Act 3 Flashcards
1
Q
Who says: ‘I am in blood stepped so far that, should I wade no more, returning were so tedious as go o’er.’
Analyse
A
Macbeth
- saying that it is just as easy to keep going as it is to turn back
2
Q
Who says: ‘We’ve scorched the snake, not killed it’
Analyse
A
Lady Macbeth
- saying that they need to keep going to gain power
- if you scorch a snake you make it angry and it would come after you - foreshadows them being overthrown
- use of the word ‘snake’ could be seen as dramatic irony because the word ‘snake’ has connotations of betrayal; LM alludes to the fact that they have been betrayed by their comrades however LM & M have betrayed the others.
3
Q
Who says: ‘Thou canst not say that I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me.’
Analyse
A
Macbeth
- claims that his use of the murderers makes him not guilty. He tells the ghost to leave.
4
Q
Who says: ‘They hailed him father to a line of kings.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown’
Analyse
A
Macbeth
- realises Banquo is a threat due to the prophecies of his children being kings
- pastoral imagery for having no children. If something is ‘fruitless’ it is pointless. No point in becoming king if you cannot pass it on to your children - will quickly become forgotten.
