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Macbeth Essay Thesis Statements, Titles, and Topics

Post your thesis statements by March 25th, along with tentative titles and questions about essay topics. The essay prompt has been posted to Blackboard and you will also submit the final draft of your essay to Blackboard by Friday, April 3rd.

29 thoughts on “ Macbeth Essay Thesis Statements, Titles, and Topics ”

For my thesis, I would like to explore and analyze Lady Macbeth’s character and the development of her character throughout the play. I was thinking of looking into whether her development was largely influenced by Macbeth’s prophecy or if her character was the one to influence how Macbeth’s prophecy came to be. I’m having trouble wording if but I have a thesis to work from: In this essay, I will analyze Lady Macbeth’s character progression and whether or not a connection exists to Macbeth’s prophecy.

Kyla, go for it! I think you should focus on Lady Macbeth’s monologues in Act One, Scene Five and Act Five, Scene One.

Can I get Your thesis

Potential thesis: Although many blame the witches and their prophecies for Macbeth’s ill fate, it is actually his own fault. If Macbeth did not believe the witches’ prophecies, he probably wouldn’t have tried to control his “fate” which ended as a tragedy.

This is a great thesis and opens a lot of pathways for interpretation. You’ll have to explain why you put “fate” in scare quotes, as it suggests that you don’t believe fate is a major factor in the play. If you can do that, you’ll likely produce a lively discussion. Look to the debate on free will between Martin Luther and Erasmus in the “Contexts” section of the Norton Critical Edition.

I was thinking about using the idea of tyranny and masculinity for my thesis, such as other thanes or princes want to overthrow MacBeth because they felt that he was acting tyrannical. Lady MacBeth says she wants to unsex herself when she decides to kill Duncan and Malcolm tells MacDuff that he is “unknown to woman, never was forsworn” so it seems that being a man reinforces the right to kill someone. A rough thesis would be: MacBeth is right to be overthrown because he is acting tyrannical, and Malcolm will be a better king because he’s the son of King Duncan and he’s more manly than MacBeth.

Petvy, I think you’re onto something with the problem of tyranny in Macbeth. It’s not immediately clear how you could tie that in with the distortions of maculinity in the play in only four to five pages, so I’d suggest focusing on either tyranny or masculinity (or its corruption). In either case, you have to talk about why Macbeth becomes a tyrant: it has a lot to do with the ways he interprets the prophecies from the witches, who represent (along with Lady Macbeth) grotesque distortions of femininity.

Macbeth’s actions throughout the play are an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. He believes what the witches tell him about his fate and becomes intoxicated by the possibility of achieving power, which is the reason he commits all those evil acts and pays the ultimate price for it in the end, not because he is simply fulfilling his destiny.

This is promising, Ilya! Pick two or three scenes to focus on in your reading of Macbeth’s response to the prophecies.

Throughout the novel, there are many symbols used to depict evil. Light and darkness are amongst the most common ways to show that light is good and dark is bad. In a more analytical approach, we can see that without the light Macbeth is in the dark for too long and causes him to become blind to goodness. From the beginning, all that has been described to be dark or involved in darkness have affected Macbeth into becoming corrupt and mad, such as the ‘midnight’ witches and the absence of the candles that Lady Macbeth so persistently carried towards the end. A working thesis for me would be how the use of light and darkness ultimately affected/foreshadowed that Macbeth would become corrupted and even guilty for the actions he had taken.

Karyna, it’s important to remember that a novel is a certain genre of writing. Macbeth is a play. Jane Austen’s Emma (which we’ll read in a few weeks) is a novel.

Classifications aside, the light/dark theme in the play is a big topic with lots to think about. Can you narrow it down to certain things that happen in light versus in darkness? For instance, Macbeth worries that he’ll never be able to sleep soundly again after he murders Duncan. Is there something to be said about the imagery juxtaposing darkness with sleeplessness brought on by guilt?

Possible Thesis:

Darkness, concerning dusk, exceeds its function as a mere setting characteristic by acting as a symbol of foreboding. Approaching darkness (nightfall) mentioned as a setting descriptor is often followed by nefarious or immoral actions, such as murder.

I am most likely going to change the topic I’m writing on. If I’m unable to fully rationalize my thoughts for the other topic I had in mind, I’ll fall back onto this original thesis.

Cory, try and find a few passages where a character describes or reacts to the darkness. I’m wondering if the Porter might be a good character to look to. Banquo’s murderers might also be worth discussing. As for major characters, there are plenty who present responses to darkness, especially in Act II. And maybe there’s a parallel between the pervasive darkness in the play and Scotland’s peripheral position in relation to England. Scotland is a grim, wild, foul-weathered place: any parallels between the setting of the play and the qualities of darkness espoused in it?

The circumstances that surround Macbeth’s rise to power allude to an evil power. The witches were written into this play during Shakespeare’s time where hysteria took precedent. Despite Shakespeare’s time being different from Macbeth’s time, there is still an emphasis on morality and what is considered to be a ‘sinful’ act or righteous. The presence of witches and prophecies may have been used to let the audience understand the meteoric rise of Macbeth was not truly ‘good’ or ‘righteous’. The witches are shown to be malevolent, and Macbeth’s association with these otherworldly figures notions towards an unjust claim to power. These allusions to an evil power include the stress on the number 3, which is known to represent evil and unholiness. For example, there are three witches, three roles that Macbeth takes on, and three prophecies.

Sounds great, Chiara! There are some materials in the back of the Norton Critical Edition pertaining to the witches (Hecate in particular). Ian McKellen’s interview might be a good place to start.

In this paper I will argue that Macbeth’s endless ambition overpowers fate and his destiny is brought by his own free will.

Good thesis, Jordan. Discuss the claims about predestination and free will made by Martin Luther and Erasmus. Their essays are in the supplementary materials of the Norton Critical Edition of Macbeth.

Psychology and subjective reality are prominent themes in Macbeth; Banquo’s ghost, the floating dagger, voices, and blood spots are only imagined by Macbeth as he unravels throughout the play. Lady Macbeth’s insomnia and hand-washing shows the psychological effect the murders have had on her. In the end, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are both perpetrators of their own demise; they actively seek to fulfill Fate and in turn are plagued by their own minds.

Mary, these are great passages to focus on for your thesis. I like the insinuation you’re making here: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth try to manipulate Fate, but all they end up doing–over and over again beginning with the murder of Duncan–is speed up its process.

This is amazing, I am doing something similar to your thesis and took some ideas from yours thank you!

Thesis: Throughout the play, Macbeth’s actions and decisions that he’s made seem to show an underlying sense of fear that fuels them. Fear can be controlling and influential on human beings and can sometimes dictate the path of their lives, all of which can be said for the character of Macbeth. From the witches’ prophecy to the various murders he orchestrates, fear is used as a motivator within Macbeth to commit unspeakable actions and as a result, drove him into losing touch with his sense of sanity and reality, slowly becoming unhinged at the hands of fear.

Very good, Lanz! Highlight passages where a character implies or specifically mentions being afraid (or conversely, feeling courageous).

Potential Thesis Statement: By doing the wrong thing cause of greed, power, and other influences( In this case the witches) can often lead to negative outcomes, bad results, situations to become worse, and anxiety. This is what I’m thinking about using as a thesis statement, but still a little unsure. Sorry for the late response I thought the other Macbeth post was the forumn where I was suppose to write our blog response/thesis for the Macbeth essay originally.

Tayyab, this is an interesting general statement to make in relation to the events of the play, but maybe just focus on Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s responses to the witches’ prophecies. This way, you’ll have a coupe of very specific scenes towards which you can direct your close reading. As a bonus, you don’t have to spend time and energy wondering about the moral of the story. Focus instead on what the characters say and do and how and what these words and actions mean within the world of the play. Look to the supplementary materials in the back of the Norton Critical Edition for more guidance, and let me know if you have further questions.

My thesis will be about self perception and it’s connection to the choice that people believe they are supposed to make. In the case of MacBeth, he heard a prophecy and his self perception changed from being a thane to a king. Really late response but I couldn’t think of anything original til now.

Aiden, reorient your thesis to avoid making generalizations about “people.” Focus only on how self-perception troubles the characters in Macbeth, particularly as it pertains to what certain characters believe about fate versus free choice. Look to the essays by Luther and Erasmus on this topic for guidance.

For my second essay I plan to move forward to investigate Lady Macbeth’s psychosis. There’s much to analyze when it comes to Lady Macbeth’s behavior and speech. However, I’m afraid I’ve chosen a topic that is too big for a four to five-page essay. Should I focus on a specific act or scene for the essay? Additionally, I’m having difficulty wording my thesis. This is what I have so far …

In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is an unconventional female character, who possesses a dangerous ambitiousness and ruthlessness to help Macbeth become King of Scotland. Her character encourages Macbeth to commit an evil act and unleashes something within hi. As more cruel murders take place, Lady Macbeth becomes unrecognizable through her anxious and erratic behavior.

