English 12 / Unit 2: Shakespeare and the Renaissance
2.6 Macbeth: Ambition, Appearance and Fate
Notes
Written around 1606, Macbeth follows a Scottish general who murders King Duncan after three witches predict he will be king.
- Ambition: Macbeth admits he has "only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself / And falls on th' other." Pushing too far leads to a fall.
- Appearance vs. reality: The witches chant "Fair is foul, and foul is fair." Characters hide dark plans behind friendly faces.
- Guilt and blood: Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and tries to wash imaginary blood from her hands ("Out, damned spot!").
- Fate vs. free will: The prophecies tempt Macbeth, but he chooses to kill.
- After hearing of his wife's death, Macbeth says "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, / Creeps in this petty pace" and calls life "a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more." This metaphor shows his despair.
Practice
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair" best introduces which theme?
The line reverses good and bad, suggesting nothing is what it seems.
Macbeth says only "vaulting ambition" pushes him to act, like a rider who leaps too far and falls. What does this metaphor suggest?
Overreaching and falling on the other side shows ambition causing ruin.
In the line "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage," life is compared to:
The extended metaphor presents life as brief and meaningless, like an actor leaving the stage.
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