Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 2 of The Tragedy of Macbeth . Duncan: What bloody man is that? He can report, As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt The newest state. Malcolm: This is the sergeant Who, like a good and hardy soldier fought ’Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend! Say to the king the knowledge of the broil As thou didst leave it. Sergeant: Doubtful it stood; As two spent swimmers, that do cling together And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald— Worthy to be a rebel, for to that The multiplying villanies of nature Do swarm upon him—from the western isles Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied; And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, Show’d like a rebel’s whore: but all’s too weak; For brave Macbeth,—well he deserves that name,— Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, Which smok’d with bloody execution, Like valour’s minion carv’d out his passage Till he fac’d the slave; Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps, And fix’d his head upon our battlements. What is the most likely reason the sergeant appeals to credibility in this excerpt?
Answer
A
to provide an accurate retelling of his own brave deeds
B
to gain sympathy for the number of wounds he received
C
to provide the king with an account of the events he witnessed at the battlefront
D
to inform Duncan of the situation by citing statistical data about the opposing troops
Explanation
The sergeant is a witness to the battle, and Malcolm asks him to tell the king what he knows about the fighting. By speaking as someone who was there, he gives Duncan a credible account of events at the battlefront, including Macbeth’s actions against Macdonwald. He is not mainly describing his own bravery, seeking sympathy for his wounds, or citing troop statistics.
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