Predictions
Choose one set of interpretive questions and answer them. You get no credit for copying others’ answers. Good luck!
MACBETH: Some Interpretative Questions
• What are the Weird Sisters?
What do they want? What is their dramatic function in the play? Are they real or just in Macbeth’s mind?
• Who is Macbeth?
- a noble statesman?
- a brave warrior with hubris?
- a psychopath?
- a weak man led by the ambition of his wife?
• What is Macbeth’s relationship with his wife?
Have they talked before about ruling Scotland?
Would Macbeth have killed Duncan without her?
Which is the stronger of the two?
• What kind of a king is Duncan?
Is he a tough soldier or a kindly father-figure?
What is the state of Scotland at the start of the play?
• Who is Banquo?
Is he ambitious?
What is his relationship with Macbeth?
What is his ghost? A revenging spirit – or Macbeth’s imagination? .
• What is the significance of children in the play?
• Who are Malcolm and Donalbain? What kind of future does Scotland have under Malcolm?
• Who is Macduff?
Is he brave and loyal or cowardly deserting his family?
Why does he defeat Macbeth rather than Malcolm?
• What is Macbeth’s journey though the play?
What does he feel when he speaks: ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow . . .’
What is Lady M’s journey? Compare the two.
Who is Macbeth? At the beginning of the play I would say that he is just a weak man led by the ambition of his wife. He would not have killed Duncan if it were not for his wife. He was weak and didn’t want to do it but she persuaded him to. However, as the play goes on, it is beginning to look like she is the weaker one. Macbeth is the one who has hired the men to kill Banquo and when his wife asks what is going on he tells her that she doesn’t need to know. I guess we will have to finish the play before we can decide.
So I will have to talk about Macbeth seeming that is the only character that I truly know due to the lack of attention that I have with this play. Macbeth it seems is weak, led by many outside forces, his wife, the sisters, and will do what others want. Yes, he gains strength in the end, but that is only due to him being caught up in a) not being killed and b) finishing what he started. He is not as noble or wise or strong as any of the other men around him. Scotland would have done badly I think if he had ruled for awhile.
MacBeth is “a weak man led by the ambition of his wife.” His wife contolls him and convinces MacBeth to believe things and do things that we would never have had the nerve to do. Also, MacBeth transforms into a figure very similar to his wife, do to her creepy ambition in making MacBeth King.
The three weird sisters represent Macbeth’s so-called fate in the play. The term “wyrd’ in Anglo-Saxon times even means “fate or destiny.” I don’t think that the witches are in Macbeth’s mind, because if they were how could Banquo have seen them.
Macbeth is a huge loser. He can’t do anything by himself and is only driven by his wife. He is also a lunatic and is overcome by a different character once he killed Duncan. It is sad to see that a man that is king has such a sad background and is such a little girl. Maybe later on in the story he will become more of a man and rule like a real king.
I think the weird sisters almost use macbeth as an experiment, to prove that it ambition can become a human’s tragic flaw. I think they are used for 2 primary purposes in the play. First of all, they give Macbeth his fate, which is setting up for one of the major themes in the play: Fate vs. Free will. Second, they add a very important and almost necessary element of evil to the play. I feel that they because Banquo partakes in their conversation, they must be real, not an object of Macbeth’s imagination.
Macbeth’s relationship with his wife is shaky at best. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is strong willed and controls Macbeth, and they talked some about ruling Scottland. Towards the end of the play, there is a role reversal and Lady Macbeth transforms from a headstrong, decision making lady into a lady who is weak and unsure of herself. Macbeth would not have killed Duncan without Lady Macbeth’s influence. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth is stronger; In the end, Macbeth is stronger.
I think Macbeth is a weak man led by the ambition of his wife. All of his actions are the result of his wife’s desires. Although MAcbeth had the idea to kill Duncan, he was too weak to act on it until Lady Macbeth told him to. The whole idea to put the swords in the guards hands was Lady Macbeth’s idea. Macbeth does start to get a little more independent after he becomes king, but he only became king because of his wife.
