Thane, King, and Soon Conqueror of the World

Out there to steal your kingdom. 

[ohhailmacbeth]

She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing.

[shakespearemacbeth-blog]

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” -Witches, Act IV, Scene i

[shakespearemacbeth-blog]

Character list (Small Description)

Macbeth A Scottish general and the thane of Glamis. (“Thane” is a Scottish title of nobility, and Glamis is a village in eastern Scotland.) Macbeth is led to wicked thoughts by the prophecies of three witches, especially after their prophecy that he will be made thane of Cawdor comes true. Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not virtuous. He is easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once he commits his first crime and is crowned king of Scotland, he embarks on further atrocities with increasing ease. Macbeth cannot maintain his power because his increasingly brutal actions make him hated as a tyrant. Unlike Shakespeare’s other great villains, such as Iago in Othello and Richard III in Richard III, who revel in their villainy, Macbeth is never comfortable in his role as a criminal. He shows at the beginning of the play that he knows right from wrong, and chooses to do wrong without being able to justify it to himself. Ultimately, he is unable to bear the psychic consequences of his atrocities.

Lady Macbeth Macbeth’s wife, a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and position. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls victim to guilt and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Her conscience affects her to such an extent that she eventually commits suicide. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth apparently feel quite passionately for one another, and Lady Macbeth exploits her sexual hold over Macbeth as a means to persuade him to commit murder. However, their shared alienation from the world, occasioned by their partnership in crime, does not bring them closer together, but instead seems to numb their feelings for one another.

The Three Witches Three mysterious hags who plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, and prophecies. Their predictions prompt him to murder Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, and to blindly believe in his own immortality. The play leaves the witches’ true nature unclear we don’t really know whether they make their own prophecies come true, or where they get their knowledge from. In some ways they resemble the mythological Fates, who impersonally wove the threads of human destiny. They clearly take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to toy with and destroy human beings.

Banquo The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches’ prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo thinks ambitious thoughts, but he does not translate those thoughts into action. In a sense, Banquo’s character stands as a rebuke to Macbeth, since he represents the path Macbeth chose not to take: a path in which ambition need not lead to betrayal and murder. Appropriately, then, it is Banquo’s ghost and not Duncan’s that haunts Macbeth. In addition to embodying Macbeth’s guilt for killing Banquo, the ghost also reminds Macbeth that he did not emulate Banquo’s reaction to the witches’ prophecy.

King Duncan The good king of Scotland whom Macbeth, ambitious for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent ruler. His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan’s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne.

Macduff A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth’s kingship from the start. He eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The crusade’s mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm, on the throne, but Macduff also desires vengeance for Macbeth’s murder of Macduff’s wife and young son.

Malcolm The son of Duncan, whose restoration to the throne signals Scotland’s return to order following Macbeth’s reign of terror. Malcolm becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff’s aid (and the support of England). Prior to this, he appears weak and uncertain of his own power, as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father’s murder.

Hecate The goddess of witchcraft, who helps the three witches work their mischief on Macbeth.

Fleance Banquo’s son, who survives Macbeth’s attempt to murder him. At the end of the play, Fleance’s whereabouts are unknown. Presumably, he may come to rule Scotland, fulfilling the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s sons will sit on the Scottish throne.

Lennox A Scottish nobleman.

Ross A Scottish nobleman.

The Murderers A group of ruffians conscripted by Macbeth to murder Banquo, Fleance (whom they fail to kill), and Macduff’s wife and children.

Porter The drunken doorman of Macbeth’s castle.

Lady Macduff Macduff’s wife. The scene in her castle provides our only glimpse of family life other than that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. She and her home serve as contrasts to Lady Macbeth and the hellish world of Inverness.

Donalbain Duncan’s son and Malcolm’s younger brother.

[snartha]

Hecate meeting with the three witches in Macbeth. . {#drawlloween #drawlloween2015 #witch #shakespeare #macbeth #hecate #witches #halloween #digitalart #art #artchallenge #artistsoninstagram }

[ohhailmacbeth]

[ohhailmacbeth]

Is This a Dagger Which I see Before Me?

Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutchthee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going; And such an instrument I was to use. Mine eyes are made the fools o’ the other senses, Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still, And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There’s no such thing: It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes. Now o’er the one halfworld Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse The curtain’d sleep; witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate’s offerings, and wither’d murder, Alarum’d by his sentinel, the wolf, Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace. With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth, Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear Thy very stones prate of my whereabout, And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives: Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.

[ohhailmacbeth]

[ohhailmacbeth]

If It Were Done When ‘Tis Done

What should I do? If it could be all finished and done with when it’s done then it may as well be done quickly. If only the repercussions of the murder could be controlled. If only all the danger could end with Duncan’s death -. If only the death blow could be the end of it -. If only we could escape the consequences of our actions here on earth – skip the life to come -.

[ohhailmacbeth]

Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?

[ohhailmacbeth]

[ohhailmacbeth]

That but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all—here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, We'ld jump the life to come

[ohhailmacbeth]

[ohhailmacbeth]

Oh the cold loneliness of my soul, a desolation and lack of hope in my being, with no drop of remorse left in me. It may all be just the beginning of the end..

[ohhailmacbeth]

Food For Thought

Oh what have I done, how can i let my own ambitions and desires get the best of me? Who’s fault is this? The witches? My Wife? Can I even throw the blame at anyone but me? It’s such a shame that a life had to be taken in order for me to be the best. I must be the best. But was it all worth it? Did he deserve to die? So many unanswered questions and so little time to figure out my next big move. I’m only loyal to myself now, and this could only be a down-heading spiral. But it doesn’t matter anymore because I’m king, right? 

[ohhailmacbeth]

Coming soon...

[ohhailmacbeth]

Oh dear,  Let not light see my black and deep desires...

[ohhailmacbeth]

Both the beauty and the brains.