Themes (Grade 12 NSC Matric English FAL): Revision Notes
Themes
What are themes?
A theme is a central message or idea that runs throughout a play or story. In Macbeth, Shakespeare weaves together multiple themes to create a complex exploration of human nature, power, and morality. These themes help us understand the deeper meanings behind the characters' actions and the tragic events that unfold.
Understanding themes is crucial for your NSC exam as you'll need to identify how Shakespeare develops these ideas through character development, plot events, and literary techniques.
Ambition vs moral conscience
Ambition refers to a strong desire to achieve something, while moral conscience is your inner sense of right and wrong that guides your behaviour.
This theme explores how unchecked ambition can corrupt even good people. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth demonstrate how dangerous it becomes when ambition overrides moral judgement.
The Danger of Unchecked Ambition
When ambition completely overrides moral conscience, it leads to moral corruption and ultimately self-destruction. This is the tragic flaw that drives the entire play.
Key developments of this theme:
- Duncan's visit: Even though Macbeth has been honoured for his bravery, he allows his ambition to overpower his conscience when killing Duncan while the king is a guest in his home
- Macbeth's internal conflict: In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth initially argues against murdering Duncan, showing his moral conscience is still active
- Lady Macbeth's influence: She questions his masculinity to push him towards murder, showing how ambition can be manipulated
- The final triumph: Ultimately, Macbeth's ambition leads to his downfall and death
Exam Tip: Look for moments where characters make moral choices - these often reveal the conflict between ambition and conscience.
Good vs evil
This theme presents the eternal struggle between good and evil forces, with characters clearly representing each side.
Good characters include Duncan, Macduff, Banquo and Malcolm, who represent order, loyalty, honesty and righteous leadership. Evil characters include Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the three witches, who represent chaos, treachery and moral corruption.
Important aspects:
- The witches serve as agents of evil, tempting Macbeth towards darkness
- Macbeth's transformation: He begins as a noble warrior but becomes a murderous tyrant
- The kingdom's suffering: Under Macbeth's rule, Scotland experiences fear, poverty and chaos
- Good's ultimate victory: The play ends with Malcolm's restoration, suggesting that good eventually triumphs over evil
The theme shows that whilst evil may seem powerful temporarily, it ultimately destroys itself whilst good endures.
Fate vs free will
This theme questions whether events are predetermined by destiny (fate) or whether individuals have the power to make their own choices (free will).
The witches and their prophecies represent fate - they seem to predict Macbeth's future. However, Macbeth's choices represent free will - he decides how to respond to their predictions.
Key points to consider:
- Macbeth's agency: He chooses to murder Duncan and Banquo, showing he has control over his actions
- Self-fulfilling prophecy: Macbeth may actually cause the prophecies to come true through his own choices
- Banquo's contrast: Unlike Macbeth, Banquo hears the same prophecies but chooses not to act on them
- The paradox: If Macbeth is fulfilling destiny, can he really be held responsible for his actions?
Personal Responsibility
This theme suggests that whilst supernatural forces may influence us, we remain responsible for our moral choices. Free will ultimately trumps fate in determining our moral accountability.
Appearance vs reality
Appearance refers to how things seem on the surface, whilst reality is the truth underneath. This theme is central to the play's exploration of deception and self-deception.
Shakespeare develops this theme through equivocation - the use of ambiguous language that can be interpreted in multiple ways to deliberately mislead.
Understanding Equivocation
Equivocation is a key literary device in Macbeth. The witches use deliberately ambiguous language that can be interpreted multiple ways, allowing them to technically tell the truth while still deceiving Macbeth.
Examples throughout the play:
- Lady Macbeth's deception: She appears kind and welcoming to Duncan whilst planning his murder
- Macbeth's false face: He must "look like the innocent flower / But be the serpent under't" (Act 1, Scene 5)
- The dinner scene: Macbeth pretends to enjoy hosting guests whilst knowing he has murdered Banquo
- Birnam Wood prophecy: The witches' prediction seems impossible but comes true in an unexpected way - soldiers carry branches as camouflage
This theme warns about the dangers of trusting appearances and shows how deception corrupts both the deceiver and society.