I feel like I’m not really making a claim but just summarizing her character development in the play. Any suggestions or ideas are greatly welcomed!! Thank you!

Thesis: In Macbeth, his aligned actions had played to his rise and his downfall, which only proved that determinism took control of the entirety of Macbeth’s life and the world around him. 

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129 Macbeth Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best macbeth topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on macbeth, 📌 most interesting macbeth topics to write about, 👍 good research topics about macbeth, ❓ macbeth essay questions.

Writing an essay on Shakespearean tragedies may be tricky for some students. There are a lot of ideas to put in your paper, and that may puzzle you. That’s why we’ve prepared a short guide on how to write Macbeth essay.

Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare based on the true story of Scottish king Macbeth. The play tells us about a Scottish general who heard a prophecy from a trio of witches and decided to bring predictions to fulfillment. This is a drama about the jeopardy of excessive lust for power and betrayal of friends.

Some researchers state that William Shakespeare adopted the plot from Holinshed’s Chronicles, a popular history of England, while others argue that the plot of the play was borrowed from George Buchanan. Before you start your Macbeth essay, you should do thorough research on facts and fiction around the play.

To give you ideas on how and what to write in your essay, check the tips below:

• Check our Macbeth essay samples to acquire knowledge on characters: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, King Duncan, Banquo, Malcolm, Macduff, Three Witches, and others. Each character is unique, and it’s quite easy to write a paper on each of them. Make a meticulous analysis of each of them, if you decide to write an essay on Macbeth characters. Use dialogues and monologues as supporting arguments to your ideas.
• In your Macbeth essay introduction provide readers with the thesis statement and a summary you’re going to discuss in the paper. Specify what exactly you will depict or analyze. Sometimes, you may need to write the intro after you finish the body and already have done an in-depth analysis of text and critique materials.
• When writing body paragraphs, describe the essay topic in detail. Start each section with a short statement, provide a supporting quote, explain it, and make a conclusion. You can always analyze IvyPanda Macbeth essay titles to learn various points of view on each character and event.
• In the Macbeth essay conclusion, reiterate a topic and your analysis. You should not only summarize the information you’ve gathered and analyzed in the paper body. You have to get back to the intro and provide clear and extensive answers on the questions you raised. Try not to leave any further questions for your readers. Here’s the secret: some professors read the conclusion first. So make it persuasive and give a complete portion of information.

You may be wondering how to use essay examples that you may find on our website. It is super easy. First of all, look through the titles to get some topic ideas.

Then, look through the sample and learn how to create your outline. Think about what you can write in your essay. Check the bibliography: there you can find useful sources for the research.

Indeed, any paper on Shakespeare’s play may concern a variety of topics. So check out our Macbeth essay examples and think of the topics which you can choose.

