oxrORD SC H OOL

Shakespeare

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xford School Shakespeare

Macbeth
cditcd by

Roma G iIl, BE
M .A. Call1ab. B.Litt. Oxon.

Oxford Univcrsity Press

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OXFORD
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C Oxford Unwcrsll}' Pr~s 1977

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IIIUSlnlluns by Cordl "Iula

CO"cr phOlograph by Reg Wllson shows Alben Finncy as Macbelh
thc Nauonal Theslrc's 1978 prooucllon of M acMr!."

For Mandy
o"rQrd School Shakcspearc
cducd by Roma Gll!

A Mld5ummcr Nlg,hI'S Dream

Romeo and Jultcl
As "nu ]Jkc lt
Maebelh
Jullus C aesar
111c I\\crcham o fVcllI ce
lle nry IV Part I
Antony and Clcopal r~

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T .....clft h N,ghl
' Ille Tamlng of Ihe Sh rcw
0lhell0
H a m 1et

Klllg Lcar
Henry V
"Ille Wltltcr's l ai e
"nIe Tempc:sl

l'nmcd III Ult Unllcd Klllgdom al1hc Ulli verslI y l'ress, C~ll1brtdgc

U\

Contents

Ma che/I! : a play for thc king

Leading Charactcrs in the Play

v
.

VII

M acbclh: Thc play

IX

Macbcth: T hc man

xx

Shakcspcare's Verse
Date and Text

Characters in the Play

Macbeth

XXIV

xxv
.

XXVI

Macbeth: Thc souree

86

Classwork and Examinations

Discussion

93
93
94
96
97
99

Charaeter Study
Activitics
Contcxt Qucstions
Comprchension Qucstion s

Essays

102

Projccls

13

Background
Govcrnmcnt
Rel igion
Educution
Languagc
Drama
T heatre

104
14
104

Sclcctcd Furt her Rcad ing

108

William Shakespeare 1564 - 1616

19

List of Shakcspcarc's Plays

111

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15
15
106
106

Mac b~l h :

A play for the king

Whcn Elizabeth I of England was dy ing, chi ldlcss, shc namcd

Jamcs V I of ScotJand as her successor. He bccame J amcs I of
England.
In August J606 James was ar Hamplon Coun, a palacc near
Landon, cmerraini ng his brothcr-in-law, King Christian of
D enmark. A play was acted fr thein, NI acberh, written by thc
best d rumatist ofrh e time, WilJiam Shakespeare. Ir was a new p lay,
but thc story was an old one. J amcs knew it weil, bccausc it was
abou t anccslOrs, Banquo and F lcance. through whorn he had
inhcri ted thc throne of Scotland .
Shakespeare faund the story in Th e Hisrory 0/ Sem/ami, by
RaphacJ Holinshcd, but his play is much mo re l han a drnmatic
rc-writing of the hi storieal fact s. H e made many changcs, und thc
biggest of these concerned Jamcs's ancestor. In the [rue story)
Banquo joined M acbclh in killing D uncan ; but elearly it would be
tacrless to suggest that J ames was dcscendcd fro m a regicide- the
m urdcrer of a king. So Shakespeare's Banq uo is innOCCI1(.
James also bclieved that hc was descended spiritually fro m
the lang tradition of English monarchs, and that hc had inhcrited
the powe r of healing [hat Edward the Confessor lo..p -66)
possessed . Shakespeare's description of [his power (4, 3, 146-56)
is, w sa me cxtenl, delibera te fl attery of his king. Shakespeare also
knew that J amcs was extremely inte rested in witchcraft, and had
wrinen a book about it.
Macbelh is certainly a play 'fit for a king'.
Bu t of course il is more than this-more lhan flatt er}' for an
anciCnl British monarch ; and although the swry is largcly true,
wc do nOt read A1acbeth as ' history '. \VJe could interpret Shakcspeare's playas a moral lesson . Macbcth murders his king . To
murder any man is a crime, but those who livcd ar the time of
Shakespcare thought tha t ehe murder of a king was the grcuteSl of
all crimcs. Kings werc appoi nted by God, 10 rule as His deput ics:
rebel lion against a true king was rebellion against God . By murdering D uncan, Jv \acbclh gains the crown; but he loses love, fricnd ship, respect -and in the end his life. H is crime is rightly punishcd.
T herc is srill more 10 the play. On Olle ' level' it is royal
entertainment-and enrerrainment, too, for all those of us who
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v,

