The Drama Of Kingdom ' MACBETH '
CHARACTER STUDY:
a. 'MACBETH ' Hero - Villan of the play
At the start, Macbeth is celebrated as a valiant warrior, “brave Macbeth,” loyal to King Duncan and Scotland. Yet, his moral decay transforms him into a ruthless killer, making him both the hero of his early victories and the villain of his later crimes.
Valiant Villain:
His courage in battle is unquestionable but tragically misused. The same bravery that defended Scotland becomes the tool for its betrayal.
Milk of Human Kindness:
Initially, he shows conscience and compassion. Lady Macbeth even accuses him of having too much “milk of human kindness” to seize the crown by foul means. However, ambition overwhelms his moral hesitation.
Tragic Hero:
He fits Aristotle’s definition—noble in stature, flawed by hamartia (unchecked ambition), led to peripeteia (downfall), and ending in catharsis for the audience. His tragedy is not just that he dies but that he kills the better man he once was.
b. Lady Macbeth – A Witch or a Victim?
Witch:
To some, she appears almost supernatural in her manipulation—calling on the spirits to “unsex” her, and urging Macbeth to commit regicide without remorse. Her influence is so strong it resembles the witches’ own power over Macbeth.
Victim:
However, she is also a casualty of her own ambition and guilt. Her seeming strength collapses into madness, culminating in her suicide. The society she inhabits leaves her with limited power; her agency comes only through Macbeth’s actions, making her both manipulator and manipulated by patriarchal constraints.
Complex Duality:
She is neither pure witch nor pure victim, but a tragic figure who burns too bright and is consumed by the fire she ignites.
c. Macduff – The Ultimate Avenger
Patriotic Loyalty:
Macduff stands as the moral compass of the play. He flees to England not out of cowardice, but to rally Malcolm and restore rightful rule.
Personal Loss:
His wife and children are brutally murdered by Macbeth’s orders—turning political opposition into a deeply personal vendetta.
Ultimate Avenger:
In poetic justice, he is the one “not of woman born” who slays Macbeth, fulfilling the witches’ cryptic prophecy. His victory is both political and moral: he restores order to Scotland.
d. Banquo
Foil to Macbeth:
Like Macbeth, Banquo hears the witches’ prophecy—but unlike him, he resists the temptation to act on it.
Moral Restraint:
Banquo remains loyal to Duncan and Scotland, wary of the witches’ “instruments of darkness.”
Posthumous Power:
His ghost haunts Macbeth, embodying the truth that integrity lives longer than tyranny. Through Fleance, Banquo’s legacy survives—symbolizing the endurance of rightful succession.
e. King Duncan
Virtuous King:
Embodiment of trust, generosity, and benevolence his reign contrasts sharply with Macbeth’s tyranny.
Fatal Flaw:
His trusting nature blinds him to the danger posed by Macbeth’s ambition. Ironically, his greatest strength (trust) leads to his death.
Symbol of Order:
His murder is the pivot point where natural, political, and moral order collapses, plunging Scotland into chaos.
f. Malcolm and Donalbain
Malcolm:
Initially cautious and somewhat untested in leadership.
Proves shrewd when he tests Macduff’s loyalty.
Ultimately claims the throne, symbolizing restored stability.
Donalbain:
Less central but equally cautious; flees to Ireland after Duncan’s death.
Represents self-preservation and the dispersal of royal heirs to ensure survival of the line.
g. Lady Macduff
Moral Innocence:
She stands in stark contrast to Lady Macbeth nurturing, domestic, and morally upright.
Voice of Reason:
She criticizes Macduff for leaving his family unprotected, showing political events from a personal, domestic angle.
Martyr of Tyranny:
Her murder, along with her children’s, is one of the play’s most brutal acts, underscoring Macbeth’s descent into complete moral darkness.
🔍 RESEARCH 🔍
1. The Historical Macbeth
Time period: Lived in the 11th century; King of Scots from 1040 to 1057.
Rise to power:
Macbeth was a nobleman and military leader.
Killed King Duncan I in battle (likely at Pitgaveny near Elgin) in 1040. This was not murder in the night it was a legitimate battle in a period when kingship often changed hands violently.
Reign:
Ruled successfully for about 17 years a long, stable reign for the time.
Promoted law, order, and the Church; went on pilgrimage to Rome in 1050.
Downfall:
Defeated by Duncan’s son, Malcolm III, with English support at the Battle of Lumphanan in 1057.
