macbeth essay ap lit

William Shakespeare

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's Macbeth . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Macbeth: Introduction

Macbeth: plot summary, macbeth: detailed summary & analysis, macbeth: themes, macbeth: quotes, macbeth: characters, macbeth: symbols, macbeth: literary devices, macbeth: quizzes, macbeth: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of Macbeth

Other books related to macbeth.

• Full Title: The Tragedy of Macbeth
• When Written: 1606
• Where Written: England
• When Published: 1623
• Literary Period: The Renaissance (1500 - 1660)
• Genre: Tragic drama
• Setting: Scotland and, briefly, England during the eleventh century
• Climax: Some argue that the murder of Banquo is the play's climax, based on the logic that it is at this point that Macbeth reaches the height of his power and things begin to fall apart from there. However, it is probably more accurate to say that the climax of the play is Macbeth's fight with Macduff, as it is at this moment that the threads of the play come together, the secret behind the prophecy becomes evident, and Macbeth's doom is sealed.

Extra Credit for Macbeth

Shakespeare or Not? There are some who believe Shakespeare wasn't educated enough to write the plays attributed to him. The most common anti-Shakespeare theory is that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and used Shakespeare as a front man because aristocrats were not supposed to write plays. Yet the evidence supporting Shakespeare's authorship far outweighs any evidence against. So until further notice, Shakespeare is still the most influential writer in the English language.

73 pages • 2 hours read

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Introduction

Before Reading

Reading Context

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

After Reading

Discussion/Analysis Prompt

Essay Questions

Exam Questions

Exam Answer Key

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

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Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

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1. Dynamic characters change over the course of a story.

• How does Lady Macbeth change over the course of the play? ( topic sentence )
• Discuss 3 scenes that show Lady Macbeth changing from the beginning of the play to the end. Include details and quotes to document the changes, and explain how they reveal her shifts.
• In your conclusion, explain why the changes in Lady Macbeth are significant to the story as a whole.

2. Though sometimes people think violence is the answer to a problem, it almost always leads to more violence.

• How does violence cause more violence in Macbeth ? ( topic sentence )
• Explain 3 scenes that illustrate violence causing violence. Use evidence and reasoning to support your analysis.

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AP English Literature and Composition

Put words under a magnifier, lct macbeth.

Objectives: Students will compare their interpretation of the witches’ scenes with what they have seen in the Macbeth stage performance.

Aim: How would you describe the effects of the witches in Macbeth performance we saw yesterday at LCT? Was that what you had anticipated?

Motivational Activities:

What do your imagined witches figure look like? Describe the image.

Texts: Act 1 Scenes 1 & 3, Act 3 Scene 5 ( 3rd murderer), Act 4 Scene 1

Learning Sequence

• Describe all you remembered about the witches in the stage performance of Macbeth.
• Respond: Did you anticipate to see the images to be portrayed in the ways you saw in the production? Why or why not?
• What was so amazing or shocking or surprising about the witches?
• What do you think their functions are in the play according to this particular production?
• Ink-Pair- Share.
• Share in class your responses.
• Find all the scenes abut the  witched in the play and identify words that you believe helped the director portray the witched the way he did. Be specific about the act, scene and line numbers. Make specific references to the words.
• Also identify evidence you believe that director went off with his own “interpretation” spree or scenes where Shakespeare does not mention in his play at all.
• Ink-Pair-Share.
• Share in class.

Homework: Write a full-page response based on the discussion. How effective is director with the portrayal of the witches? How does the depiction help reveal Macbeth’s character and contribute to the themes.

Objectives : Students will be able to respond to a specific part or element of the  stage performance of Macbeth they have seen at LCT

Aim : Which specific part or element of the Macbeth play still lingers in your mind and follows you everywhere? Why?

Motivational Activity

Let’s do  round robin  several times commenting on the play and each time we’ll use a sentence starter to begin our statement. You can comment on the staging techniques, props such as the rose bouquet, choice of actors, costumes, witches,, etc.

1.  “I’m still thinking and talking about ________________in the Macbeth show because I ___________________________. It really helps understand/see that ____________.

2. It is strange that ______________________________________.

3. It is fascinating that ____________________________________.

4. I don’t understand why ____________________________________.

5. I think the director’s intention is _________________________ when he makes the choice of ___________________________________________.