Macbeth ; A play for the kmg

en joy the suspensc and excitcmcnt of a murder story. On another

level, it tcaches us, in a ncw way, thc old lessen that c rimc does not
pay. Bm thefe are twO m ore levels.
As we look at the charactcr of M acbeth we sec, more clcarly
than we are able to see in rea l lire, the effccls of uncontrollcd
ambition on a man wha is, cxcept for his ambition , noble in nature.
Macbeth has full knowledgc of right and wrong j he knows that
hc has commined a very great cri me by m urdering Du nean.
Shakespeare shows us how Macbcth becomcs hardened to Ws
crimes, and yet how he suffers from (ears which he has created
himself.
On thc last level, the p lay has great power as a work of poetry
and imagination . Thc language is ri eh in sound and meaning, full
of pictures, and immensely varied. Take this episode, for example.
When Macbeth comes from the murder of Dunean, his hand s are
eovered in the king's blood; he looks at them, and fee ls that a ll the
waters in the oeean eannot wash away the blood, but rhat
this my hand will rather
The multitudmous seas ineamadine,
Making the green one red .
The word ' multitudinous' gives a sense of vastness, and
'incamadine' (meaning ' redden') is another impressive word j
its length and sound give strength tO t he mean ing. T he twO words
are more Latin than English, and were very new ro the English
language ; Shakespeare was one of the first writers to use them
They are foll owed by the simplest, most direet words. l magine
a film eamera. First the eamera shows you a pieture of endles~
waters, stretching as far as the eye can see: then a sudden c1ose-up
picture, perhaps a small pool of green water that turns red with
blood as we look at it. Such skill in the use of language is unique
Although I have distinguished four levels on which the play
Macbeth can work, I do not want to give the impressio n that these
levels can in fact bc separated from each other. The entertainment ,
the moral teaching, the p sychology , and the poetry are often all
contained in the same speech -even, sometimes, in the same )jnc.
Macbelh demands an alert reader.
No swnmary can do justice to the play. At best, a commentary
sueh as this can be no more than a map . It can show the roads, and
even point out the important placcs j but it is no su bstitute for
reading the play.
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L eading characrers in rhe play

O unc~m

Thc king of Scotland, murdercd by M acbcth. D unean is a rrue

und gracious king, who reprcsems thc E lizabethan concept that thc
king was appoimcd by God, and is thcrcfore atmost divinc.

Malcolm

D uncan's eider san . Early in the play Malcolm is named as the neXl
king ofScotland. After Duncan's murder Ma1colm, with his brother
Donalbain, cscapcs [rom S'cot land . H e takes refuge in England ,
ar thc court of Edward thc Confcssor, until hc is ahle 10 lead an
army against Macbcth . At thc end of thc play he is crowncd king
of Scot land.

Macbcth

A mighry and ambitious warrior, onc of thc leaders of Duncan 's

army. He heurs a prophccy that hc will bc king onc day. This makes
hirn more ambilious and leads him to murder Dunean. He is
elected king of Scotland, but he hecomes a cruel and unjust ruler.
H e is olwoys conscious of guilt, ond never knows a moment 's peace
after he has killed Duncon . At the end of the play he is killed by
Macduff. (Sec also p. xix. )

Lody Macbcth

Shc is cven more ambitiau s than her husband, :md has no rcgard
fo r morality. Sht urges Macbeth to kill Du nc~m, and rcfuscs lO
under::.tand his doubts and hesitations. Husband and wife are at
first atfecuonate, hiding nothing from each ether; gradually this
rela tionship is destroyed. L ady l"lacbeth becomes obsessed with
the murder of Duncan, sutfers from nightmares, and finally kills
hcrsclf.

