mark-winners Flashcards
Why is the weather bad when the witches open the play?
To create an evil mood (with pathetic fallacy), while they are making evil plans.
How does the play have a cyclical structure?
A traitor is killed near the beginning (in1.2) and a traitor (Macbeth) is killed near the end (5.8).
How is Macbeth a tragic hero?
He starts off good and strong by defending the king, but a fatal weakness (his ambition) causes him to change to a traitor, leading to his death.
Why is the execution of the Thane of Cawdor foreshadowing?
He died because he betrayed the king, and the same thing happens to Macbeth after he is made Thane of Cawdor.
Why does Shakespeare have Macbeth repeat the witches’ oxymoron ‘fair and foul’?
To show how they have reversed good and bad, and they will be able to change Macbeth from good to bad.
Why is the motif of darkness important in Macbeth’s metaphor ‘Stars hide your fires’?
Darkness is associated with evil, and by wanting it, Macbeth is starting to hide his intentions.
How is Lady Macbeth’s reaction to the letter in 1.5 shocking?
She wants to be less of a natural woman; and seems like a witch planning harm.
How does Lady Macbeth persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan in 1.7?
She questions his manhood.
How do the prophecies affect Macbeth in 1.3?
They plant a seed of ambition to be king.
How does Macbeth’s soliloquy in 2.1 make him ready to kill Duncan?
He hallucinates a bloody dagger, and talks about darkness.
In 2.2, how is the motif of water important?
Lady Macbeth gets Macbeth to wash his hands, while she arranges the murder scene, showing she thinks this will put their sins behind them.
In 3.2, how is the metaphor of scorpions important?
It suggests Macbeth’s thoughts have become poisonous, perhaps because they are evil or mad; either way, they are harmful and secretive.
In 3.4, why is the appearance of Banquo’s ghost important?
It shows Macbeth struggling with his guilt, and it makes his guilt more obvious to people around him.
In 5.1, why is the motif of water important, in parallel with 2.2?
Lady Macbeth is unable to wash away the hallucination of blood on her hands because her guilty conscience makes her mad, which parallels how Macbeth felt he could never wash away the stains of his sin and she had been confident that washing hands could hide their guilt for Duncan’s death.
In 5.2, why is the metaphor of the giant’s robe important?
It gives a visual physical idea of why Macbeth is not great enough to be successful or comfortable with the power that comes with being king.
