied both God and nature. So, it's no wonder that it weighs heavy

on him. But after he becomes king and gets all that power he has always dreamed of, he now has to face the

paranoia of losing it. He says, "To be thus is nothing but to be safely thus." And with one heinous crime behind him,

it becomes easier to do it over and over again, ordering the murders of Banquo and McDuff's family. This signals the

start of his transformation into a tyrant. He can no longer blame his wife for his ruthless behavior and even

admits that he is in blood stepped in so far that to go back now would be just as hard as moving forward. By the end of

the play, he has changed completely and seems weary of life. He's almost indifferent to the news of his wife's

suicide, saying she should have died hereafter, and goes on to essentially say that life is meaningless, a walking

shadow. However, we are able to see a glimpse of the man he once was in the final battle with McDuff, where he

refuses to surrender and goes out on his own terms, crying out, "Lay on McDuff, and damned be him that first cries, hold

enough." This return to bravery, even in defeat, is tragic because it reminds us that McBth wasn't always a murderer. He

was a man who could have been great, but allowed his ambition to destroy him. But McBth is not alone in his downfall. His

wife was just as implicit in the murder of King Duncan, and some would argue even more. Let's move on to Lady McBth,

one of Shakespeare's most fascinating female characters. At the time this play was written, it was very unusual for

female characters to be so layered and complex, and even more unusual to have the traits that Lady McBth does. When we

first meet her, she appears strong, ruthless, in control, more ambitious even than her husband. She reacts to

McBth's letter about his meeting with the witches by saying that he is too full of the milk of human kindness to do

what needs to be done. Therefore, she takes it upon herself to manipulate and push him towards murder by summoning

spirits to unsex me here and fill her with dyest cruelty. By asking to be unsexed, she is ridding herself of all

the stereotypical feminine traits so that she can become a ruthless killer. This suggests, however, that she doesn't

naturally have cruel and ruthless tendencies since she has to ask the spirits to fill her with it, which

implies from the start that her iron will and cold exterior might be all an act. As planned, she manipulates McBth

by mocking his indecisiveness and questioning his manhood, saying, "When you dur do it, then you were a man." She

is clearly the mastermind as she plans the murders, covers for him, and even frames the guards with the bloody

daggers when McBth cannot. She has gotten her hands dirty as well, but confidently tells McBth, "A little water

clears us of this deed." Which is quite ironic considering what happens later. And when McDuff discovers Duncan's body,

it is Lady McBth who diverts attention from her husband by fainting, playing into the stereotypical view of women

being unable to stomach acts of violence. As the play progresses, however, hints of doubt start to show

when she is alone, saying, "Nots had all spent where our desire is got without content. But she quickly snaps back to

playing the perfect hostess at McBth's coronation banquet until Beno's ghost appears, and she has to viciously tell

off McBth for being so visibly frightened by hissing, "Are you a man?" We could see her anger as pure disgust

for his weakness. But remember, this is the last scene she appears in before her mental breakdown. So, it is more likely

that her anger is coming from a place of fear and guilt instead. Even more telling is her last line of the scene.

You lack the season of all natures, sleep, which foreshadows what is to come. The next and last time we see her,

she is a sleepwalking, tortured woman on the brink of mental collapse. She hallucinates blood on her hands that she

cannot wash off, crying out, "Out, damned spot. Out, I say. Here's the smell of the blood still. This drastic

change reveals how much guilt and fear she has suppressed throughout the play, which is now manifested through insomnia

and visions of blood. She has suffered all the same emotions as McBth. But because she has not expressed them, they

now overwhelm her, leading to her taking her own life shortly after. Lady McBth can seem to be a contradictory

character, appearing cold and calculating, but actually very vulnerable and emotional inside. She

manipulates McBth by accusing him of weakness, but is guilty of the same thing herself. She wants desperately to

have the stereotypical male traits of violence and ruthlessness, but cannot cope with the consequences of this

behavior. Due to the gender roles of the time, it is likely that her character is written as a cautionary figure for

women. She may have reminded the audience of the real life witches who were being executed for having so-called

unnatural traits. But in the present day, it is easier to sympathize with Lady McBth, who saw an opportunity to

have some real power in a society which repressed and degraded women. But due to her destructive tendencies and lack of

morals to balance her ambition, she triggers her own downfall. The sequence of events in McBth allows us to compare

the two main characters. Their relationship starts off strong with McBth calling her my dearest partner of

greatness, which was unusual in a society that degraded women. and confiding in her his deepest, darkest

secrets. While he is hesitant and indecisive at first, she is ruthless and powerful, pushing him to take the plunge

into murder. Afterwards, though, their roles gradually change, and it is McBth who becomes more and more ruthless while