• Dramatic Irony in Macbeth Essay Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to amuse the audience and to show the level of deception developed by the main character. The porter gives a clear picture of what is about to happen.
• Betrayal in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” The betrayer, Macbeth betrays the King, friend and other subjects in the kingdom. However when Macbeth is told he has just been chosen as the Thane of Cawdor, scenes of the possibilities of him as […]
• The Use of Hands as a Motif in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” The play presents readers with the world of royalty and the well-knit state; the world of Duncan, his two sons, Banquo, Macbeth and the whole of Scotland and England.
• William Shakespeare: Hamlet and Macbeth It is important to examine the role that the setting plays in Hamlet and Macbeth in relation to the tragic flaw and developments of the plot.
• Unchecked Ambition in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” However, in Act 1, scenes 1 to 4, the audience is introduced to Macbeth’s increasing fear and the developing desire to be the king. It appears that the desire to be the king overrides his […]
• Supernatural Elements of Act I and II in Macbeth In the play, the supernatural things are central to the plot of the play as they provide a basis for action as Shakespeare meant them to fit in putting the play together.
• Concept of Power in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” While The government is the system that makes laws and ensures that they are followed, it is the person who wields power who is responsible for the equality and impartiality of its enforcement.
• Macbeth & Frankenstein: Compare & Contrast In the being of the play, we assume that Macbeth is akin to the king, a loyal soldier, and a person “full of the milk of human kindness”.
• Emotions and Outward Actions in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” In this regard, in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the relationship of inward emotions and outward actions is relevant in fully conveying the interplay of themes in this tragedy.
• The Downfall of Macbeth Nonetheless, he goes on to murder the king and his character takes a turn for the worst as he kills the chamberlains who would give witness of the king’s death and he claims he killed […]
• Comparison of the Opening Scene of Macbeth by Orson Welles and The Tragedy of Macbeth by Roman Polanski The opening scene of The Tragedy of Macbeth starts with the words “fair is foul and foul is fair” that Polanski takes from the end of the Shakespeare’s scene.
• British Literature: Beowulf vs. Macbeth They are as follows: the presentation of the heroes, the consideration of the ethical themes, and the final stages of the plays the latter help to draw some ethical conclusions based on the peculiarity of […]
• The “Macbeth” Film by Rupert Goold While Shakespeare’s play happened in the 11th century in Scotland, the movie’s design is more similar to the events of the 20th century. Corresponding to the era of the first half of the 20th century, […]
• Literary Character Analysis of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” The very reason that made me write about this character was how he is depicted as a hero in the opening pages of the play, and only to learn how weak he is from his […]
• “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare: Language and Tropes Typically, ‘the end of something means the onset of another.’ Using this as a viewpoint that provides a lead to what Macbeth is all about, the fact that ‘we will proceed no further in this […]
• Macbeth Versions Comparison Film Analysis The use of classic settings in the design of the play helps in portraying the role that gangsters play in the original play of Macbeth and helps present it in the modern world.
• Macbeth and Hamlet Characters Comparison The queens in Hamlet and Macbeth play a pivotal role in the life of the heroes of the play. She is portrayed as a mother who, in her awareness of Hamlet’s crisis, feels guilty and […]
• The Play “Macbeth” by Shakespeare and the Film “Maqbool” by Bhardwaj Bhardwaj’s Maqbool is a great example of how the weather sets the tone for the story, it is not the backdrop in the film, but an active force expressing the psychological state of the characters.
• Shakespeare Tragedies: Macbeth and King Lear At the beginning of the play, he decides to abdicate his throne and divide his kingdom among his three daughters. This choice eventually undermines the ethical integrity of this character, and he murders murder to […]
• Omens in The “Macbeth” Play by William Shakespeare The supernatural was an aspect of the plot structure used to add tension and drama to the occurrences and situations and manifested in various ways. To conclude, the owl and raven were utilized as omens […]
• Representing the Heroic: Macbeth and Odysseus In Homer’s Odyssey, the noble nature of the hero is made clear in the way that his servants speak of him and strive to behave as he would expect.
• Character Analysis of “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare The unplanned overnight stay of King Duncan and his entourage at Macbeth’s castle precipitates Macbeth’s first fateful decision: to murder King Duncan and clear the way for the witches’ prophecy to come true.
• The Life and Work of William Shakespeare: His Contribution to the Contemporary Theater In addition, the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare continue to set the standard for the study of the English language in its dramatic context in institutes of higher learning and performance training.
• Characters’ Traits in Shakespeare’s Macbeth As weird as it might sound, Lady Macbeth is very emotional; as a matter of fact, the crimes that she committed can be attributed to her emotionality rather than her greed, though the latter has […]
• Drama Macbeth: Shakespeare’s Play and Wells’ Film However, the play communicates the meaning of the text in a better way as compared to the film by Orson Wells.
• Supernatural in “Macbeth” Play by Shakespeare The supernaturally manufactured predictions lure Macbeth and Banquo with the idea of power, leading Macbeth to plot the cruel murder of Duncan.
• Jeffrey R. Wilson: Macbeth and Criminology The genre of tragedy used in Macbeth poses the question to the reader: who is responsible for committing a crime – the individual or the society?
• Intro to Theatre: “Macbeth” Shakespeare’s theatrical performances are widespread all over the world and do not lose their relevance, both due to the problems raised by the playwright and the various interpretations of his works. One of such plays is the production of Macbeth directed by Bodinetz (2020) and created by the troupe of Digital Theater +. The performance […]
• The Story of Macbeth by W. Sheakspeare: Relationship and Strengths Between Macbeth and His Wife Lady Macbeth reads a letter her husband had written about the witches’ prophecy and manipulates him to kill King Duncan and take over the kingdom.
• Analyzing the Adaptation of the Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” Furthermore, the names of all the characters in both films are the same except for a little twist in the spelling of names like Mcbeth and Mcduff.
• Shakespeare and His View on Kingship: Macbeth, King Lear and Othello At the same time, it is beyond doubt in the basement Macbeth’s character is clean and as a soldier, he is true to his job and his king.
• Analysis of Characters in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” The witches’ predictions spark Macbeth’s ambitions and then hearten his violent performance; Lady Macbeth offers the brains and the will behind her husband’s intrigues; and the only heavenly being to emerge is Hecate, the divinity […]
• Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth The world of Macbeth is a world of contradiction. Already a successful soldier in the army of King Duncan, Macbeth is informed by Three Witches that he is to become “Thane of Glamis!”, “Thane of […]
• Shakespearean Macbeth as a Tragic Hero In addition to fighting for his king, Macbeth is quickly and well rewarded for his efforts as King Duncan makes him the new Thane of Cawdor in addition to his already holding the title of […]
• Shakespear’s “Macbeth”: Main Character Change Analysis Macbeth is essentially the story of a character who lives his life in a state of confusion to the degree that the only constant in his life changes.
• Chaucer’s ‘Miller’s Tale’ and Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ Chaucer’s The Miller’s Tale and in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, to be more exact, we will find out how the notion of poetic justice is represented by examples of the main characters of the works mentioned.
• An Explication on Shakespeare’s Macbeth However, Macbeth’s wife is murdered and the news is broken to him, and he is drifted into a life of futility and remorsefulness.
• Literary Elements in “Macbeth” Poem In addition, use of Symbolism imagery and symbolism creates a better picture in audience mind, concerning the themes that the play covers; such as where dark is used to represent evil.
• King Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Play and History He proved to be a courageous man and ambitious because he wanted to become the king, and the only way he could do it was by killing the king.
• Themes in the Tragedy of Macbeth by Shakespeare The character of Macbeth is used by Shakespeare to illustrate a man who lacks the strength of moral fiber under the affection of guilt and ambition.
• Macbeth: An Analysis of the Play by Shakespeare Macbeth’s treachery springs from his reliance to the witches who gave him prophecy that results in his endless creation of enemies.
• Oedipus King vs. Macbeth: Drama Comparison The concept reflects the foundation of the decent authority through showing the tendencies of power both in the ancient times and in the period of Renaissance.
• Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and Sophocles’ “Oedipus” The idea of a person being in the center of the action and trying to overcome some problems connected with doom, fate and some other supernatural forces become peculiar to this kind of art.
• Macbeth by Shakespeare and Oedipus by Sophocles Comparison In Act 1 Scene 3 of Macbeth, we have the three witches who greet him and inform him that he is to become the “Thane of Cawdor,” the title that he will receive that evening, […]
• Shakespeare Literature: Prophecy and Macbeth Morality The divination made by the witches pushes Macbeth further into immorality as he is made to believe that he deserves the position of king. In addition, Macbeth abandons reason and morality so as to make […]
• Power and Evocation of Horror: The Macbeth Witches’ Chant Among them are the rhymes, the rhythm of the words, the interpolation of a chorus, the increasing complexity of the lines as the poem progresses, and the vivid and horrifying imagery.
• Philosophy of Literature: Shakespearean Tragedy In addition, it is also an indication of the facts that human beings are always nosy and ready to participate in other people’s issues.
• The Ambitions and Immoral Decision in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Analyzing Macbeth’s Conscience Throughout Shakespeare’s Play “Macbeth”
• Murder and Power in William Shakespeare’s Play “Macbeth”
• Unprincipled Ambition in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Use of Supernatural to Create Suspense in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Psychological Victimization of William Shakespeare’s Protagonist in “Macbeth”
• Responsibility for Planning to Kill Duncan in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Dramatic Techniques to Create a Sense That Macbeth Is Not in Control of His Own Thoughts and Deeds
• An Analysis of Jam-Packed With Malfeasance and Darkness in the Play “Macbeth” by Shakespeare
• The Application of Imagery in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Witches, Supernatural, and Evil in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• The Banquet Scene of William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Analyzing Macbeth’s Weak Character in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Ambition Often Results in Greed as Portrayed in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Psychoanalytical Criticism of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Women as The Driving Action of the Play in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• William Shakespeare’s Manipulation of the Audience Through “Macbeth”
• Suspense and the Supernatural in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Sharing the Blame in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Macbeth’s Tragic Downfall in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• The Characterization of Macbeth in Relation to the Development of Scotland in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Role Reversal in William Shakespeare’s Play “Macbeth”
• The Butcher and His Fiend Like Queen in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Supernatural Forces Create a Suspense Atmosphere in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• The Archetypal Tragic Hero Characteristics of William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and Sophocles’ “Oedipus”
• An Analysis of Macbeth as a Victim of Circumstances in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Power, Ambition, and Treason in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• The Breakdown of Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Unbridled Ambition in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• The Art of Appeasement and the Political, Religious, and Social Issues Reflected in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Parallels Between Macbeth and Satan in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Some of the Ways in Which Shakespeare Portrays an Atmosphere of Evil in “Macbeth”
• An Analysis of Lady Macbeth’s Character in “Macbeth” by Shakespeare
• The Blood Imagery in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Macbeth’s Representation of Ambition in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• The Attract of Wicked in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• The Manipulations, Greed, and Guilt in William Shakespeare’s Play “Macbeth”
• Stereotypical Images of Women in “Macbeth” by Shakespeare
• Symbolism and Imagery in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Subjective Reality to the Viewer in the Play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• The Betrayal of Human Nature in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Treatment of Gender Disruption in William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and “Macbeth”
• Significance of Act Four Scene One in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Role of Women in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Recurring Images in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Similarities Between the Philosophies From Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• The Aristotelian Standards of a Tragic Hero in the Tragedy of “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Struggles of the Conscience in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• The Battle Between Good and Evil in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”
• Sleep and Its Meaning in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• Relationship Between Spouses in “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• A Musical Analysis of “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare
• What Did Macbeth’s Character, Words, and Actions Show About Changes in His Character?
• Who Are the Women in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”?
• When Power Falls Into the Wrong Hands in “Macbeth”?
• Why Are the Period and Place Important in “Macbeth”?
• What Makes William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” a Pessimistic Play?
• How Ambitions and Immoral Decision Play a Part in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”?
• How and Why Does Macbeth Turn a War Hero Into an Evil Murderer?
• Did the Three Witches Push Macbeth to Kill Duncan?
• What Are the Attitudes Towards Gender Can Be Seen in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”?
• What Part Does the Supernatural Play in “Macbeth”?
• Was Macbeth Responsible for His Downfall?
• Does Shakespeare Present Lady Macbeth as Good or Evil?
• Can One Feel Pity for Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”?
• What Dramatic Techniques Are Used in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”?
• How Did Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s Relationship Change Throughout the Play?
• What Did Macbeth Say About Good and Evil?
• Does Shakespeare Present Lady Macbeth as Fiend-Like?
• Does Macbeth Have Power?
• How Did Macbeth Turn From “Nobel Macbeth” to “A Bloody Butcher”?
• What Does Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” Have to Say About Kingship?
• Did Macbeth Suffer From Fate?
• What Are the Character Traits of Lady Macbeth?
• Does Macbeth Have Free Will?
• What Are the Influences of the Witches’ Prophecies on Macbeth’s Actions?
• How Are the Themes of Appearance and Reality Presented in “Macbeth”?
• How Are Characters Presented as Disturbed in “Macbeth”?
• Was Macbeth Considered the Tragic Hero of the Play?
• How Did Lady Macbeth and Witches Change?
• What Are the Differences and Similarities Between “Medea” and “Macbeth” Plays?
• What Factors Lead Macbeth to Kill Duncan?
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William Shakespeare

• Literature Notes
• Major Themes
• Macbeth at a Glance
• Play Summary
• About Macbeth
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Act I: Scene 1
• Act I: Scene 2
• Act I: Scene 3
• Act I: Scene 4
• Act I: Scene 5
• Act I: Scene 6
• Act I: Scene 7
• Act II: Scene 1
• Act II: Scene 2
• Act II: Scene 3
• Act II: Scene 4
• Act III: Scene 1
• Act III: Scene 2
• Act III: Scene 3
• Act III: Scene 4
• Act III: Scene 5
• Act III: Scene 6
• Act IV: Scene 1
• Act IV: Scene 2
• Act IV: Scene 3
• Act V: Scene 1
• Act V: Scene 2
• Act V: Scene 3
• Act V: Scene 4
• Act V: Scene 5
• Act V: Scene 6
• Act V: Scene 7
• Act V: Scene 8
• Act V: Scene 9
• Character Analysis
• Lady Macbeth
• Character Map
• William Shakespeare Biography
• Critical Essays
• Major Symbols and Motifs
• Macbeth on the Stage
• Famous Quotes
• Film Versions
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Critical Essays Major Themes

The Fall of Man

The ancient Greek notion of tragedy concerned the fall of a great man, such as a king, from a position of superiority to a position of humility on account of his ambitious pride, or hubris . To the Greeks, such arrogance in human behavior was punishable by terrible vengeance. The tragic hero was to be pitied in his fallen plight but not necessarily forgiven: Greek tragedy frequently has a bleak outcome. Christian drama, on the other hand, always offers a ray of hope; hence, Macbeth ends with the coronation of Malcolm , a new leader who exhibits all the correct virtues for a king.

