Lady Macbeth Flashcards
Key Quotations and Analysis
1
Q
“Unsex me here”
“direst cruelty”
Imperative
A
- She feels like her femininity is an obstruction to her achieving her goal in murdering King Duncan (regicide)
- The imperative shows that she seems desperate and agitated, which shows she is still so keen to gain power that she uses the imperative whichgives her wishes a sense of immediacy
- She also uses a superlative because she wants to be completely void of her moral compass (morality) and instead be filled with evil and cruelty ‘from the crown to the top toe-full’
- The only way she feels she can achieve this is if her femininity is removed from her
- She sees it as a limitation that stops her from her ambitions
- Lady Macbeth also says, ‘and take my milk for gall’
- She is referring to her motherly instincts which she wishes to be rid of and instead wants to be filled with cruelty and evil - because she clearly sees her feminine traits as being a weakness
2
Q
Part One - Courage and manpulation of Macbeth
“Too full o’ the milk of human kindness”
Superlative
A
- Lady Macbeth feels as though Macbeth will not have the courage to follow through with the regicide
- Therefore she begins an attempt to manipulate him
- Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth’s kindness as an obstruction and a weakness that will stop them from gaining their much desired power
- She takes charge of the situation, as at the end of the act, she commands, ‘leave all the rest to me’ suggesting that she is dominant in their relationship and Macbeth has been reduced to a mere accomplice
3
Q
Part Two - Lady Macbeth’s lack of trust in Macbeth
“Too full o’ the milk of human kindness”
Superlative
A
- There is also a suggestion hat Lady Macbeth does not trust that Macbeth will be cruel enough to kill King Duncan, and that is the reason she contols the situation
- She uses the words ‘too full’ perhaps insinuating that he may have not have room for cruelty within him
4
Q
Part Three - Guilt
“Too full o’ the milk of human kindness”
Superlative
A
- Lady Macbeth seems devoid of guilt or concern with regards to th consequences of their actions
- Her speech is full of imperatives and she is coldly practical about committing the murder
5
Q
Part Four - Fascade and extreme lengths posed by Lady Macbeth
“Too full o’ the milk of human kindness”
Superlative
A
- Lady Macbeth also encourages Macbeth to ‘look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’’
- Lady Macbeth suggests that Macbeth should present a fascade of innocence and be an excellent host like a flower, in order to conceal the treachery and evil that he intends to commit
- Lady Macbeth shows the audience that she is willing to go to extreme lengths in order to achieve power, but also that she herself holds a manipulation hold over Macbeth an displays a calculatingpropensity for deception
Juxtaposition/Metaphor
6
Q
Part One - Regret
“A little water clears us of this deed”
Short sentence
A
- This short sentence suggests that Lady Macbeth does not feel an ounce of regret in being part of this murder
- She is appalled at Macbeth’s attitude towards the murder
- She perceives the blood as an inconvenience that they need to rid themselves of, and the use of water to purify themselves of regicide brushes the crime aside
- Macbeth’s statement that ‘all of Neptune’s ocean’’ cannot rid them of this deed is an exaggeration
- Here, Lady Macbeth’s practicality clashes with Macbeth’s morality
7
Q
Part Two - Link to the end of the play
“A little water clears us of this deed”
Short sentence
A
- This scene is mirrored at the end of the play where she is seen to be repetitively wahing her hands where she feels her hands ‘will never be clean’
- Through reliving the action of washing her hands, it highlights the fact she is consumed by guilt and cannot escape it even in her sleep
8
Q
[MACBETH ANALYSIS]
“Our fears in Banquo stick deep”
A
- Lady Macbeth is no longer controling Macbeth’s actions
- She is content with their kingship
9
Q
“She has light by her continually”
A
- Lady Macbeth is trying to dispel her greates fear, darkness
- Perhaps there is a suggestion here that she would like to atone for her sins
- She is being consumed by the darkness of her crimes
- If light represents God and Heaven, she may be trying to mend her relationship with God
- However, the taper that she uses is only a small source of light so she is loving her battle with the darkness because it encompasses her despite her efforts to dispel it
10
Q
Part One - Blood and guilt
“Out damned spot”
Imperative
A
- The blood on Lady Macbeth’s hands is a symbol of guilt
- Lady Macbeth is unable to rid her hands of the spot of blood
- She is overwhelmed by guilt and it is consuming her thoughts completely haunts her in her sleeping hours
11
Q
Part Two - Motif of hand-washing
“Out damned spot”
Imperative
A
- Her constant hand washing is a motif that appears throughout the play is a way in which she is trying to rid herself of guilt
- She is looking for absolution for her sins
- The washing of flesh is and emblem for the purging of sin, which is what Lady Macbeth is searching for
12
Q
Part Three - Lady Macbeth’s transformation
“Out damned spot”
Imperative
A
- Lady Macbeth has turned from a suave hostess into a gibbering woman who has lost control of her mental faculties
- Her guilt also overcomes her and there is a sharp contrast with the beginning of the play where she says - ‘a little water clears us of this deed’ and now - *‘all the perfumes of Arabia cannot sweeten this little hand’
13
Q
Part Four - Lady Macbeth’s recollection of events
“Out damned spot”
Imperative
A
- She recalls events in a disjointed order which suggests that she is unaware of the rality of the events that have occured
14
Q
Part Five - Shakespeare’s intent
“Out damned spot”
Imperative
A
- Despite Lady Macbeth beig presented as a powrful, dominant force at the beginning of the play - at this part of the play, Shakespeare reduces her to a weak woman whose words hold little value
- She is reduced to the typical Jacobean stereotype of a meek and powerless woman
- Perhaps Shakespeare is warning the audience that a woman who allows her power-hungry desires to dominate her actions will eventually be faced with a great downfall - in Lady Macbeth’s case: death
15
Q
Part One - the meaning of ‘hereafter’ as ‘anyway’
“She should have died hereafter”
A
- Macbeth is insensitive to death because it is inevitable, or possibly because of the number of deaths he has been involved with, he has become immune and desensitised to death
- It also suggests that Macbeth has become emotionless and demoralised
