JOURNAL

*Do you believe that

the future is set and
pre-determined? Or can
we change it? Explain
your answer in a HALF-
PAGE journal.
* Macbeth
William Shakespeare
 Elizabethan World View –
the Great Chain of Being
*During Elizabethan times, people
believed that everyone and everything
was arranged in a certain order – a
hierarchy

*It was this order, known as the Great

Chain of Being, that was threatened by
new and exciting discoveries in science
and astronomy.
*According to this idea, everything in the world
had its position fixed by God:
*The Earth was the center of the universe and the
stars moved around it in fixed routes. 
*At the top, God in heaven ruled over the archangels
and angels. 
*On earth society reflected this order with its fixed
classes from the highest to the lowest – kings,
churchmen, nobles, merchants, and peasants. 
*The animals had order, the lion being the “king”. 
*Plant life had order too. Among the
trees, the most superior was the
oak; among flowers, the rose.
*Among minerals, gold was the
most superior.
 God
Archangels
Angels
Outside of chain: Nothingness/chaos

Star controllers of
Destiny
Moon

King
Church
Princes
Nobles
Man
Lion
Other Animals
Oak and Rose
Other Plants

Gold
Other Minerals
*The Chain of Being served to create social
stability – everyone knew their place on the
chain and interacted with the other levels:
*The people higher up on the chain were
responsible to provide for or care/protect
those below them
*The people lower down
had a responsibility to obey
and serve those above them
*The Chain of Being world view created
the beliefs and values for individuals
and the society of Shakespeare’s time

*The chain was a transactional sort of system – “I

do this for you if you do this for me”. If someone
in the chain doesn’t fulfill their responsibility they
are considered to be ‘breaking the chain’

*Any attempt to break the Chain of Being would

upset the established order and bring about
universal disorder
 *Nothingness, chaos,
madness, evil – all of these
things are outside the chain
and are not considered to be
made by God.

*If the chain, made by God, is

EVIL CAT IS NOT AMUSED
broken the order in the
world is broken, and it can
descend into chaos.
*Everything within the chain
is created by God.
*Therefore everything within
the chain is good.
*Therefore there is no evil in
the chain.
*As evil doesn’t exist within
the chain, it can only enter if
the chain is broken.

Understanding the Chain of Being is

essential to understanding the play
Macbeth.
*The Divine Right of Kings
*It was believed that the King was divinely
chosen by God.
*As God’s chosen representative on earth, the
King was the supreme upholder of order on
earth.
*If his position was violated it would destroy the
perfect order in the universe and bring strife
and chaos to the world.
*Any act of treason or treachery against the
King was considered indirectly to be a mortal
sin against God.  The penalty was death.
 Background
*Written in 1607 for King James who was Scottish
*King James (author of Demonology) feared assassination
*Shakespeare wrote it for King James and it shows the
negative consequences of assassinating the king
*Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy
*Set in Scotland
*Based on real events in Scottish history
*Shakespeare’s Macbeth = villian
*Real Macbeth = good & just King
*Because Shakespeare used real witch spells in the play,
it is believed to be a cursed play, and has been
associated with murder and misfortune. Called the
“Scottish play” by actors who fear the curse.
JOURNAL – The Chain of Being
*Is there any truth to
the Chain of Being
worldview in your
opinion? If not, why?
If so, what parts?
Defend your answer in
a HALF-PAGE journal
assignment.
 PLOT SUMMARY
*Three witches predict that
Macbeth will take the Scottish
throne.
*They also predict that the
descendants of his friend Banquo
will have many Scottish Kings.
*Macbeth, urged on by his
ambitious wife Lady Macbeth,
kills King Duncan and takes the
throne.
 King Duncan’s Assassination

*Shakespeare reinforces the Chain

of Being world view by ensuring
Macbeth is punished by the end of
the text.