Lady McBth declines mentally. He stops involving her in his choices and actions as she is not aware that he is planning

to kill Bangquo or McDuff's family before he does it. Eventually, they become totally isolated from one another

to the point where Lady McBth dies alone offstage, and McBth is practically indifferent to it. But now that we've

looked at the two villains of the play, let's examine some characters who made the right choices. Starting with McBth's

friend and fellow captain, Banquo, he is introduced at the same time as McBth, with both men being described as brave

and heroic in their recent battle. He is also with McBth when he meets the witches and receives a prophecy of his

own that his descendants will be kings. Unlike McBth, however, he is immediately suspicious, warning, "The instruments of

darkness tell us truths to betray us in deepest consequence. The difference in their reactions reveals that Banquo is a

foil to McBth or a character who is contrasting traits and values. This is why the two men are often seen together

because his virtues make McBth's flaws extra visible. He represents the path McBth could have taken if he had chosen

honor over ambition. But this doesn't mean Banquo is a perfect unambless angel. After McBth kills Duncan and

fulfills his prophecy, Banquo questions, "It was said that myself should be the root and father of many kings. May they

not be my oracles as well and set me up in hope." He can see the temptation of giving into his ambition and dark side,

but he seems unable to cross that moral boundary of turning his thoughts into action. In the end, McBth has him killed

for his prophecy and also because he knows too much as Banquo rightly suspects his friend played most fouly to

get his power. But even in death, Banquo makes one more appearance by haunting McBth at his coronation feast. It is

interesting that it is Banquo and not Duncan who haunts him. even though both were innocent victims. This may be

because of how similar they started off. And so by killing Banquo, he has also killed off the brave and noble person he

used to be. Since Bangquo doesn't make it very far, however, there is another foil in this play. The man who is

seemingly destined from birth to kill McBth. Although he is not in the first part of the play at all, McDuff is a big

part of the plot and is the first one to discover King Duncan's body. His reaction reveals how loyal a subject he

is as he cries out, "Oh, horror, horror, horror, murder and treason." McBth tries to match McDuff's real grief, but this

only highlights his insincerity to the audience. He is suspicious of McBth from the start and is the only one to

question him about why he killed the guards. So clearly, he is not naive or afraid to stand up for what is right.

And this is why he soon takes up with Duncan's son, Malcolm, who has fled to England. McDuff is passionately loyal to

his country and to the principle of divine right as he proclaims, "Oh Scotland, Scotland, oh nation miserable

with an untitled tyrant, bloody sceptered, when shalt thou see thy wholesome days again?" However, he puts

his love for his country over everything, even the protection of his family, as in his absence, they are all

murdered by McBth's assassins. He has a raw powerful reaction to this news, crying out, "All my pretty ones." Did

you say all? Oh, hellite. All. McDuff is not afraid to show emotion, which contrasts the flawed

version of masculinity shown by McBth and his wife. If you look at the words McDuff uses to describe McBth, they are

usually related to hell and dark supernatural forces, which puts him in the role of the righteous and holy

avenger. This is why he is the one who delivers the final blow instead of Malcolm. As he has been portrayed from

the start as the champion of Scotland, a true patriot who's opposing the dastardly traitor. But even after

fighting tooth and nail to get the throne back, McDuff has no ambitions to become king and passes it on to its

rightful heir, Malcolm. As King Duncan's son, Malcolm inherits the divine right to rule. But this does not mean he will

automatically be a good king. He flees to England right after his father is murdered. not out of cowardice, but

because he shrewdly realizes that he is next on the hit list. And from that experience, he quickly learns to only

trust people who have proved their loyalty. Even McDuff gets put through a test at first, with Malcolm pretending

that he is unfit to rule in order to judge his reaction. Over time, Malcolm becomes a confident leader, using

