Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

Act 1, Scene 11. The play starts out in a deserted, wild sort of place. The weather is stormy. This, the appearance of the three witches creates a strikingly evil atmosphere.2. We learn that there will be a battle and we learn that the witches are about to meet Macbeth.3. The witches have bad characters and bad intentions.4. The rhymes and strongly stressed syllables in their speech make their speech sound more like a chant than a conversation.5. A mood of foreboding and evil is created.Act 1, Scene 21. Macbeth is introduced as a noble, brave person. He is not afraid of anything and is one of the army s generals. On page 13, line 21, the soldier calls him valour s minion. 2. Duncan is the king of Scotland and they are at war with Norway.3. Macbeth has established himself as a brave, fearless person. He killed Macdonwald, who was the rebel waging war on Scotland, and cut off his head. Duncan, the soldier and Ross are talking about Macbeth s bravery on the battlefield.4. Duncan reveals himself to be a just king because in the last line of the scene we learn that he has decided to make Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor. He does this because Macbeth played a key role in their victory.Act 1, Scene 31. The witches, among many other things, were believed to be prophesiers of the future. So when the witches tell Macbeth that he will be king of Scotland, he believes them. This sets into motion the plans for the murder that takes place later on.2. Macbeth is slightly stunned by the prophesies of the witches. Banquo is calmer.3. One quality revealed is ambition. When Macbeth learns that he is to become the Thane of Cawdor he starts thinking about what the witches said about him being king of Scotland.4. The news of his becoming the Thane of Cawdor kindles Macbeth s ambition. This is the reason he thinks about becoming king and this is the reason for the murders that take place throughout the rest of the play.Act 1, Scene 41. Dramatic irony occurs when what a character says or believes contrasts with what we know to be true. In lines 11 to 14 Duncan says that appearances can deceive and yet he trusts Macbeth who is thinking of taking Duncan s place as king.2. From this we learn that Macbeth s character is not stable. He is only good to someone when he needs something from that person or when it is convenient for him. When things become inconvenient, he deserts everyone and only thinks about himself.Act 1, Scene 51. When we first see Lady Macbeth, she is reading a letter sent to her by Macbeth telling her of his encounter with the witches and their prophecies. At once we see that Lady Macbeth wants to stop at nothing to make her husband king. She calls upon evil spirits to make her merciless and cruel so that she can convince Macbeth to kill Duncan.2. Lady Macbeth is disloyal; she has no second thoughts about killing Duncan. She thinks about herself all the time.3. a) The letter informs her of the prophecies of the witches. b) The first soliloquy reveals Lady Macbeth s evil intentions. c) The soliloquy beginning on line 35 informs us that Lady Macbeth is calling upon evil spirits to make her merciless and cruel.4. The expression means that Macbeth is too kind and merciful and he should give some of this up if he is to be king.Act 1, Scene 61. The speeches on lines 17-23, lines 30-33. In these speeches Lady Macbeth praises Duncan even though she is planning the murder.2. Three instances of dramatic irony occur when: a) Line 23, Lady Macbeth says, we rest your hermits . This means that they are praying for Duncan. In reality they are planning his murder. b) Lines 19 to 21 Lady Macbeth says , were poor and single business………Your majesty loads our house . This means they are happy with the kings handsome rewards. We know that this is not true. c) Lines 30-33. Again Lady Macbeth praises Duncan without really meaning it.3. From Scene 6 we get to know that Duncan was a kind and merciful person who, as a king, loved his subjects. By learning this the audience is even more against Macbeth when he kills Duncan.Act 1, Scene 71. One of the things that Macbeth is afraid of is the after-life. He does not know if his actions will have any effects on his after-life. he does not want to murder Duncan because he knows Duncan is noble, loyal, kind, merciful and a fellow human being. He is also afraid because he thinks that if he kills Duncan, something bad will also happen to him.2. Lady Macbeth calls Macbeth a coward and tells him that she would rather kill her child than break a commitment. She tells Macbeth that if he backs down now he won t be able to call himself brave anymore. This is consistent with Macbeth s