Learning Procedure

Foe each activity, we’ll do ink-pair-share –

• Based on the round robin activities, which specific detail or element truly has made an impression on you? Describe it in details, for example, how is it seen or heard or felt or smelt etc.
• Locate the scene or lines in Shakespeare’s play that has given the director the inspiration or stage directions.
• Read the original lines or scene and compare the director’s intention or understanding with your own. How does the director effectively or ineffectively portray the scene or detail?
• How does Shakespeare’s language create the magic we see?
• (Introduction) What’s your overall impression of Macbeth after seeing the play? How does this play speak to you? Whom would you be if you were to select one of the characters in the play to represent you? Why?
• How do you feel about Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s deaths? Triumphant? Pity? Purged? Poetic justice?
• (conclusion)How does the play change your views on certain worldly issues?

Enrichment Activity

Other suggestions  of Topics for Writing your LCT Responses to the Macbeth Stage performance

• Respond:  How does the “Tomorrow ,and tomorrow,and  tomorrow” soliloquy reveal Macbeth’s devoid of emotions and impasse to conscience?

2. The shadow as motif

3.Violence in Macbeth

4. Does Shakespeare use Lady Macbeth to warn people of the 1st sin? Shakespeare, uses Lady Macbeth to illustrate his belief ‘Frailty ,thy name is woman”?

5. Haunting images in Macbeth

6. Natural disasters in Macbeth

7. Macbeth’s Perversion of Manliness

8. Why Macbeth is Hitler or Stalin

9.Fear  in Macbeth

Homework:  Write a one or  two-page  response to show your in-depth understanding of  a specific detail or element  in the play  Macbeth . Be sure to mention how that detailed is portrayed by Shakespeare originally in the play and whether there are any differences between your interpretation and the director’s. How does this particular detail or element help you understand the play as a whole or Macbeth or Lady Macbeth as a character?

AP Lit Open-Ended Question

Identify a motif in the play Macbeth that contributes to the character and theme development. Be sure to describe the motif and how Shakespeare uses it to create a complex character and develop the theme.

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Macbeth Essays

There are loads of ways you can approach writing an essay, but the two i favour are detailed below., the key thing to remember is that an essay should focus on the three aos:, ao1: plot and character development; ao2: language and technique; ao3: context, strategy 1 : extract / rest of play, the first strategy basically splits the essay into 3 paragraphs., the first paragraph focuses on the extract, the second focuses on the rest of the play, the third focuses on context. essentially, it's one ao per paragraph, for a really neatly organised essay., strategy 2 : a structured essay with an argument, this strategy allows you to get a much higher marks as it's structured to form an argument about the whole text. although you might think that's harder - and it's probably going to score more highly - i'd argue that it's actually easier to master. mainly because you do most of the work before the day of the exam., to see some examples of these, click on the links below:, lady macbeth as a powerful woman, macbeth as a heroic character, the key to this style is remembering this: you're going to get a question about a theme, and the extract will definitely relate to the theme., the strategy here is planning out your essays before the exam, knowing that the extract will fit into them somehow., below are some structured essays i've put together., macbeth and gender.

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How to Write the AP Lit Prose Essay with Examples

March 30, 2024

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples – The College Board’s Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Course is one of the most enriching experiences that high school students can have. It exposes you to literature that most people don’t encounter until college , and it helps you develop analytical and critical thinking skills that will enhance the quality of your life, both inside and outside of school. The AP Lit Exam reflects the rigor of the course. The exam uses consistent question types, weighting, and scoring parameters each year . This means that, as you prepare for the exam, you can look at previous questions, responses, score criteria, and scorer commentary to help you practice until your essays are perfect.

What is the AP Lit Free Response testing? 

In AP Literature, you read books, short stories, and poetry, and you learn how to commit the complex act of literary analysis . But what does that mean? Well, “to analyze” literally means breaking a larger idea into smaller and smaller pieces until the pieces are small enough that they can help us to understand the larger idea. When we’re performing literary analysis, we’re breaking down a piece of literature into smaller and smaller pieces until we can use those pieces to better understand the piece of literature itself.

So, for example, let’s say you’re presented with a passage from a short story to analyze. The AP Lit Exam will ask you to write an essay with an essay with a clear, defensible thesis statement that makes an argument about the story, based on some literary elements in the short story. After reading the passage, you might talk about how foreshadowing, allusion, and dialogue work together to demonstrate something essential in the text. Then, you’ll use examples of each of those three literary elements (that you pull directly from the passage) to build your argument. You’ll finish the essay with a conclusion that uses clear reasoning to tell your reader why your argument makes sense.

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples (Continued)

But what’s the point of all of this? Why do they ask you to write these essays?

Well, the essay is, once again, testing your ability to conduct literary analysis. However, the thing that you’re also doing behind that literary analysis is a complex process of both inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning takes a series of points of evidence and draws a larger conclusion. Deductive reasoning departs from the point of a broader premise and draws a singular conclusion. In an analytical essay like this one, you’re using small pieces of evidence to draw a larger conclusion (your thesis statement) and then you’re taking your thesis statement as a larger premise from which you derive your ultimate conclusion.

