The Weird Sisters
Word Choice Question:
Why are the three "weird" sisters only referred to as "witches" once throughout the entire play 'Macbeth'?
The word "weird" comes from the Old English term "wyrd," meaning "fate".
It is suggested that they are in some way associated with the three fates of classical mythology. Since the "fates" are supposed to control man's destiny, calling them "weird" suggests that Macbeth does not have any control over his actions, and that his choices aren't really his to make.
This aesthetic feature in 'Macbeth' relates to terms such as:
- Good and evil
- Destiny and free will
- Appearance and reality
Antithesis
Identify the stylistic device used in the following line by Lady Macbeth:
"What cannot you and I perform upon/ Thy unguarded Duncan?” (1.7)
Enjambment, which is the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
What does the stylistic device Hamartia mean, and how does it differ from Hubris?
Hamartia refers to the character’s tragic flaw.
Some view hamartia as—unlike hubris—not innate, it may just be a temporary lapse of judgment.
Banquo contrasts Macbeth as a character. What is the correct stylistic device used to describe this contrast?
Character Foil
"Fillet of a fenny snake / In the cauldron boil and bake. / Eye of newt and toe of frog, / Wool of bat and tongue of dog..." (4.1)
1) What aesthetic feature is used to enhance the sound of this extract?
2) Explain the purpose of this aesthetic feature?
1) Assonance
2) Assonance employs repetition of internal vowel sounds in words of close proximity; it is also known as 'vowel rhyme' and influences the delivery of dialogue to create fluency.
"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" (2.2)
1) Identify ONE aesthetic feature is used in the quote.
2) Explain its intended effect.
1) Hyperbole, Rhetorical Question, or Allusion.
2) This aesthetic feature is used to highlight the magnitude and the depth of his guilt, and the fact that he will never be able to remove it despite his efforts.
What euphemism is employed when Lady Macbeth says, “he that's coming/ must be provided for: and you shall put/ this night's great business into my dispatch” (1.5)?
Explain what a euphemism is and what word/phrase creates the euphemism.
A Euphemism is a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
The Euphemism employed is "great business" and it refers to the regicide of King Duncan.
Describing the night of Duncan's murder, someone says, "The earth was feverous and did shake" (2.3).
1) Who said this?
2) What aesthetic feature is used?
1) Lennox
2) Personification.
In Act 1, Scene 3 Banquo says to Macbeth, "And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/ The instruments of darkness tell us truths."
1) Explain what this quote reveals.
2) Identify ONE aesthetic feature present.
3) Explain the purpose of the employed aesthetic feature.
1) At this moment Banquo warns Macbeth of the danger of trusting the witches.
2) Metaphor
3) The comparison of the witches to "instruments of darkness" reveals their truly foul nature. Shakespeare is implying through Banquo that the honeyed prophecies of the weird sisters will only bring about Macbeth's downfall.
"Gall of goat, and slips of yew/Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse" - 4.1
1) Explain what this quote reveals.
2) Identify ONE aesthetic feature present.
3) Explain the purpose of the aesthetic feature employed.
1) The witches are casting spells before they encounter Macbeth, who has returned to hear more predictions about his future.
2) Imagery OR Mood.
3) The witches’ spells are full of rich imagery from the natural world. This contrasts their ‘other-wordly’ appearance and behaviour and serves to reinforce the reaction of the natural world when Duncan is murdered.
"There's nothing serious in mortality:/ All is but toys." (2.3)
1) Explain what this quote reveals.
2) Identify ONE aesthetic feature present.
3) Explain the purpose of the technique employed.
1) This line is spoken immediately after Macbeth ‘discovers’ Duncan’s body.
2) Metaphor or Dramatic Irony
3) Macbeth is comparing life and its activities to toys, or trivial matters. This is after he's killed Duncan and also functions as dramatic irony, as no other characters know that he's killed the king.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth know that Duncan will soon meet his death when Lady Macbeth says, “The raven himself is hoarse/That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/Under my battlements” - 1.5
What aesthetic feature is used in this quote?
Dramatic Irony
What is a Lexical Chain?
