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Macbeth
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
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Macbeth Act II
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Summary
-By Xi Cao
Summary for Act
II
Act II, Scene 1 depicts the contradictory feelings of
Macbeth when he is contriving to kill Duncan. He is ambivalent because he
believed Weird Witches’ prophecy is substantiated. He thinked he should
take back the power that the God mandates to him. On the other hand, he
thinked it is a betrayal to kill the king. These two incompatible
cerebrations became inveterate in Macbeth’s mind. Because of Lady
Macbeth’s insinuation, the ambition of usurping the power triumphs. In
scene one, Macbeth’s soliloquy exhibits the ambition of Macbeth as will as
his fret of killing Duncan. For example: "A dagger of the mind,/ a false
creation,/ proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?/ I see thee yet,/ in
form as palpable,/ as this which now I draw." "Thou sure and firm-set
earth, hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear thy very stones
prate of my whereabout, and take the present horror from the time, which
now suits with it."
Scene 2 continues the development of
scene one. Macbeth killed Duncan by his dagger after Lady Macbeth made
Duncan and other people inebriated. Macbeth was in frenzy. His
consternation made him lost his mind. In this paramount moment, Lady
Macbeth showed her sheer composure. She conciliated Macbeth with her
gumption. She told Macbeth to conceal the fact and evidence of Duncan and
dissimulate his feeling. Macbeth, in contrast of his wife, felt totally
remorseful for killing Duncan. The aghast thinking is overwhelming
Macbeth. He hoped Duncan was just taking a nap and he can wake up by any
little noise. It is an irony that Macbeth’s ambitious feeling of usurping
the power at the beginning and his cowering after killing
Duncan.
In Act II, Scene 1 and 2 describe
Macbeth’s changing before and after killing Duncan. He is aghast and in a
fretful status by expecting someone exposing his guilty. His vacillating
character is a wonderful tool to exhibit Lady Macbeth’s gumption and
atrocity. Lady Macbeth is the real homicide for killing Duncan, Macbeth is
just her puppet to get higher position.
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Act II
Glossary
husbandry: careful use
of resources, frugality
take thee that: perhaps giving
Fleance his dagger
heavy summons: summons to
sleep
largess: gifts, tips;
offices: i.e. Servants
shut up: concluded (his
remarks): or summed up (what he had to say) our will…wrought: or desire
(to entertain the king properly) was limited (by
ourlack of time to prepare); otherwise
our desire would have operated freely,
liberally will: desire became the
servant to defect: was subjected to deficiency
wrought: operated
entreat an hour to serve: i.e.
Find a time that suits us
cleave to my consent: i.e.
Support me, join my party cleave: adhere
still: always, continue
to
my bosom franchised: my
inmost being free
I shall be counseled: I will
be willing to listen; or, I will follow your counsel
fatal vision: an apparition
(1) that is ominous or fateful, (2) that represents a
deadly weapon, or (3) that shows what is
fated, sent by fate
sensible to feeling: perceptible to the
sense of touch
false: unreal
heat-oppressed: feverishly
excited
or else worth all the rest:
or else my eyes alone report the truth
dudgeon: handle
gouts:
clots
there’s no such thing: i.e.
The dagger does not exist
abuse: deceive
hecate: goddess of
witchcraft (pale because of the connection with the moon);
off’s rings: sacrifices,
rituals
alarumed: summoned to action
(all’ arme, to arms!)
watch: ie. Cry, like that of
a watchman; thus: Macbeth here begins to mov e
with the stealthy pace of a murderer;
toward his design
tarquin: a roman infamous
for his rape of lucrece (Shakespeare had told the
story of the rape and lucrece’s suicide
in his The Rape of Lucrece ; ravishing:
ravenous; leading to rape
take…time: take away (with the
sound of his footsteps) the horror of the
moment’s absolute silence
suits: agrees, fits
in
words…gives: ie. Taking
simply cools off the heat that drives action
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Thanks for Macbeth, published by Folger Shakespeare
Library providing the resources
Famous Quotes From Macbeth Act
II
"Is this a dagger
which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?"
-By Macbeth (Act II, Scene
1)
"Sleep that knits up
the raveled sleave of care…"
-By Macbeth (Act II, Scene
2)
"Will all great
Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?"
-By Macbeth (Act II, Scene
2)
Go To The
Top
-By Xi Cao
1) A Diary
from Macduff
March 12,
1603
England
Cloudy
Day
Country First or Family
First?
