Lit Flashcards
Too full oth milk and kindness
She instantly states that MB will be’ what thou art promised’ which shows determination and strength of will that we may not have been expecting
She goes onto criticise her husbands nature, since he is ‘too full oth milk and kindness’ wife criticising her husbands nature would shock the jacobean audience.
Metaphorical meaning that he is too full of milk, and how milk is associated with female breasts is linked to weakness, at the time women had no rights, and this foreshadows later statement ‘unsex me here’ she is setting up contrast between 2 characters how MB is too full of milk and LM wants her milk taken away from her, this links to masculinity, power, ambition reference has no child therefore power is limited
I may pour my spirits in thine ear
Seems witch like, some argue that she is the fourth witch which is supported with ‘spirit’ how Banquo states that they have ‘beards, don’t look like women at all’
Verb ‘pour’ its a direct correlation to LM persuasive, metaphorically symbolises how she is manipulative her husband with word play. It also sound poisons it links with ‘chalice’, arguably there is a supernatural element here referring being possessed, seems as if its from the weird sisters
Unsex me here
Both Lm and the witches seem to blur the gender boundaries and how LM asks the spirits to remove her gender and femininity so she can persuade MB to kill Duncan, her imagery becomes more disturbing with a refusal of any maternal instinct taken to the extreme.
‘Come to my woman’s breast and take my milk for gall’ directly juxtaposes with ‘milk of human kindness’ used to describe MB it is imperative/demanding it can present her hubris(fatal flaw) comes to light over ambition
She continues to embody masculine characters in the pursuit of power whilst defying the great chain of being-they are both naturally punished
Violating roles
LM association with the supernatural violates her expected role as domesticated and passive woman. She is immediately going against all society norms, adhering the gothic conventions
She pleads for the spirits help and this further implies that the role of woman at the time was restricted.
Her imperatives language ‘come’ ‘stop’ ‘take’ that she is more dominant over the two, gothic connotations ‘make thick my blood’ echoes the words of the witches
Semantic field employed by her character ‘raven’ ‘fatal’ ‘night’ associated with something more machiavellian
Look like the innocent flower but the serpent undert’
Appearance v Reality- Guy Fawkes gun powder plot, King James 1 was awarded with a medal that presents a serpent hiding beneath a flower-tried to disrupt the great chain of being, regicide
Word ‘serpent’ has Biblical connotations and relates to the serpent in Genesis, how the serpent tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and as a result leads to a downfall of mankind-direct correlation
I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked the nipple from his boneless gum and dashed the brain out
Shakespeare use of violent imagery distances us further from her and emphasises the nation that she is the very opposite of maternal, shakespeare distorts the role of woman, also suggests that the ‘unsex me here’ has been successful
Out damned spot, out , i say
This is in act 5 scene 1
Sleep is associated with innocence links to the ‘innocent flower’ which is unlike what we’ve seen of LM
Sleep walking is linked to gothic genre and has connotations of madness, as the play progresses she has descended into madness, Shakespeare put LM speeches in prose which is often linked to the lower class and at the start of the play she was speaking in iambic pentameter-this now highlights her downfall and being irrelevant
She now expresses guilt: ‘the thane of fife had a wife, where is she now, what will these hands never be clean’ her lines are much more fragmented, she is desperate, anxious, guilty which contrast from act 1 scene 5
The imperatives are still present, but they are much more desperate ‘out’ is enhanced with an exclamation mark, word ‘damned’ association with hell- how she will go straight to hell for her actions links to the devil which is similar at the beginning of the play
Personalities
LM can have two personalities;
When shes awoke she displays cunning traits notably however in the sleep walking scene she becomes more anxious and panics about her actions. However, when she is awoke she shows no remorse which juxtaposes with her guilt sleep walking state, cowardice is more dominant and at the beginning she was more brave from the witches prophets by murdering the king.
In her waking condition she shows no fear of blood ‘ a little water clears us from this deed’ adjective ‘little’ as if its easy to get rid of it
‘Deed’ she speaks in double meanings perhaps it could reference to her double personalities
Progressively as the play move on she turn into state of SOMNAMBULISM(sleep walking)
In the opening scenes where she appears dominant and is acting on behalf of her conscience utilises the iambic pentameter, definition up and down rhythm serves to indicate something unstable about LM. By the end of the play she becomes more sub conscious
Out damned spot
Relationship between MB and LM begin to disintegrate and so does there mental stability, the fact that she is a protagonist, she is socially high in the hierarchy and speaks in pros her insignificance, metaphorically washing of the hands represents her guilt and torture that LM is suffering, however on alternative interpretations could be that this is subconscious of LM: her true self, this version of the villainess establishes the theme of appearance v reality, this heavily juxtaposes the dominant character of act 1 scene 5 and 7, shakespeare here presents a vulnerable, mentally unstable woman who questions her actions and morality-more symbolically, imperative ‘out’ reiterates a desperation about her in this moment, rather than speaking to her bloody hands, she is in fact pleading for remorse to disappear. As the only protagonist in a shakespeare play to die speaking in pros we see the sanction of defying order and royalty.
‘Adjective’ damned reminds us of a religion reprimand where people are condemned to eternal punishment, great chain of being reference eternal punishment has connotations of hell, interestingly she labels blood as ‘damned’ almost deflecting once again her own actions, biblically denying repentance means she is doomed
