Morgan Dang

Dadabhoy
English 2 Honors
9 January 2016

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Speaker Who is the speaker?

The play is told by no specific narrator, but is told through a third person
omniscient view. Although the story is told through no specific person, the
audience has the most insight to Macbeth’s mind and thoughts. We see
through Macbeth’s eyes mostly throughout the play.

Occasion What is the occasion?

Macbeth is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare, primarily set in
Scotland. The play conveys the harmful physical and psychological effects of
ambition on those who hunts for power for their own sake. The play is
believed to be written around 1599-1606. Macbeth was written during the
reign of King James and Macbeth reflects the playwright’s relationship with
the monarch. Macbeth tells a story of a courageous Scottish general named
Macbeth who receives a prophecy from three witches that he will become
King of Scotland one day. He is consumed by ambition and controlled by his
wife, Macbeth kills King Duncan to take the throne for himself. The play
mainly revolves around Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, committing
murderous acts upon people they know. Macbeth slowly develops feelings of
paranoia and guilt. Lady Macbeth also develops these feelings, although she
ceases to show them except in her sleep. The play eventually ends with the
death of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth once they’re caught with their
murderous acts.

Audience Who is the audience?

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is known to be written for King James the first
during his period of time in Scotland. He wrote this play to amuse to King
James and to appeal to his Scottish roots.

Purpose What is the purpose?

The play consists of various themes which is conveyed throughout the play.
The corrupting nature of unchecked ambition is shown through Macbeth’s
actions and the theme tells the audience that power corrupts and that we do
have control over our own lives. Macbeth decides that he is worthy of being
king and he will be king because the three witches put that idea in his head.
Yet the ambition was already placed there before the idea was relevant to
Macbeth.
 Subject What is the subject?
The subject of this play mainly focuses on how ambition and greed can gain
control over mortality and inundate human nature. The natural wish for all
leaders is the desire for more power, like Macbeth, progresses from wish to
ambition, to greed, to anomaly.

Tone What is the tone?

The tone progresses into a dark and ominous tone as the book goes deeper
into the plot. In the beginning of the play, it first introduces the three witches
during a thunderstorm and the play starts with a sinister feeling which gives
the audience an idea of what the play is going to be like. Shakespeare’s tone
is sinister and depressing throughout the play because of the tragedy of a
couple devoured by ambition and greed, who would stop at nothing to get
what they want.

Thematic Statements: ​The main theme of this play is the corrupting power of unchecked
ambition. The demolition labored when ambition goes unchecked by virtuous limitation finds its
most powerful expression through the play’s two main characters (Macbeth and Lady Macbeth).