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Themes are the big ideas that run through the entire play. Edexcel expects a confident personal response (AO1) that tracks these themes across the play and analyses Shakespeare's language and structural choices (AO2). Context, while not a separately marked AO on Edexcel Shakespeare, should still inform your interpretation. This lesson covers three closely linked themes: ambition, power, and kingship.
Ambition is the driving force of the play — Macbeth's "vaulting ambition" (1.7) is his hamartia (tragic flaw) and the engine of every major event.
| Stage of the play | How ambition is presented | Key quote |
|---|---|---|
| Act 1 (before the murder) | Ambition as temptation — Macbeth is drawn to the idea of kingship but knows it is wrong | "I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition" (1.7) |
| Act 1 (Lady Macbeth) | Ambition as ruthless determination — she is willing to sacrifice her femininity for power | "unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty" (1.5) |
| Acts 2–3 (after the murder) | Ambition breeds paranoia — gaining power only creates fear of losing it | "To be thus is nothing, / But to be safely thus" (3.1) |
| Acts 4–5 (tyranny) | Ambition becomes self-destructive — Macbeth's ambition has consumed his humanity | "Life's but a walking shadow" (5.5) |
Shakespeare does not present ambition as inherently evil — Banquo also hears the prophecy but chooses not to act on it. The play suggests that:
Examiner's tip: When writing about ambition, always connect it to context. Jacobean audiences believed that excessive ambition was a sin — it meant wanting more than God had ordained for you. Macbeth's ambition is not just a character flaw; it is a spiritual transgression.
Power in Macbeth is presented as something that can be exercised legitimately or illegitimately, and Shakespeare makes it clear which form he endorses.
| Aspect | Legitimate power (Duncan/Malcolm) | Illegitimate power (Macbeth) |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Divine Right — God's appointment | Violence and murder |
| Exercise | Justice, generosity, mercy | Fear, paranoia, tyranny |
| Effect on Scotland | Peace, loyalty, natural order | Chaos, distrust, unnatural events |
| Outcome | Loyalty from subjects | Rebellion and overthrow |
Prophecy → Temptation → Murder (Duncan) → Paranoia → More murder (Banquo)
→ Tyranny → More murder (Macduff's family) → Isolation → Overthrow → Death
Each murder does not make Macbeth more secure — it makes him less secure. This is Shakespeare's central point about illegitimate power: violence breeds more violence.
"It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood" (3.4)
Lady Macbeth associates power with masculinity and weakness with femininity:
"unsex me here" (1.5) "When you durst do it, then you were a man" (1.7)
She manipulates Macbeth by challenging his manhood, equating violence with masculinity. Shakespeare may be critiquing this association — the play shows that the pursuit of power through violence destroys both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Examiner's tip: The link between masculinity and power is a rich area for analysis. You could argue that Shakespeare subverts gender expectations — Lady Macbeth, the character who most aggressively pursues "masculine" power, is ultimately destroyed by guilt and madness, suggesting that the equation of masculinity with ruthlessness is toxic and self-defeating.
Kingship is one of the play's most important themes, directly connected to the political context of James I's reign.
God → Angels → Monarch → Nobility → Gentry → Commoners → Animals → Plants → Minerals
The monarch sits directly below God. Disrupting this order (through regicide) disrupts the entire cosmos.
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