I feel ambivalent for my family and my country. These two things
are all paramount in my lifetime. I can’t determine which one is more
significant for me. Right now I am tearing into two parts, one for my wife
and son, one for my citizens. When I faced to my family I can’t forget my
suffering citizens under the despot-Macbeth. When I faced my country, my
decorous wife and arch, bright son would appear in my suppressed mind.
Oh, god! Please help me, let me become two identical individuals,
one for my "big menage," one for my "small home". But my hope did not come
true. I am lacerating with myself incessantly. I choose my country
indubitably, there were hundreds of thousands people waiting me to rescue
them from the hell. Sorry! My wife and son, I need to carry my mission on,
I know my leaving will put you in danger, so raise your fortitude and
plucky spirit, wait for you husband and father come back to stay with you
forever...
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2) Examples and
Interpretations of Ten Literary Elements from Macbeth
|
Literary
Elements |
Examples |
Interpretations |
From
(Text) |
|
Metaphor |
"Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
and put a barren scepter in my grip." |
On my head they placed a sterile crown and in
my hand I hold a seedless scepter. |
Act III, Scene 1 Line 62 to
63 |
|
Irony |
"Duncan is in his grave; after life’s fitful
fever he sleeps well, treason has done his worst; nor steel, nor
poison…nothing can touch him anymore." |
Duncan is in his grave. After an eventful
life he sleeps peacefully. Treason has done its worst. Neither
sword, nor poison, nor revolutions in this land, nor foreign foes
can touch him now. |
Act III, Scene 2
Line 24 to
28 |
|
Hyperbole |
"With twenty trenched gashes on his head, the
least a death to nature." |
Lying in a ditch with twenty trench-like
gashes in his head. Even the least of them would have been
fatal. |
Act III, Scene 4 Line 27 to
28 |
|
Simile |
"Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
the armed rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger." |
Approach me like a Russian bear, a horned
rhinoceros or a fierce tiger. |
Act III, Scene 4 Line 101 to
102 |
|
Personification |
"Stones have been known to move, and trees to
speak." |
Gravestones have been move, and trees to
speak. |
Act III, Scene 4 Line 124 |
|
Rhythm |
"And the crow makes wing to the rooky wood;
good things of day begin to droop and drowse…thoy marvel’st at my
words, but hold thee still. Things bad begun make strong themselves
by ill." |
The good things of the day begin to droop and
feel drowsy while the night’s black agents prepare to hunt their
prey. You marvel at my words! But there’s more: ‘Things with a bad
beginning only get stronger with more of the same. |
Act III, Scene 2 Line 54 to
58 |
|
Figurative speech |
"Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the
grave…" |
When his tyranny has bent you to the
grave… |
Act III, Scene 1 Line 90 |
|
Symbolic |
"I am in blood stepped in so far
that…" |
I am in the river of blood… |
Act III, Scene 5 Line 137 to
138 |
|
Repetition |
"O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly,
fly!" |
Treachery! Run, Fleance, run, run,
run. |
Act III, Scene 3 Line 22 |
|
Image |
"We have scorched the snake, not killed it.
She’ll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice remains in
danger of her former tooth…" |
We scorched the snake, but didn’t kill it. It
will come back and give us its requital. |
Act III, Scene 2 Line 15 to
17 |
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Critical Analysis
-By Xi Cao
Critical Analysis-
Supernatural power or ambition that dominates Macbeth's
decisions?
Macbeth, from
a venerable hero of Scotland to a notorious villain, does supernatural
power, or Macbeth’s ambition dominates his decision? In fact they both
make effects, as well as other factors.
Supernatural
power "insinuated" Macbeth to approach his goal. At the beginning, Macbeth
met the Weird Sisters; their prophecy, which declared that he would become
the King of Cawdor, roused his sunken aspiration of becoming a king.
At this moment, supernatural power let Macbeth’s ambition triumphs his
probity in order to make he achieves his mandated regality
venomously. When Macbeth nominated two of his murders to kill
Banquo, there was third murderer appeared to help the two murderers to
kill Banquo. This third murder was considered as supernatural power, which
helped Macbeth achieved his contemplative murdering.
The witches
led Macbeth to a tragic road, it was architected by The Three Witches, but
also by Macbeth's own aspiration of the kingship. Macbeth’s ambition
was the most significant fact that made him a contemptible villain.
It took away his fame and destructed his reputation. If he has no
ambition to become a king, he would be apathetic about the kingship and
considered the Three Witches’s prophecy as a blather or gibberish.
