Excerpt 1: Read the excerpt from act 3, scene 1 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. King Duncan has just been murdered, and Macbeth is now king. Banquo remembers the witches’ prophecy and wonders whether Macbeth played a part in Duncan’s murder. Banquo: Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, As the weird women promis’d; and, I fear, Thou play’dst most foully for ’t; yet it was said It should not stand in thy posterity, But that myself should be the root and father Of many kings. If there come truth from them,— As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine,— Why, by the verities on thee made good, May they not be my oracles as well, And set me up in hope? But, hush! no more. Excerpt 2: Read the excerpt from act 3, scene 2 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are preparing for a feast. Macbeth is king, but he cannot forget the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s sons, not his own, will succeed him. Macbeth: O! full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife; Thou know’st that Banquo and his Fleance lives. Lady Macbeth: But in them nature’s copy’s not eterne. Macbeth: There’s comfort yet; they are assailable; Then be thou jocund. Ere the bat hath flown His cloister’d flight, ere, to black Hecate’s summons The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done A deed of dreadful note. How does the universal theme "the quest for power” relate to the universal theme "the relationship between violence and human nature” in these excerpts?
Lady Macbeth: Was the hope drunk, Wherein you dress’d yourself? hath it slept since, And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely? From this time Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valour As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’ Like the poor cat i’ the adage? Why are the rhetorical questions appropriate to Lady Macbeth’s purpose?
Excerpt 1: Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 7 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth, who is alone in his castle, is contemplating whether to kill Duncan. Macbeth: If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly; if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases We still have judgment here; that we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague the inventor; this even-handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice To our own lips. Excerpt 2: Read the excerpt from act 2, scene 2 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth, who has just killed Duncan, is speaking to Lady Macbeth. Macbeth: Methought I heard a voice cry "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep,” the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care, The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, Chief nourisher in life’s feast,— Lady Macbeth: What do you mean? Macbeth: Still it cried, "Sleep no more!” to all the house: "Glamis hath murder’d sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!” How does Shakespeare most develop the universal themes "the quest for power” and "the consuming power of guilt” in these excerpts?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 5 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are discussing Duncan’s upcoming stay at their castle. Lady Macbeth: And when goes hence? Macbeth: To-morrow, as he purposes. Lady Macbeth: O! never Shall sun that morrow see. Your face, my thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters. To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under ’t. He that’s coming Must be provided for; and you shall put This night’s great business into my dispatch; Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom. How does the simile "look like the innocent flower” contribute to the sinister mood of this except?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 5 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is ranting at Macbeth because he has decided against their plan to murder the king. Lady Macbeth: What beast was’t, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. Which best explains the intended effect when Lady Macbeth says, "When you durst do it then you were a man”?
Read the passage from act 1, scene 5 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . [ Lady Macbeth: ] Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top full Of direst cruelty; make thick my blood, Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between The effect and it! What does the repeated use of synecdoche in this speech convey?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 4 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. King Duncan praises Macbeth and Banquo for their victory against the rebel forces. Duncan: Welcome hither: I have begun to plant thee, and will labour To make thee full of growing. Noble Banquo, That hast no less deserv’d, nor must be known No less to have done so, let me infold thee And hold thee to my heart. [Embraces BANQUO.] Banquo: There if I grow, The harvest is your own. What does Banquo mean when he says, "There if I grow, / The harvest is your own”?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 5 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth explains to Macbeth that it is important to behave appropriately as the King and his attendants are about to arrive. The word thane is a title for a Scottish nobleman. Lady Macbeth: Your face, my thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters. To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t. Lady Macbeth states, "Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t.” How is this simile persuasive?
Read the excerpt from act 3, scene 4 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . Macbeth: Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect; Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, As broad and general as the casing air: But now I am cabin’d, cribb’d, confin’d, bound in To saucy doubts and fears. But Banquo ’s safe? First Murderer: Ay, my good lord; safe in a ditch he bides, With twenty trenched gashes on his head; The least a death to nature. What does the murderer mean by the phrase "safe in a ditch”?