So, the exam scorers are looking at your ability to craft a strong thesis statement (a singular sentence that makes an argument), use evidence and reasoning to support that argument, and then to write the essay well. This is something they call “sophistication,” but they’re looking for well-organized thoughts carried through clear, complete sentences.

This entire process is something you can and will use throughout your life. Law, engineering, medicine—whatever pursuit, you name it—utilizes these forms of reasoning to run experiments, build cases, and persuade audiences. The process of this kind of clear, analytical thinking can be honed, developed, and made easier through repetition.

Practice Makes Perfect

Because the AP Literature Exam maintains continuity across the years, you can pull old exam copies, read the passages, and write responses. A good AP Lit teacher is going to have you do this time and time again in class until you have the formula down. But, it’s also something you can do on your own, if you’re interested in further developing your skills.

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples 

Let’s take a look at some examples of questions, answers and scorer responses that will help you to get a better idea of how to craft your own AP Literature exam essays.

In the exam in 2023, students were asked to read a poem by Alice Cary titled “Autumn,” which was published in 1874. In it, the speaker contemplates the start of autumn. Then, students are asked to craft a well-written essay which uses literary techniques to convey the speaker’s complex response to the changing seasons.

The following is an essay that received a perfect 6 on the exam. There are grammar and usage errors throughout the essay, which is important to note: even though the writer makes some mistakes, the structure and form of their argument was strong enough to merit a 6. This is what your scorers will be looking for when they read your essay.

Example Essay 

Romantic and hyperbolic imagery is used to illustrate the speaker’s unenthusiastic opinion of the coming of autumn, which conveys Cary’s idea that change is difficult to accept but necessary for growth.

Romantic imagery is utilized to demonstrate the speaker’s warm regard for the season of summer and emphasize her regretfulness for autumn’s coming, conveying the uncomfortable change away from idyllic familiarity. Summer, is portrayed in the image of a woman who “from her golden collar slips/and strays through stubble fields/and moans aloud.” Associated with sensuality and wealth, the speaker implies the interconnection between a season and bounty, comfort, and pleasure. Yet, this romantic view is dismantled by autumn, causing Summer to “slip” and “stray through stubble fields.” Thus, the coming of real change dethrones a constructed, romantic personification of summer,  conveying the speaker’s reluctance for her ideal season to be dethroned by something much less decorated and adored.

Summer, “she lies on pillows of the yellow leaves,/ And tries the old tunes for over an hour”, is contrasted with bright imagery of fallen leaves/ The juxtaposition between Summer’s character and the setting provides insight into the positivity of change—the yellow leaves—by its contrast with the failures of attempting to sustain old habits or practices, “old tunes”. “She lies on pillows” creates a sympathetic, passive image of summer in reaction to the coming of Autumn, contrasting her failures to sustain “old tunes.” According to this, it is understood that the speaker recognizes the foolishness of attempting to prevent what is to come, but her wishfulness to counter the natural progression of time.

Hyperbolic imagery displays the discrepancies between unrealistic, exaggerated perceptions of change and the reality of progress, continuing the perpetuation of Cary’s idea that change must be embraced rather than rejected. “Shorter and shorter now the twilight clips/The days, as though the sunset gates they crowd”, syntax and diction are used to literally separate different aspects of the progression of time. In an ironic parallel to the literal language, the action of twilight’s “clip” and the subject, “the days,” are cut off from each other into two different lines, emphasizing a sense of jarring and discomfort. Sunset, and Twilight are named, made into distinct entities from the day, dramatizing the shortening of night-time into fall. The dramatic, sudden implications for the change bring to mind the switch between summer and winter, rather than a transitional season like fall—emphasizing the Speaker’s perspective rather than a factual narration of the experience.

She says “the proud meadow-pink hangs down her head/Against the earth’s chilly bosom, witched with frost”. Implying pride and defeat, and the word “witched,” the speaker brings a sense of conflict, morality, and even good versus evil into the transition between seasons. Rather than a smooth, welcome change, the speaker is practically against the coming of fall. The hyperbole present in the poem serves to illustrate the Speaker’s perspective and ideas on the coming of fall, which are characterized by reluctance and hostility to change from comfort.

