Macbeth Flashcards
1
Q
“Valour’s minion”
Ambition
act 1
A
- Strongly abides to the code of honour. adjective “valour” connotates to bravery and courageousness presenting him as the epitome of chivalry and heroism
- Alternatively noun “minion” could foreshadow his susceptibility and how he will soon be a marionette to the witches
1
Q
“disdaining fortune…smok’d with bloody execution”
Violence
act 1
A
- suggests he is a relentless force in battle and is so skilled that his sword does not have time to cool
- Alternatively “smok’d” could connotate to heat and hell foreshadowing his evil
- the phrase “disdaining fortune” shows a disregard to his fate, and his attempt to manipulate the natural order and go against God’s will. This later becomes evident in his disruption of the divine right of kings ( the belief that kings were chosen by God)
2
Q
“is this the dagger that I see before me, the handle towards my hand. Come let me clutch thee”
act 2
a volta
A
- the rhetorical question shows his internal conflict and his confusion and foreshadows his later madness
- the phrase “handle towards my hand” is ridding himself of responisibiltiy over the murder as it were being offered to him or foerced upon him. From this we can learn that he can achknowledge the immorality of his actions, yet amibition takes over
- reinforced by the ambiguous phrase “ fatal vision” the adjective “fatal” simultaneously alludes to the fatalities that his actions are decreed by fate
- he calls the dagger an “instrument”, perhaps alluding to the “instruments of darkness” (the witches) to the dark musicality, have entranced him to regicide and have brought him to this sheer inner turmoil
- the staging here can alos be interesting as if the dagger is shown on stage is draws the audience to Macbeth’s madness, a contemprary audience would be confounded by the enigma of the supernatural and the power they hold. COnversly if the dagger is invisible Macbeth’s madness becomes apparent early on in the play
- Essentially, the dagger is used a scapegoat to expel Macbeth of the balme of the regicide as a coping machanism of the premature guilt
3
Q
“I am in blood/ stepp’d in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious”
A
- Previously the “blood” (which is a motif of the consequrnces of murder) was merely on his hands yet now it is enrobed his entire body and by extension his entire sense of being
- Macbeth admits he cannot return to his position of virtue or innocence so it is easier to conitnue on a murderous path
- Macbeth’s respone to fear and guilt has transitioned him from being horrified to indulging further in heinous acts, murder now becomes his means of self - preservation
4
Q
“tell e” and “call em”
says to te wtiches
threatens the witches with an “eternal curse”
A
- imperative phrases, he speaks with greed and hunger for power,this is the first time he intentionally approaches the witches reinforcing his abandonement of resiting evil highlighting how he is embraced his new tyrannical demeanour
- ironic as we have seen their overt supernatural power, he believes he can supersede this
- His ego is prevelant as the witches ambiguous apparetions provide him an ephermal sense of security and invincibilty
5
Q
“before my body, I throw my war like a shield”
act 5
violence
A
- “Sheild” connotates protection, it shows Macbeth desperately wanting to protect and preserve his former noble image of him being a “worthy” and “valient” soilder. As his last words contain a violent sematic field, it shows how his ambitious and violent nature has directly caused his fall from grace
6
Q
“life is but a walking shadow… it is a tale …. signifying nothing”
act 5
A
- he understands his futilty of his ambition
- the noun “tale” extends the idea that the witches’ influence was like an ominous nursery rhyme - they speak in trochaic trimetere and rhyming couplets which almost pardoy their dialogue
- Macbeth’s lexis almost creates a semantic field transience, the nouns “candle” and “shadow” are imperermant and fragile in the sense that they can easily be extinguished
- Macbeth undergoes anagnorisis throughout act 5
