Key Facts
full title · Macbeth
author · William Shakespeare
type of work · Play
genre · Tragedy
language · English
time and place written · 1606,
England
date of first publication · First Folio edition, 1623
publisher · John Heminges and Henry Condell, two senior members
of Shakespeare’s acting troupe
narrator · Not applicable (drama)
point of view · Not applicable (drama)
tone · Dark and ominous, suggestive of a world turned topsy-turvy
by foul and unnatural crimes
tense · Not applicable (drama)
setting (time) · The Middle Ages, specifically the eleventh century
setting (place) · Various locations in Scotland; also England, briefly
protagonist · Macbeth
major conflicts · The struggle within Macbeth between his ambition and
his sense of right and wrong; the struggle between the murderous
evil represented by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and the best interests of
the nation, represented by Malcolm and Macduff
rising action · Macbeth and Banquo’s encounter with the witches initiates
both conflicts; Lady Macbeth’s speeches goad Macbeth into murdering
Duncan and seizing the crown.
climax · Macbeth’s murder of Duncan in Act II represents the
point of no return, after which Macbeth is forced to continue butchering
his subjects to avoid the consequences of his crime.
falling action · Macbeth’s increasingly brutal murders (of Duncan’s
servants, Banquo, Lady Macduff and her son); Macbeth’s second meeting with
the witches; Macbeth’s final confrontation with Macduff and the
opposing armies
themes · The corrupting nature of unchecked ambition; the relationship between
cruelty and masculinity; the difference between kingship and tyranny
motifs · The supernatural, hallucinations, violence, prophecy
symbols · Blood; the dagger that Macbeth sees just before he
kills Duncan in Act II; the weather
foreshadowing · The bloody battle in Act I foreshadows the bloody murders
later on; when Macbeth thinks he hears a voice while killing Duncan, it
foreshadows the insomnia that plagues Macbeth and his wife; Macduff’s
suspicions of Macbeth after Duncan’s murder foreshadow his later
opposition to Macbeth; all of the witches’ prophecies foreshadow
later events.
