Monday, October 8, 2018

For Wednesday: Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act Three


The “Anonymous” Group should answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Act 3.5, the scene with Hecate, is largely considered to be the work of Thomas Middleton, a contemporary playwright who wrote a play about witches at roughly the same time of Macbeth, and added this scene to increase the witch mania of the time. In reading this scene, does anything strike you as different from the rest of the play? The language? Metaphors? Characterization? Or would you have assumed that Shakespeare wrote this, too?

Q2: When Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo and throws a fit, Lady Macbeth’s first response is, “Are you a man?” She goes on to accuse his manhood throughout the scene, in various ways. Why do you think she takes this approach with him? Is it effective? Is it a testament to her impatience and contempt for him, or is there another reason she adopts this rhetoric?

Q3: How informed is Lady Macbeth about the murder of Banquo and the attempted murder on Fleance (his son)? Is she still the mastermind of the play, or has Macbeth usurped her role? Is there any way to tell who’s calling the shots at this point?

Q4: The “Murderers” that Macbeth hires in 3.1 aren’t really murderers at this point in the play (it’s clear that they haven’t murdered before, and are not professional assassins). How does Macbeth convince them to murder Banquo and/or how does he justify it to himself? Why, too, does he hire murderers now instead of doing the job himself, as he did with Duncan?

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