Macbeth exhibits elements that reflect the greatest Christian tragedy of all: the Fall of Man. In the Genesis story, it is the weakness of Adam, persuaded by his wife (who has in turn been seduced by the devil) which leads him to the proud assumption that he can "play God." But both stories offer room for hope: Christ will come to save mankind precisely because mankind has made the wrong choice through his own free will. In Christian terms, although Macbeth has acted tyrannically, criminally, and sinfully, he is not entirely beyond redemption in heaven.

Fortune, Fate, and Free Will

Fortune is another word for chance. The ancient view of human affairs frequently referred to the "Wheel of Fortune," according to which human life was something of a lottery. One could rise to the top of the wheel and enjoy the benefits of superiority, but only for a while. With an unpredictable swing up or down, one could equally easily crash to the base of the wheel.

Fate, on the other hand, is fixed. In a fatalistic universe, the length and outcome of one's life (destiny) is predetermined by external forces. In Macbeth, the Witches represent this influence. The play makes an important distinction: Fate may dictate what will be, but how that destiny comes about is a matter of chance (and, in a Christian world such as Macbeth's) of man's own choice or free will.

Although Macbeth is told he will become king, he is not told how to achieve the position of king: that much is up to him. We cannot blame him for becoming king (it is his Destiny), but we can blame him for the way in which he chooses to get there (by his own free will).

Kingship and Natural Order

Macbeth is set in a society in which the notion of honor to one's word and loyalty to one's superiors is absolute. At the top of this hierarchy is the king, God's representative on Earth. Other relationships also depend on loyalty: comradeship in warfare, hospitality of host towards guest, and the loyalty between husband and wife. In this play, all these basic societal relationships are perverted or broken. Lady Macbeth's domination over her husband, Macbeth's treacherous act of regicide, and his destruction of comradely and family bonds, all go against the natural order of things.

The medieval and renaissance view of the world saw a relationship between order on earth, the so-called microcosm , and order on the larger scale of the universe, or macrocosm. Thus, when Lennox and the Old Man talk of the terrifying alteration in the natural order of the universe — tempests, earthquakes, darkness at noon, and so on — these are all reflections of the breakage of the natural order that Macbeth has brought about in his own microcosmic world.

Disruption of Nature

Violent disruptions in nature — tempests, earthquakes, darkness at noon, and so on — parallel the unnatural and disruptive death of the monarch Duncan.

The medieval and renaissance view of the world saw a relationship between order on earth, the so-called microcosm, and order on the larger scale of the universe, or macrocosm. Thus, when Lennox and the Old Man talk of the terrifying alteration in the natural order of the universe (nature), these are all reflections of the breakage of the natural order that Macbeth has brought about in his own microcosmic world (society).

Many critics see the parallel between Duncan's death and disorder in nature as an affirmation of the divine right theory of kingship. As we witness in the play, Macbeth's murder of Duncan and his continued tyranny extends the disorder of the entire country.

Gender Roles

Lady Macbeth is the focus of much of the exploration of gender roles in the play. As Lady Macbeth propels her husband toward committing Duncan's murder, she indicates that she must take on masculine characteristics. Her most famous speech — located in Act I, Scene 5 — addresses this issue.

Clearly, gender is out of its traditional order. This disruption of gender roles is also presented through Lady Macbeth's usurpation of the dominate role in the Macbeth's marriage; on many occasions, she rules her husband and dictates his actions.

Reason Versus Passion

During their debates over which course of action to take, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth use different persuasive strategies. Their differences can easily be seen as part of a thematic study of gender roles. However, in truth, the difference in ways Macbeth and Lady Macbeth rationalize their actions is essential to understanding the subtle nuances of the play as a whole.

Macbeth is very rational, contemplating the consequences and implications of his actions. He recognizes the political, ethical, and religious reason why he should not commit regicide. In addition to jeopardizing his afterlife, Macbeth notes that regicide is a violation of Duncan's "double trust" that stems from Macbeth's bonds as a kinsman and as a subject.

On the other hand, Lady Macbeth has a more passionate way of examining the pros and cons of killing Duncan. She is motivated by her feelings and uses emotional arguments to persuade her husband to commit the evil act.

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Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 25, 2020 • ( 0 )

Macbeth . . . is done upon a stronger and more systematic principle of contrast than any other of Shakespeare’s plays. It moves upon the verge of an abyss, and is a constant struggle between life and death. The action is desperate and the reaction is dreadful. It is a huddling together of fierce extremes, a war of opposite natures which of them shall destroy the other. There is nothing but what has a violent end or violent beginnings. The lights and shades are laid on with a determined hand; the transitions from triumph to despair, from the height of terror to the repose of death, are sudden and startling; every passion brings in its fellow-contrary, and the thoughts pitch and jostle against each other as in the dark. The whole play is an unruly chaos of strange and forbidden things, where the ground rocks under our feet. Shakespear’s genius here took its full swing, and trod upon the farthest bounds of nature and passion.

—William Hazlitt, Characters of Shakespeare’s Plays

Macbeth completes William Shakespeare’s great tragic quartet while expanding, echoing, and altering key elements of Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear into one of the most terrifying stage experiences. Like Hamlet, Macbeth treats the  consequences  of  regicide,  but  from  the  perspective  of  the  usurpers,  not  the  dispossessed.  Like  Othello,  Macbeth   centers  its  intrigue  on  the  intimate  relations  of  husband  and  wife.  Like  Lear,  Macbeth   explores  female  villainy,  creating in Lady Macbeth one of Shakespeare’s most complex, powerful, and frightening woman characters. Different from Hamlet and Othello, in which the tragic action is reserved for their climaxes and an emphasis on cause over effect, Macbeth, like Lear, locates the tragic tipping point at the play’s outset to concentrate on inexorable consequences. Like Othello, Macbeth, Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, achieves an almost unbearable intensity by eliminating subplots, inessential characters, and tonal shifts to focus almost exclusively on the crime’s devastating impact on husband and wife.

What is singular about Macbeth, compared to the other three great Shakespearean tragedies, is its villain-hero. If Hamlet mainly executes rather than murders,  if  Othello  is  “more  sinned  against  than  sinning,”  and  if  Lear  is  “a  very foolish fond old man” buffeted by surrounding evil, Macbeth knowingly chooses  evil  and  becomes  the  bloodiest  and  most  dehumanized  of  Shakespeare’s tragic protagonists. Macbeth treats coldblooded, premeditated murder from the killer’s perspective, anticipating the psychological dissection and guilt-ridden expressionism that Feodor Dostoevsky will employ in Crime and Punishment . Critic Harold Bloom groups the protagonist as “the culminating figure  in  the  sequence  of  what  might  be  called  Shakespeare’s  Grand  Negations: Richard III, Iago, Edmund, Macbeth.” With Macbeth, however, Shakespeare takes us further inside a villain’s mind and imagination, while daringly engaging  our  sympathy  and  identification  with  a  murderer.  “The  problem  Shakespeare  gave  himself  in  Macbeth  was  a  tremendous  one,”  Critic  Wayne  C. Booth has stated.

Take a good man, a noble man, a man admired by all who know him—and  destroy  him,  not  only  physically  and  emotionally,  as  the  Greeks  destroyed their heroes, but also morally and intellectually. As if this were not difficult enough as a dramatic hurdle, while transforming him into one of the most despicable mortals conceivable, maintain him as a tragic hero—that is, keep him so sympathetic that, when he comes to his death, the audience will pity rather than detest him and will be relieved to see him out of his misery rather than pleased to see him destroyed.

Unlike Richard III, Iago, or Edmund, Macbeth is less a virtuoso of villainy or an amoral nihilist than a man with a conscience who succumbs to evil and obliterates the humanity that he is compelled to suppress. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s  greatest  psychological  portrait  of  self-destruction  and  the  human  capacity for evil seen from inside with an intimacy that horrifies because of our forced identification with Macbeth.