soliloquy at the beginning because on line 21 Macbeth compares pity with a baby. Thus he will be acting like a frightened child if he did not go ahead with the plans.3. Lady Macbeth finally completely convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan.Act 2, Scene 11. It is dark. The place is Macbeth s castle. It is late in the night, past midnight.2. The function of this scene is to let the audience know that now Macbeth is finally convinced that he must kill Duncan. We know this because he invisions a dagger with blood on it pointing towards the sleeping king. (lines 40-49)Act 2, Scene 21. The audience can guess as to how Macbeth felt just after he killed Duncan before returning to his wife.2. Macbeth is panic-stricken. He cannot believe that he has killed his own king. He knows that he will never forget the murder.3. Macbeth is scared and guilty. Lady Macbeth is calmer and more in control because she wasn t the one who killed Duncan.Act 2, Scene 31. In Shakespearean times, only the rich upper class people got an education. So the variation of the porter speaking in prose while everyone else spoke in verse could be to expose this fact. While the porter goes to open the castle doors he pretends to be the porter at the gate of hell, who admits everyone who has committed sins.2. On line 82, Macduff says, Ring the alarm-bell. Murder and treason! On line 153 Banquo says Of treasonous malice. Act 2, Scene 41. On the day following the murder of Duncan, the sun has not risen.2. The significance of his going to Fife is that he does not accept Macbeth as the new king. He needs time to think things over.Act 3, Scene11. Macbeth decides to hold a banquet in honor of his becoming king.2. Macbeth knows that Banquo is an honest person and he fears that if he gets to know the truth about the murder of Duncan he will expose Macbeth. He also knows that Banquo is fearless. He is jealous of Banquo because the witches foretold that Banquo s children would be kings.3. Shakespeare wants to let the audience know that Macbeth still remembers the fear he felt after the first murder, so now he decides to hire someone else to do his dirty work.

4. He convinced the murderers that Banquo was evil and working for Satan (line 73). He convinced them that it was because of Banquo that they were poor (line 82-83).Act 3, Scene 21. No she isn t because both her and her husband are having trouble sleeping and eating. They can t help thinking and dreaming about the murder.2. He keeps it a secret because he sees that she is already suffering because of Duncan s murder and she might tell him to call Banquo s murder off.3. It is based on fear because he does not want his wife to tell him to call off Banquo s murder.4. He wants the night to hide his foul deeds.Act 3, Scene 31. The turning point of the play occurs when Fleance escapes after Banquo is stabbed.2. It could be Macbeth himself because he could be so worried that things won t work out and Banquo will escape that he shows up himself. Or it could be that he hired a third murderer because in the next scene when the murderers tell him that Fleance has escaped he is surprised. Then again, he could just be pretending to be surprised.3. Banquo calls it treachery, urges his son to escape and avenge his death.Act 3, Scene 41. On line 55 and 57 Ross and Lennox tell Macbeth to sit but only Macbeth sees that the table is full because the ghost of Banquo has taken his place.2. No the ghost should only be visible to Macbeth, like it was done in the play. If it were otherwise, the play would end too soon, because then the ghost would expose Macbeth. By staying invisible to everyone but Macbeth, the ghost gets him to act curiously and the first hints of real suspicion take root in the play.3. He attempts to tell him to calm down and act like a man. She fails when the ghost appears for the second time and people start to suspect even more.4. The dramatic purpose is that the witches tell him false prophecies and he thinks he is invincible. This leads to his downfall.5. At the beginning of the play he talked about how he didn t want to murder people. He was loyal. Now, he talks and thinks about murder quite openly.Act 3, Scene 51. The purpose of this scene is to let the audience know that the witches intend to deliver false prophecies to Macbeth, leading to his downfall.2. In this scene Hecate, queen of the witches, is in charge of things. The other three witches act only as messengers for her (they only deliver the prophecies).Act 3, Scene61. Fleance has been blamed.2. This scene informs us that everyone now knows that it is Macbeth who was behind the murders and that Malcolm has taken refuge in England.Act 4, Scene 11. The apparitions who tell Macbeth the