However, Macbeth had the ambition, it was hid for many years. His status
was the second highest in the country, Macbeth wanted to be first highest
person because of his remarkable contribution as a general. The
Three Witches’ augury made Macbeth’s ambition unequivocal and it gave him
an excuse for his betrayal. The prophecy pushed Macbeth to act
cruelly to kill people who hamper his progress of being a king.
There is
another crucial factor predominates Macbeth’s decision, Lady Macbeth. Lady
Macbeth was an atrocious woman. In some considerations, Lady Macbeth was
more ambitious that her husband. When she perceived the Macbeth would be
the King of Cawdor, she decided she would try any way possible to
accomplish the prophecy. Macbeth, in other hand, emphasized his wife’s
thought. When he planned to give up his sinful killing, Lady Macbeth would
consider him as a coward. In the early of the scenes, Macbeth is a puppet
of Lady Macbeth in order to get her a higher position.
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Interpretations
-By Xi Cao
1) Interpretation of Macbeth's
soliloquy from Act Two, Scene 1. ("Is this dagger which i see before
me...Words to the heat of the deeds too cold breath gives")
|
Soliloquy (From the
Text) |
Interpretation
|
|
Is this a dagger which I see before
me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I
have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal
vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A
dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the
heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As
this which now I draw.
Thou marshall'st me the way that I was
going;
And such an instrument I was to use.
Mine eyes are made
the fools o' the other senses,
Or else worth all the rest; I see
thee still,
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which
was not so before. There's no such thing:
It is the bloody
business which informs
Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one
halfworld
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The
curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate's offerings,
and wither'd murder,
Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose
howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace.
With Tarquin's
ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost. Thou
sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk,
for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the
present horror from the time,
Which now suits with it. Whiles I
threat, he lives:
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath
gives.
|
I can’t grab the dagger but I still see it
there. It is so realistic in my mind which I could feel the
sharpness of it. It can be see but can’t be touched. Is the dagger
just an illusory, fictitious image in my tumultuous mind? No, no,
no, the dagger is palpable; it is just as palpable as the dagger I
now draw from my sheath. It is an auxiliary weapon I was going to
use in order to help me to accomplish my goal and ambition in the
future. My eyes are being ridiculed! Or are they worth more than my
other senses combined. It is still there! Now the dagger is
spattered and smelted in my sanguinary soul. The crimson,bloody
business that fills my mind is making me see this. Half of the
people are sleeping, wicked dreams control the deep, sinister
willing of man. Witches sacrifice their offering to Hecate. Howling
wolves tell murderers now is the time and serenade Tarquin as he
stalks his prey. The earth mustn’t hear my footsteps now, even the
stones mustn’t be allowed to betray my whereabouts. No one can see
through the vicious dagger beneath my pretension of devoted heart.
Nothing must detract from the deed. Now is the time! The time take
the power that god mandates to me. All this talk only prolongs his
life. It is a confidence between me and my benumbed, callous heart.
How words cool the heat of the
moment!" |
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2) Interpretation of Macbeth's
soliloquy from Act Three, Scene 1. ("To be thus is nothing But to be
safely thus...Rather than so, come fate into the list and champion me to
the utterance! Who is there!")
|
Soliloquy (From the Text)
|
Interpretation
|
|
To be thus is nothing;
But to be safely thus.
|
To be simply king is not enough for me, I
must make my regality fixed. |
|
Our fears in
Banquo
Stick deep; and in his royalty of
nature
Reigns that which would be
fear'd: 'tis much he dares; |
We must be vigilant of
Banquo, he is a plucky man filled with
fidelity |
|
And, to that dauntless temper of his
mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his
valour
To act in safety.
|
He is a gallant man with
acumen, this avoids him to be a foolhardy
person. |
|
There is none but he
Whose being I do fear: and, under
him,
My Genius is rebuked; as, it is
said,
Mark
Antony's was
by Caesar. |
He is the only one I fear. I will be hampered
if I stay together with Banquo. Mark
Antony felt the same way when he met Caesar just
as my feeling when I met Banquo. |
|
He
chid the
sisters
When first they put the name of king upon
me,
And bade them speak to him: then
prophet-like
They
hail'd him
father to a line of kings: |
When the Weird Sisters first said I would be
king Banquo chided them and insisted they
foretell his future. Then like prophets they hailed him father of a
line of kings. |
|
Upon my head they placed a fruitless
crown,
And put a barren
sceptre in my gripe,
Thence to be
wrench'd with an
unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding.
|
I am wearing a sterile crown and holding a
barren sceptre, these all meant that I
wouldn’t have posterity to carry on my regality after I
die. |
|
If 't be so,
For
Banquo's issue
have I filed my mind;
For them the gracious
Duncan have I
murder'd |
If that is to be so, then it has been for
Banquo that I've murdered a gracious king
and haunted myself. |
|
Put
rancours in the
vessel of my peace
Only for them;
|
I do this entire vicious thing for
Banquo’s descendants? |
|
and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of
Banquo kings! |
I've succumbed to the temptations of Satan
for Banquo and his sons!