Although  there  is  no  certainty  in  dating  the  composition  or  the  first performance  of  Macbeth,   allusions  in  the  play  to  contemporary  events  fix the  likely  date  of  both  as  1606,  shortly  after  the  completion  and  debut  of  King Lear. Scholars have suggested that Macbeth was acted before James I at Hampton  Court  on  August  7,  1606,  during  the  royal  visit  of  King  Christian IV of Denmark and that it may have been especially written for a royal performance. Its subject, as well as its version of Scottish history, suggest an effort both to flatter and to avoid offending the Scottish king James. Macbeth is a chronicle play in which Shakespeare took his major plot elements from Raphael  Holinshed’s  Chronicles  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland  (1587),  but  with  significant  modifications.  The  usurping  Macbeth’s  decade-long  (and  largely  successful)  reign  is  abbreviated  with  an  emphasis  on  the  internal  and external destruction caused by Macbeth’s seizing the throne and trying to hold onto it. For the details of King Duncan’s death, Shakespeare used Holinshed’s  account  of  the  murder  of  an  earlier  king  Duff  by  Donwald,  who cast suspicion on drunken servants and whose ambitious wife played a significant role in the crime. Shakespeare also eliminated Banquo as the historical Macbeth’s co-conspirator in the murder to promote Banquo’s innocence and nobility in originating a kingly line from which James traced his legitimacy. Additional prominence is also given to the Weird Sisters, whom Holinshed only mentions in their initial meeting of Macbeth on the heath. The prophetic warning “beware Macduff” is attributed to “certain wizards in whose words Macbeth put great confidence.” The importance of the witches and  the  occult  in  Macbeth   must  have  been  meant  to  appeal  to  a  king  who  produced a treatise, Daemonologie (1597), on witch-craft.

The uncanny sets the tone of moral ambiguity from the play’s outset as the three witches gather to encounter Macbeth “When the battle’s lost and won” in an inverted world in which “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” Nothing in the play will be what it seems, and the tragedy results from the confusion and  conflict  between  the  fair—honor,  nobility,  duty—and  the  foul—rank  ambition and bloody murder. Throughout the play nature reflects the disorder and violence of the action. Opening with thunder and lightning, the drama is set in a Scotland contending with the rebellion of the thane (feudal lord) of Cawdor, whom the fearless and courageous Macbeth has vanquished on the battlefield. The play, therefore, initially establishes Macbeth as a dutiful and trusted vassal of the king, Duncan of Scotland, deserving to be rewarded with the rebel’s title for restoring peace and order in the realm. “What he hath lost,” Duncan declares, “noble Macbeth hath won.” News of this honor reaches Macbeth through the witches, who greet him both as the thane of Cawdor and “king hereafter” and his comrade-in-arms Banquo as one who “shalt get kings, though thou be none.” Like the ghost in Hamlet , the  Weird  Sisters  are  left  purposefully  ambiguous  and  problematic.  Are  they  agents  of  fate  that  determine  Macbeth’s  doom,  predicting  and  even  dictating  the  inevitable,  or  do  they  merely  signal  a  latency  in  Macbeth’s  ambitious character?

When he is greeted by the king’s emissaries as thane of Cawdor, Macbeth begins to wonder if the first predictions of the witches came true and what will come of the second of “king hereafter”:

This supernatural soliciting Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, Against the use of nature? Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings: My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function Is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is But what is not.

Macbeth  will  be  defined  by  his  “horrible  imaginings,”  by  his  considerable  intellectual and imaginative capacity both to understand what he knows to be true and right and his opposed desires and their frightful consequences. Only Hamlet has as fully a developed interior life and dramatized mental processes as  Macbeth  in  Shakespeare’s  plays.  Macbeth’s  ambition  is  initially  checked  by his conscience and by his fear of the unforeseen consequence of violating moral  laws.  Shakespeare  brilliantly  dramatizes  Macbeth’s  mental  conflict in near stream of consciousness, associational fashion:

If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly. If th’assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease, success: that but this blow Might be the be all and the end all, here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases We still have judgement here, that we but teach Bloody instructions which, being taught, return To plague th’inventor. This even-handed justice Commends th’ingredients of our poison’d chalice To our own lips. He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against The deep damnation of his taking-off, And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself And falls on the other.

Macbeth’s “spur” comes in the form of Lady Macbeth, who plays on her husband’s selfimage of courage and virility to commit to the murder. She also reveals her own shocking cancellation of gender imperatives in shaming her husband into action, in one of the most shocking passages of the play:

. . . I have given suck, and know How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn As you have done to this.

Horrified  at  his  wife’s  resolve  and  cold-blooded  calculation  in  devising  the  plot,  Macbeth  urges  his  wife  to  “Bring  forth  menchildren  only,  /  For  thy  undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males,” but commits “Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.”

With the decision to kill the king taken, the play accelerates unrelentingly through a succession of powerful scenes: Duncan’s and Banquo’s murders, the banquet scene in which Banquo’s ghost appears, Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking, and Macbeth’s final battle with Macduff, Thane of Fife. Duncan’s offstage murder  contrasts  Macbeth’s  “horrible  imaginings”  concerning  the  implications and Lady Macbeth’s chilling practicality. Macbeth’s question, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” is answered by his wife: “A little water clears us of this deed; / How easy is it then!” The knocking at the door of the castle, ominously signaling the revelation of the crime, prompts the play’s one comic respite in the Porter’s drunken foolery that he is at the door of “Hell’s Gate” controlling the entrance of the damned. With the fl ight of Duncan’s sons, who fear for their lives, causing them to be suspected as murderers, Macbeth is named king, and the play’s focus shifts to Macbeth’s keeping and consolidating the power he has seized. Having gained what the witches prophesied, Macbeth next tries to prevent their prediction that Banquo’s descendants will reign by setting assassins to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. The plan goes awry, and Fleance escapes, leaving Macbeth again at the mercy of the witches’ prophecy. His psychic breakdown is dramatized by his seeing Banquo’s ghost occupying Macbeth’s place at the banquet. Pushed to  the  edge  of  mental  collapse,  Macbeth  steels  himself  to  meet  the  witches  again to learn what is in store for him: “Iam in blood,” he declares, “Stepp’d in so far that, should Iwade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”

The witches reassure him that “none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth” and that he will never be vanquished until “Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill / Shall come against him.” Confident that he is invulnerable, Macbeth  responds  to  the  rebellion  mounted  by  Duncan’s  son  Malcolm  and  Macduff, who has joined him in England, by ordering the slaughter of Lady Macduff and her children. Macbeth has progressed from a murderer in fulfillment of the witches predictions to a murderer (of Banquo) in order to subvert their predictions and then to pointless butchery that serves no other purpose than as an exercise in willful destruction. Ironically, Macbeth, whom his wife feared  was  “too  full  o’  the  milk  of  human  kindness  /  To  catch  the  nearest  way” to serve his ambition, displays the same cold calculation that frightened him  about  his  wife,  while  Lady  Macbeth  succumbs  psychically  to  her  own  “horrible  imaginings.”  Lady  Macbeth  relives  the  murder  as  she  sleepwalks,  Shakespeare’s version of the workings of the unconscious. The blood in her tormented  conscience  that  formerly  could  be  removed  with  a  little  water  is  now a permanent noxious stain in which “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten.” Women’s cries announcing her offstage death are greeted by Macbeth with detached indifference:

I have almost forgot the taste of fears: The time has been, my senses would have cool’d To hear a nightshriek, and my fell of hair Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir As life were in’t. Ihave supp’d full with horrors; Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, Cannot once start me.

Macbeth reveals himself here as an emotional and moral void. Confirmation that “The Queen, my lord, is dead” prompts only the bitter comment, “She should have died hereafter.” For Macbeth, life has lost all meaning, refl ected in the bleakest lines Shakespeare ever composed:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

Time and the world that Macbeth had sought to rule are revealed to him as empty and futile, embodied in a metaphor from the theater with life as a histrionic, talentless actor in a tedious, pointless play.

Macbeth’s final testing comes when Malcolm orders his troops to camoufl  age  their  movement  by  carrying  boughs  from  Birnam  Woods  in  their march toward Dunsinane and from Macduff, whom he faces in combat and reveals that he was “from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripp’d,” that is, born by cesarean section and therefore not “of woman born.” This revelation, the final fulfillment of the witches’ prophecies, causes Macbeth to fl ee, but he is prompted  by  Macduff’s  taunt  of  cowardice  and  order  to  surrender  to  meet  Macduff’s challenge, despite knowing the deadly outcome:

Yet I will try the last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff, And damn’d be him that first cries, “Hold, enough!”

Macbeth  returns  to  the  world  of  combat  where  his  initial  distinctions  were  honorably earned and tragically lost.

The play concludes with order restored to Scotland, as Macduff presents Macbeth’s severed head to Malcolm, who is hailed as king. Malcolm may assert his control and diminish Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as “this dead butcher and his fiendlike queen,” but the audience knows more than that. We know what  Malcolm  does  not,  that  it  will  not  be  his  royal  line  but  Banquo’s  that  will eventually rule Scotland, and inevitably another round of rebellion and murder is to come. We also know in horrifying human terms the making of a butcher and a fiend who refuse to be so easily dismissed as aberrations.

Macbeth Oxford Lecture by Emma Smith

Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Plays

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20 Essays About Macbeth – Exploring A Tragic Play Through Written Words

Is Macbeth a tragic hero? Here are 20 essays about Macbeth that can help you explore this and other questions.

Macbeth, a play by William Shakespeare initially performed in the early 1600s, explores the decline of the character Macbeth as his ambition drives him mad. As Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, literary critics and school students often discuss this play.