The topic of this poem, Fall–a season characterized by change and the deconstruction of the spring and summer landscape—is juxtaposed with the final line which evokes the season of Spring. From this, it is clear that the speaker appreciates beautiful and blossoming change. However, they resent that which destroys familiar paradigms and norms. Fall, seen as the death of summer, is characterized as a regression, though the turning of seasons is a product of the literal passage of time. Utilizing romantic imagery and hyperbole to shape the Speaker’s perspective, Cary emphasizes the need to embrace change though it is difficult, because growth is not possible without hardship or discomfort.

Scoring Criteria: Why did this essay do so well? 

When it comes to scoring well, there are some rather formulaic things that the judges are searching for. You might think that it’s important to “stand out” or “be creative” in your writing. However, aside from concerns about “sophistication,” which essentially means you know how to organize thoughts into sentences and you can use language that isn’t entirely elementary, you should really focus on sticking to a form. This will show the scorers that you know how to follow that inductive/deductive reasoning process that we mentioned earlier, and it will help to present your ideas in the most clear, coherent way possible to someone who is reading and scoring hundreds of essays.

So, how did this essay succeed? And how can you do the same thing?

First: The Thesis 

On the exam, you can either get one point or zero points for your thesis statement. The scorers said, “The essay responds to the prompt with a defensible thesis located in the introductory paragraph,” which you can read as the first sentence in the essay. This is important to note: you don’t need a flowery hook to seduce your reader; you can just start this brief essay with some strong, simple, declarative sentences—or go right into your thesis.

What makes a good thesis? A good thesis statement does the following things:

• Makes a claim that will be supported by evidence
• Is specific and precise in its use of language
• Argues for an original thought that goes beyond a simple restating of the facts

If you’re sitting here scratching your head wondering how you come up with a thesis statement off the top of your head, let me give you one piece of advice: don’t.

The AP Lit scoring criteria gives you only one point for the thesis for a reason: they’re just looking for the presence of a defensible claim that can be proven by evidence in the rest of the essay.

Second: Write your essay from the inside out 

While the thesis is given one point, the form and content of the essay can receive anywhere from zero to four points. This is where you should place the bulk of your focus.

My best advice goes like this:

• Choose your evidence first
• Develop your commentary about the evidence
• Then draft your thesis statement based on the evidence that you find and the commentary you can create.

It will seem a little counterintuitive: like you’re writing your essay from the inside out. But this is a fundamental skill that will help you in college and beyond. Don’t come up with an argument out of thin air and then try to find evidence to support your claim. Look for the evidence that exists and then ask yourself what it all means. This will also keep you from feeling stuck or blocked at the beginning of the essay. If you prepare for the exam by reviewing the literary devices that you learned in the course and practice locating them in a text, you can quickly and efficiently read a literary passage and choose two or three literary devices that you can analyze.

Third: Use scratch paper to quickly outline your evidence and commentary 

Once you’ve located two or three literary devices at work in the given passage, use scratch paper to draw up a quick outline. Give each literary device a major bullet point. Then, briefly point to the quotes/evidence you’ll use in the essay. Finally, start to think about what the literary device and evidence are doing together. Try to answer the question: what meaning does this bring to the passage?

A sample outline for one paragraph of the above essay might look like this:

Romantic imagery

Portrayal of summer

• Woman who “from her golden collar… moans aloud”
• Summer as bounty

Contrast with Autumn

• Autumn dismantles Summer
• “Stray through stubble fields”
• Autumn is change; it has the power to dethrone the romance of Summer/make summer a bit meaningless

Recognition of change in a positive light

• Summer “lies on pillows / yellow leaves / tries old tunes”
• Bright imagery/fallen leaves
• Attempt to maintain old practices fails: “old tunes”
• But! There is sympathy: “lies on pillows”

Speaker recognizes: she can’t prevent what is to come; wishes to embrace natural passage of time

By the time the writer gets to the end of the outline for their paragraph, they can easily start to draw conclusions about the paragraph based on the evidence they have pulled out. You can see how that thinking might develop over the course of the outline.

Then, the speaker would take the conclusions they’ve drawn and write a “mini claim” that will start each paragraph. The final bullet point of this outline isn’t the same as the mini claim that comes at the top of the second paragraph of the essay, however, it is the conclusion of the paragraph. You would do well to use the concluding thoughts from your outline as the mini claim to start your body paragraph. This will make your paragraphs clear, concise, and help you to construct a coherent argument.

Repeat this process for the other one or two literary devices that you’ve chosen to analyze, and then: take a step back.

Fourth: Draft your thesis 

Once you quickly sketch out your outline, take a moment to “stand back” and see what you’ve drafted. You’ll be able to see that, among your two or three literary devices, you can draw some commonality. You might be able to say, as the writer did here, that romantic and hyperbolic imagery “illustrate the speaker’s unenthusiastic opinion of the coming of autumn,” ultimately illuminating the poet’s idea “that change is difficult to accept but necessary for growth.”

