Fear

Question 1

TS1

Answer 1

TS1: At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is presented as a fearless warrior.

Question 2

TS2

Answer 2

TS2: However, Lady Macbeth fears that Macbeth is too good natured to murder to become king.

Question 3

TS3

Answer 3

TS3: After murdering Duncan, Macbeth fears punishment from God; he also fears that Banquo’s sons will become kings

Question 4

TS4

Answer 4

TS4: By the end of the play, Macbeth has become desensitised to fear and chooses to die fighting.

Question 5

‘brave Macbeth…distaining Fortune’ (Captain)

Answer 5

L = adj. and personification. MB is presented as brave; Fortune is personified as being on Macdonwald’s side but MB does not fear this and defeats him anyway.
C = MB embodies Jacobean ideals of masculinity – he is brave and noble.

Question 6

‘I fear thy nature is too full o’th’milk of human kindness’ (LMB)

Answer 6

L = metaphor. LMB feminizes MB as milk is associated with women and maternity. Off the battlefield she thinks he is too good-natured to kill Duncan to become King himself. She realises she must persuade him.

Question 7

‘I could not say Amen…every noise appals me’

Answer 7

C = after the murder, MB cannot pray, therefore he cannot ask God for forgiveness. He is also terrified the murder will be discovered. Jacobeans believed in the DRK: the King was appointed by God. MB realises his soul is damned as he has murdered God’s representative on Earth and this terrifies him.

Question 8

‘Our fears in Banquo stick deep…my genius is rebuked as it is said Mark Antony’s was by Caesar’ (MB)

Answer 8

L = imagery. Macbeth compares himself to Mark Antony and Banquo to Octavius Caesar (Caesar eventually defeated Mark Antony). Adjective: ‘deep’ shows how much MB fears Banquo.

Question 9

‘they rise again…and push us from our stools’ (MB)

Answer 9

D = MB is terrified by the appearance of Banquo’s ghost, which is a projection of his guilty conscience. The ‘stool’ could symbolize the throne. Macbeth is afraid that the murders he’s committed will lose him his throne.

Question 10

‘I have almost forgot the taste of fears’

Answer 10

L + alliteration. In contrast to scenes after Duncan’s murder, MB no longer feels fear. He has no loyalty from his people and is ready to die. The natural order – and rightful king – can then be restored.