Guilt and its consequences
Guilt is the emotional punishment that follows wrongdoing, and Shakespeare shows how it manifests in different ways for different characters.
Worked Example: Symbols of Guilt in Macbeth
The dagger: Macbeth's hallucination before Duncan's murder represents his troubled conscience and foreshadows his psychological torment.
Blood imagery: Both Macbeths become obsessed with bloodstains - Lady Macbeth sees spots that won't wash away, symbolising guilt that cannot be cleansed.
Sleep: Macbeth "murders sleep" and can no longer find peace, showing how guilt destroys natural rest and comfort.
Sleepwalking: Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene reveals how guilt has driven her to madness and obsessive behaviour.
Different responses to guilt:
- Macbeth: His guilt drives him to commit more murders, trying to secure his position
- Lady Macbeth: Initially appears untroubled but later suffers breakdown and suicide
- The psychological impact: Guilt destroys their peace of mind and relationship
The theme demonstrates that wrongdoing has inevitable psychological consequences that cannot be escaped.
Kingship vs tyranny
This theme contrasts good leadership with corrupt, selfish rule. Shakespeare explores what makes a legitimate, effective king versus a destructive tyrant.
Duncan as the ideal king:
- Uses power for his country's benefit
- Rewards loyalty and service
- Maintains order and justice
- Described as having virtues "like angels"
Macbeth as tyrant:
- Described by Lennox as a "tyrant" in Act 3, Scene 6
- Rules through fear and violence
- Causes suffering throughout Scotland
- Focuses on maintaining power rather than serving his people
Malcolm's restoration: The play concludes with Malcolm's coronation, suggesting the return of rightful, benevolent leadership.
Historical Context
This theme was particularly relevant to Shakespeare's audience, as it explores the consequences of illegitimate rule and the importance of rightful succession - key concerns in Elizabethan England.
Gender issues
In Elizabethan times, men were considered superior to women, but Shakespeare questions traditional gender roles and expectations throughout the play.
Challenges to masculinity:
- Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth by questioning his manhood
- She appears more ruthless and decisive than her husband initially
- Malcolm tests Macduff's emotional response to his family's death
- Siward is consoled that his son died fighting, not fleeing
Women's roles:
- Lady Macbeth shows intelligence and ambition typically associated with men
- She asks to be "unsexed" to carry out evil deeds
- The witches represent supernatural female power that influences men
The theme suggests that rigid gender expectations can be destructive and that both men and women contain complex mixtures of traditionally "masculine" and "feminine" qualities.
Reversal of values
This theme shows how the moral order becomes completely inverted throughout the play. What should be good becomes evil, and what appears natural becomes unnatural.
Examples of moral reversal:
- The witches chant "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" - establishing the theme early
- Good tries to reassert itself but evil seems to triumph temporarily
- Lady Macbeth prays to evil forces to remove her feminine qualities
- Unnatural events accompany Duncan's murder and continue throughout Macbeth's reign
The restoration of order: The play ends with Malcolm's victory, suggesting that whilst values may be temporarily reversed, natural order eventually reasserts itself.
This theme reflects the chaos that occurs when people reject moral principles and embrace evil.
Key Points to Remember:
- Themes are interconnected: Notice how ambition leads to guilt, how appearance differs from reality, and how evil temporarily triumphs over good
- Use textual evidence: Support your analysis with specific quotes and scene references from the play
- Character development: Show how themes are revealed through character actions and changes throughout the play
- Symbolic language: Pay attention to imagery of blood, sleep, darkness and light that reinforces the themes
- Historical context: Consider how Elizabethan beliefs about kingship, gender and morality influence the themes' presentation