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Examiners always praise students who clearly know the plot of the texts they are studying, as having this base of knowledge leads to the best exam responses. Below you will find: Malcolm, Macduff and an army of Scottish thanes advance to Birnam Wood and use its branches for camouflage The murderers kill Banquo, but Fleance manages to escape. The assassins return to Dunsinane to tell Macbeth However, overwhelming guilt consumes both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth: Macbeth sees hallucinations – including of his murdered friend Banquo – and seeks the dangerous advice of the witches for a second time, while Lady Macbeth loses her mind completely and commits suicide. Macbeth is a five-act tragedy, written by William Shakespeare in 1606. Set in medieval Scotland, it mainly takes place in and around Macbeth’s castle, Dunsinane.
Macduff enters the castle and challenges Macbeth to a duel before admitting that he was born by Caesarean section, and is thus not “of woman born” Understanding the themes that Shakespeare explores in Macbeth is one of the best approaches any student can take when revising the play. This is because to get the highest mark on your exam, you need to take what examiners call a “conceptualised approach”: a detailed and perceptive exploration of Shakespeare’s ideas and intentions. The main themes explored by Shakespeare in Macbeth are: At the start of the play, Macbeth shows that he is a mighty warrior when he leads the Scottish troops to victory over an invading force. Duncan, the King, rewards him by making him Thane of Cawdor. At the end of the play, when he knows he is about to die, Macbeth regains some of his old bravery, as he faces Macduff in single combat. Macbeth has just spent a difficult time convincing himself that killing the King is wrong. He tells Lady Macbeth that he will not carry out the deed. Within the space of a couple of minutes she argues the case for Duncan’s death and Macbeth is, once again, set on murder.Macbeth is reported as being a brave and noble warrior; he has just killed a traitor in battle, showing his loyalty to King Duncan Section A of Paper 1 contains the Macbeth question and you are required to answer the one available question on the play
For a much more detailed guide on answering the Macbeth question, please see our revision notes on How to Answer the Shakespeare Essay Question . Macbeth keeps changing his mind about whether to murder Duncan or not. This is particularily so in the early part of the play. His ambition conflicts with his sense of loyalty and morality. Lady Macbeth is key to persuading him and keeping him determined.
Macbeth is told of the death of his wife, and that Birnam Wood is advancing on Dunsinane. He contemplates the pointlessness of life but remains convinced he is invincible because of the witches’ second prophecy It is a closed-book exam, which means you will not have access to a copy of the text (other than the printed extract) in your exam The Captain describes Macbeth's actions on the battlefield particularly when he seeks out and kills the traitor Macdonwald. The Captain uses a number of strong verbs and adjectives to show how brave Macbeth has been: 'brandished', 'smoked', 'carved', 'unseamed', 'fixed'. In England, Malcolm tests Macduff’s loyalty and is satisfied with Macduff’s responses. Macduff is told about the murder of his family and vows revenge Macbeth sees his first hallucination – a bloody dagger – after seeing Banquo and Fleance in the castle courtyard
Throughout the play, Macbeth is tormented by thoughts of the evil things he has done. However, he is caught in a spiral of evil and does not seem able to stop himself. Although Shakespeare plays often have a huge number of characters, the characters you should focus on when revising Macbeth are:
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As an increasingly deranged Macbeth starts shouting at Banquo’s ghost, Lady Macbeth asks all the guests to leave An overwhelming sense of guilt leads Lady Macbeth to lose her mind, and hallucinate in her sleep. She kills herself (this happens off-stage) While King of Scotland, Macbeth becomes increasingly paranoid that his act of regicide will be discovered, and that he himself will be murdered, and so Macbeth attempts to murder any person he sees as a threat (first his friend and comrade Banquo; later a thane called Macduff).