McDuff's wisdom and experience to help him take back the throne. Unlike McBth, who uses murder to seize power

unlawfully, Malcolm becomes king through justice and support from the people, he immediately restores order and rewards

those who helped him, inviting everyone to his coronation to help heal the wounded nation. And now that we've

analyzed all the main characters, let's move on to the theme which affects nearly all of them, ambition. This theme

is particularly important in McBTH because it also happens to be his fatal flaw or the character trait which leads

to his downfall. He has had ambition from the start, but it is ignited by the witch's promise that he will sit on the

throne. He says, "My thought, whose murder is yet but fantastical, shakes, so my single state of man that function

is smothered in surmise." Almost immediately, he jumps to murder, even though the witches have not said

anything about it. So he's clearly thought about it before. When he writes to his wife about his encounter, she is

quick to latch on to it, revealing her own ambitions for power. She says about him, "Art not without ambition, but

without the illness should attend it. She knows he has always desired this, but until now he has not been able to

cross his moral boundaries to achieve it. And her fears are justified because McBth is very hesitant to actually

commit the murder, admitting, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaultting ambition, which or

leaps itself and falls on the other." By comparing his ambition to riding a horse that jumps too far and collapses, he is

admitting that he knows things will get out of control once he gives into it. But still, he is pushed into committing

the murder without too much difficulty. And this step symbolizes him abandoning reason and allowing his ambition to

consume him. It's not just the McBths who have ambition though, as even Banquo is tempted by his prophecy, admitting,

"A heavy summons lies like lead upon me. Merciful powers restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature gives way to

in repose." Despite his noble character, he too has a dark side, and we'll never know how far Bango's cursed thoughts

might have taken him if McBth had not acted first. This shows how the promise of power can affect even the noblelest

of minds, and reminds us that any of Duncan's captains may have made the same choices as McBth had they been promised

something so tantalizing as the crown. It is only human to be ambitious. But Shakespeare is suggesting that it is

uncontrolled ambition, which is the real problem. And as we find out, McBth's uncontrolled ambition quickly escalates,

leading to the further murders of Benquo and McDuff's family. He becomes much more ruthless and tyrannical, willing to

sacrifice anyone to keep his power. So although the McBths achieve what they wanted, it comes at the cost of their

happiness. By allowing their ambition to overrule their morality, their success is hollow and is accompanied by an

enormous sense of guilt which ends up destroying both of them. From the moment he kills King Duncan,

McBth is haunted by guilt. And this theme carries on through the rest of the play. Shakespeare uses blood as a motif

to symbolize this emotion. Just like how we use the term blood on your hands to mean you're guilty of some kind of

crime. Sleep, or more precisely, the lack of it is another way this theme is represented because it is often

associated with innocence and peace. After the murder, McBth tells his wife about the drugged guards. One cried,

"God bless us." I could not say amen when they did say, "God bless us." By killing the divinely appointed king,

McBth knows he has gone against God and nature, and his guilt stops him from even saying the word amen, which would

absolve him of his crime. He goes on to say, "I heard a voice cry, sleep no more. McBth does murder sleep." And sure

enough, from then on, neither of them are able to sleep again. Killing Duncan and framing the guards leaves literal

blood on both their hands, a clear symbol of their inner guilt. However, they have different reactions to it at

first, with McBth crying out, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" Lady McBth, on the

other hand, says the opposite. "A little water clears us of this deed." She doesn't seem to feel any guilt at all

and is outwardly cool and calm, but as we know, this is just an act. As the play goes on, McBth admits that he has

had terrible dreams that shake us nightly. Even with his new power, he cannot sleep, and his guilt reaches peak

levels when he sees the ghost of Banquo at his coronation feast. But over time, McBth seems to become more desensitized

as he continues to do terrible things to keep his throne. This contrasts what happens to Lady McBth, who puts on a

convincing show for most of the play and then has a complete breakdown at the end. Her guilt finally breaks free and

she finally gives us the first real look at her emotions in her sleepwalking scene. Out damned spot, out, I say. Who

would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? The thing of F had a wife. Where is she now? What? Will

these hands n be clean? I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried. He cannot come out on his grave. She reveals here that

she feels guilt not just for King Duncan's murder but also the murders of Bango and McDuff's family as he is the

thing of F. By convincing McBth to do the first murder, she knows she is guilty of all the others too and the

imaginary blood on her hands is proof of that. When she and McBth die, it is almost a mercy and Shakespeare is

warning the audience that the worst consequences of crimes like theirs are often mental rather than physical. But

while guilt haunts the McBths from within, another force in the play has been manipulating them from the start.

Shakespeare weaves the supernatural deeply into the plot of McBth. And even the opening lines in the play are given

to the three witches. As we know, King James the 1 and the general public were fascinated with all things supernatural.

