Macbeth flashcards

‘Carved out his passage’

• carved = verb, like a butcher

• shows Macb’s BRUTALITY + RUTHLESSNESS

• shows how EASY it is for his to kill

• PHYSICALLY POWERFUL

‘rapt’

repetition emphasises:

• Macb is under the witches’ influence- they have POWER over him

• MORALLY WEAK

• metaphor = how obsessed he is with his ambition

[Aside]

• used through scene

• reveals obsessions with predictions + ambition to be king

• reveals SECRETIVE MACB, begins to be DECEPTIVE

• influenced by Witches

'our duties are to your throne’ —> ‘let not light see my black and deep desires’

• Macb’s language is RESPECTFUL and FORMAL —> irony, reveals his deceptiveness —> CONTRASTS his later language

• IMAGERY OF DARKNESS = witches

• plosive alliteration = powerful desire to kill D, suggests the violence he’s willing to use

• theme: DECEPTION

“too full o’ the milk of human kindness”

• METAPHOR: ‘milk’ = femanine image linked w motherhood

• she thinks he’s not strong enough to fulfill ambition

• HE IS WEAK —> ironic as war hero

• links with “how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me… dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn”

“how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me… dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn”

• CONTRAST - motherly image w her BRUTALITY and POWER

• plosives alliteration —> SHOCKING+VIOLENT image to MANIPULATE Macb into killing D

• contrasts idea of weak women at the time

• links w “too full o’ the milk of kindness” and “unsex me here”

‘amen’

‘stuck in my throat’

• shows Macb’s FEAR OF DAMNATION bc he’s unable to say amen —> fears he has lost God’s blessing

• repetition = his growing paranoia

• ‘stuck’ = suffering/physical pain this causes him

• he is suffocated by his fear of god

‘sleep no more’

repetition - emphasises HIS CONSCIENCE HAUNTS him - reflects Macb’s PARANOIA and GUILT —> his guilt PARALYSES him from taking action.

‘sleep’ = peace if mind + clear conscience —> he has LOST THIS —> the murder has traumatised him

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand”

• he OBSESSES abt the blood on his hands

• BLOOD = HIS GUILT —> feels he will never be free of guilt —> TORMENTED by guilt

• aware he’s DISRUPTED THE NATURAL ORDER —> the ocean has been corrupted by the murder of D

• link to christianity - water is used to cleanse sin, Macb is unable to clean his hands → he’s beyond salvation, no hope of redemption

“the earth was feverous and did shake”

• image of CHAOS link w D’s murder—>he has OVERTURNED THE NATURAL ORDER

• imagery of sickness = metaphor for how his actions CORRUPT NATURE

• consequences of defying God —> links w Jesus’ death in the Bible when the earth shook —> both were servants of God

“O, full of scorpions is my mind”

scorpions = metaphor = feels he has been poisoned/infected by GUILT and FEAR

• emphasises how he has NO PEACE OF MIND

CONTRAST in animal images, from lion/eagle at the start (nobility, bravery) to scorpions (evil thoughts and poisonous ambition)

‘fair is foul and foul is fair’

Witches getting ready to meet Macbeth

• oxymoron foreshadows the theme of good and evil in the play

• Macbeth falls from his noble good graces as ‘Brave Macbeth’ down to the ‘Dead Butcher’.

• This all happened because of the manipulative powers of the witches.

• This subtle foreshadowing of the events could present the witches as omniscient and cunning

• This is a paradoxical phrase