莎士比亞的《馬克白》常與他的《安東尼與克麗奧佩托拉》做對比。安東尼與馬克白都積極尋求新世界，並以舊世界作為其代價。兩人都積極爭奪王位，並在途中遇到「對手」。安東尼的對手是屋大維，馬克白的對手是班柯。在某一時刻，馬克白甚至將自己與安東尼對比，稱"under Banquo / My Genius is rebuk'd, as it is said / Mark Antony's was by Caesar."不但如此，兩個劇本中都存在着具有強大影響力的女性角色：克麗奧佩托拉和馬克白夫人。[6]
《霍林希德編年史》是當時在不列顛群島流行的歷史，莎士比亞從中借用了許多典故。在《編年史》中，一位名叫鄧華德[7]的人發現自己的家人因涉嫌與女巫來往而被國王德夫(King Duff)殺死。在他妻子的壓力下，鄧華德和他四個僕人將國王殺死在自己家中。在《編年史》中，馬克白被描述成努力維持國家運轉，而鄧肯王則昏庸無能。他與班柯遇到了三個女巫，後者所述的預言與莎士比亞的劇本中的一樣。馬克白便與班柯一道謀反，馬克白夫人則對此表示支持並催促。馬克白統治了國家十年，並最終被麥克德夫和馬爾康推翻。兩個版本的對比十分明顯。然而，有的學者認為喬治·布坎南的 Rerum Scoticarum Historia與莎士比亞的劇本更加貼切。布坎南的作品在莎士比亞時代已有拉丁文版本。[8]
值得特別注意的是，從門衛的台詞(2.3.1–21)可以看到他在給富農、裁縫和說話「曖昧含糊」的傢伙開地獄的門(2.3.8-13)，並被認為是對耶穌會的亨利·加尼特[19]的暗示，後者在1606年3月28日受審，5月3日被處決。「曖昧含糊」暗指對加尼特對「曖昧含糊（英語：Doctrine of mental reservation）」的辯護。[20]然而，曖昧含糊早在1583年伊麗莎白一世的大顧問伯利爵士[21]就被討論過，1584年西班牙高級教士馬丁·阿茲皮爾庫塔[22]提出「曖昧含糊教義」[23]，並在歐洲傳播，又於十六世紀90年代傳到了英國。[24]然而，門房稱講起話來曖昧含糊的傢伙"committed treason enough for God's sake"（當着上帝的面叛國）(2.3.9-10)，由此將曖昧含糊於叛國聯繫了起來，暗指耶穌會的信仰：曖昧含糊用於「服務上帝」是合法的；這更加表明暗示與加尼特有關。門房繼續說「可是他那條曖昧含糊的舌頭卻不能把他送上天堂去」(2.3.10-11)，回應了加尼特處決前夕的黑色幽默：即加尼特會被「毫不含糊地上絞架」，並在處決時不允許為自己做「曖昧含糊的辯護。」[25]門房提到的富農也是對加尼特的暗示，後者使用「富農」作了自己的別名。
除此之外，有的人提出一些暗示表明戲劇寫於1606年末，根據是女巫們的對話包涵了船長的妻子：「『滾開，妖巫！』那個吃魚吃肉的賤人喊起來了。她的丈夫是『猛虎號』的船長，到阿勒坡去了」 (1.6-7)。這被認為是對「猛虎號」的暗示，後者在1606年6月27日回到英格蘭，許多船員在途中被海盜所害。幾行字後，女巫們說起船長："He shall live a man forbid：Weary se'nnights nine times nine"(翻譯：骨瘦如柴血色干；一年半載海上漂，後半句字義「受苦7晝夜的9乘以9」)(1.21-2)。現實中船在海上呆了567天，正好等於7x9x9，並被認為是暗示的證據，若是正確的，證明戲劇不可能早於1606年7月寫成。[33]
婚姻：劇中的女人都只能得知她們冠夫姓，譬如「馬克白夫人」和「Macduff女士」。馬克白夫婦共同商量他們要成為蘇格蘭國王及皇后的計劃。莎士比亞是提出夫妻是一個單位，並且需要對彼此的舉止負責的概念的發起人。在第四幕第二場裡，當Macduff與Malcolm 前往英國時， Macduff女士說： "From Whence himself [Macduff] does fly? / He loves us not He wants the natural touch; for the poor wren, / The most diminutive of birds, will fight, / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl. / all is the fear and nothing is the love." 她是說Macduff應該陪同他的妻子和家人住在城堡里守護他們。（根據莎士比亞）當馬克白的殺手殺害Macduff家人時，他已經犯了錯因為他不在他們身邊保護他們。
邪惡：是要在劇中說明女巫、惡魔的使者，及他們的黑暗預言督導馬克白。馬克白的邪惡面也在劇中成長。 起初他原本是不想殺人，但是漸漸殺人就變得很普遍，在劇中的轉折點馬克白說： "Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er." （3.4.138-139） 他決定了目前先繼續殺人之後才來改悔回頭。並且馬克白越邪惡，女巫們也能在劇中有更多的戲份。
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