This is an original argument built on the evidence accumulated by the student. It directly answers the prompt by discussing literary techniques that “convey the speaker’s complex response to the changing seasons.” Remember to go back to the prompt and see what direction they want you to head with your thesis, and craft an argument that directly speaks to that prompt.

Then, move ahead to finish your body paragraphs and conclusion.

Fifth: Give each literary device its own body paragraph 

In this essay, the writer examines the use of two literary devices that are supported by multiple pieces of evidence. The first is “romantic imagery” and the second is “hyperbolic imagery.” The writer dedicates one paragraph to each idea. You should do this, too.

This is why it’s important to choose just two or three literary devices. You really don’t have time to dig into more. Plus, more ideas will simply cloud the essay and confuse your reader.

Using your outline, start each body paragraph with a “mini claim” that makes an argument about what it is you’ll be saying in your paragraph. Lay out your pieces of evidence, then provide commentary for why your evidence proves your point about that literary device.

Move onto the next literary device, rinse, and repeat.

Sixth: Commentary and Conclusion 

Finally, you’ll want to end this brief essay with a concluding paragraph that restates your thesis, briefly touches on your most important points from each body paragraph, and includes a development of the argument that you laid out in the essay.

In this particular example essay, the writer concludes by saying, “Utilizing romantic imagery and hyperbole to shape the Speaker’s perspective, Cary emphasizes the need to embrace change though it is difficult, because growth is not possible without hardship or discomfort.” This is a direct restatement of the thesis. At this point, you’ll have reached the end of your essay. Great work!

Seventh: Sophistication 

A final note on scoring criteria: there is one point awarded to what the scoring criteria calls “sophistication.” This is evidenced by the sophistication of thought and providing a nuanced literary analysis, which we’ve already covered in the steps above.

There are some things to avoid, however:

• Sweeping generalizations, such as, “From the beginning of human history, people have always searched for love,” or “Everyone goes through periods of darkness in their lives, much like the writer of this poem.”
• Only hinting at possible interpretations instead of developing your argument
• Oversimplifying your interpretation
• Or, by contrast, using overly flowery or complex language that does not meet your level of preparation or the context of the essay.

Remember to develop your argument with nuance and complexity and to write in a style that is academic but appropriate for the task at hand.

If you want more practice or to check out other exams from the past, go to the College Board’s website .

Brittany Borghi

After earning a BA in Journalism and an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Iowa, Brittany spent five years as a full-time lecturer in the Rhetoric Department at the University of Iowa. Additionally, she’s held previous roles as a researcher, full-time daily journalist, and book editor. Brittany’s work has been featured in The Iowa Review, The Hopkins Review, and the Pittsburgh City Paper, among others, and she was also a 2021 Pushcart Prize nominee.

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Macbeth - Free Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, exploring themes of ambition, power, and moral decay through the story of a Scottish general who becomes king through treachery. Essays on “Macbeth” can delve into the character analysis, the use of supernatural elements, and the play’s enduring relevance in modern discussions on ambition and ethics. Moreover, examinations of the sociopolitical commentary and the psychological complexities within the play could provide rich analysis. A vast selection of complimentary essay illustrations pertaining to Macbeth you can find in Papersowl database. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

What is the Theme of Macbeth?

Macbeth is one of the finest and bloodiest pieces of art written by the famous William Shakespeare. Unlike most of Shakespeare plays that mostly focus on love and trust, this play uniquely takes a dark approach for the worst. Upon reading the dark and mysterious literature of Macbeth, us as readers can conclude and take out a handful of themes. However, one that particularly stands out the most is ambition and corrupt power. More specifically, power corrupts you, makes you […]

An Analysis of Macbeth’s Ambition

Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 'Great ambition is the passion of great character. Those endowed with it may perform good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles that direct them .' In William Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, we see how Macbeth takes a prophecy he gets of potentially becoming a king into his own hands and goes above and beyond to seize and keep the throne. In this paper, I will first explain how akrasia and the existence of bad […]

The Hunger for Power

People who gain power tend to lose sight of reality. Power is a tricky thing to gain in this world but also a tricky thing to keep ahold of. The great George Lucas once said The story being told in 'Star Wars' is a classic one. Every few hundred years, the story is retold because we have a tendency to do the same things over and over again. Power corrupts, and when you're in charge, you start doing things that […]

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Power in Macbeth

Macbeth's underlining theme is power. Power means different things for different people. How people react to power varies by how you attain power, retain power, and ultimately lose power. Power can lead someone to ambiton and make them vulnerable. What motivates the person with power, shows their true selves. Once someone has power they may be suprised at what they are willing to do to keep it. Vulnerability and ambition are characteristics of someone in power. Macbeth was a loyal […]

Macbeth: a Tragic Hero

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a person with a high social status, somebody who has a secret weakness that could eventually lead to a downfall, and when the characters life faces a downfall with courage and dignity. Generally, a tragic hero is a grievous legend that is seen as a respectable character. To go moreover, the character Macbeth happens to consist of these traits. With this in mind, I assert that Macbeth is, in fact, a tragic hero. […]

Who is more to Blame for the Murder of King Duncan?

