Act 5 Scene 1 MACBETH

Question 1

Summary (1)

Answer 1

In Macbeth’s castle at Dunsinane , a doctor nd a gentle woman discuss their patient Lady Macbeth .
-The gentle women refuses to discuss wht she hs heard Lady Macbeth say in her sleep , since she hs no witness to back up her statemnts .
-As the doctor ttempts to persuae her , Lady Macbeth appears walking in her sleep .

Question 2

Summary (2)

Answer 2

-They bth hear her revealher guil and watch her futile attempts to remove the blood from her hand .
-The doctor concldes tht she is in need of spiritul rather than medicl attention .

Question 3

Importance of this scene (1)

Answer 3

-It beigns the physicl decline of the Macbeths - Lady Macbeth is no longer in control
-Shakespear reveals how ordinry people react to the enormity of the crimes committed by Macbeth .

-Shakespeare depict the psychologiclal ‘truth’ of a mental rekaodw : the mental torute , the guilt and the obsession with the past .

Question 4

Improtance of this scne (2)

Answer 4

-Shakespeare potrays Lady Macbeth’s condition as sad , but also as a result of her own choices .
-This contrts with Macbeth inAct five , where it is marked ‘Iv cannot taint with fear ‘ he says , until thr ptoophecies start unraveloling , Macbeth seems resitant to worry of anys ort .

Question 5

Key FORM :Prose and Blank verse

Answer 5

-It was worth noting that Shakespeare wrote of the play in blank vers e,

-notable exetions arr this scene zand porters scne .

-particualry in the first ttwo acts , Lady Macbeth’s speech hash fierly been blank verse , the strong rhythms reflecting her stron determined grasp of relaity .

Now she spekas ln choppya brupt from one incidnet ot another . Evend escending ot foggerlled iwth rhyme of fife with wif e.

-Shakespeare is presenting LM brekadown under the strain , it is theorfre not suprising she commi suic cie , sh cannot no longer hold her life ofehe , and wih death , the langauge disappears alotgter .

Question 6

GUILT

Answer 6

-After the murder of Duncan , Lady Macbeth sys ‘What is done is done ‘ suggesitng that the event should no longer be of concern .
-here oeevr , Shakespeare shwos tha depsite ll her ocurgae ,a mbtion and strenght of purpsoe , all that has been ‘done’ is not the pas t, but the present - and ever present - in Lm mind ,

-she refers to ehr erleir word ‘whats done cannot be undone ‘ revealing her guilt

Question 7

KEY LANGAUGE WATER AND WASHING

Answer 7

-LM before syas ‘a littl water clear us of this deeed ‘
-with hysical symoms of washign her hands , heshe also echoes Macbeth;s insighs wil all great neptunes wash this blood clen frommy hand .

‘Will al the perfumes of aragia not sweetetn this little had ?@

Question 8

Book

Answer 8

‘she has light by her continully ‘ sybolism of her longing for purty - compared to ct 1 s 5 she i no longer hiding in the dark .
SHE IS BEING TORMENTED we orginaly understiamte in 2:2

‘will tehsese hands ne’er be clean’ prity , lonhinh

‘littl ehand’ highlights her little involvement in Mb liffe n plans .

Question 9

Mr Bruff

Answer 9

-Finallysee the price she has to payf or giving up a womany nurse and deidicaitng herslef to the spriits .
-befre compelrly untroubled by evil , now possesse dby guilt , and slepwalkin in shakespeares time l=madness