In the story, Macbeth is given a prophecy from three witches that he is destined to become King of Scotland. His wife overhears, and she joins him on a quest to make this happen that ends in several murders.

Like all of Shakespeare’s works, this play lends itself well to interesting essay topics. If you need to write one, these ideas for essays about Macbeth will get you started. You might also be interested in these essay topics about Macbeth .

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

1. Explore Macbeth’s Mental Deterioration

2. discuss what mental health problems macbeth had, 3. explore gender roles in macbeth, 4. determine macbeth’s tragic flaw, 5. decide if the witches in macbeth are real, 6. compare and contrast macduff, banquo, and macbeth, 7. discuss the role of blood in macbeth, 8. determine how macbeth’s ambition led to his downfall, 9. decide whether macbeth is a moral play, 10. which macbeth betrayal is worse, 11. what motivated macbeth’s actions, 12. compare and contrast macbeth and banquo’s behaviors after hearing the prophecy, 13. sleep as a theme in macbeth, 14. who is responsible for macbeth becoming king of scotland, 15. how macbeth’s ambition and paranoia intertwine, 16. does macbeth have free will, or is he serving fate.

• 17. What Is the Main Root of Evil in Shakespeare’s Play, Macbeth?

18. Who Really Pushed Macbeth to Murder?

19. are malcolm, macduff, or banquo necessary characters in the play, 20. how do you feel about macbeth at the end of the play.

The character of Macbeth goes through a significant mental health crisis throughout the play. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth seems like a mentally healthy and stable individual. As the story unfolds and his greed for power increases, his mental health declines.

This essay could discuss what caused the mental health decline in the play’s main character, or it could simply explore the progression. There are many ways to take this essay idea and expand it into an intricate piece. A closer look at Macbeth’s mind reveals several fascinating scenarios.

Mental health is a theme of the play Macbeth . Today, more knowledge about mental health conditions and their effects makes it possible to explore these themes more deeply. An engaging Macbeth essay idea would be to examine what mental health concerns he possibly had.

This essay idea requires a little bit of research outside of the play itself. You will need to research potential mental health conditions that line up with Macbeth’s character development. However, it can be an exciting way to explore the character more in-depth.

Gender roles in the Shakesperean world are interesting to explore when contrasting them to modern ideas about gender and the role of women in society. Lady Macbeth begins to take on masculine characteristics in this play as she pushes Macbeth towards Duncan’s murder and takes the dominant role in the marriage.

Lady Macbeth actually asks the spirits to take away her gender at one point in the play. The weird sisters also disrupt the traditional gender roles of Shakespeare’s time. They even boast beards, which further indicates this disparity.

The realities of human nature mean that people have inborn character traits that make life more challenging for them. A tragic flaw is a character’s defect that eventually leads to their downfall. Since Macbeth is a Shakespearean tragedy, the main character has a tragic flaw that is the eventual cause of his demise.

What is Macbeth’s tragic flaw? Answering this question can lead to a detailed essay. Your conclusion may be different from someone else’s conclusion. Within the article, you can explore the proof that your idea about Macbeth’s tragic flaw is the right one.

The weird sisters in Macbeth are some of the unique characters in the play. Yet because many of the themes are about ghosts and dreams, the reader is left to wonder whether or not these witches are real.

This topic could create an exciting essay. The writer would look at different aspects of the play to determine whether Shakespeare is alluding to the witches’ reality or leaving them as a figment of Macbeth’s imagination, using the essay to discuss the potential proofs.

This essay topic gives the writer the chance to show the similarities and differences between these three characters. Throughout doing so, the writer can argue whether one of the characters is the story’s true villain. The differences and similarities would provide a significant amount of writing material.

With this topic, the writer could compare and contrast all three or pick just two, depending on the length of the essay. The writer should look at character qualities and the players’ actions within the story.

Throughout the play, blood serves as a symbol of guilt . For example, Macbeth says: “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” He feels the blood will never be off his hands, indicating his guilt’s depth.

Lady Macbeth says, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!. Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.” As she tries to remove a bloodstain no one else can see, it is clear she also feels tremendous guilt for her crimes.

Explore the role of blood in the play and discuss how it symbolizes guilt in your essay. 

Many literary critics believe that Macbeth’s ambition was his tragic flaw. His ambition makes him repeatedly kill because he must continue killing to cover up his past murders. All of this drive to be the king of Scotland makes him lose control.

The downfall of his unbridled ambition is shown when he murders Macduff’s wife and children. This part of the play shows that Macbeth has lost all control over his dream, and this action is what causes many to call it his tragic flaw.

A moral play is one where justice is served in the end. Macbeth loses his life, which could indicate justice served for the murder of Duncan. However, others may argue that there is very little morality throughout the play.

Can a play about murder and unbridled ambition indeed be a moral play? This is the question you must try to answer through this essay. It has no right or wrong answer, so spend some time considering it.

In the play, Macbeth betrays two people. First, he crosses King Duncan by plotting and executing his murder. Second, he betrays his friend Manquo by killing his family.

This essay will discuss which of these two betrayals is considered worse. Is it worse to betray a monarch, or is it worse to betray someone close to you? The answer will be based on your opinion, and you can use the essay to explain and defend your choice.

Macbeth’s actions in the play stem from a deeper motivation, but you need to figure out how to express just what that is. Is he motivated by his ambition primarily, or does the fear of the supernatural spur him to action?

Take a look at the clues in the play to determine your answer to this crucial question, then craft an essay that proves your choice. You may discover a motivator that few have written on. Use it well, and you can compose an engaging article on this topic.

Both Macbeth and Banquo’s behaviors change after hearing the witches’ prophecy. You can create an essay that compares these responses and contrasts them. Take some time to study them before you begin writing.

This type of character analysis and contrast works well for an essay. It shows your critical thinking abilities. With this essay topic, you can also explore the negative and positive changes the characters experience throughout Shakespeare’s play.

In Macbeth , the main character spends a lot of time asleep and having dreams. This fact means that sleep is a central theme of the play, and that idea can create an exciting essay topic option.

Why do you think Shakespeare relies on sleep so much in his story? Is there a parallel between the decline in mental health and the increase in the sleep of the main character? This essay idea can go quite far as you delve into the topic.

As the play nears its climax, Macbeth moves from being the thane of Cawdor to the King of Scotland due to his betrayal and murder, but who is responsible? Is Lady Macbeth the responsible party, or do the witches have a role to play? Is the responsibility all on Macbeth himself?

The story of the tragic hero can have quite a few responsible parties. You may come to a different conclusion than another writer. If you can clearly defend your choice, you have a solid essay idea on your hands.

Towards the end of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth’s ambition and paranoia become so entwined that it is hard to tell one from the other. This progression could make for an interesting essay topic. You could explore the progression, then show how his obsession made it impossible to enjoy his role as king.

To make this essay topic work, you will want to look at the fact that the sad end of the play shows Macbeth without the potential to produce an heir and thus no hope for a future legacy. His ambition and paranoia mixing in this way eventually led to his downfall.

Because of the witches’ prophecy, one could argue that Macbeth lacks free will in the play and instead is simply following the fate prophesied to him. On the other hand, you could also argue that everyone has free will, regardless of what some weird sisters say.

Once you decide your stand on this question, take a close look at the play to determine the proofs that show whether or not Macbeth has free will. Then expound on your findings in your essay.

17. What Is the Main Root of Evil in Shakespeare’s Play,  Macbeth ?

Is the desire for power what causes the evil in the play, or is it Macbeth’s ambition? Is it the underlying forces of evil from the weird sisters or something else? Study the play and determine what you think the root of evil is.

Once you choose, make a case for your choice. Show proof from the play that backs your choice. While there are many causes for the tragedy, you should be able to build a case for one central underlying cause.

There are two characters in the play that push Macbeth to embrace his ambition and pursue it to the point of murder. First, the three witches make the prophecy that gets him thinking about murder.

However, a closer study of the play shows that his wife, more so than the weird sisters, causes him to cross that ethical line and become a murderer. So in your essay, you could easily argue that Lady Macbeth, not the three witches, led to his demise.

As you consider the play’s plot, consider whether any of these three characters could be left out without changing the meaning or direction of the story. You may find that one or more is an unnecessary character.

After discovering who the unnecessary character is in the play, you can discuss it in your essay. Expound on why the character does not bring anything of value to the storyline and how you feel the play could move along better without them.

A final essay topic about Macbeth is a more personal one. Discuss how you feel towards the main character when the play is over. Do you have compassion for his mental illness and overall plight, or are you disgusted by his actions?

Because this is an opinion piece, be careful to explain why you feel the way you do. Expound on your attitude using examples from the play to make this an effective essay.

When studying a piece of literature , understanding what makes up a story can help you discuss and analyze it more effectively. Read our article on  literary elements .