Read the excerpt from act 3, scene 4 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have just finished giving a banquet following Macbeth’s coronation. They are discussing the future of their kingdom and their rule. Macbeth: It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood: Stones have been known to move and trees to speak; Augurs and understood relations have By maggot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth The secret’st man of blood. What is the night? How does the personification of stones and trees contribute to the apprehensive mood of the excerpt?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 3 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . Ross: The king hath happily receiv’d, Macbeth, The news of thy success; and when he reads Thy personal venture in the rebels’ fight, His wonders and his praises do contend Which should be thine or his. Silenc’d with that, In viewing o’er the rest o’ the self-same day, He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks, Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make, Strange images of death. As thick as hail Came post with post, and every one did bear Thy praises in his kingdom’s great defence, And pour’d them down before him. In which line does Ross most create pathos?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 3 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . Macbeth: [ Aside. ] Two truths are told, As happy prologues to the swelling act Of the imperial theme. [ To ROSS and ANGUS.] I thank you, gentlemen. [ Aside. ] This supernatural soliciting Cannot be ill, cannot be good; if ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor: If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, Against the use of nature? Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings; My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function Is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is But what is not. Banquo: Look, how our partner’s rapt. Macbeth: [ Aside. ] If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir. Which statement best describes the effect of Macbeth’s appeal to logic?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 2 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . Duncan: Whence cam’st thou, worthy thane? Ross: From Fife, great king; Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky And fan our people cold. Norway himself, With terrible numbers, Assisted by that most disloyal traitor, The Thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict; Till that Bellona’s bridegroom, lapp’d in proof, Confronted him with self-comparisons, Point against point, rebellious arm ’gainst arm, Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude, The victory fell on us.— What is the most likely reason Ross makes an emotional appeal to Duncan?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 3 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . Macbeth: [ Aside. ] Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind. [ To ROSS and ANGUS.] Thanks for your pains. [ To BANQUO.] Do you not hope your children shall be kings, When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me Promis’d no less to them? Banquo: That, trusted home, Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, Besides the Thane of Cawdor. But ’tis strange: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s In deepest consequence. [ To ROSS and ANGUS.] Cousins, a word, I pray you. Why is Banquo’s emotional appeal to Macbeth appropriate in this situation?
Which dramatic technique best demonstrates the unity of the witches?
Read the excerpt from act 4, scene 2 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . Then, review the photo, which shows the scene being acted out in a 2011 production of the play. Macduff’s son is attempting to protect his family by fighting the murderers who have come to kill them. Lady Macduff: What are these faces? First Murderer: Where is your husband? Lady Macduff: I hope in no place so unsanctified Where such as thou mayst find him. First Murderer: He’s a traitor. Son: Thou liest, thou shag-hair’d villain! First Murderer: What, you egg! [ Stabs Macduff’s Son. ] Young fry of treachery! Open image in full-screen view Photo by Ellie Kurttz (c) RSC What does the blocking of Macduff’s son and the murderer most contribute to the scene
Read the excerpt from act 5, scene 8 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . Macduff has just killed Macbeth. The stage direction at the beginning of the excerpt has been expanded. Re-enter MACDUFF, with MACBETH’S head in one hand and MACBETH’S crown and sword in the other. Macduff: [ To MALCOLM.] Hail, king! for so thou art: behold, where stands The usurper’s cursed head: the time is free: I see thee compass’d with thy kingdom’s pearl, That speak my salutation in their minds; Whose voices I desire aloud with mine: Hail, King of Scotland! All: Hail, King of Scotland! What does the added stage direction most contribute to this scene?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 2 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . The sergeant is relaying events from the battlefront to King Duncan. Duncan: Dismay’d not this Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo? Sergeant: Yes; As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion. If I say sooth, I must report they were As cannons overcharg’d with double cracks; So they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe How do the similes in the sergeant’s lines add to the courageous mood in this part of the text?
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 2 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. An army sergeant has just returned from battle and is speaking to King Duncan. [ Sergeant: ] So they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe: Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, Or memorize another Golgotha, I cannot tell— But I am faint, my gashes cry for help. What does the personification in "my gashes cry for help” emphasize in this excerpt?
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