Act 1 Scene 7- Macbeth's Soliloquy Flashcards
What does the repetition of “done” suggest?
It may suggest that Macbeth was racked with nerves and anxiety due to his plot to kill Duncan. It also shows that he just wants to get it over and done with rather that wait and think through the whole process which would case him to contradict himself.
Analyse the phrase “surcease success”
Shakespeare uses the technique of sibilance to show Macbeth’s disturbed mental state as there are harsh sounds and that he wishes that it were possible to achieve his goal to have the title as king without having to complete the act of murder
What does this quote show?
“upon this bank an shoal of time,
We’ld jump the life to come”
This metaphor shows that Macbeth wants to jump the next life which would be hell if he decided to kill Macbeth, he wants it to be as easy as jumping over a river of stream. The reason he believed it would be hell is because people in the Jacobean era were extremely religious
“Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice
To our own lips”
The metaphor suggests that if Macbeth kills Duncan he is creating his own “poison’d chalice” as he worries that everyone that he knows will want revenge.
“I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
And falls on the other”
This metaphor shows a horse gaining speed which is attempting a jump who is too high, this reflects Macbeth deciding that his ambition to kill Duncan without any suspicion is too high.
