Macbeth

Shakespeare’s play Macbeth was set during the rule of King James, Straight after the incidence of Guy Fawkes which is relevant in this play as it could suggest that the moral of the play refers to it. Most of the main characters are male. And some of the characters are ancestors of King James which could affect their personalities in the play and the roles they play. Throughout the play there are a lot of supernatural references, doubts and uncertainties.
Even though the play in male dominant, Lady Macbeth does assert a lot of power throughout Act 1 Scene 7, she is the most certain character throughout. She becomes the main character at this point and manipulates Macbeth into killing the king. Although we do not yet know his inner feelings and he too could be manipulating the audience. He could be doing this to get sympathy from the audience by showing he is uncertain to kill his king.
In act 2 scene 1, Shakespeare presents Macbeth to be uncertain yet more willing to kill the king. He starts to lose control of his mind, and his thoughts start to overwhelm him through his senses to the point where he starts to hallucinate.   However the two different hallucinations emanate contrasting emotions. ‘A dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat obsessed brain’ this quote could suggest that the ending clause shows that he’s more willing to do ‘the deed’ than beforehand. The ‘heat’ could relate to the devil and hell, since people were more religious in the 17th century. When we think of hell, it relates to heat and burning, we think of being there as a punishment for a bad deed, which Macbeth would be involved in. Macbeth says he is ‘obsessed’ with it which shows it overpowering him but yet still shows in his heart he is uncertain. ‘a false creation’ this shows that he is hallucinating but depending on how it is acted out ‘whether the audience can see the dagger or not’ shows whether the audience can view the dagger like he does and sympathise with...