Macbeth - Lady Macbeth Flashcards
Act 1 Scene 7 - 1
During this scene Lady Macbeth questions Macbeths masculinity by saying that murdering Duncan would make him “so much more the man.” – uses alliterative sound of ‘m’ to bring out the worst in Macbeth – shows audience Lady Macbeth’s powerful and manipulative role in their relationship.
Act 1 Scene 7 - 2
Lady Macbeth also uses this grotesque image of infanticide to convince her husband of both her ambition and loyalty. The use of the visceral image ‘dashed the brains out’ – ruthlessness – ambition for power. harsh phenomes - verb ‘dashed’ emphasizes the destructive force of her action - lack of maternal feelings.
Act 2 Scene 2
“A little water clears us of this deed.” – dismissive - liquid imagery - symbol of water being a religious purification
Act 3 Scene 4 - 1
“The fit is momentary;” trying to cover Macbeth – duplicity - her ability to think quickly on her feet in order to mask the truth - reveals her strength - she is dominant.
Act 3 Scene 4 - 2
Aside - “Are you a man?” – rhetorical qn - shame his masculinity - because he is behaving in a fearful manner. Perfect iambic pentameter reflects his control contrasting macbeth
Act 5 Scene 1
“Will these hands ne’er be clean?” - guilt – madness - her hallucinating - symbol of the blood reflective of her moral conscience - imperative/command - reveals her desperation - reflective of her awareness of her soul being damned -implies that its permanent – destrupted iambic pentameter reflects her inner psychic disruption
Act 5 Scene 9
At the end of the play, Macbeth’s violence represents his guilty conscience – Macduff describes him as
“This dead butcher and his Fiend-like queen” - heinous crimes that he has committed – antithesis of kingly virtues.
Noun – butcher – brutal murderer
intro/conc
Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as Macbeths devilish wife whose ambition helps to drive her husband toward the desperate act of murder.
