Macbeth — Characters and Key Themes
<h3>Key Characters</h3>
<table style="width:100%;border-collapse:collapse">
<tr style="background:#f0f9f4"><th style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Character</th><th style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Role and significance</th></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Macbeth</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Protagonist; brave warrior undone by ambition. Tragic hero whose fatal flaw is vaulting ambition.</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Lady Macbeth</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Initially more ruthless than Macbeth, later consumed by guilt. Challenges gender norms.</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>The Three Witches</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Supernatural figures who prophesize and tempt. Represent fate vs free will.</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Banquo</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Macbeth's loyal friend; his ghost represents Macbeth's guilt.</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Duncan</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Good and trusting king; his murder is the central crime.</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Macduff</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Moral foil to Macbeth; kills Macbeth and restores order.</td></tr>
</table>
<h3>Key Themes</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Ambition</strong> — Macbeth's ambition drives him to murder and tyranny</li>
<li><strong>Power and corruption</strong> — gaining power corrupts Macbeth completely</li>
<li><strong>Guilt and conscience</strong> — hallucinations; Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking</li>
<li><strong>Appearance vs reality</strong> — "Fair is foul and foul is fair"; deception throughout</li>
<li><strong>Fate vs free will</strong> — do the witches cause events or merely predict them?</li>
<li><strong>Gender and masculinity</strong> — what it means to be "man enough"</li>
</ul>