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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Macbeth Essays

There are loads of ways you can approach writing an essay, but the two i favour are detailed below., the key thing to remember is that an essay should focus on the three aos:, ao1: plot and character development; ao2: language and technique; ao3: context, strategy 1 : extract / rest of play, the first strategy basically splits the essay into 3 paragraphs., the first paragraph focuses on the extract, the second focuses on the rest of the play, the third focuses on context. essentially, it's one ao per paragraph, for a really neatly organised essay., strategy 2 : a structured essay with an argument, this strategy allows you to get a much higher marks as it's structured to form an argument about the whole text. although you might think that's harder - and it's probably going to score more highly - i'd argue that it's actually easier to master. mainly because you do most of the work before the day of the exam., to see some examples of these, click on the links below:, lady macbeth as a powerful woman, macbeth as a heroic character, the key to this style is remembering this: you're going to get a question about a theme, and the extract will definitely relate to the theme., the strategy here is planning out your essays before the exam, knowing that the extract will fit into them somehow., below are some structured essays i've put together., macbeth and gender.

Macbeth and Violence — Example A Grade Essay

Here’s an essay on Macbeth’s violent nature that I wrote as a mock exam practice with students. Feel free to read and analyse it, use the quotes and context for your own essays too!

It’s also useful for anyone studying Macbeth in general, especially with the following exam boards: CAIE / Cambridge, Edexcel, OCR, CCEA, WJEC / Eduqas.

Thanks for reading! If you find this resource useful, you can take a look at our full online Macbeth course here . Use the code “SHAKESPEARE” to receive a 50% discount!

This course includes: 

• A full set of video lessons on each key element of the text: summary, themes, setting, characters, context, attitudes, analysis of key quotes, essay questions, essay examples
• Downloadable documents for each video lesson 
• A range of example B-A* / L7-L9 grade essays, both at GCSE (ages 14-16) and A-Level (age 16+) with teacher comments and mark scheme feedback
• A bonus Macbeth workbook designed to guide you through each scene of the play!

For more help with Macbeth and Tragedy, read our article here .

THE QUESTION

Starting with this speech, explore how far shakespeare presents macbeth as a violent character. (act 1 scene 2).

Debate: How far is Macbeth violent? (AGREE / DISAGREE)

Themes: Violence (break into different types of violence)

Focus: Character of Macbeth (what he says/does, other character’s actions towards him and speech about him)

PLAN — 6–8 mins

Thesis – Shakespeare uses Macbeth to make us question the nature of violence and whether any kind of violent behaviour is ever appropriate

Point 1 : Macbeth has an enjoyment of violence

‘Brandished steel’ ‘smoked with bloody execution’

‘Unseam’d him from the nave to’th’chops’ ‘fixed his head upon the battlements’

Context — Thou shalt not kill / Tragic hero

Point 2 : Macbeth is a violent character from the offset, but this violence is acceptable at first

‘Disdaining Fortune’ ‘valiant cousin/ worthy gentleman’

‘Worthy to be a rebel’

Context: Divine Right of Kings / James I legacy

Point 3:  The witches and Lady Macbeth manipulate that violent power

‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ ‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen’

‘Will these hands never be clean?’ ‘incarnadine’

‘Is this a dagger I see before me?’

Context: Psychological power — Machiavelli / Demonology

(Point 4) Ultimately, Macbeth is undone by violence in the end

Hubris — ‘Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripp’d’

‘Traitor’ ‘Tyrant’

‘Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing’

Context: Violence for evil means is unsustainable, political unrest equally is negative and unsustainable — support James

Macbeth is certainly portrayed as a violent character from the offset, but initially this seems a positive trait: the Captain, Ross and others herald him as a great warrior, both an ally and valuable asset to Duncan and his kingdom. Furthermore, Duncan himself is overjoyed at Macbeth’s skill in battle. Yet, as the play progresses and Macbeth embarks upon his tragic fall, Shakespeare encourages us to question the nature of violence itself, and whether any kind of violence is truly good. Ultimately, Shakespeare demonstrates that Macbeth’s enjoyment of violence works against him, as it is manipulated by the evil forces at work in the play, and it ends in destroying not only himself but his entire life’s work, reputation and legacy.

Firstly, Macbeth is established as a character who embraces violence, though he uses it as a force for good in the sense that he defends Duncan and his Kingdom against traitors and the King of Norway’s attack. In the play, it is interesting to note that Macbeth’s reputation precedes him — despite being the central focus of the tragedy, we do not meet him until Act 1 Scene 3, and so this extract occurs before we have seen the man himself. The Captain’s speech begins with the dramatic utterance ‘Doubtful it stood’, creating a sense of tension and uncertainty as he recounts the events of the battle to Duncan and the others. Yet, the tone of the speech becomes increasingly full of praise and confidence as he explains how Macbeth and Banquo overcame ‘Fortune’, the luck that went against them, and their strong willpower enabled them to defeat ‘the merciless Macdonwald’, the alliteration serving to underscore the Captain’s dislike of the man, while the adjective ‘merciless’ implies that the traitor himself was also cruel and violent. The sense that Macbeth enjoys the violence he enacts upon the traitor is conveyed through visual imagery, which is graphic and quite repellent: ‘his brandish’d steel… smoked with bloody execution’ and ‘he unseam’d [Macdonwald] from the nave to th’chops’. The dynamic verb ‘smoked’ suggests the intense action of the scene and the amount of fresh blood that had stained Macbeth’s sword. Furthermore, the verb ‘unseam’d’ suggests the skill with which Macbeth is able to kill — he does not simply stab the traitor, he delicately and expertly destroys him, almost as if he’s a butcher who takes pleasure in his profession, and indeed at the end of the play Macduff does call him by this same term: ‘the dead butcher and his fiend-like queen’. Interestingly, much of the violence that occurs in the play happens offstage, Duncan is murdered in between Acts 2.1 and 2.2., as are Banquo and Macduff’s family. Even in this early scene, the audience hear about the violence rather than experiencing it directly. This suggests perhaps that for a Jacobean audience at a time of political instability, Shakespeare wanted to discourage the idea or enjoyment of violence whilst still exploring the idea of it in human nature and psychology. Furthermore, a contemporary audience would be aware of the Biblical commandment ‘thou shall not kill’, which expressed that violence and murder of any kind was a sinful act against God. Therefore, we can see that Macbeth is established as a tragic hero from the offset, though he is a successful character and increasing his power within the feudal world, this power is built upon his capacity for and enjoyment of violence, which will ultimately cause him to fail and in turn warn the Jacobean audience against any kind of violence in their own lives.

We could also interpret Macbeth as inherently violent, but under control of his own power at the beginning of the play, an aspect of himself which degenerates under the influence of evil. Though he is physically great, he is easily manipulated by the witches and Lady Macbeth, all of whom are arguably psychologically stronger. The use of chiasmus in the opening scene — ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ is echoed by Macbeth’s first line in Act One Scene 3: ‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen’. Delving deeper into the meaning of these lines also reveals more about Shakespeare’s opinions on the inherent nature of violence; though the language is equivocal and can be interpreted in many ways, we can assume that the witches are implying that the world has become inverted, that ugliness and evil are now ‘fair’, what is seen as right or normal in Macbeth’s violent world. Macbeth uses similar lines, but with a different meaning, he is stating that he has never seen a day so ‘foul’, so full of gore and death, that was at the same time so ‘fair’, so good in terms of outcome, and positive for the future. Shakespeare is perhaps exposing an inherent paradox in violence here, that war and murder is thought by many to be noble if it leads to a positive political outcome. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth encourages and appeals to Macbeth’s sense for violence by directly associating it with masculinity and male traits that were considered noble or desirable in the Jacobean era. She questions him just prior to Duncan’s death, stating ‘I fear thy nature is too full o’th’milk of human kindness / to catch the nearest way’, using ‘milk’ as a symbol of femininity to imply his womanly and cowardly nature, while in turn asking evil spirits to ‘unsex’ her and fill her with ‘direst cruelty’. In this sense, it could be argued that Shakespeare is commenting on the connections between nature and violence, perhaps a Jacobean audience would have understood that Macbeth fighting for the king was an acceptable outlet for his violence, whereas Macbeth using violence for personal gain and Lady Macbeth’s wish to become more masculine, and therefore more violent, are all against the perceived view of natural gender and social roles of the time. Overall, we could say that the culture itself, which encourages Machievellian disruption and political vying for power through both women and men stepping out of the social norms of their society, encourages more violence and evil to enter the world.

