Macbeth Lecture Notes

Day One
-There is no immediate them
-First acts show Macbeth's rise to power (rising Action)        
-Last acts are all about his fall (falling action)       
-Macbeth doesn't speak to his audience, it is harder to see into his mind
-Tragic Hero
-Beginning of play uses indirect characterization: noble, honorable, etc.
-Everything in the play is the function of Macbeth's own decisions
-He knows his actions will lead to his own demise 
-Lady MacBeth is the agent of evil in the beginning (masculine personality)     
-Lady Macbeth fueled Macbeth's evil side   
-Macbeth continues to kill becaue that is his only solution to the problem

Day 2
-Lady Macbeth represents pure force
-because both lady Macbeth and Macbeth have their own motivations, their marriage becomes strained        
-Macbeth has a guilty conscience so he still knows right from wrong
-loses his humanity by committing his murders
-becomes stoic        
-The Three Witches plant the ideas in Macbeth's mind, they taunt him