Themes
Shakespeare's plays still excite and captivate audiences even 400 years after they were written. Macbeth, like most of his other major plays, is filled with themes that are still relevant to society today. Themes that are thoughtful and powerful, and do not disappear in time. The following list has been chosen to correlate with our specific production needs.
There are numerous websites about the themes of Macbeth on the web. One of the best is the Sparknotes website, so take a look to find other themes that are not listed here.
The Tragic Flaw
Fate and Free Will Power
Gender and Sexual Inversion
Class Activity on Themes
The Tragic Flaw
This is a notion that is common in many tragic plays. The tragic flaw of a character is that more often than not, the character will let his or her passion override their reason. When this happens, it usually means the plot sets itself on a path to fate and doom, thus upsetting the natural order of things. Order is generally restored when that person dies or is banished. Characters from famous tragedies such as Sophocles Oedipus Rex, Racine's Phaedra, Shakespeare's Hamlet or Miller's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman are 'accursed' with the decisions they make on their journey to their fate. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have this tragic flaw also, and their actions show their intense passion and hunger for power overlaps their reason. Order is only restored when both characters meet their downfall.
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Fate and Free Will
One of the most highlighted themes in this play is that of fate versus free will. When the weird sisters predict that Macbeth will be King, it seems as though they are just predicting the future. In retrospect, one wonders whether fate was responsible for Macbeth's downfall, or if he had a choice. When the Witches tell Banquo that his son will be king one day, Banquo does not feel the need to murder Duncan to ensure this. Again, this is when Banquo's course of action separates him from Macbeth. He chooses not to let greed for power control his actions. But did the witches see Macbeth's thirst for power, and give him something to drink? If this is the case, perhaps they can be seen as manipulative as Lady Macbeth. Because of the magical nature of this production it is easy to think of the Witches as sorcerers, and their prophesies as fate; however the notion of fate versus free will has been in plays for centuries and is still unanswered today, even in Macbeth.
Class Activity
Students divide into pairs. Student A begins to move their hands and student B must mimic these motions as closely as possible. How much free will do they have when they are to follow exactly what is happening in front of them?
For different perspectives and influences on fate and free will, visit these websites:
http://www.unlimitedchoice.org/blog/archives/4
Power
A lot of the tension in the play lies in the thirst and greed for power. It is an overarching theme that affects every character in the story. It is the thirst for power that is responsible for both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's downfall. Lady Macbeth is so frustrated by her lack of power that she manipulates her husband so that she may gain more. It's this thirst and greed for power that is ultimately the cause of Macbeth's actions, and he can blame no one but himself for the way he has acted. Remember, the tragic flaw is in his passion overriding his reason; after his first taste of power, not only does he kill everyone in his path including the guards, Banquo and Macduff's family, but he also returns to the weird sisters to make sure no one can take this power away. In the end it is all he has left to cling to, but it isn't nearly enough to save him.
Discussion
There are many struggles for power going on in the world today, especially in recent wars and conflicts. This production of Macbeth has been taken out of the Scottish historical context and placed into a world of fantasy, Brecht called this 'historicisation' when parallels between different times and places can be drawn through analogy.
Can you choose some of these conflicts and make an analogy between the real context and the fictional context of the Macbeth?
How does the process of drawing analogies to Macbeth increase your understanding of the particular conflict?
Activity
Columbian Hypnosis
Student's get into pairs, and decide who will be A and who will be B. Player A must hold his hand with his palm facing player B in the air. Player B must focus on the middle of the palm while Player A slowly moves it side to side, and up and down. Continue this until Player B is concentrating fully, and then allow the movements to grow broader until Player B is hypnotised. Reverse roles.
Discuss. How did it feel to be under the control of someone else? How did it feel to hold power over someone else?
Gender and Sexual Inversion
With the Witches/Weird Sisters played by both men and women in this production, as well as Duncan, the Porter and Malcolm switching genders, the director has truly placed gender as 'out of order' in USQ's production of Macbeth. This serves to highlight the already established disruptions to gender roles presented through Lady Macbeth's domination of Macbeth; on many occasions, she dictates his actions. She wishes to be ‘unsexed' as she calls it, because there is no power in being a woman, so she manipulates her husband, and holds a great deal of power over him while doing so.
Remember though that in the Renaissance theatre, all of the female roles were played by men. So although the witches were female, they were played by men. The trio is perceived as violating nature, and despite them being names as 'sisters', their gender is ambiguous. Upon encountering them, Banquo says;
You should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so
(Act I Sc II)
This is most likely a joke about the fact they are played by men, but perhaps these witches with their masculine and feminine features are a symbol for Lady Macbeth, whose gender is female but believes that she has other aspects of a man (Garber 713).
Read the essay entitled: Gender Dynamics in Shakespeare's Macbeth, then answer the following questions:
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How much do you think the changing of gender has affected the themes and nature of the play?
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What if the gender of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were swapped? What affect would this have on the themes and outcomes of the play?
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If Macbeth is more of a man because he can commit murder, does it make him less of a man in the fact that he murdered a woman? (in terms of Duncan being played as female in the USQ production)
For more information on Shakespeare and gender visit these websites:
http://www.shakespearefellowship.org/virtualclassroom/essaycontest/sh&education%20of%20women(essaycontest'05win).htm http://www.folger.edu/html/exhibitions/unruly_women/
http://www.engl.uvic.ca/Faculty/MBHomePage/ISShakespeare/Resources/Women/mutuality.html
Class Activity on Themes
Many of these themes are relevant to contemporary society. For example, gender equality in the workplace, the power struggle operating in overseas countries, and tyrant leaders. Have things changed much since Renaissance times? Are these themes still relevant?
Have your students imagine they are William Shakespeare in the 21st century, as he is trying to pitch his idea for the play Macbeth to producers and theatres. What themes would he highlight and why? Have them write and present a 1-2 minute monologue about which of these themes relates to society. They might even like to take a step further and discuss how these themes relate to someone in their position, ie a high school student.