So Shakespeare was referencing popular culture by doing so. However, although people really believed in witches and

ghosts, the supernatural aspects of this play are not shown to be absolute fact. So, it is left up to us to decide how

real they are. Banquo himself is immediately skeptical of the witches, asking, "Are you fantastical or that

indeed which outwardly show?" He wisely does not trust them. And even McBth knows it is not smart to meddle with

these dark forces, saying, "This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good." But he ends up

overruling his reason to serve as ambition. Shakespeare portrays the witches as two-dimensionally cruel and

wicked and makes them act in stereotypically witchy ways, which shows how desperate McBth must be to rely on

them so completely. Because he wants to believe what they say, he ignores all the red flags. And perhaps that is

Shakespeare warning his audience not to let a fascination for the dark side outweigh your morals and sense. Like her

husband, Lady McBth also seems to be attracted to evil supernatural powers, invoking spirits that tend on mortal

thoughts. She goes one step further and actually asks these spirits to possess her and turn her into a ruthless killer,

which would have been terrifying and shocking to the audience. But it is not just dark supernatural forces that are

at play. As the good side, usually represented by Duncan or McDuff, are often mentioned in association with God

and heaven. McBth says, "Duncan's virtues will plead like angels." While McDuff seeks help from God to defeat

McBth, praying, "Gentle heavens, cut short all intermission, front to front, bring thou this fiend of Scotland and

myself." So Shakespeare uses the supernatural to define the morals of the characters. Because even today,

regardless of personal beliefs, we associate heaven with good and hell with bad. But if McBth was just being

controlled by evil witches, was it really his fault that things turned out how they did? Let's move on to the next

theme, fate versus free will, which is closely linked to the supernatural. This is one of the biggest questions in the

play. Are our lives governed by fate? Or can we create our own destiny? It might seem that McBth's story was guided by

fate, but there are also many times that he takes matters into his own hands to achieve his goals. In fact, when we

first hear of McBth, the messenger tells the king that he won the battle by disdaining fortune with his brandished

steel, meaning that they seemed fated to lose. But McBth turned the tide through his bravery. He even gives fate a chance

when it comes to the witch's prophecy, saying, "If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without my

stir?" But when Malcolm is named heir, he takes matters into his own hands and murders King Duncan. And if he really

does believe in fate, it seems strange that he would try to go against it by murdering Benquo and his son Fleance to

stop his prophecy coming true. He confusingly says, "Come fate into the list and champion me." Even though he is

actually fighting fate through his actions. In the end, Fleance escapes, which could be seen as proof that the

witches are controlling destiny in some way. However, we never find out if Fleance or any of Bangquo's descendants

actually sit on the throne. So, it is very possible that it's just Bangquo's sacrifice that saves his son, not

supernatural intervention. Of course, the biggest argument for fate are the three apparitions shown to McBth by the

witches. First, to beware McDuff. Second, that no man born of woman can kill him. And third, that he cannot be

defeated until Burnham Wood marches against him. McBth settles with killing McDuff's family for the first prophecy

and interprets the other two to mean that he is totally safe since they seem impossible. So he is shocked when they

do come true in very anticlimactic ways. Malcolm's army holds tree branches in front of them and McDuff was born by

C-section. If this really was fate, McBth is the victim of a very cruel cosmic joke. But it is also likely that

the witches just manipulate McBth under the guise of it being his fate. He may have even turned the tide of the battle

once again had he not been convinced that it was his destiny to lose it. He admits that MCDuff's revelation has

cowed my better part of man. So even though he goes out fighting, he has already been defeated inside. It's up to

you whether you think fate or free will brought about McBth's end. But Shakespeare's own life seems to argue

for free will. He was not born rich or formerly educated, but became a leading playwright with a patronage from the

king on the strength of his own hard work and intelligence. From this perspective, it's likely that

Shakespeare is trying to show that every man is responsible for his own actions and the consequences which follow. But

in McBTH, appearances can be deceiving as right at the start of the play, the witches chant, "Fair is foul and fowl is

fair," which gives us an early warning that everything is not what it seems. Soon after, McBth says something very

similar. So fowl and fair a day, I have not seen. And this deja vu moment implies that he will be connected to the

witches and their deceptions throughout the story. McBth and his wife often have to put on a show around other people to

hide their true thoughts and intentions. Lady McBth even says, "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent

under it." This is new for McBth, who is a soldier and has a face like a book. But it works because the king does not

see through their act calling their castle a pleasant seat and Lady McBth fair and noble hostess. However, Duncan

can be a bit naive as he has a habit of appointing disloyal men to the thing of codor position. He says there's no art