*As soon as the audience knows

Macbeth has killed the King, they
also know that he will ultimately
fall, as the punishment for killing a
king was death.
 Plot Summary Continued
*Macbeth kills Banquo because he feared his
offspring taking the throne, but Banquo’s son
Fleance escapes.
*Next Macbeth slaughters the family of Macduff after
the witches warn him to be afraid of Macduff, a
Scottish noble who opposed Macbeth.
*Macduff supports the forces of Malcolm, the slain
King Duncan’s son. Together they attack Macbeth’s
castle.
*Lady Macbeth, who has gone mad, commits suicide.
*Macduff slays Macbeth, allowing prince Malcolm to
take the throne.
 The Witches
*Witches were considered to be the
agents of Satan, doing his business.
*Witches were believed to be able
to see into the future; that they
could create storms, hail, thunder
and lightning; that they could sink
ships; dry up springs; stop the sun
and change night into day and day
into night.
*Witches and witchcraft were
believed to be evil – they were
associated with darkness and
death.
*As the witches are introduced in the
opening scene, Shakespeare’s audience
are immediately aware that the Chain
of Being has been disrupted, as evil is
present.
*The audience then looks for why the
chain has been broken.
*“When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?”
(Act 1, scene 1) Foreshadowing
*Within the Chain of Being, within
the hierarchy of people, there is
another hierarchy:
*Men
*Women – Lady Macbeth being
ambitious and influencing her
husband is outside of the chain
*Children
 Main Characters:
Macbeth – Breaks the Chain of Being by killing his
superior, the king, and also being weaker and more
cautious than his wife.
Lady Macbeth – Breaks the Chain of Being by being
more assertive, decisive, ruthless, and ambitious than
her husband.
Duncan – King of Scotland who Macbeth kills
Malcolm – Duncan’s son, becomes king at the end
Macduff – after Macbeth slaughter’s his wife and
children, he gains revenge by supporting Malcolm and
killing Macbeth
Three Witches – make several prophecies that all come
true, delight in torturing and manipulating Macbeth
 *Key Themes/Imagery
*Fate vs. Free Will – can you escape destiny?
*The Nature of Evil – supernatural or human nature?
*Effect of guilt on the human mind – can it cause madness?
*Nature of kingship - should a king be virtuous (Malcolm)
or powerful (Macbeth)?
*The Chain of Being
*Blood
*Darkness/night
*Hell
*Sorcery/supernatural forces
*Opposites – Lady Macbeth vs. Lady Macduff, Lady
Macbeth vs. Macbeth, Order in the Great Chain of Being
vs. Chaos
 *Journal
*Are you superstitious about anything?
Do you believe in magic or curses? Why
or why not?
*If yes, how do you explain the
existence of these forces?
*If no, how do you explain the
millions of people who claim to have
experienced these things?
Answer in a HALF-PAGE journal entry.
 *JOURNAL – Ambition
*Macbeth knows his ambition is evil,
but he pursues it anyway.
*What is the origin or cause of all or
most ambition?
*Keeping this motivation in mind, is
ambition inherently evil or good?
Why?

RESPOND IN A HALF-PAGE JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT

 JOURNAL – Masculine vs. Feminine
Lady Macbeth is portrayed as hungry for power,
strong, ambitious, ruthless, forceful, assertive,
and decisive as opposed to nurturing, weak,
compassionate, and submissive. To the Elizabethans
this made her more masculine than her indecisive
husband, which upset the Chain of Being.
*Do you agree that ambition, strength,
power, ruthlessness…etc. are
“masculine” qualities and that the
opposite is feminine? Why or why not?
Respond in a HALF-PAGE journal.
 JOURNAL – Lady Macbeth
*From what you’ve seen of Lady
Macbeth so far she could be best
described as:
*Supportive or Manipulative?
*Ambitious or Selfish?
*Decisive or Evil?
*Please explain each answer, using
evidence from the play in a HALF-
PAGE journal entry.
 JOURNAL - Macbeth
*Analyze the protagonist, Macbeth. Is
he the villain of the play because of
his murderous actions? Or is he just
a victim of destiny and manipulation
by his wife?
*Support your answer with evidence
from the play.
Answer in a HALF-PAGE journal entry.
 JOURNAL - Theme
Choose and write about one of these
themes in the context of Macbeth.
*Fate vs. Free Will
*The Nature of Evil
*Appearance vs. Reality
*Effect of Guilt on the Human Mind

Write about it in a HALF-PAGE journal.

 *Lady Macbeth
* Consider Lady Macbeth at the start of the play – she shows
masculine traits such as a hunger for power, strength,
ambition, a ruthlessness and forcefulness. She is assertive
and decisive

* This upsets the chain in the sense that she in fulfilling her
proper role as a wife and woman (and mother):

* “I… know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. I
would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my
nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out,
had I so sworn as you have done to this.” (Act 1, scene 7)
*Macbeth suggests that she should not bear children that
are not males because of her fearless, masculine spirit.
She does not deny this:

*“Bring forth men-children only, for thy undaunted

mettle should compose nothing but males” (Act 1,
scene 7)

*Lady Macbeth
* Also consider Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 1 scene 5,
where she deliberately calls upon the power of evil to help
her:

* “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me

here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst
cruelty” (Act 1, scene 5)

* This disrupts the chain again as Lady Macbeth asks for chaos
so she can become ‘a man’ (or at least not a woman) to take
charge of the situation. This creates a role reversal between
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth – which can only come about in a
world of chaos where the chain is broken
*Lady Macbeth
* Now consider Macbeth at the start of the play – he is weak
and shows nurturing, feminine qualities, such as when he
has doubts about killing King Duncan:

* “I’m afraid to think what I have done … to know my deed,

‘twere best not know myself” (Act 2, scene 2)

* This upsets the Chain of Being as Macbeth is not fulfilling

his role as a ‘man’ as he is not the strong, ambitious person
his wife is and wants him to be (at least not yet) and she is
the dominant, powerful person in their relationship

*Macbeth
* Also remember that Lady Macbeth constantly questions her
husband’s masculinity:

* “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more
than what you were, you would be so much more the man” (Act
1, scene 7)

* And he has to defend his masculinity later in the text:

* “What man dare, I dare. Approach thou like the rugged Russian
bear… Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves shall never
tremble. Or be alive again, And dare me to the desert with thy
sword. If trembling I inhabit then, protest me the baby of a girl.
Why so, being gone, I am a man again.” (Act 3, scene 4)

*Macbeth