macbeth

Question 1

Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps / and fixed his head upon our battlements (1,2)

Answer 1

Macbeth is valiant and brave on the battlefield. poses a slight concern to the audience as the image is quite brutal

Question 2

O valiant cousin , worth gentleman (1,2)

Answer 2

Ironic. Macbeth is well regarded for his bravery on the battlefield conducting ‘ moral killing’

Question 3

Go pronounce his present death/ and with is noble greet macbeth (1,2)

Answer 3

Rhyming couplet. Empathetic words are macbeth and death - close association between the two from the outset. Foreshadows the death caused by macbeth, including duncans own murder.

Question 4

Peace! The charms wound up (1,3)

Answer 4

The witches hold a supernatural control over macbeth

Question 5

So foul and fair a day i have not seen (1,3)

Answer 5

Macbeth’s language echoes that of the witches. Emphasises the close association between the witches and macbeth - their possible hold over him

Question 6

Glamis and thane of cawdor . The greatest is behind (1,3)

Answer 6

Ambition grips Macbeth as he realises that the possibility of reigning is within his reach

Question 7

My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical (1,3)

Answer 7

Macbeth is afraid of the murderous thoughts he is already having. Causes him to question his state of humanity.

Question 8

Stars, hide your fires / let not light see my black and deep desires (1,4

Answer 8

Gothic image of deceit and obscurity. Macbeth is using ‘dark forces’ to mask his actions

Question 9

Vaulting ambition, which over leaps and falls on the other (1,7)

Answer 9

Macbeth recognises his ‘fatal flaw’ as ambition that may lead to his downfall.

Question 10

A dagger of the mind, a false creation proceeding from the heat oppressed brain (2,1)

Answer 10

Macbeth questions the appearance of the dagger, is it all in his mind. Is he already been driven to madness. Different interpretations of the dagger suggest that it has either been sent by supernatural forces and persuades macbeth to kill duncan of a figment of his imagination - a manifestation of insanity.

Question 11

And mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man (3,1)

Answer 11

Macbeth’s concerns that he has sold his soul to the devil . \euphemism. Common jacobean fear

Question 12

Better be with the dead (3,2)

Answer 12

Indifference to life. Macbeth is plagued by guilt. Suggestion of demonic possession or is he merely plagued by guilt

Question 13

Will all great neptunes oceans wash this blood clean from my hand ,No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red. (2,2)

Answer 13

Blood, specifically Duncan’s blood, serves as the symbol of that guilt, and Macbeth’s sense that “all great Neptune’s ocean” cannot cleanse him—that there is enough blood on his hands to turn the entire sea red—will stay with him until his dea

Question 14

cannot be ill cannot be good (1,3)

Answer 14

Macbeth’s dialogue “cannot be ill, cannot be good” reflects his state of a dilemma about the three witches’ prophecy. He notices that something which the witches have prophesied has come true. He says that though these words are true still they have negativity in them.