11/05/10 Macbeth

Appearance vs. Reality
In the third scene of the play, Macbeth and Banquo are walking back from the victorious battle against Norway, when they cross paths with the Wierd Sisters. They give good news to Macbeth and Banquo, which Macbeth takes to heart and Banquo is worried about. "Were such things here as we do speak about, or have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason Prisoner" (1.3.81-83)? In this, Banquo is questioning if they have really seen witches, or if they were hallucinating.

Gender Roles
During this time period, it was expected that the man would work for the money and the wife would stay home and take care of the kids, cook and clean. In Macbeth, Shakespeare portrays the noble men as being very brave, noble woman were weak and needed protecting. Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as being very strong, and lady Macbeth as being very cunning and evil. In the second scene, King Duncan gets news of how Macbeth and Banquo kept on fighting hordes of Norway troops. In the fifth scene, Lady Macbeth talks of how she must become pure evil so that Macbeth can become king. Shakespeare took what people thought of genders role back than, and mixed them up.

Loyalty and Honor
In Macbeth, nobody is total loyalty. In scene 4, Macbeth tells King Duncan how he fought for the honor of King Duncan and his family. While he is saying that he is loyal to King Duncan, he is thinking of the weird sisters' prophecy of how he will become king, and that he must kill Duncan and perhaps Malcom to achieve that goal.