prophecies; the head wearing a battle helmet, a blood- covered child, and a child wearing a crown and carrying a tree; all have significance with eachof the three prophecies. The first prophecy is to beware of Macduff; the head wearing the battle helmet could be Macduff, because it was Macduff who kills Macbeth at the end. The second prophecy was that Macbeth could not be killed by anyone born of a woman. The blood – covered child could represent Macduff because he was delivered by a cesarean section. The third prophecy was that he would only be defeated when the trees of Birnam Wood moved towards his castle. The child wearing a crown and carrying a tree could represent Malcolm who ordered his soldiers to carry branches and who was later crowned king.2. Macbeth has now become a person who stops at nothing to achieve his goals.Act 4, Scene 21. She views him as a selfish person who only thought of his safety.2. The purpose is for the audience to get to know them better and when they are murdered, the audience hates Macbeth even more.3. This scene tells us that Macbeth will kill anyone who stands in his way of being king.Act 4, Scene 31. Malcolm calls Macduff as a traitorous, greedy, vicious type of person. He shocks Macduff so much that Macduff prepares to leave. It is then that Malcolm knows Macduff is on his side and he takes back all he has said praising Macduff.2. When Ross tells Macduff of the murder of his family Macduff is overcome with grief. Later on vows to take revenge on Macbeth.3. The dramatic purpose is for Macduff to get enraged by the news of the murder of his family. This anger makes him fight fiercely and kill Macbeth on the battlefield.Act 5, Scene 11. Their conversation tells us that Lady Macbeth has now revealed everything about the murder while sleep-walking. Almost everyone now knows that she was involved in the murder.2. In reality, Lady Macbeth does not want to reveal anything about the murder. However we know that conscience is troubling her. So this is what causes her to sleep-walk and reveal all her secrets while doing so.3. In Act 2, Scene 2, on line 85 Lady Macbeth says A little water clears us of this deed . She believes that they can easily forget about the murder of Duncan. However, in Act 5, Scene 1, we see that she is obsessed with the fact that she can never cleanse her hands of the blood.4. A nemesis of an opponent in an adversary. With Lady Macbeth, the fact that she cannot forget the murder is her nemesis.Act 5, Scene 21. The dramatic function of this scene is to let us know that everyone has deserted Macbeth, no one is staying because they want to. We also learn that English forces are closing in on the castle.Act 5, Scene 31. Macbeth is saddened by her imminent death. he asks the doctor to try to cure her, but the doctor tells him that her sickness is not physical in nature.2. Although he knows that his man are outnumbered he truly feels that he cannot be defeated until Birnam forest closes in on his castle.3. The irony is that it was Macbeth who caused all the turmoil and made Scotland sick . Now he wanted the doctor to cure it s sickness.4. In the previous scene we see Macbeth s enemies speaking of their plans and also talking about Macbeth, calling him a tyrant. In this scene we see that when Macbeth sees that his wife is ill, he may be beginning to repent and loose some of his cruelty.Act 5, Scene 41. Malcolm s speech from line 6 to line 9 is the most important because it allows one of the prophecies to come true.Act5, Scene 51. The disastrous news is that Birnam forest is moving towards the castle.2. We are made to feel pity because of Lady Macbeth s death. We are made to feel admiration because although all appears to be lost, Macbeth still has enough will to fight.Act 5, Scene 61. The purpose is to let the audience know that Malcolm and his troops are at Dunsinane castle and are about to go into battle.Act 5, Scene 71. The purpose of this fight is that Macbeth still remembers the third prophecy, that he cannot be killed by anyone born of a woman. His victory over young Siward increases his confidence.Act 5, Scene 81. Macbeth tries to avoid Macduff because he is still feeling guilty about the slaughter of Macduff s family.2. The death of Macbeth is not presented on stage because his death was not really a victory for Macduff, Malcolm and the others. It merely avenges the deaths of so many people. Duncan, Banquo, Macduff s family, young Siward and others were all dead. Scotland would never be the same again.3. In his final speech Malcolm addresses everyone who helped him win his rightful place as king. he acknowledged the fact that they have gotten rid of the tyrant, Macbeth, ad things could go back to normal in Scotland.