to find the mine's construction in the face. Meaning that there's no way to tell what someone is really like just

from the outside. This was very relevant in England because of the gunpowder plot and the general public were very aware

and concerned that outward loyalty could be just a show to hide your real treacherous intentions. However, the

stress of hiding who they are becomes too much for the McBths to bear and may explain the apparitions that haunt them

both. McBth sees a bloody dagger on the way to murder King Duncan and asks, "Art thou sensible to feeling as to sight, or

art thou but a dagger of the mind?" We don't know if this was a supernatural sign or just a manifestation of his

guilt and anxiety, but the visions don't end there as he also sees Banquo's ghost later on. While people have different

opinions on whether or not his ghost is real, McBth is the only one who sees it. So again, it could just be a result of

his overwhelming guilt and lack of sleep. His mind can no longer tell the difference between truth and illusion.

And his wife scolds him for it, saying, "This is the very painting of your fear. This is the airdrawn dagger which you

said led you to Duncan. But ironically, she is the one at the end who is plagued by hallucinations of blood on her hands

that can't be washed clean. McBth's rise to power may have been built on deception, but once he has the crown, it

quickly becomes clear that he is not really cut out to be king. So, what exactly makes a good king? Malcolm

describes the king becoming graces as justice, verity, temperance, stleness, bounty, perseverance, mercy, loneliness,

devotion, patience, courage, fortitude. This is a long list of virtues that would be difficult for anyone to live up

to. But King Duncan embodies pretty much all of them. He takes his responsibility as the divinely appointed king seriously

and is referred to as sainted, gracious, and great king. Even McBth who is plotting to kill him has to admit that

Duncan had born as faculty so meek hath been so clear in his great office. His death causes an absolute uproar. And

after discovering his body, McDuff cries out, "Most sacriiggious murder hath broke hope the Lord's anointed temple."

It is so shocking a crime that the natural world reacts as well in unnatural ways. We hear about horses

eating each other, owls killing falcons, and the day turning dark as night. McBth's actions have thrown off the very

balance of nature, bringing chaos to the land. And although he finally achieves his goal of becoming king, he turns out

to be much less suited to it than Duncan. At the beginning of the play, he displays at least some of the king

becoming graces. But as his ambition takes over, his good qualities disappear. Unlike King Duncan, his

actions are purely selfish, not to benefit his country, and therefore he does not inspire love and loyalty from

his subjects. It is said of him that those he commands move only in command, nothing in love. And in comparison to

Duncan, McBth is rarely referred to as a king at all, but rather a cursed fiend of Scotland, devil, and most often

tyrant. Once McBth's reign of terror is over, however, a third king takes the throne, Malcolm. Although he is young,

he seems to possess many of the qualities his father had, but is perhaps more shrewd when it comes to the people

he trusts. Shakespeare compares a difference between good and bad kings to show how power can either be used to

protect and serve or control and destroy. But if you've noticed, most of the power in McBth is held by the male

characters. And that is because power was very closely linked to gender in Shakespeare's time. Through this play,

however, he explores questions of what it means to be a man and seems to criticize how traditional gender roles

are twisted to suit ambition, power, or control. Masculinity was often displayed through violence and stoicism, and those

who don't conform to this image are labeled as cowards or have their manhood questioned. In fact, conversations about

masculinity usually come up before acts of violence. And Lady McBth is particularly guilty of this, accusing

McBth of cowardice in order to coersse him into killing Duncan. This is an easy way to manipulate him because as a

soldier, he is used to being praised for his courage in battle. And with his wife saying she would kill her own child if

she had promised to, he feels like he has to match her ruthlessness or risk looking weaker than her, which at that

time would have been shameful. Even before Bango's murder, McBth asks the assassins if they are ready to kill him.

To which they simply respond, "We are men, my lege." This suggests that men are expected to kill with no remorse or

hesitation in order to be worthy of the name. However, McDuff gives us a different view of masculinity when

learning of his family's murder. As a young childless man, Malcolm rather ignorantly tells him to dispute it like

a man. But he responds by saying, "I shall do so, but I must also feel it as a man." He seems to understand that

expressing emotions is not a weakness, but an important aspect of masculinity. That being said, a few lines later, he

also exclaims, "Oh, I could play the woman with my eyes and braggard with my tongue." Which again links women with

tears and weakness. Interestingly though, the main female characters in this play are just as capable of being

cruel as the men, if not more so. This would make the audience automatically see them as villains and unnatural.

