Macbeth_Act_5

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

ACT V

Act 5, scene 1          pp 179, 181

LADY MACBETH enters, holding a candle

Look, here she comes! This is exactly how she always looks, and - I swear it - she is fast asleep. Watch her. Keep hidden.

DOCTOR How did she get that candle? 

GENTLEWOMAN It stands by her bedside. She always has to have a light next to her. Those are her orders.

DOCTOR You see, her eyes are open.

GENTLEWOMAN She often does that. She looks like she's washing her hands. I've seen her do that before for as long as fifteen minutes. 

LADY MACBETH There' s still a spot here.                     --------      finish reading scene 1.          

Why does Lady Macbeth need to have a light or candle next to her bed? 

What does 'spot' on Lady Macbeth's hand symbolise? 

Act 5, scene 2, p 189

CAITHNESS Well, let's keep marching and give our loyalty to 

someone who truly deserves it. We're going to meet

Malcolm, the doctor who will cure our sick country.

We'll pour out our own blood to help him.

LENNOX However much blood we need to give to water the 

royal flower and drown the weeds - to make Malcolm

king and get rid of Macbeth. Let's proceed on our march to Birnam. 

What is the effect of metaphors used in this extract? 

Act 5, scene 2, p.187

Agnus: Now Macbeth feels the blood of his murdered enemies sticking to his hands. Now, rebel armies punish him every minute for his treachery. ..... Now he seems too small to be a great king, like a midget trying to wear the robes of a giant. (Act 5, scene 2, p. 187)

Explain the meaning of simile in this extract. How does this textual feature help shape the meaning of this scene? 

Macbeth: Get out of my sight.

Seyton!—I’m sick at heart when I see—Seyton, come here!—This battle will either secure my reign forever or else topple me from the throne. I have lived long enough. The course of my life is beginning to wither and fall away, like a yellowing leaf in autumn. The things that should go along with old age, like honor, love, obedience, and loyal friends, I cannot hope to have. Instead, I have passionate but quietly whispered curses, people who honor me with their words but not in their hearts, and lingering life, which my heart would gladly end, though I can’t bring myself to do it. Seyton! (Act %,scene 5, p. 193)

p. 203

MACBETH I’ve almost forgotten what fear feels like. There was a

time when I would have been terrified by a shriek in the night, and the hair on my skin would have stood up when I heard a ghost story. But now I’ve had my fill of

real horrors. Horrible things are so familiar that they can’t startle me.

......

MACBETH She would have died later anyway. That news

was bound to come someday. Tomorrow, and tomorrow,

and tomorrow. The days creep slowly along until the

end of time. And every day that’s already happened

has taken fools that much closer to their deaths. Out,

out, brief candle. Life is nothing more than an illu-

sion. It’s like a poor actor who struts and worries for

his hour on the stage and then is never heard from

again. Life is a story told by an idiot, full of noise and

emotional disturbance but devoid of meaning.

A Tragedy

An ultimate truth of a tragedy, according to Kent Lehnhof, ' When decency and good, will give way to wickedness and evil, life loses its meaning. It can be no more than tiresome monotony, a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.'  

Elements of Shakespearean Tragedy (1)

Tragic Hero	A main character cursed by fate and possessed of a tragic flaw.
A Struggle Between Good and Evil	This struggle can take place as part of the plot or exist within the main character
Hamartia	The fatal character flaw of the tragic hero.
Tragic Waste	The good being destroyed along with the bad at the resolution of the play. Often played out with the unnecessary loss of life, especially of "good guy" characters.
External Conflict	This can be a problem facing the hero as a result of the plot or a "bad guy" character.

fate: the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power.

hamartia: a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine.

Elements of Shakespearean Tragedy (2) 

Internal Conflict	The struggle the hero engages in with his/her fatal flaw.
Catharsis	The release of the audience's emotions through empathy with the characters.
Supernatural Elements	Magic, witchcraft, ghosts, etc.
Lack of Poetic Justice	Things end poorly for everyone, including the "good guys."
Comic Relief	One or more humorous characters who participate in scenes intended to lighten the mood.

catharsis:  the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions

Find a metaphor in the play. Explain what the imagery (metaphor) shows, and how it fits with the atmosphere of the rest of the scene.