Excerpt 1: Read the excerpt from act 2, scene 1 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth, who is about to murder Duncan, imagines that he sees a dagger floating in front of him. [ Macbeth: ] Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. [ Pulls out his dagger. ] Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going; And such an instrument I was to use. Excerpt 2: Read the excerpt from act 3, scene 4 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth has seen the ghost of Banquo sitting at the banquet table. Lady Macbeth is trying to get Macbeth to come to his senses. Lady Macbeth: O proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear; This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said, Led you to Duncan. O! these flaws and starts— Impostors to true fear—would well become A woman’s story at a winter’s fire, Authoriz’d by her grandam. Shame itself! Why do you make such faces? When all’s done You look but on a stool. How does the universal theme "the tension between truth and illusion” relate to the universal theme "the consuming power of guilt” in these excerpts?
Answer
A
Macbeth’s illusions force him to consider the realities that have caused his guilt.
B
Guilt makes it difficult for Macbeth to distinguish between reality and illusion.
C
Macbeth’s illusions help release him from his overwhelming feelings of guilt.
D
Guilt allows Macbeth to understand the difference between reality and illusion.
Explanation
Macbeth’s guilt over Duncan’s murder overwhelms him and makes him see things that are not physically present: first a dagger, then Banquo’s ghost. Lady Macbeth calls the dagger an “air-drawn” illusion and points out that Macbeth is looking at an empty stool, showing that he cannot reliably separate what is real from what his guilty mind imagines. Therefore, guilt makes it difficult for Macbeth to distinguish between reality and illusion.
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