McBth tells his wife, "Bring forth men children only, for thy undaunted metal should compose nothing but males."

Tenacity and ruthlessness were seen as ideal traits for men, but not attractive qualities for women. No matter how cruel

Lady McBth of the witches can be, however, none of them seem able to actually kill. Lady McBth claims she

would have killed King Duncan herself had he not resembled my father as he slept, which exposes her vulnerability,

and one of the witches admits while tormenting one of her victims. Though his bark cannot be lost, yet it shall be

tempest tossed. She cannot actually sink the boat to kill him, which shows that while the women have cruel intentions,

there is still an impression that only men are capable of violence and murder. This is an old-fashioned point of view,

but the connection between masculinity and violence is at least portrayed as a destructive one that leads to war and

chaos within Scotland. Shakespeare uses recurring images to build atmosphere and remind the audience of the play's main

ideas. These are called motifs, and I've already talked about two of the most common ones, blood and sleep, in the

guilt section of this video. But another important motif is darkness, which represents evil and covering up your

sins. It is not a coincidence that all the bad things seem to happen at night because as soon as he starts plotting

Duncan's murder, McBth says, "Stars, hide your fires. Let not light see my black and deep desires." His wife reacts

similarly, saying, "Come thick night and pal thee in the dunest smoke of hell." But later when she has her mental

breakdown, she insists that she has light near her at all times because she is desperately clinging to any form of

goodness to shield her from the dark and the evil actions she associates with it. So, now that you know everything about

McBTH, here are my key tips to help you turn that knowledge into a good grade. This might sound obvious, but it's the

number one mistake students make. Whatever the question is, stay focused on it throughout your response. An easy

way to keep track is by looping back to the question with every point you make. For example, if the question is, "How is

the theme of ambition presented in McBTH?" Don't just tell the story. Keep circling back by using phrases like,

"This shows McBth's ambition because or Shakespeare is warning us about ambition here by one of the easiest ways to boost

your grade is to talk about language and structure. By language, I mean the literary techniques and specific word

choices Shakespeare uses to reveal emotions, highlight themes, and create dramatic tension. Look out for

personification, metaphors, repetition, and euphemisms throughout the dialogue as they are some of the most common

literary techniques and then show what effect they have. For instance, you might notice that many of the characters

use euphemisms or an indirect way of speaking instead of saying the word murder, using phrases instead like the

deed, it, the knight's great business, etc. This suggests that they are trying to distance themselves from the act and

their own guilt. The play is structured like a typical Shakespearean tragedy which follows the rise and fall of the

tragic hero McBth. One of the best ways to track his character transformation throughout the plot is through his

siloquiz which give us an in-depth look at McBth's inner thoughts and motivations. However, it also has a

circular structure because it starts and ends with a battle where a treacherous thing of Codor is killed. This shows

that the events have come full circle and that order has now been restored in Scotland. It is also very important to

memorize the right quotes that can be used for a variety of situations. You can use the key quotes from this video

or check out my quotes video on McBTH which gives you 12 quotes to cover the main themes, characters, and plot

points. And best of all, they are easy to memorize because it doesn't matter how good the quote is if you can't

remember it when you need it. We've talked a lot about context in this video, and that's because it helps us

understand the actions and motivations of the characters. Don't just blurt out a bunch of historical facts, though.

Make sure to link it to the question. For example, you can use context to explain why McBth's treachery was

relevant to a Shakespearean audience, why killing a king was such a big deal, or how the strict gender roles of the

time made women with power seem unnatural. Another way to rack up those marks is to make connections between

characters and scenes where relevant. For example, you can compare McBth's uncontrolled ambition to Benquo's

ambition, which is tempered by loyalty and restraint, or show how Duncan's calm, virtuous leadership contrasts

McBth's tyranny. By making these comparisons, you can show the examiner that you really understand the play and

its message, but just make sure it's relevant to the question. And lastly, if you want to get

the best grades, you need to go beyond surface level analysis and include some critical interpretations of characters

and themes. I've discussed many of these in this revision video, like how McBth and Lady McBth are more than just

two-dimensional villains, and how the women in this play are shown to be capable of cruelty, but not murder. So,

try to put a different spin on your analysis. And as long as you can back it up with evidence from the text,

examiners will reward your originality and extra depth. Well, now you know all the basics to pass your exams on McBTH.

But if you want in-depth analyses on any of the characters or themes in this play to get those extra marks, they are

linked below. Good luck and I'll see you next time. [Music]