Macbeth’s relationship with is wife one of a reverse role. It seems at first that Lady Macbeth where’s the britches in the marriage. Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to be ruler of Scotland. Macbeth would not have killed King Duncan had his wife not convinced him to. Macbeth is seen as a weak person and one who cannot do anything wrong due to his loyalty. The wife convinces him to kill the King and gives him a plan in which they can get away clean. Lady Macbeth is stronger at the beginning, but after Macbeth is dead, it appears that their roles have shifted. Macbeth is making the decisions finallly which was most definityely different than how he acted in the beginning.
The wierd sisters are the three witches. They want to be accepted as real people. They are able to predict the future. The witches are real because banquo saw them to at the begionning of the play.
I think that Macbeth is a weak man who is for a lack of a better word “hypnotized” by his wife. She tricks him so many times into doing and acting like someone who i believe he used to not be like. When Macbeth murders, she leads the readers to believe that the only reason she did not do it herself was because he resembled her father. I personally think that she just wanted someone else to do her dirty work for her. Because she succeeded in gettin Macbeth to kill him for her shows how powerful she is and how easily he lets her walk all over him.
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• What are the Weird Sisters? The weird sisters are witches.
What do they want? They want to initiate death and destruction.
What is their dramatic function in the play? They add an element of evil.
Are they real or just in Macbeth’s mind? I think they are real.
Who is Macbeth?
- a noble statesman?
- a brave warrior with hubris?
- a psychopath?
- a weak man led by the ambition of his wife?
Macbeth is a seemingly noble, heroic warrior who turns out to be weak, strayed by his insane wife and the temptations of the witches. He falls to disaster after succumbing to his secret evil desires
In response to • What are the Weird Sisters?
What do they want? What is their dramatic function in the play? Are they real or just in Macbeth’s mind?
I think the Weird Sisters represent some sort of angel/devil ordeal only lacking the angel half. At the beginning of the play the reader is introduced to the witches and is informed of their supernatural powers. Not only are we introduced to them but told as well that their powers are limited to effecting certain areas of life, like not being able to directly harm someone. Through Macbeth, the witches may influence the downfall of various characters in the play (Banquo, Duncan) without directly harming anyone.
As for their dramatic function in the play, I see it in one of two ways. Either they exist in order to show corruption/power/controlling side affects etc. of one who is given so much power or promised so much fame or they exist in Macbeths subconscious. If they exist in Macbeths subconscious, then they may in fact be fictional characters in the play serving to play the role of the hidden hands Macbeth wishes to use but not see. Sometimes writers use characters out of context but mold them into context for the centralized character to use to their advantage throughout the play. If anyone has ever seen ‘A Beautiful Mind’ the characters in that movie are not real but used in such a way, by the crazed schizophrenic Russell Crowe, as guides/companions/teachers….because in his life he lacks those.
It seems to me, maybe the witches are Macbeths bad side or negatively influential sides because he can’t do it himself.
I think Macbeth is someone who is somewhat of a weak individual. This is in that at first he was noble and did what he thought others expected of him, such as Duncan. This behavior though carried on in a negative way with Lady Macbeth urging him to murder Duncan. With murdering Duncan he was still doing what he thought others expected of him, but it was in a very bad way.
Macbeth and his wife have a relationship that consits of total control by one person over the other. They have never before talked about ruling Scotland and the suggestion by the witches caused Lady Macbeth to want to be queen of the entire country. The murder of duncan would not have happened if it were not for Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is to weak, and loyal to the king to commit any crime against him so his wife does all the work for him in setting up the right moment and convincing him that this is what he wants to do. Lady Macbeth is definantly the stronger of the two in will and in consence but this role slowley changes as the play continues to go on. He lets his consence get the better of him which makes him paranoid this causes him to make desicions that put him in control of his relationship with his wife.
I know this has nothing to do with Macbeth, but…..
I just want to say that this site is awesome!! Mrs. Caldwell, you do such a great job of engaging your students and getting them to think! Keep up the good work!
Who is Macbeth? Macbeth is a weak man led by the ambition of his wife. Lady Macbeth was able to control many of Macbeth’s actions by various ways of manipulation. She questions his manhood and makes fun of him so that he will do something for her such as kill the king. Macbeth would not have killed those people or have Banquo killed had it not been for her pressuring him. He was weak and led her persuade him into doing bad things.