Alternatively, it could be argued that Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s success through violence to criticise the nature of the Early Modern world, and so it is not Macbeth’s violence itself which is at fault, but the world which embraces and encourages this in him. Duncan responds to the Captain’s speech by exclaiming ‘valiant cousin’ ‘worthy gentleman!’, demonstrating his extreme faith in Macbeth’s powers. The Captain additionally terms him ‘Brave Macbeth’, stating ‘well he deserves that name’, suggesting that the general structure of the world supports violent and potentially unstable characters such as Macbeth, enabling them to rise to power beyond their means. Interestingly the downfall of Macbeth is foreshadowed early on in this extract, as the term ‘worthy’ is also applied to the traitor in the Captain’s speech, when he states Macdonwald is ‘worthy to be a rebel’, the repetition of this adjective perhaps subtly compares Macdonwald’s position to Macbeth’s own, as Macbeth’s own death also is similar to the initial traitors, with his own head being ‘fixed…upon the battlements’ of Inverness castle. Through this repetition of staging and terminology, we realise that the world is perhaps at fault more than Macbeth himself, as it encourages a cycle of violence and political instability. Though there is a sense of positivity in extract as Duncan has succeeded in securing the throne and defeating the traitor, the violent context in which this action occurs, being set in 11th century feudal Scotland, suggests the underlying political unrest that mirrors the political instability of Shakespeare’s own time. The play was first performed in 1606, three years after James I had been made King of England (though he was already King of Scotland at this time), and in 1605 there had been a violent attempt on his life with the Gunpowder Plot from a group of secret Catholics who felt they were being underrepresented. Shakespeare’s own family were known associates of some of the perpetrators, so it is likely that he intended to clear suspicion of his own name by creating a play that strongly supported James I’s Divine Right to rule. In this sense, we can see that the concept of a cycle of violence that is created through political instability is integral to Shakespeare’s overall purpose, he is strongly conveying to the audience that not only is Macbeth’s personal violence sinful, but the way in which society encourages people to become violent is terrible and must be stopped, for the good of everyone.

In summary, Macbeth is established from the offset as a violent character, who takes pride and pleasure in fighting and killing. However, Shakespeare is careful not to make this violent action central to the enjoyment of the play (until the very end, when Macbeth himself is defeated), to force us to engage with the psychology of violence more than the physical nature of it. Though the women in the play are passive, Lady Macbeth and the witches prove to incite violence in Macbeth’s nature and lead ultimately to more evil entering the world. Finally, we can interpret the violence of the play as a criticism of the political and social instability of Jacobean times, rather than it being purely Macbeth’s fault, Shakespeare is exploring how the society itself encourages instability through the encouragement of Machiavellian ideas such as power grabbing, nepotism, greed and ambition.

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You will gain access to  over 8 hours  of  engaging video content , plus  downloadable PDF guides  for  Macbeth  that cover the following topics:

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GCSE Macbeth thesis and model paragraph - Macbeth's ambition

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

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A model thesis and first paragraph for the question: How does Shakespeare present Macbeth’s ambition? Topic sentence for second and third paragraphs and room for writing a We Do model, followed by students’ independent paragraph. I Do We Do You Do structure applied to essay. Great for introducing essay writing or feedback after assessment.

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Critic’s Notebook

In a Pair of ‘Macbeth’ Productions, Only One Does Right by the Lady

One of Shakespeare’s most coveted roles for women gets different interpretations onstage in New York and Washington.

By Maya Phillips

“Macbeth” isn’t one of Shakespeare’s so-called “problem plays,” and yet, the vast contradictions and reversals of the central couple often present a problem for those staging it.

Two “Macbeth” productions now running — the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh’s “Macbeth (An Undoing),” at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn, and the Shakespeare Theater Company’s “Macbeth” in Washington — take opposite approaches to the text, particularly in their depictions of Lady Macbeth. The results are two wildly different kinds of tragedies, one more successful than the other.

The project of “ Macbeth (An Undoing ),” written and directed by Zinnie Harris, is to re-evaluate the female characters in Shakespeare’s tragedy. The play, presented by Theater for a New Audience and the Rose Theater, begins as a loose adaptation of the material: Macbeth, a celebrated soldier fighting on behalf of Scotland, hears a prophecy from three weird sisters that he’ll get two promotions, including one to the throne. The Macbeths then pave their path to power by murdering everyone who could stand in their way.

With the exception of some modern paraphrasing, the unnecessary fan-fiction-esque addition of a romantic affair and a larger showing by the witches — who sometimes break the fourth wall and at others appear as servants — much of the first half of the show follows the original. In the second half, however, the production changes direction; Macbeth is the one who can’t seem to wash the blood off his hands. As he descends into the particular brand of madness usually reserved for Lady Macbeth, she transforms into the king. In fact, those around her begin addressing her as “sir” and “king.” Lady Macbeth, it turns out, has her own history with the witches, whom she sought out for medicine to prevent a miscarriage but neglected to pay when she still lost the child.

“So I am reduced to my infertility after all,” Lady Macbeth says to her husband when he accusingly interrogates her about the miscarriages. The line is one of several that the play offers as a rebuttal to some unclear larger discourse about the gender politics of “Macbeth.” “Unclear” because the ultimate irony (and failure) of “Macbeth (An Undoing)” is that in trying to subvert the gender politics of the original, it actually contradicts itself, making the character arcs and themes largely incoherent. So this Lady Macbeth complains about being characterized by her infertility, and yet the material that most heavily emphasizes her obsessive desire for a child are unique additions to this play not found in Shakespeare’s text.

Playing Lady Macbeth, Nicole Cooper is at her best when she offers a more realistic, matter-of-fact interpretation of the character in the first half of the production. But she and her Macbeth, played by Adam Best, lack chemistry, and the actors can’t negate the fact that instead of expanding the characters, the play’s role reversals flatten them. Shakespeare already built in a reversal between these characters; Macbeth’s early hesitance and caution shifts to untethered resolve, while Lady Macbeth’s early steadfastness shifts to guilt and madness.

In losing the tension between the couple’s seesawing consciences and intentions, “Macbeth (An Undoing)” also loses the context of the play’s great speeches. The famous “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” soliloquy, originally spoken by Macbeth in a state of grief-turned-apathy after learning of his wife’s death, loses its emotional weight when spoken by Lady Macbeth after she commits a murder.

There is, by the way, a good helping of murder in this version. And the blood flows freely. One character’s death comes with an almost comical deluge, audibly dripping onstage as the dialogue continues. Lady Macbeth, constantly plagued by blood spots, calls for more wardrobe changes than a contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” This kind of ceaseless repetition and constant over-explanation of the themes drags down the pacing of the play and makes for a tiresome experience.

“Macbeth (An Undoing)” ends with the same outcome and same body count, though the unnecessarily convoluted route the play takes, full of ineffective additions and alterations, and absent much of Shakespeare’s poetry, only further emphasizes the missing artistry of the original story.

These creative decisions minimize Cooper’s ability to get the most out of Lady Macbeth, who is perhaps the most coveted Shakespeare role for women as a complex character who already subverts stereotypes about women as lovers, mothers and caretakers.

The very proof is in Indira Varma’s absorbing performance opposite Ralph Fiennes in the production of “ Macbeth ” that opened on April 12 in D.C. Set in a former soundstage about three miles from the Shakespeare Theater Company’s usual space, this engrossing production draws audiences into a wrecked war zone that is then mirrored in the Macbeth household.

As played by Varma (known for her role on “Game of Thrones” ), Lady Macbeth is neither a vessel of unbridled female lust, as is often the case, nor an evil girl-boss. Her performance is built on Lady Macbeth’s earnest, wholesome love for her husband. Even when Lady Macbeth rolls up her sleeves and impatiently grabs the daggers from her husband after his bloody act of treason, there’s a brightness to her affections; she guides Macbeth through the next step of their plot with the soft yet forceful scolding of a mother to her hapless son.

Though the show’s aesthetic is grandiose, and occasionally otherworldly, with climactic lighting design and titillating sound design, the performances are refreshingly grounded. From the onset the director, Simon Godwin (who also directed the electric TV film version of “ Romeo and Juliet ,” and National Theater Live’s sensual “Antony and Cleopatra,” also starring Fiennes), paints a sophisticated picture of the central couple’s relationship, and their subsequent fall from grace.

Fiennes’s Macbeth fully owns his ambitions, and potential for regicide, but he’s also tense and cautious to the point of neuroticism. He lumbers across the stage with his shoulders hunched, looking like he’s always on the defensive. Macbeth’s ultimate shift is not toward insanity as much as it is to willfulness rooted in his newly acquired power and driven home by male ego.

And when Lady Macbeth goes mad, there’s still some degree of cogency to her condition; Varma’s tone, posture and temperament shift drastically but never lose their connection to the rest of her performance.

By the end, these Macbeths are transformed more significantly and imbued with more humanity than the reconsidered and restyled couple in “Macbeth (An Undoing).” Because even stuck in a plot of warring men, and on stages ruled by men, Shakespeare’s tragic lady can still summon a magic all her own.

Macbeth (An Undoing)

Through May 4 at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Brooklyn; tfana.org . Running time: 2 hours 35 minutes.

Through May 5 at Shakespeare Theater Company, Washington, D.C.; shakespearetheatre.org . Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes.

Maya Phillips is an arts and culture critic for The Times.  More about Maya Phillips