![]() ![]() Tempted by the witches, he gets the idea that he can be king, but Lady Macbeth assures him that it can’t happen unless they kill the king, which they do. When we first see him he is a major celebrity, well-loved throughout the land and trusted by the king, who showers honours on him after he has shown his loyalty by putting down a rebellion and killing the rebels. Macbeth is slowly transformed from a thoroughly good man into pure evil, described by Macduff as a hell kite, and referred to as “bloody,” “butcher,” “tyrant,” etc. Later, after the murder, when Macduff comes to take Duncan hunting, the porter at the gate has a small comic scene in which he pretends to be the keeper of the gates of Hell before opening them to Macduff, who discovers a scene of evil and confusion.Ī study of the main character in the play reveals him to be one of the most interesting and remarkably drawn of all Shakespeare’s characters. ![]() ![]() Murder awaits Duncan as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plan their regicide. They are entering the gates of Hell, though, and that pleasant air is about to change to fog and filthy air. When Duncan arrives at Glamys Castle to stay the night with Macbeth he is entering a place made to resemble hell with Lady Macbeth’s invocation of evil: “…Come thick night / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,/That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,/Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark …” As Duncan arrives at the castle gates he says: “This castle hath a pleasant seat the air/Nibly and sweetly recommends itself/Unto our gentle senses.” A member of his party says: “… heaven’s breath smells wooingly here.” Macbeth is a victim of that mischief as ultimately his soul is trapped and destroyed. They subvert everything and indulge in every kind of mischief, from killing swine to trapping and corrupting human souls. ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ is a particularly well known Shakespeare quote, said by the three witches in the opening scene of Macbeth… and what a wonderful opening Macbeth has! Darkness, thunder and lightning, a desert place and three witches, who, in a few short lines, chanting in a weird, unworldly rhythm, tell us what to expect from this play – the inversion of values, good becoming evil and evil becoming good (fair is foul and foul is fair) a hero who is to have a momentous meeting with the witches who have appeared specially for that the obscuring of vision in the fog they create, and their filthy air that replaces the freshness and lightness of Scottish air.Īs the opening scene ends we see the confession of the witches’ creed: “fair is foul and foul is fair.” Its application applies to both the physical and the moral worlds. Each Shakespeare’s play name links to a range of resources about each play: Character summaries, plot outlines, example essays and famous quotes, soliloquies and monologues: All’s Well That Ends Well Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Coriolanus Cymbeline Hamlet Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 Henry VIII Henry VI Part 1 Henry VI Part 2 Henry VI Part 3 Henry V Julius Caesar King John King Lear Loves Labour’s Lost Macbeth Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night’s Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II Richard III Romeo & Juliet The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus & Cressida Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Winter’s Tale This list of Shakespeare plays brings together all 38 plays in alphabetical order. Plays It is believed that Shakespeare wrote 38 plays in total between 15. ![]()
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