Macbeth was killed in battle, not in single combat with Macduff.
2. Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Rise to power:
Starts as a loyal thane, tempted by witches’ prophecy and his own ambition.
Murders Duncan in his sleep, spurred on by Lady Macbeth.
Reign:
Shown as short-lived and plagued by paranoia, tyranny, and repeated murders.
Scotland falls into chaos and fear under his rule.
Downfall:
Prophecies mislead him (“none of woman born” shall harm him).
Killed in personal combat by Macduff, who reveals he was born via Caesarean section.
3. Key Differences
Aspect Historical Macbeth Shakespeare’s Macbeth
🔷️ Length of reign Long and politically stable Brief and plagued by bloodshed.
🔷️ Banquo Historical figure may have been involved in Duncan’s death Loyal, moral foil to Macbeth.
4. Why Shakespeare Changed the Story
Dramatic Impact:
Treacherous regicide is more shocking on stage than a battlefield victory.
Condensing events heightens tension and pace.
Moral Theme:
Shakespeare wanted a moral arc ambition leads to moral decay, tyranny, and downfall.
Supernatural Fascination:
The witches feed the Jacobean audience’s interest in witchcraft and the occult.
Political Flattery:
Written for King James I of England (also James VI of Scotland), who claimed descent from Banquo.
Shakespeare made Banquo noble and innocent to honor James’s lineage.
5. Effects of Shakespeare’s Changes
1. Tighter Tragic Structure
Macbeth fits the Aristotelian tragic hero pattern (noble → flawed → downfall), making it a morality tale about ambition.
2. Greater Emotional Impact
The murder of a sleeping, saintly Duncan is more shocking than killing a young king in battle.
3. Increased Suspense
Supernatural prophecies keep audience guessing how fate will play out.
4. Clear Moral Judgment
The historical Macbeth might be seen as a competent ruler; Shakespeare’s Macbeth is condemned as a tyrant, reinforcing the moral “crime doesn’t pay.”
5. Political Relevance
Flattering James I strengthened royal favor and ensured the play’s success.
1. The Great Chain of Being – Elizabethan Context
Definition:
The Great Chain of Being was a hierarchical structure believed to be ordained by God, placing every part of creation in a fixed order:
1. God (highest)
2. Angels
3. Humans (king, nobles, commoners, peasants)
4. Animals
5. Plants
6. Inanimate matter (rocks, minerals)
Divine Order:
The king ruled by divine right, acting as God’s appointed representative on Earth.
Any attempt to overthrow the king was not just treason it was a sin against the natural order.
Belief in Cosmic Consequences:
If the chain was broken (e.g., by regicide), nature itself would be thrown into chaos: storms, unnatural events, moral disorder.
2. Thesis Statement
In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the framework of the Great Chain of Being to show that regicide is not merely a political crime but a cosmic sin. By violating this divine hierarchy, Macbeth unleashes chaos in nature, in human society, and in his own soul—making his downfall both inevitable and just.
3. How It’s Evident in Macbeth
a. Regicide as Violation of Divine Order
Duncan’s kingship is shown as divinely sanctioned. Macbeth’s murder of Duncan is a direct assault on God’s order.
Macbeth acknowledges the gravity:
“Duncan hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels.” (Act 1, Scene 7)
b. Nature Reflects the Disorder
The night of Duncan’s murder is marked by unnatural events:
Darkness in daytime: “By th’ clock ’tis day, and yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp.” (Act 2, Scene 4)
An owl (night creature) kills a falcon (day creature).
Duncan’s horses eat each other.
These omens mirror the breaking of the Great Chain animal and cosmic order collapse when the rightful king is killed.
c. Social and Political Chaos
Macbeth’s reign brings tyranny and fear. Noblemen flee, rebellions rise, and Scotland suffers:
“Each new morn new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows strike heaven on the face.” (Act 4, Scene 3)
d. Personal / Psychological Chaos
The crime corrupts Macbeth’s mind, leading to paranoia and hallucinations (dagger, Banquo’s ghost).
Lady Macbeth’s mind also unravels sleepwalking, compulsive hand-washing symbolizing the inner disorder that follows breaking God’s law.
4. Effects on the Story
Moral Clarity:
Audiences of the time would immediately recognize Macbeth’s act as the ultimate sin against the natural and divine order.
Inevitable Punishment:
Restoring the chain (Malcolm’s coronation) is both the political resolution and the moral necessity.
