Macbeth
Ambitious thane's downfall
Macbeth is a tragedy by Shakespeare about a Scottish general whose ambition, spurred by prophecy and his wife's urging, leads him to murder his king and seize the throne.
The play explores how unchecked ambition corrupts.
Superstitious actors call it "the Scottish play," avoiding the title to ward off bad luck.
A Macbeth is someone whose ruthless ambition destroys them: He became the Macbeth of Wall Street.
Marked with dried red
- sleepwalkingAmbulatory behavior during slumber
- handwashingCleaning palms with soap
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
- daggerShort pointed stabbing blade
remorse · conscience · madness · torment · haunting · insomnia · paranoia · unraveling
Practitioners of dark magic
- weird sistersSupernatural prophetic trio
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- apparitionsSupernatural visible manifestations
- cauldronLarge metal cooking pot
Hecate · incantations · omens · fate · three · heath · thunder · lightning
Sudden loss of power
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- hamartiaFatal error causing downfall
- catharsisPurification through emotional expression
- tragic heroCharacter whose flaw causes ruin
fate · nemesis · mortality · doom · inevitability · despair · suffering · bloodshed
Leaping over something
- usurpationWrongful seizure of power
- aspirationStrong desire for achievement
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- crownSovereign's ornamental headpiece
kingship · climbing · overreach · prophecy · fate · temptation · seduction · corruption
Northern British nation
- DuncanScottish masculine given name
- MalcolmGaelic name, saint's follower
- CawdorHighland castle and thaneship
- InvernessHighland Scotland's chief city
Banquo · Ross · Lennox · Angus · Macduff · Porter · thane · Fife
Theatrical euphemism for Macbeth
- curseInvoked harm through words
- superstitionBaseless belief in omens
- performanceCarrying out a task
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
stage · Polanski · Welles · McKellen · Stewart · Fassbender · adaptation · Kurosawa
bloodstained
Marked with dried red
- sleepwalkingAmbulatory behavior during slumber
- handwashingCleaning palms with soap
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
dagger · remorse · conscience · madness · torment · haunting · insomnia · paranoia · unraveling · confession
witches
Practitioners of dark magic
- weird sistersSupernatural prophetic trio
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- apparitionsSupernatural visible manifestations
cauldron · Hecate · incantations · omens · fate · three · heath · thunder · lightning · familiars
downfall
Sudden loss of power
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- hamartiaFatal error causing downfall
- catharsisPurification through emotional expression
tragic hero · fate · nemesis · mortality · doom · inevitability · despair · suffering · bloodshed · tyranny
vaulting
Leaping over something
- usurpationWrongful seizure of power
- aspirationStrong desire for achievement
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
crown · kingship · climbing · overreach · prophecy · fate · temptation · seduction · corruption · power-hungry
Scotland
Northern British nation
- DuncanScottish masculine given name
- MalcolmGaelic name, saint's follower
- CawdorHighland castle and thaneship
Banquo · Inverness · Ross · Lennox · Angus · Macduff · Porter · thane · Fife · Scottish play
Scottish play
Theatrical euphemism for Macbeth
- curseInvoked harm through words
- superstitionBaseless belief in omens
- performanceCarrying out a task
soliloquy · stage · Polanski · Welles · McKellen · Stewart · Fassbender · adaptation · Kurosawa
- PlaysHamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Julius Caesar
- British ClassicsPride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist
- British TheatreWest End, Globe, King Lear, pantomime, The Tempest
- Shakespeare CharactersHamlet, Othello, Romeo, Juliet, Ophelia
- 1600s WorksParadise Lost, Leviathan, Don Quixote, King James Bible, Hamlet
- Classic PlaysHamlet, Othello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar
MacbethA Midsummer Night's Dream
The Comedy of Errors · Twelfth Night · As You Like It · Much Ado About Nothing · The Tempest
MacbethProspero
Exiled magical duke
King Lear · Hamlet · Jean Valjean · Ebenezer Scrooge · Prince Hal