No! |
|
Rather than so, come fate into the
list.
And champion me to the utterance! Who's
there! |
Rather than that I will challenge Fate to the
death! I will protect my position and receive greatest harvest from
my assiduous effort. |
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Questions and
Analysis
-By Juan
Guerrero
Part 1) How does the play Macbeth fit in
with the term’s theme of illusion and reality, blindness and sight?
(Plato’s Allegory of the Den, Sophocles: Oedipus Trilogy, The road not
taken) Please reflect on insights you have gained…or not…this
semester.
The play Macbeth as the
other plays and stories read throughout the term, relate closely to the
theme of illusion and reality in which all of them use apparitions and
sights to explain their main idea. For example Plato’s Allegory of the Den
reflects the idea of how people sometimes can be blinded by reality. Then
there’s a point where someone gets to see how the real world is and it can
sometimes have a great impact on him and on those who he tells.
In
Oedipus Rex: Trilogy you can see how its characters try to escape fate,
but sooner or later fate will reach up to you and surprise you. This is
what was proven in the play when Oedipus tried to escape from what the
Oracle at Delphi had told him, but later on he found himself caught up in
what was supposed to be his destiny yet ending his life in the way the
gods had decided.
After all the plays read in class, it has changed me
a lot in which it has made me think on how the world really is and how it
does relate to the information given. Now thanks to Ms. Shore and how she
has taught me I see things how they really are, because sometimes as a
human you are “blinded” by something and you need that extra touch to make
you realize the truth. I am thankful for this and to say the truth I
enjoyed the class a lot, it has made me mature more than what I was and
given me a new way to reflect on life and things. I will leave school with
this knowledge and to be totally honest I hope I get to use this
information for my future life, thanks Ms.
Shore.
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Part 2) Fill in the right
names:
In the story of Macbeth,
Malcolm
enters the play as a heroic fighter who defends the Scottish
King Duncan
against his Norwegian foe who is being aided by that traitorous Scottish
Thane Macdonwald.
Macbeth gains another thanedom as a reward for his military successes but
assumes it is gotten through the supernatural help of
The Three
Witches. Macbeth is pushed by
Lady Macbeth
to become a traitor himself. The slain king’s sons run off in well
deserved fear
Malcolm to England and
Donalbain to
Ireland. As an example of the brutal tyranny of King Macbeth, we witness
the tragic murders of
Lady Macduff
and their
sons. It is only when Macbeth faces off with his nemesis
Fleance who
fights for the rightful king, Malcolm, that Macbeth
falls.
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Part 3) Pick any 3 of the following quotations.
Who said it? To whom? Give act, scene, and line. What does it reveal about
the character who is
speaking?
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”
By:
Witches
To: Themselves
Here the witches are talking themselves about
where to meet Macbeth and tell him part of his
future.
“Is this the dagger, which I see before me, the
handle toward my hand?”
By: Macbeth
To: Lady Macbeth
Here
after Macbeth has committed the murder of King Duncan he sees this dagger
which represents the action he has
done.
“Come you spirits that tend on mortal thought,
unsex me here”
By: Lady Macbeth
To: Herself
Here Lady
Macbeth talks to herself and sounds crazy when she starts planning the
death of King Duncan by using her own husband for the
murder.
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Bibliography:
The background
image is based on the flowing source:
http://www.american-pictures.com/genealogy/descent/photos/Macbeth.2.jpg
The images
on Macbeth Newspaper are based on the flowing source:
http://www.bencelstudios.com/images/Artwork/king.jpg
http://ishtarg.cdemusic.org/macbeth/Banquo-2.jpg
http://www.tate.org.uk/collection/T/T00/T00733_9.jpg
http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/macbeth.jpg
http://x5452.landeck-manor.de/026_022.jpghttp://www.notfallseelsorge.de/Bilder/Funeral%20%20Judge%2005.jpg
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