Heightened Tragedy:
Macbeth is not just a political usurper he’s a man who has dared to upend the universe’s God-ordained design, ensuring his doom.
a. Scenes of the Three Witches
Acts: 1.1, 1.3, 4.1
Context:
Introduce the supernatural element; set the dark, ominous tone of the play.
Summary:
Act 1, Scene 1:
Witches plan to meet Macbeth “upon the heath.”
Act 1, Scene 3:
They greet Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and future king; tell Banquo he will father kings.
Act 4, Scene 1:
Show Macbeth visions armed head, bloody child, crowned child, eight kings.
Significance:
Embody fate and temptation; spark Macbeth’s ambition.
Ambiguous do they control events or only predict them?
Key Quotes:
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” / “All hail, Macbeth… that shalt be king hereafter!”
b. Murder of King Duncan
Act: 2.2 (with build-up in 2.1)
Context:
Turning point - Macbeth commits regicide, breaking the Great Chain of Being.
Summary:
Macbeth, spurred by Lady Macbeth, murders Duncan in his sleep.
Returns shaken, hands covered in blood; Lady Macbeth takes charge of framing the guards.
Significance:
First irreversible step into tyranny and guilt.
Natural order disrupted (reflected in Act 2, Scene 4’s omens).
Key Quotes:
“Macbeth shall sleep no more.” / “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
c. Porter Scene
Act: 2.3
Context:
Comic relief after the intense murder scene.
Summary:
Drunken porter jokes about being the “porter of hell-gate,” admitting various sinners.
Knocking at the gate brings Macduff and Lennox, leading to Duncan’s body being discovered.
Significance:
Dark humor underscores that Macbeth’s castle has become a literal hell.
Offers audience brief emotional release before tragedy deepens.
Key Quote:
“Knock, knock! Who’s there, in th’ other devil’s name?”
d. Banquet Scene – Visitation of Banquo’s Ghost
Act: 3.4
Context:
Macbeth’s public image begins to crack.
Summary:
At a feast, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost (visible only to him).
His fear and outbursts alarm the thanes. Lady Macbeth tries to cover, but guests leave.
Significance:
Shows Macbeth’s growing paranoia and guilt.
Politically disastrous—thanes begin to doubt his stability.
Key Quotes:
“Never shake thy gory locks at me!” / “O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife.”
e. Night-walking Scene of Lady Macbeth
Act: 5.1
Context:
Lady Macbeth’s mental breakdown.
Summary:
Observed by a gentlewoman and doctor, she sleepwalks, compulsively washing her hands.
Reveals guilt over Duncan, Banquo, and Lady Macduff’s murders.
Significance:
Her earlier “unsex me here” bravado collapses under psychological torment.
Foreshadows her suicide.
Key Quotes:
“Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” / “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”
f. Final Fight between Macbeth and Macduff
Act: 5.8
Context:
Climax—justice overtakes tyranny.
Summary:
Macbeth kills Young Siward; faces Macduff.
Learns Macduff was “from his mother’s womb untimely ripped” (Caesarean birth), fulfilling the prophecy.
Macbeth is slain; Malcolm is hailed king.
Significance:
Fate and prophecy come full circle.
Restoration of political and moral order.
Key Quotes:
“Lay on, Macduff, and damned be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!’”
a. Macbeth – Act 1, Scene 3
"This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth?"
Context:
After hearing the witches’ prophecy and being told he is Thane of Cawdor.
Meaning:
Macbeth is torn—if the prophecy is evil, why has part of it already come true? If it is good, why does it stir dark thoughts?
Themes:
Ambiguity of evil, temptation, fate vs. free will.
Significance:
Shows Macbeth’s early moral conflict and the dangerous seed of ambition taking root.
b. Macbeth – Act 1, Scene 7
"If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
It were done quickly."
Context:
Macbeth weighs the pros and cons of killing Duncan.
Meaning:
If the murder could be done quickly and have no consequences, it would be best to do it at once.
Themes:
Moral hesitation, ambition, consequences of actions.
Significance:
Marks Macbeth’s moment of logical yet morally flawed reasoning he knows there will be repercussions.
c. Macbeth – Act 2, Scene 1
"Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee."
Context:
On his way to murder Duncan, Macbeth hallucinates a dagger leading him toward the king’s chamber.
Meaning:
The vision could be supernatural or a projection of his guilty, murderous intention.
Themes:
Hallucination, supernatural influence, moral conflict.
Significance:
Blends the psychological and supernatural; symbolizes Macbeth’s inner struggle and the pull of fate.
d. Macbeth – Act 2, Scene 2
"Whence is that knocking? –
How is’t with me, when every noise appalls me?