Macbeth was a play introduced in the early 1600. It took place in England where Macbeth was to become future king, or so he thought. Quickly, he realized that everything he imagined he would become wasn't going to happen. The crown would be passed down to one of Macduffs sons. So in order to obtain the crown he decided to start killing of the his sons heirs. This play has exposed a few symbols, one including blood. The symbol of […]

The Theme of Fate in Macbeth

Fate and free will is a very central topic in Macbeth? , a play by shakespeare. We are going to look at alot of questions revolving around this topic . Such as, what does fate and free will even mean ? Do they come together as a whole or are they two different things? Also looking at the evidence of who is responisible for the tradgedy that is Macbeth . You'll also find that Macbeth follows up more on free […]

Macbeth: the Psychological Effects of Guilt

Guilt plays a large role in human society and how humans work. It's a powerful feeling and if it gets put on the back burner, it might just explode. An example of this is Macbeth by William Shakespeare. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth slowly lets her guilty conscience eat at her sanity before she goes crazy. Her insanity causes her to commit suicide. Her experience is shown through words and her actions. She doesn't address her conscience which makes her go […]

Drawbacks of Power

Power, a phenomenon as addictive as any drug, should be given to those who are equipped to properly handle it and its effects. If power is given to those with a strong sense of ambition, it may lead to their downfall. Power is given to Macbeth when him and his companion, Banquo, come upon these three witches who deliver them three prophecies: Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor Macbeth will be the King of Scotland Banquo will have a […]

Was Macbeth a Sympathetic Character?

Sometimes a fictional evil character isn't actually evil. The characters seen as wicked will sometimes have reasons behind everything they do. This makes them more sympathetic, setting them apart from typical villains. In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Macbeth gets 3 prophecies from a group of witches, one of which claiming he will become king. After a chain of events that lead him to believe the witches, he stops at nothing so he's sure he will become king. Macbeth is a sympathetic […]

Symbolism of Weather in Macbeth

The weather plays an important role in Macbeth. The foul weather of thunder, lightning, rain, and strong winds have importance in Macbeth. At the beginning of the acts, the sky is sunny and when something bad occurs the weather changes to foreshadow all the bad things that will happen in the future. When the covens appear in act one, they agree to meet by saying When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning or rain? She says this because […]

Patriarchy and the Shakespearean Woman

William Shakespeare writes during a time when patriarchy was prevalent. Shakespeare includes these personas and attitudes within his plays to illustrate how these ideals played out. He works also to create female characters that hold their male counterparts accountable. In this paper, there will be a review of patriarchal patterns within A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Henry IV, Macbeth, and King Lear but additionally how the female characters counteract the hegemonic masculinity. Because patriarchal patterns were prevalent in the time […]

The Tragedy of Macbeth: Themes of the Story

The Tragedy of Macbeth was one of the most iconic plays of all time. It was written with many themes that helped the audience better understand the play and also connect and feel what the play was about. Showing the meanings of the all the senses in the play though the six themes. The two themes that develop over the entire course of the play is the relationship between violence and masculinity and that the guilt haunts the guilty. Throughout […]

Corruption of Power in Macbeth

Throughout the course of history there have been many powerful political and military figures, who all took power too seriously and strayed off the path of being a fair and worthy leader. Instead some leaders such as Kim Jong Il, Mao Zedong, and Joseph Stalin have become corrupt with power, much like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth did in Shakespeare's Macbeth. The struggle for power shown by each of the political leaders illustrates just how far some will go to gain […]

Macbeth: Social Structure of the Elizabethan Era

Bubonic Plague, commonly known as the Black Death, hit Europe in the year 1347, killing over one third of the entire European population (History of the Plague). In the centuries following, Europe would undergo transformation or rebirth in a time period known as the Renaissance. With new life came new inspiration for authors and poets alike, and introduced the world to an age of literature hitherto undreamt of. The most famous of these authors and poets was the prolific William […]