A sequence of related words in writing, spanning short (adjacent words or sentences) or long distances (entire text).
Example - King Duncan:
“What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won” (1.2).
Malcolm: " I think our country sinks beneath the yoke;/ It weeps, it bleeds." (4.3)
1) Explain what this quote reveals.
2) Identify ONE aesthetic feature present.
3) Explain the purpose of the aesthetic feature employed.
1) Malcolm is speaking to Macduff about the state of Scotland.
2) Personification.
3) By personifying Scotland as weeping, bleeding, and sinking beneath the yoke it positions the audience to consider pressure that Scotland is under and shift their view of Macbeth as a leader.
"Fair is foul and foul is fair" - 1.1
1) Explain what this quote reveals.
2) Identify THREE aesthetic features.
3) Explain the purpose of these aesthetic features.
1) Witches discussing their upcoming meeting with Macbeth.
2) Equivocation, Paradox and Foreshadowing.
3) The equivocal language serves to foreshadow events which take place further the play and warns the audience that all may not be as it seems.
1) What is the most destructive example of Equivocation in the play which directly involves Macbeth?
2) What critical piece of information is withheld from him?
1) The witches' deceptive prophecies are perhaps the most destructive instances of equivocation.
2) They tell Macbeth that he can never be harmed by anyone “of woman born,” but they neglect to tell him that Macduff was surgically removed from his mother's womb and therefore doesn't fall into that category.
"When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than you were, you would / Be so much more the man“ (1.7).
Identify the exact TYPE of repetition used in this quote.
Hint: It is an aesthetic feature.
Epistrophe.
This is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.
1) Provide an accurate definition of the stylistic device Catharsis?
2) What is one moment of Catharsis which is present in the play 'Macbeth'?
1) A Greek word meaning "purification" or "cleansing". It describes an extreme change in emotion, occurring as the result of experiencing strong feelings (such as sorrow, fear, pity, or even laughter). It has been described as a "purification" or a "purging" of such emotions.
2) Macbeth monologue at the end of the play as he reflects on the world of bleakness he has created.
Banquo: "That trusted home/ Might yet enkindle you unto the crown." (1.3)
1) Explain what this quote reveals.
2) Identify ONE aesthetic feature present.
3) Explain the purpose of the aesthetic feature employed.
1) Banquo warns Macbeth of the danger of trusting the witches.
2) Metonymy
3) Here 'the crown' is used for the office it represents, namely that of king. It positions the audience to believe that Macbeth may become restless as a result of the prophecies.
"When the hurly-burly's done, / When the battle's lost and won“ (1.1)
1) Where is Anaphora evident in the above quote?
2) Explain why is Anaphora used?
1) Anaphora is evident in the repetition of "When" and "When" at the beginning of successive clauses in the quote.
2) Anaphora is used to make key word memorable - in this case it foreshadows future events.
In Act 5, Scene 5 Macbeth experiences an existential moment as he reflects, "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,/ And then is heard no more." (5.5)
1) Identify ONE stylistic device present.
2) Identify ONE aesthetic feature present.
3) Explain how the audience is positioned by the use of both.
1) Soliloquy
2) Symbolism or Metaphor.
In this soliloquy realises that life is brief and meaningless. In comparing life to an actor who "struts" for only an hour upon the stage and then "is heard no more," Macbeth is commenting on the fleeting nature of life. This positions the audience to feel as sense of empathy about Macbeths emotional state.
In Act 1, Scene 5 Lady Macbeth invokes dark forces to help her to commit regicide.
Accurately complete the following lines until the word "cruelty":
"Come, you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts,... cruelty."
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty.
In the play 'Macbeth' which character experiences a moment of Peripeteia?
Macbeth. After the act of regicide is done, there is no going back.
Peripeteia is a moment in a play (or other work) that marks a major turning point for the tragic hero. This is the point of no return when the character’s fate has changed.
Who says the following line in Act 4, Scene 3, which character are they referring to, and what aesthetic feature are they using to express their distaste?
"This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues."
Malcom. In this line he is referring to Macbeth and he is expressing the distaste that Scotland feels towards Macbeth through the use of a hyperbole.