Macbeth Flashcards
Macbeth is greedy
‘Let not light see my black and deep desires’
Macbeth guilty
‘My hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine’
- blood symbolises guilt
- like flesh -> savage
- polysyllabic words convey M’s agitation
What literary structure is used in Act 2, Scene 2?
The structure used is stichomythia. (displays their guilt and paranoia, begins their descent into madness)
Macbeth is too ambitious metaphor
‘Only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’other’ Macbeth is aware of this flaw
Lady Macbeth thinks Macbeth is capable of ambitious dreams but thinks he is not ruthless enough
‘Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it’
she understands ruthlessness is bad (“illness”)
What is the meter of the witches’ dialogue?
The witches talk in trochaic tetrameter.
Witches speak in unison. Notable line. Appearances cannot be trusted
‘Foul is fair and fair is foul’
Lady Macbeth criticises M’s masculinity
‘Too full o’th’milk of human kindness’ implies that Macbeth is overly compassionate, which hinders his ambition.
Milk -> feminine qualities
Milk is white -> associated with cowardliness
Lady Macbeth - wants to be more cruel
‘Take my milk for gall’
milk - feminine
gall - masculine and ruthlessness (acidic liquid)
LM wants to exceed the gender limitations
Lady M’s connection with supernatural
‘Come, you spirits’ is a call for supernatural forces -> gives her power?? she doesn’t directly speak to them
LM demands to change gender
‘Unsex me here and fill me…topfull of direst cruelty’ reveals Lady Macbeth’s desire to shed her femininity - she feels her gender limits her and her power
She views masculinity as cruelty
LM instructs M
‘Look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t’
- reference to Adam and Eve -> Eve causes the downfall of Adam
What is a general characteristic of Lady Macbeth’s language?
Lady Macbeth uses persuasive language, such as rhetorical questions, to manipulate Macbeth.
LM calls M a coward
‘Like the poor cat i’th’adage’ is a proverb
LM’s infanticide
‘Dash’d the brains out’ indicates a willingness to commit extreme violence.
infanticide is related to the supernatural
gruesome imagery which makes her seem evil -> women are dangerous
Macbeth’s hallucination
‘Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?’
- convinces him to commit murder
- insane?
- supernatural causes it?
- already being punished for thinking about regicide?
Euphemisms
‘Bloody business’ / “it” / “deed” -> LM and M cannot confront the actual deed because they are so guilty
Macbeth’s insomnia
‘Macbeth shall sleep no more’ -> repeated, erratic tone
- insomnia due to guilt - God’s/divine punishment?
Stage directions that suggest divine punishment coming
‘Knock within’ + knocking mentioned in Porter’s monologue - knocking to enter hell
Scares LM
Disruption to natural order 1
‘The earth was feverous’ - great crime reflected in natural world
Sickness emphasises the damage M has done
Disruption to natural order 2
‘The night has been unruly’
“unruly” - literally, as King has been killed, there is no ruler -> dramatic irony
Macbeth’s greed and paranoia
‘To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus’ expresses Macbeth’s fear of losing power. He is insecure about his infertility (“fruitless crown”)
Macbeth thinks they were only partially successful
‘We have scorch’d the snake, not kill’d it’ - metaphor foreshadows Malcolm’s attack
Macbeth is scared the royal dynasty will recover and LM and M will be in danger
Tricolon which shows Macbeth’s paranoia
‘Cabin’d, cribb’d, confin’d, bound in to saucy doubts and fears’ conveys Macbeth’s feelings of entrapment and anxiety (tricolon exaggerates it). Physical symptoms makes it more powerful.
