Savannah Hartman’s Macbeth Blog

     The dinner party hosted by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth becomes a major fiasco after multiple events that are unusual for a banquet occur.  In Act III Scene IV, the four reasons as to why the party turns sour are laid out.  The first uncommon occurrence is that the dinner takes place at an extremely late hour, as Lady Macbeth states during the banquet that it is almost morning.  The next event during this scene that is unusual for just a common dinner party is that Macbeth tells everyone that they know their own ranks and should sit down before him.  Then, the third lies in what should have concerned the guests, but did not; during the middle of dinner, bloody murderers enter the dining hall and converse with Macbeth.  Lastly, the banquet completely falls apart after Macbeth begins to yell at Banquo's ghost but simply yelling into thin air because he is the only individual that can see Banquo.  Through the time that is too late, the delay in the seating of the host and hostess, t

     Macbeth utilizes his skill of manipulation to convince the murderers that it is, in fact, Banquo who has left them to suffer in poverty.  This ultimately causes the murderers to have their own motivation in killing Banquo, instead of just following the orders of their king.  In Act III Scene I, Macbeth tells the two murderers that in his prior speech, he communicated to them that it had not been he that had cast them to misfortune, but it had been Banquo.  Macbeth continues to push what he wishes for the murderers to believe as he plainly tells them that Banquo is their enemy.  Before this conversation, the murderers may have loathed Macbeth as he was the individual in power when they were oppressed, but when Macbeth feeds them this untrue blame on Banquo, they are now able to side with Macbeth against Banquo.  With this new hatred, Macbeth knows that the murderers will strive to accomplish the task of killing Banquo as they are no longer just doing it for him.  Through manip

     The decision to take action and flee the scene of their father's murder, ultimately negatively affected not only Malcolm and Donalbain, but also the entire country.  In Act II Scene IV, instead of remaining in Scotland to discuss the steps that must be taken after Duncan's death, Malcolm, who has been named heir to Duncan, and Donalbain, who is also a descendant of Duncan, decide to take off to England and Ireland.  When someone flees the scene of a murder, they can be categorized as one of two people; they are either the individual who does not wish to get murdered along side the first dead or the individual who has committed the crime.  The men of Scotland automatically assume the ladder when Malcolm and Donalbain do not go to the meeting to discuss Duncan's murder.  However, Malcolm and Donalbain were simply protecting themselves with the decision they made.  Through the act of moving to different countries, they not only painted themselves as guilty, but Malcolm

     Birds are once again used as symbols in Macbeth  as in the murder of Duncan, Macbeth is metaphorically the owl who killed the falcon, and Duncan is metaphorically the falcon who is killed by the owl.  This symbolism is divulged in Act II Scene IV, as one of the unnatural events that occur following Duncan's death is that an owl kills a falcon even though the falcon is the stronger bird through the facts of nature.  This directly parallels the characters of the play as Macbeth kills Duncan even though Duncan is the stronger individual through his title of king.  Through this parallel of Macbeth and the deadly owl and Duncan and the victim falcon, the symbolism of birds extends to illustrate the murder of Duncan.

     The cruel and unjustified murder of Duncan threw nature in Scotland into an unbalanced state.  Three unnatural events occur in Act II Scene IV that reveal that the decision to kill Duncan was not a wise one.  These events begin as on the day following Duncan's unwilling death, it is daytime yet darkness is still the only thing that fills the sky.  Another peculiar event lies in the clash of two birds when an owl, customarily the prey, kills a falcon, customarily the predator.  Undoubtedly the most insane unnatural occurrence, though, is when Duncan's horses simply riot and eat each other following his death.  Through the darkness during the day, the triumph of the owl instead of the falcon, and the cannibalism of Duncan's horses, Act II Scene IV provides three ways in which the tragedy of Duncan's murder has negatively affected the nature.  As nature becomes unhinged, it becomes evident to the audience that Duncan's death was not deserved.      This can be re

