Lady Macbeth and Macbeth role reversal : Act 3 Flashcards
(11 cards)
power dynamic between the couple
- begins shifting in this act
- macbeth begins echoing the former sentiments of lady macbeth suggesting that he has extrapolated her evil
macbeth’s echoes of lady macbeth
- he claims they must ‘make our faces vizards to our hearts’
- reminiscent of ‘look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t’
‘make our faces vizards to our hearts’
- characterises macbeth as a marionette of evil influence
- he echoes both the witches in their lexis and his wife
- ‘vizards’ - appearances vs reality - he suggests they should wear masks to conceal their true evil nature
macbeth’s development
- growing to be bloodthirsty and tyrannical
- HOWEVER IT APPEARS HE IS FRAGILE AND MALLEABLE AS A CHARACTER
- he fails to demonstrate any qualities of a respectable king to epitomise the truth that he is disrupting the natural order
end of act 3 scene 4 - macbeth tells LM
‘i am in blood/stepp’d in so far that should i wade no more, returning were as tedious’
‘i am in blood/ stepp’d in so far that should i wade no more, returning were as tedious’
- previously, the blood was merely on his hands, yet now it has enrobed his entire body, and by extension, his entire sense of being
- he admits hat he cannot return to a position of virtue or innocence so it is easier for him to continue on a murderous path
- macbeth’s response to fear and guilt has transitioned from being horrifies to infulging further in heinous acts, murder now becomes his means of self-preservation
act 3 scene 2 - lady macbeth discourages macbeth to kill banquo
- ‘you must leave this’
- however macbeth is trapped within the momentum of evil and he dismisses her
- ‘be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck’
‘be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck’
- ironic
- macbeth now overpowers lady macbeth through feminine epithets which belittle her, much as she previously did to him
act 3 scene 4 - lady macbeth hears macbeth’s bloodthirsty plan
- ‘you lack the season of all natures, sleep’
‘you lack the season of all natures, sleep’
- lady macbeth is now trying to moderate and quell his evil
- she is comparatively passive and preoccupied with the noun ‘sleep’ (a motif for peace and innocence)
- it appears she is yearning to reverse the murderous chaos as she realises her role as queen is not what she expected
topic sentence
act 3 dramatizes a shift in the power dynamic between macbeth and lady macbeth. macbeth now extrapolates the evil she demonstrated in act 1 and it is lady macbeth who attempts to subdue him, macbeth has become autonomous within evil and no longer requires the influence of others.
