Macbeth ( Banquo and LMB + MB relationship) Flashcards
“Dearest partner of greatness”
L = superlative adjective indicates how much he loves her.
C = sees her as his equal ‘partner’; unusual in Jacobean era as it was a patriarchal society where women had less power than men.
“Like the poor cat i’th’adage”
L = simile. LMB compares him to the cat in the proverb – he wants the crown, but doesn’t want to get his hands bloody. She takes control, planning the murder herself, and her dominance is shown in how she dominates the dialogue, but MB has to do it in the end as D looks like her father.
‘my hands are of your colour but I shame to wear a heart so white’
C = DRK = MB knows he has damned himself by killing God’s representative on Earth. His guilt causes tension.
L = white symbolises cowardice and she thinks he is a coward to be so afraid after Duncan’s murder. Ironic – she washes the blood off her hands whilst sleepwalking before she kills herself.
C = she mocks his masculinity, implying he is a coward, which would be the ultimate insult to a famous warrior.
‘quite unmanned in folly’
L = verb choice. LMB mocks MB for being so unmasculine in his fear after he appears to see Banquo’s ghost at the banquet; she fears he will be foolish enough to betray the murder to the other Thanes, which causes tension between them.
‘be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, till thou applaud the deed’
I = MB desire to conceal things from LMB can be interpreted in different ways 1) he loves her and wants to protect her from Banquo’s murder until he knows it is successful. This is suggested by the endearment ‘dearest chuck’. 2) It is a symptom of the fact that they are becoming emotionally distant from each other.
‘she should have died hereafter’
I = Macbeth’s response can be interpreted in different ways: 1) As he is facing attack from the English, he has no proper time to grieve for her 2) She should not have died too soon – she has died too young.
‘Instruments of darkness ‘
Language = metaphor - Banquo realises the witches could be evil agents of the devil and tempt MB to commit sin
‘Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold’
Deeper meaning = the ghost is not just supernatural, it is just a projection of MBs guilty conscience after murdering Banquo.
Reader = the ghost will terrify the audience and warn them murderers will be punished- the dead will come back and haunt them
Context = gunpowder plot
‘Our fears in Banquo stick deep… my genius is rebuked as it is said Mark Anthony’s was by Caesar’
L = imagery. MB compares himself to mark Anthony and Banquo to Octavius Caesar ( Caesar eventually defeated Mark Anthony)
Adjective ’deep’ shows how much MB fears Banquo
‘It was said… that myself should be the root and the father of many kings’
Language = metaphor. Banquo hopes that his descendants will become kings of Scotland. The metaphor creates an image of a family tree of king with Banquo at its roots.
Context = Shakespeare was deliberately faltering James I, from whom the play was written as he was a Scottish defendant of Banquo
‘I have a strange infirmity’
LMB and MB lie and claim MB is seeing a ghost because he suffers from fits and has done since childhood. They are trying to conceal the murder of Banquo.
Reaction = the audience would despise MB for lying and murdering an innocent friend.
‘Beware Macduff’
R = the apparition’s warning is an effective dramatic device as the audience wonders why MB should fear him and how he might threaten MB’s position on the throne.
