The “Austen” group will
answer TWO of the following:
Q1: Though most of the
play is in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), characters often end
scenes with rhymed couplets, such as the following: “Away, and mock the time
with fairest show./False face must hide what the false heart doth/know” (1.7).
Why does Shakespeare do this? What does the flash of rhyme do for the play or
the speech? How would we hear and experience this?
Q2: We mentioned in class
that Lady Macbeth looks older than Macbeth, which prompted the suggestion that
she might be like the Wife of Bath, an older, more experienced woman mastering
a younger man. Where else might we see this in her scenes? How do we know she
has the upper hand in the relationship?
Q3: One of the most famous
speeches in the play is Macbeth’s “Is this a dagger which I see before me?” in
Act 2.1. Read this speech carefully and discuss the syntax of a particular line
that would be difficult to translate into modern English. Why is this? What is
Shakespeare trying to show us through this difficult line?
Q4: The Porter is the only
character who speaks prose (other than Lady Macbeth’s letter), which makes
sense, since he is merely a servant. Why does he get so much stage time when
all he does is open a door? What does his speech—silly as it is—do for the
play, or the scene?
No comments:
Post a Comment