Banquo

He and Macbcth are the leaders of Duncan's army, but he is not

so cansp lcuously vallant as J" b cbeth . It is prophesied that his
chi ldren will be kings, but alt hough he hopes that this prophecy
will come t rue , hc takes no action. He is killed by m urderers working far Macbcth, bu t his son, F leancc, cscapes.

Macduff A Scou ish thane (nobleman), who comes tO prominence after the
mu rder of Dunean. Macbeth is particularly afraid of rum, und
orders murderers 10 kill Lady l\'\acduff and her childrcn . Macdutf
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Act 3

.p

Scene 4
O:lIlquo

I twi ll bc rain lO-night.

F irs t A\ordcrc r

Let il comc down

ITltey arwck Banquo

:lIlquo

0 , trcachery! Fl y, good Flcancc, f1y, fly, fl y !

Tholl maysl rcvenge. 0 slave!
lDies. Flcnncc escapcJ
Third Murdcrcr

\X' ho did strike ou[ thc light?

First Murdercr
T hi rd Murdere r
20

\'\fas ' r n Ot

the way?

Therc's but one d own ; the son is fl ed .

Secon d Murde r e r

\'\fe

hnve lost

Best hal f of our affai r.

F i rst '\lu r d e r c r

\'<fell, lel 's away, and say how m uch is done.

IExeulI/ I

Ac! 3 scene 4
,\1acbcth and l11s wifc wclcome the
guests tO thelr state banquel. The
Gho~t of Banquo appears, but onl y
,\bcbcth can see !t . Lady Macbct h and
t he other gucsIs are ~tartlc d by
Macbcth's lot range bchavlOur.
dcgru$. sodal ranks whlch would
determlnc thc order in which the
gucsh ~ h ould ~Jt .

Scene 4 T he bal/qllclil/g hall 111 rhe pa/ace

Ellrer Macbclh, Lady Macbeth, Ross,

L ennox, Lords, ami Attendant s.
Macbeth

VOll know your own d eg rces j sir down : at firs t and

last ,
The hcarry wclcome .
Lords
Thank!) lO you r ma jc5IY
Macbcth

""CI.:lj

kup~

the compan)',

her mllr re malnS seated on the

throne of statc.
m ben "me at thc nght moment
reqrur,- her wd(Clllle rcquest her 10
we!ct'rl't" )"ou.

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O urself will mi nglc with society

And play the humble hast.
s O ur hostess kceps her sUite , bUl in best time
\XTe wi ll requi rc her wclcomc.
Lady Macbeth

Pronounce it fo r me, sir, to al! our friend s;

For m y heart speaks they are welcomc.

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OXFORD SCHOOL

Shakespeare
Series Editor: ROIlla Gill
T h e Oxford School S hakes peare is Cl well-cstab li s h ed
se ries w h ieh h elps s tudents und ers ta nd a nd e n joy

Shakes peare's pla ys.

As weil as the co mple te a nd unabrid ged tex t, each play in
this se ries h a s a n ex tens ive range o f s tudents' noles. These
includ e d e tailed exp l anations of d iffi cult wo rd s a n d

pa ssages, Cl syn o p s is of th e plot a nd s umm a ri es of

indi v idu a l sce n es, an d n o les on the m ain c h arac te rs.
A lso in c1udcd is a w id e ra n ge o f ques ti o n s a n d activ it ies
far wo rk in d ass toge th e r w ith th e hi s to rica l bac kg ro und to
Sh akes p ea re 's En g la nd , Cl brief b iog raphy of S h a kespeare,
a n d a comp le te li s t o f hi s p lays.

Ro m a GilJ, thc se r ies ed itor, has ta u g ht S h akes p eare 3 t a ll

leve ls. S h e h as acted in and d irec ted S h akes pearc's pklYS,
a nd h a s lec turc d o n S h akes peare a ll over th e wo rld .
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