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Exploring Shakespeare
Hamlet, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Home | Macbeth: Characters and relationships | Macbeth

Characters and relationships

Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
The Macbeths' relationship
Banquo
Macduff
Malcolm

Macbeth: good or bad?

Who's this? Dominic Cooke is the director.

Context: A tragedy must contain hope as well as despair. There must be a feeling of lost potential, of something good that might have been. Macbeth starts the play as a hero of battle, ripe for promotion; the future could be his - if only he had left it alone. He is a reluctant murderer, troubled by his conscience even before committing the act. He uses soliloquy to express his struggle with right and wrong.

What do you think? Could Macbeth have been a good man?

Macbeth

Macbeth: good or bad?
Macbeth's qualities
Different ways to see Macbeth
Pictures and Exhibitions: Macbeth in past productions
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