     Macbeth’s sanity comes into question when he delivers his famous soliloquy speaking of the dagger that appears before him in thin air. It is at this time that Macbeth's true insanity is revealed. In Act II Scene I, just before Macbeth is expected to murder Duncan, he sees a dagger in front of him pointing in the direction of Duncan's room, and he begins to speak to himself. During this soliloquy, Macbeth not only sees an object that is clearly not there, but he also physically reaches out for this imaginary dagger. It is this floating dagger that reveals Macbeth’s insanity and eventually leads him to Duncan’s room where he will commit an act that causes further insanity through paranoia and guilt.      This can be reflected outside of the play in individuals who are crippled by mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. Many people who have schizophrenia not only hear voices that are only within their mind, but they also experience hallucinations that only they can see.  Si

     Throughout the beginning of the play, Macbeth complexity is revealed by his continuous changes of mind in murdering Duncan. Macbeth initially starts his flip-flopping immediately following the Weïrd Sisters’ predictions in Act I Scene III as he decides to terminate Macbeth is order to become king but then contemplates simply waiting until he is crowned. Macbeth once again questions if murdering Duncan is the right choice in Act I Scene VII. Due to his relation to the king, the fact that he is hosting him, the king’s prosperity, and the potentially negative affects of the king’s death, Macbeth changes his mind about killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth does not allow these thoughts to last long, though, as she lays out the plan that Macbeth promised to follow through with. Even after the murder of Duncan in Act II Scene II, Macbeth feels paranoid and immensely guilt for his actions. Macbeth’s continuous flip-flopping about whether the decision to murder Duncan will pay off reveals his ow

     In Act I, the different birds that Lady Macbeth and Banquo speak of reflect their own characteristics and the events they believe are about to unfold.  First, in Scene V of Act I, Lady Macbeth heard a raven croaking which reveals her harsh and evil personality.  The raven also symbolizes the death that Lady Macbeth is planning for Duncan.  Then in the next scene, Banquo speaks of a martlet, or martin, that leads him to believe the air is healthy which reveals his positive outlook on the dinner that is about to occur.  Through these contrasting bird experiences, Lady Macbeth and Banquo's differing personalities and expectations of the night are evident.

     The three witches, known in this play as the Weïrd Sisters, speak of the events that occur in the past and the present in order for the characters and the audience to trust their predictions of the future. This statement is illustrated in Act I Scene III when the first witch hails the Thane of Glamis, which Macbeth has been, the second witch hails the Thane of Cawdor, which Macbeth will presently be named, and the third witch hails the king, which they predict Macbeth will be. Due to Macbeth’s current status and the announcement that he is Thane of Cawdor, he knows he can trust the witches on their prediction of his next title. Other statements that make the audience believe the Weïrd Sisters’ prediction are in Act I Scene I as they claim they will meet Macbeth after a battle has played out. Due to these events unfolding in the play, the audience is able to trust their prediction about Macbeth becoming the king.      This can be reflected outside the play in ordinary fortune te

     Though the identity of Bellona’s bridegroom is not outright stated in Macbeth,  the descriptions of contrasting actions on the battle field reveal that it is Macduff who possesses this identity, not Macbeth. In Act I Scene II, the bleeding captain recounts Macbeth’s gory success in killing Macdonwald and putting his head on display. Soon after, Ross recounts Bellona’s bridegroom’s proper success in capturing the Thane of Cawdor and requesting the King of Norway to pay before he is granted his dead. Through these facts of differing strategies on the battle field, it is evident that Macbeth, who is wrongfully credited by King Duncan as the new Thane of Cawdor, is not actually Bellona’s bridegroom. Instead, this unnamed character is Macduff.      This can be reflected outside of the play when you consider math tests that do not have the students’ name on them. Even though you do not know the identity of the students right off the bat, you can examine the strategies that each used