Supernatural

Question 1

First quote - Act 1 - Scene 5 - Lady Macbeth

Answer 1

“Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear”

Question 2

Second quote - Act 2 - Scene 1 - Macbeth

Answer 2

“Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch/ thee”

Question 3

Third quote - Act 4 - Scene 1 - Macbeth

Answer 3

“Had I three ears, I’d hear thee”

Question 4

Fourth quote - Act 4 - Scene 3 - Malcolm

Answer 4

“This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongue”

Question 5

First quote analysis

Answer 5

• Repetition of “t” and “h” sounds, same as witches’ use of consonants, showing connections of Lady Macbeth to witches
• “pour” implies LM sees her words as an intoxicant or poison such as wine, commonly associated with Shakespeare plays
• “pour” also shows weakness of Macbeth as the pouring of a liquid is an elegant and effortless movement, easy to influence his morals

Question 6

Second quote analysis

Answer 6

-First signs of Macbeth’s insanity as neither Macbeth neither the audience know whether the dagger is real.

• The feminine ending shows uncertainty as the rest of the soliloquy scans normally, could also show LM’s influence and manipulation
• Trochaic inversion in the second line following a caesura highlights Macbeth’s fragmented mindset when it comes to killing Duncan
• Rhyme also shows that is evidence that the witches have affected Macbeth and that if he carries out this act he would be fuelling the super natural’s power further by disrupting the Great chain of being

Question 7

Third quote analysis

Answer 7

• The number 3 or thrice is repeated: there are 3 witches who call out Macbeth 3 time and address him with 3 different names, Macbeth sees 3 apparitions and the animals cry out 3 times.
  - In witch craft, 3 is significant as the Rule of three in Wicca, says
  whatever energy someone puts into the world, will be returned 3 times
  - Macbeth commits 3 main murders and he is killed by Macduff who is
  with Duncan’s 2 sons, Malcolm and Donalbain.
• In the Bible, God is in three forms: God the father, God the son and God the holy spirit
  -Macbeth does things in threes, can be seen as an unholy trinity, suggesting that he is associated with the Devil and he is going against the natural order of the universe.

Question 8

Fourth quote analysis

Answer 8

• Links back to when Macbeth was unable to say “amen”, suggesting he has strayed so far from goodness that this word is too holy and pure to be uttered from an evil man
• Also suggests that Macbeths name is riddled with so much evil that it can’t be said by Malcom and Macduff as they are too pure and moral.
  - Presenting it as a curse, linking it Jacobean ideas about illness and
  blisters on the tongue were often thought to be sent as a
  punishment from god
• Macbeth’s name is so blackened that it will curse anyone who utters it as he is present to defy god by breaking the Divine Right of Kings