lm essay Flashcards
1
Q
overview
A
lm begins by being evil and manipulative. she gets her power through her words and her influence over Macbeth. however after m receives more prophecies and kills more people he begins to rely less on lm. therefore she starts to lose power. at the end of the play lm completely feels the guilt of her actions and speaks in prose. prose is the common language among servants and common people and Shakespeare uses this to show she has lost all power
2
Q
lm receives the letter (1)
A
- letter shares the witches prophecies and is treason. shows how lm is trusted by m as he could die for this. she has influence over m
- after reading letter she says m is “too full o the milk of human kindness” to kill d. lm criticises him for his weakness and says he isn’t a man as milk is associated with women. as he is too full of these female qualities it shows how lm believes she is more of a man than him as she is capable of killing d
- she calls on evil spirits and asks to “take my milk for gall”. gall is poison. she wants to replace her milk to feed children in exchange for poison so she can be evil. this suggests how lm is very ambitious and would do anything, even kill her own offspring, to become queen
3
Q
lm persuades m to kill d (2)
A
- when m begins to give into the idea of killing d she makes them sound like a team. instead of addressing him as “you” she says “what can you and i perform.” she makes it sound like they are team and makes the job sound easier. this could suggest how lm uses m for her own benefit which makes her manipulative
4
Q
m killed d (3)
A
- after being told m has killed d she acts insensitively towards m and dismisses his feelings by saying “a little water clears us of this deed.” she’s saying that the blood can easily be washed off. this suggests how she has no guilt of remorse for her actions as she thinks she can wash the deed away. she is naive for thinking it won’t effect her later.
5
Q
lm is queen (4)
A
- lm says “tis safer to be that which we destroy than be destruction dwell in fear in doubtful joy.” she is saying that it is better to be dead than live in fear all the time because they killed d. she is in “doubtful joy” because she is queen but doesn’t feel safe on the throne. the oxymoron “doubtful joy” contradicts itself which suggests how she is feeling unhappy and insecure and constantly fears for her life.
6
Q
m argues and talks back to lm (5)
A
- she asks m “are you a man” to which he replies “ay and a bold one.” this suggests how lm has lost power as it all comes from her influence over m but because he’s arguing back and standing up for himself he can’t be manipulated. this contrasts to earlier in the play when she called him a coward and then he killed d. this helps to emphasise her loss of power over m.
- m decides to visit the witches. the fact he chose to confide in the witches and seek advice from them rather than lm suggests her loss of power
7
Q
lm feels guilty (6)
A
- lm always carries a taper with her to feel safe. earlier on in the play, she called on dark spirits so that she can kill d. the fact she carries a light suggests the guilt shes feeling and the fear she has as she’s now afraid of the dark. the dark could symbolise her past deeds.
- she keeps rubbing at a spot of blood on her hands and says “here’s a spot.” the fact that shes always rubbing at it suggests that she wants the spot gone. the blood on her gnats could also suggest the guilt shes feeling and how she can’t get rid of it. this is ironic because earlier in the play she said that she could just wash the blood off her hands and she will be cleared of the deed but she is still haunted by it