What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes.
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand?"
Context:
Just after killing Duncan.
Meaning:
Every sound terrifies him; the blood on his hands feels permanent, symbolic of his guilt.
Themes:
Guilt, psychological torment, moral stain.
Significance:
Establishes that regicide leaves a moral mark that cannot be erased—foreshadowing his downfall.
e. Macbeth – Act 5, Scene 5
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow"
Context:
After Lady Macbeth’s death, Macbeth reflects on life’s meaninglessness.
Meaning:
Life is repetitive, futile, and ends in nothing; all human striving is ultimately pointless.
Themes:
Nihilism, futility of ambition, despair.
Significance:
Shows Macbeth’s complete disillusionment—ambition has lost its meaning, and death seems inevitable.
f. Banquo – Act 1, Scene 3
"Oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence."
Context:
After the witches speak, Banquo warns Macbeth about their motives.
Meaning:
Evil can tempt by mixing truth with lies; small truths lure victims into bigger traps.
Themes:
Deception, temptation, supernatural manipulation.
Significance:
Banquo serves as a moral counterpoint to Macbeth—he remains cautious where Macbeth is seduced.
g. Lady Macbeth – Act 1, Scene 5
"The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements."
Context:
Upon reading Macbeth’s letter about the witches.
Meaning:
She invokes dark imagery, welcoming Duncan only to plot his death. The raven is an omen of death.
Themes:
Ambition, evil imagery, supernatural invocation.
Significance:
Establishes Lady Macbeth’s ruthless determination before the murder plot begins.
h. Lady Macbeth – Act 5, Scene 1
"Out, damned spot! Out, I say! … Hell is murky."
Context:
In her sleepwalking scene, reliving the murders.
Meaning:
She tries to wash away imagined bloodstains—guilt has consumed her.
Themes:
Guilt, madness, moral consequence.
Significance:
The reversal of her earlier confidence; guilt has broken her mind.
The Study of Cinematic Adaptations of ‘Macbeth’:
a. Note on Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool (2003)
i. Changes Made by the Filmmaker
Cultural Shift:
Transposes Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy to the Mumbai underworld.
Character Adaptations:
Macbeth → Maqbool (right-hand man to mafia don Jahangir Khan / Abbaji).
Lady Macbeth → Nimmi (Abbaji’s mistress, in love with Maqbool).
Banquo → Kaka (loyal friend and enforcer).
Witches → Two corrupt policemen, Pandit and Purohit, who speak in riddles and foretell events.
Political Context:
From feudal kingship to organized crime hierarchy.
Endings:
Maqbool’s death is framed as an inevitable consequence of betrayal in the criminal world, echoing but not directly copying the stage play’s finale.
ii. How Key Aspects Are Dealt With
1. The Setting
Original:
Medieval Scotland, royal court, battlefields.
Maqbool:
Dark, rain-soaked streets and lavish yet claustrophobic interiors of Mumbai’s mafia empire.
The underworld replaces the battlefield; gang wars mirror clan conflicts.
2. The Witches
Original:
Three supernatural sisters, ambiguous agents of fate.
Maqbool: Two crooked, wisecracking police inspectors who manipulate events while pretending to predict them.
They blur lines between law enforcement and criminality, adding satirical commentary on systemic corruption.
3. The Events
Key plot points are retained but reframed:
The prophecy is about Maqbool inheriting Abbaji’s empire.
Murder of Abbaji is intimate—poisoning in his sleep instead of stabbing Duncan.
Kaka (Banquo) is killed on Maqbool’s orders; his son survives.
Nimmi descends into guilt-induced madness, paralleling Lady Macbeth’s breakdown.
4. The Theme
Ambition and Guilt remain central, but filtered through:
Loyalty vs. Betrayal in a gang family.
The corrupting influence of power in an amoral world.
Fate vs. free will—whether Maqbool chooses his path or is pushed into it by others.
Adds a layer of political critique about corruption in law and crime blending seamlessly.
b. Why This Adaptation Works
By shifting the setting to a world Indian audiences recognize—the mafia and corrupt police—Bhardwaj makes Shakespeare’s themes contemporary and relatable.
Removing overt supernatural elements and replacing them with morally corrupt human “fate-makers” grounds the story while keeping its fatalistic tone.
The cultural translation preserves the tragic inevitability of Macbeth’s arc while adding local texture, music, and language.
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