Literary Techniques in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Queen Elizabeth uses appeals to Pathos, Ethos, and Logos in order to rouse her army. She appeals to Pathos by creating pity for herself. Queen Elizabeth says “I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman” (Lines 6-7). She makes the soldiers feel pity for the Queen and they will want to fight for her. Queen Elizabeth appeals to Ethos by demonstrating her character and her willingness to fight for her country. Queen Elizabeth says “to […]

Lady Macbeth Character Analysis

Woman Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most renowned and alarming female characters. When we first observe her, she is as of now plotting Duncan's homicide, and she is more grounded, more merciless, and more aspiring than her better half. She appears to be completely mindful of this and realizes that she should push Macbeth into submitting murder. At a certain point, she wishes that she were not a lady with the goal that she could do it without anyone's help. […]

New Historicism: the Interrelation of Art and Society in Macbeth

In Shakespeare’s literature, the theory of new historicism is presented within the storylines. When interpreting the text, both the history of the author as well as the critic are kept in context and serve to give the most depth to the literature. Both aspects of Shakespeare’s literature are highlighted, acknowledging the author’s and critic’s influences, which cause the pieces to be appreciated as multifaceted and complex works. An author’s specific circumstances and time play an impactful role, in contrast to […]

Nature’s Influence on Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Bubonic Plague, commonly known as the Black Death, hit Europe in the year 1347, and killed over one third of the entire European population. In the centuries following, Europe would undergo transformation or rebirth in a time period known as the Renaissance. With new life came new inspiration for author and poets alike and the world was introduced to an age of literature hitherto undreamt of. The most famous of these authors and poets was William Shakespeare who wrote many […]

The Tragedy of MacBeth

A tragedy is a literary work depicting serious events in which the main character, often high-ranking and dignified, comes to an unhappy end. Going off of this description, Macbeth aligns nearly perfectly. His snowballing misfortunes and fatal end meet the requirements of a modern tragic hero, but does he check off the exact boxes created by the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle when creating a true tragic hero? Shakespeare's lead character Macbeth is as Aristotle requires to be a tragic hero; […]

Macbeth Character Analysis

Macbeth , a series of many tragedies involving murder and the element of betrayal of loyalty but it's nothing compared to the amount of greed that has been instilled in macbeth. But he wasn't always a unloyal backstabber he wasn't always this bad character. At the beginning of the story macbeth is know as a warrior he has fought a battle and he has won in many people's eyes he is a hero and he has earned the title thane […]

The Symbol of Blood in Macbeth

Theme statement: Blood symbolizes the guilt between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth for all of their unholy murders, causing them to have hallucinations and for LadyMacbeth to become mentally ill. Quote Sandwich #1 When Macbeth has just killed Duncan and is meeting with LadyMacbeth, he is terrified of the blood on his and will not go back to place the daggers because he can not just simply wash away his sins as Lady Macbeth wants him too. Blood is portrayed as […]

What where Macbeth’s Motives

Hook. These are all entertaining stories in which the antagonist or villain is also portrayed as valiant, compassionate, or even remorseful. Antagonists are often painted in a positive light when they regret their actions, making the reader empathize with and feel sorry for them. In Macbeth, Shakespeare introduces Macbeth as one of King Duncan’s generals who suddenly becomes ambitious after hearing the witches’ prophecy. Throughout the course of the play, Macbeth is seen not only has a harsh villain who […]

What is Significant about the Weather in Macbeth?

Awful weather has been an image of prohibiting something evil. Thunder and lighting of ten goes with villians in writing and more often than not sets the tone for a dim and discouraging scene, Macbeth is the same. Thunder and lighting is present all throughout the play as though blatenting denoting it's dull minutes. The image of terrible climate dependably portends awful things inside Shakespeare. Significance of The Witches in Macbeth The scene with three witches are the most noticeable; […]

The Many Different Faces of Macbeth

While Macbeth is considered one of Shakespeare's most dramatic characters, he's not a hero but he isn't a villain either. Macbeth had noble qualities as well as tragic flaws. Macbeth's feelings and actions towards certain things change throughout the scenes after evil pursued Macbeth's loyal and honest character. Macbeth's character has a rising and falling action with the weird sisters who plot against him. Throughout the scenes, Macbeth's appearance changed internally as he grew more and more ambitious for power. […]

Brutality and Treachery in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

The father of English drama, better known as William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth to view a perspective of ambition and bloodlust in exchange for a goal. Some great themes of Macbeth include great ambition or lust for power ultimately brings ruin, difference between kingship and tyranny and guilt haunts the guilty throughout the story progression Macbeth demonstrates the worst of what he and Lady Macbeth can become following these themes. With the themes being very prevalent as the story progresses make […]

