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Ap Reading Notes For Macbeth Essay

2506 Words11 Pages

LeAnn Van
Mr. Brown
AP Literature and Composition
17 January 2023
AP Reading Notes - Macbeth

Macbeth
Author: William Shakespeare
Date published: Written in 1606, published in 1623
Period/era: Jacobean Era (1603 - 1625) - literature that tends to be dark, questions social order, and includes tragedies
Genre: Tragedy, Tragic Drama
Settings (Scotland in the 11th century)
Inverness (Macbeth’s Castle)
Where Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murders Duncan for the royal crown
Irony: Duncan comments on how the castle is pleasant from outside while the Macbeths plot his murder
Located on Dunsinane Hill
Where Macbeth waits for Macduff and Malcolm’s troops
Macbeth dies here in the final battle
Forres (Duncan’s Castle)
Castle of the King of Scotland
Initially …show more content…

Malcolm becomes the king of Scotland.

Foreshadowing - witches’ prophecies foreshadow future events
Prophesied that Macbeth will become king
Later prophesied Macbeth’s …show more content…

Characters
Macbeth
Protagonist, becomes antagonist
Tragic hero: fatal flaw (ambition) leads to his death
Scottish general and Thane of Glamis → Thane of Cawdor → King of Scotland
Courageous warrior, but ambition and self-doubt causes him to be easily manipulated
Witches’ prophecies encourages him to make unethical choices
Psychological effect from his murders: starts to abandon his morals completely to insight further violence
Lady Macbeth
Encourages Macbeth to murder Duncan for the crown
Manipulative, ruthless
Foil for Macbeth: Emphasizes the flaws in Macbeth’s character as the story progresses
Lady Macbeth eventually feels guilty about murdering Duncan while Macbeth descends further into darkness
Psychological effect from Duncan’s murder: starts to hallucinates and goes insane until she commits suicide
Three Witches
Antagonists, villain archetype
Servants of Hecate, referred to as the “weird sisters”
Manipulative: uses knowledge of the future to ruin other people’s lives
Allusion: prophesying Fates in Norse and Greek mythology
Banquo
Courage and noble general, Macbeth’s former best friend
His children are prophesied to rule Scotland
Foil for Macbeth: While Macbeth betrays and murders people to make his prophecies come true, Banquo maintains his integrity despite his

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