Week 5: Macbeth Worksheet & Macbeth Reading For Class PDF

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Week 5 lit worksheet for Macbeth; questions and answers with corrections and additional info (in red)...

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Week 5: Macbeth worksheet & Macbeth reading Name: Jade McGee Student number: 18041982 Group: 16

SECTION A: MACBETH Act 2, scene 1 (The Dagger Scene) The scene can be divided into two parts: (1) the dialogue between Banquo and Macbeth (up to “Exeunt Banquo, Fleance”); and (2) Macbeth’s soliloquy. Focus on each separately. (The line numbers given below may not be exactly the same as in your copy – but use them as a rough guide.) PART 1 1. Shakespeare here juxtaposes (puts alongside each other for purposes of comparison and contrast) Banquo and Macbeth. What do the following lines suggest about the similarity and the difference between the states/characters of Banquo and Macbeth? (a) (b) (c)

lines 6-9: “A heavy summons … Gives way to repose” lines 20-21: “I dreamed last night …I think not on them” lines 26-29: “It shall make honour for you …I shall be counselled”

2. There are several examples here of dramatic irony, where the words have a meaning – often the opposite of what they seem to say - that the character who speaks them may be unaware of. Explain the ironies here: (a) (b) (c)

“Who’s there?” “A friend” (line 10) “By the name of most kind hostess” (line 16) “Good repose the while… the like to you” (line 29)

Can you find any other ironic lines in the scene?

3. How does the description of Duncan (lines 12-16:“The king’s abed …”) link up with earlier depictions of him? Why does Shakespeare include this act of generosity here? PART 2 4. Shakespeare’s source, Holinshed, says that Macbeth’s crimes “haunted his imagination”. Explain how the dagger speech shows Shakespeare developing this idea – and in particular, which words relate to the idea of Macbeth’s active “imagination”? What other scenes later in the play does this foreshadow? 5. Line 44: “My eyes are made the fools o’th’other senses”. Explain what he means by this, and importantly, how it relates to the theme of an inner conflict or self-division in Macbeth’s character. 6. Lines 49-50: “Now o’er the one half-world / nature seems dead” Explain this image, and consider how it too can be seen as another image of the divided self (good versus bad). 7. In lines 52 – 56 (“and withered murder … thus with his stealthy pace ... moves like a ghost”) Macbeth describes himself in the third person (not “I move”, but “he/it moves”), as if from a distance. How does this link to the theme of his self-division? What similar descriptions of himself as if a terrifying, alien body can it be linked to (e.g. in the murder scene shortly to follow: Act 2, scene 2)? 8. In line 55, Macbeth likens himself to “Tarquin”, who in classical legend raped a princess. This may seem a strange parallel to Macbeth, on his way to kill the king – but what might Shakespeare be telling us (through the simile) about the deeper significance of Macbeth’s crime?

TYPE ANSWERS HERE: PART 1 1. a) Banquo feels uneasy and as if there is weight on his shoulders, “a heavy summons lies like lead upon me…” much like Macbeth, who feels uneasy about his darker side and his thoughts about killing the

king. However, they differ as Banquo is ready to fight and will respond in a way as to protect, whereas Macbeth will still kill Duncan, even though he doubts his actions. b) The witches worry Banquo to extent that he dreams of them, “ I dreamt last night of the three Weïrd Sisters…”, Macbeth, however, does not think of them, although both he and Banquo believe in their prophecy, as part of it has already come true. Main dif – Banquo is open about the witches, he airs his thoughts. Macbeth is closed to his true thoughts and lies about not thinking of them. c) It is clear that Banquo is more loyal and “pure” than Macbeth as they are both faced with the same dilemma of killing the king, but Banquo has chosen has chosen the right path, and to stay true to his loyalty. here again, Macbeth is closed and indirect “ that business” rather than “the witches” and Banquo is more direct. 2. a) Macbeth describes himself as a “friend” to Banquo, this is ironic as later in the play, Macbeth betrays and kills him too. Macbeth is later called anything but a friend – more as an enemy of the state. b) The “most kind hostess” is referring to Lady Macbeth, however, she is far from “kind” as she eggs Macbeth on and supports his decision to betray and kill the king. she is intense and is capable of anything. Aggressive, assertive. c) Macbeth says to Banquo that he must keep well, a friendly gesture, however, the irony is clear because Macbeth is no longer Banquo’s friend and will later on kill him. 3. Shakespeare includes this as to emphasise the King’s kindness, and to further show that what Macbeth is planning is pure evil; as he would be betraying and killing a generous kind king for his own personal gain.

Part 2 4. Shakespeare emphasizes how much Macbeth is struggling with this decision – even though he knows he will do what “has” to be done;

“is this a dagger which I see before me, … I have thee not, and yet I see thee still!” he sees a dagger that is not really there; and he develops the idea of haunting imaginations as he uses words such as “fatal vision” and “… art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation…” these words emphasizes the idea of false creation, and the distorting of reality. 5. Earlier in the play, Macbeth states that he will close his eyes to the evil that his hands will commit; this line further emphasizes this idea of him wanting but simultaneously not wanting to kill Duncan. He means that his eyes are the only senses that he can trust, because all his other senses are leaning towards killing the king. 6. Macbeth is saying that because it is night, half the world is in darkness, and seems dead, much like his kind nature will be once he kills Duncan. 7. This emphasizes the idea of Macbeth’s self-division as this deed that he is about to commit is not true to his nature, so he distances this part of himself as an attempt to make it unreal. 8. In this line it is made clear that Macbeth is about to commit a crime of genuine evil, as he will kill a virtuous king – coincides with Tarquin raping a virtuous princess (an evil crime in itself) and it further eludes to the idea that once Macbeth takes the throne, he will be a tyrannous ruler just as Tarquin was.

SECTION B: READING MACBETH, ACTS 4 & 5

Read to the end of the play (Act 5), thinking how you would respond to the following questions. Then after your reading, briefly note your answers. 1. If Shakespeare’s 3-part design of Macbeth involves focusing the first part on Macbeth’s relationship with Duncan, and the second part on Banquo, then in the last part (Acts 4 and 5) he shifts the focus to Macbeth’s relationship with one final, all-important, character in the play. Who do you think this is? What evidence would you give in support of your answer? 2. One way to experience the play is in terms of Macbeth’s increasing obsession with (almost an addiction to) the witches and what he can get from them, which shows that, like all drug addictions, its satisfactions are illusory. How does this obsession/addiction reach a climax in this last section of the play (Acts 4 and 5)? 3. It is sometimes felt about Shakespeare’s tragedies, that however terrible the things that his tragic protagonist does, at the very end some dignity is salvaged and audience sympathy retained. What, amongst the carnage of Act 5, might gain Macbeth some sympathy? Does it work for you, or are you unforgiving?

TYPE ANSWERS HERE:...