The Character of Macduff in Macbeth

Around evening time, in the ruler's royal residence at Dunsinane, a specialist and a woman of her word talk about Woman Macbeth's bizarre propensity for sleepwalking. All of a sudden, Woman Macbeth enters in a stupor with a flame in her grasp. Lamenting the homicides of Woman Macduff and Banquo, she appears to see blood staring her in the face and claims that nothing will ever wash it off. She leaves, and the specialist and woman of her word wonder […]

How Blood Changes Macbeth

In Macbeth, William Shakespeare, there is a lot of chaos going on and one of the main reasons for the chaos problems is the topic of blood. Macbeth shows a lot of different personalities in this play about the things that show the most change are how he acts. He changes by not really caring how other people may feel. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare blood is one of the main topics because it shows how much Macbeth has changed from […]

Macbeth: the Tragic Hero

On the evening of Friday, November 9th, I had the pleasure of seeing one of Williams Shakespeare's most famous tragedies, Macbeth, was exquisitely performed at the University of West Georgia Theater Company in the Black Box at the TCPA Richard Dangle Theater. Although the tragic events in the play where difficult to comprehend due to Shakespeare's early modern language, it was an enjoyable night of theatre. Macbeth can be viewed as a cautionary tale because it shows that not everything […]

Corruption and Violence in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Throughout Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth the themes of corrupting power of power and the relationship of violence and masculinity are most occuring. The character development of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth overall skyrocketed between Duncan's death and Banquo's. The corruption of Macbeth was ultimately the downfall and, having the power he gained through murder was the breaking point/climax of the play. Violence was what lady macbeth brough to the table, telling macbeth over and over again that his masculinity wasn't […]

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How To Write an Essay About Macbeth

Understanding 'macbeth'.

Before embarking on writing an essay about Shakespeare's 'Macbeth,' it's crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the play. 'Macbeth' is a tragedy that delves into the dark aspects of human ambition, power, and moral corruption. The play follows the story of Macbeth, a Scottish general whose ambition is sparked by a prophecy from three witches and further fueled by his wife, leading him down a path of murder, tyranny, and eventual downfall. Begin your essay by summarizing the plot, highlighting key events in Macbeth's rise and fall. Understand the main characters – Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, the Three Witches, and others – and their roles and relationships within the story. It's also important to grasp the historical and cultural context of the play, including its themes of kingship, natural order, and guilt.

Developing a Thesis Statement

A compelling essay on 'Macbeth' should be centered around a clear, concise thesis statement. This statement should present a specific viewpoint or argument about the play. For example, you might discuss the psychological complexity of Macbeth's character, analyze the theme of ambition and its consequences, or examine the role of supernatural elements in the play's narrative. Your thesis will guide the structure and content of your essay, providing a focused path for your analysis.

Gathering Textual Evidence

To support your thesis, gather evidence from the text. This involves closely reading the play to find relevant quotes, dialogues, and scenes that align with your thesis. For instance, if you're discussing the corrupting power of ambition, identify key moments where Macbeth or Lady Macbeth exhibit signs of moral decline. Use these examples to build your argument and give depth to your analysis.

Analyzing Shakespeare's Techniques and Themes

In your essay, analyze how Shakespeare uses literary techniques to develop the play's themes and characters. Discuss his use of language, imagery, symbolism, and dramatic structure. For example, explore how the motif of blood serves to symbolize guilt and remorse. Your analysis should demonstrate a deep understanding of the text and how Shakespeare communicates his ideas.

Concluding the Essay

Conclude your essay by summarizing your main arguments and restating your thesis in light of the discussion. Your conclusion should tie together your insights into 'Macbeth,' emphasizing the significance of your findings. Reflect on the broader implications of the play, such as its relevance in modern times or its contribution to the genre of tragedy.

Reviewing and Refining Your Essay

After writing your essay, review and refine it. Ensure that your arguments are coherent, your evidence is clearly presented, and your writing is free of grammatical errors. Consider seeking feedback from teachers or peers to help improve your essay. A well-crafted essay on 'Macbeth' will not only demonstrate your understanding of the play but also your ability to engage critically with Shakespearean literature.

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AQA GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE WRITING MACBETH ESSAYS PPT

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

27 May 2024

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AQA GCSE English Literaturee - How to write a ‘Macbeth’ (William Shakespeare) essay.

An 89 slide PowerPoint covering:

• What to expect
• How am I assessed?
• How to plan
• How to structure
• How to write a paragraph
• Introductions and conclusions

Used with my Year 10 and Year 11 mid-ability classes.

Uses transitions and animations, for use on whiteboards.

Tes paid licence How can I reuse this?

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