MACBETH ESSAY TOPICS
Choose one of the following essay topics, and write a well-developed 5-paragraph essay. Your
thesis should be insightful and focus the essay forcefully, and should be supported with relevant
and compelling examples/quotations. You must complete an Essay Outline and conference with
your teacher prior to submitting a final copy of your essay. Here are the topics:
1. Consider how supernatural elements motivate Macbeth’s actions, drawing him
more deeply into evil. Elements to include could be the Witches, the dagger,
Banquo’s ghost, the Apparitions, the Old Man’s observations or examples of
pathetic fallacy in general.
2. Discuss whether the play is a true tragedy, and the character Macbeth a true
tragic hero (refer to the document provided in the Hub).
3. Examine to what extent Lady Macbeth is to blame for her husband’s downfall.
Discuss the relationship between the couple as the play develops and how it
contributes to Macbeth’s deterioration.
4. Examine Macbeth’s mental deterioration throughout the play. What are the main
causes? How does he demonstrate this deterioration?
5. “Macbeth” is largely a play about betrayal, of self and of others. Show how
EITHER Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have to go against their own natures in
order to kill Duncan (and/or others). Trace the effect this betrayal has on either
Macbeth or Lady Macbeth throughout the course of the play.
6. How does evil work by deception? Contrast what Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
believe they are gaining through murder with what they actually get. Do they
deceive themselves, or are they deceived by others? Or both?
7. Supernatural events occur throughout the play. Discuss their dramatic function.
Each time Macbeth encounters something supernatural – the witches, the
floating dagger, a ghost – he moves more deeply into evil. List the supernatural
events and comment on how each marks a step in Macbeth’s downfall.
8. Fate and destiny: what is a man’s proper relation to them? Explore what the play
is saying about this question by dividing the characters into two groups- those
who trust their fate to a higher power, and those who take destiny into their own
hands. Which group fares better?
9. Discuss the use of one or more motifs, images, or extended metaphors in
Macbeth.
10.Why does Macbeth fail? Carefully analyse the various reasons for Macbeth’s
failure.
11.Macbeth is a very complex character. Analyse the different roles he plays
according to the situations he finds himself in.