Close Reading Assignment 10

Macbeth’s soliloquy in act 5, scene 5 refers to Lady Macbeth’s premature death.  Although some take the first line, “She should have died hereafter” (Macbeth 5.5.20), to mean that she had to die sometime, I believe that the entire passage needs to be considered to understand Shakespeare’s intent here.  If Shakespeare intended it to mean ‘she had to die sometime’, that would depict Macbeth as an uncaring person.  I think that Shakespeare intended the passage to be read as Lady Macbeth dies prematurely, which saddened him.  In the line “There would have been a time for such a word” (5.5.21), Macbeth is saying that today is not the time to hear of her death, that tomorrow or tomorrow’s tomorrow would have been better.  It shows that Macbeth is truly saddened by the loss and does not want to accept her death. In one line in this passage Shakepspeare uses “dusty” to describe death that may be a reference to the “ashes to ashes and dust to dust” of the bible, that life is a circle and back to dust we will inevitably go.  There is a question as to whether he should have used the word “dusky”, which maybe he should have as the rest of the passage refers to murkiness and shadows.  In the next few lines Shakespeare describes life as short and meaningless and in the line “life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage” (5.5.27-28), he is disheartened that life is such an illusion as the shade that can be caused by a candle.  Poor player may refer to an insignificant person getting his 15 (or 60) minutes of fame by pretending to be something he is not.  The effect of these words is to illustrate Macbeth’s disgust at the lack of meaning to life, especially his life, which has been turned upside down by his greed.  In Macbeth’s line that life “is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” (5.5.30), Shakespeare suggests that humans are full of a lot of bluster with not a lot of substance. This is a pretty powerful blow as we all need to think we are significant in someway or to someone in order to have a fulfilling life.

Close Reading Assignment 9

Act 5, scene 1 of Macbeth depicts a doctor and a maid observing Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and talking.  Lady Macbeth is an iconic character who is known for her bad to the bone and ruthless attitude, and whose ambition fueled her to do irrational things. Until this point where she has finally felt true guilt, and this is seen when the doctor sees her about her sleepwalking. The maid tells the doctor about her recent strange behavior of getting up and washing her hands in the night while still asleep. The sleep walking represents the guilt taking over her being and making her go insane. She can’t function properly anymore, although she didn't physically kill Duncan she partook in it and its metaphorically and literally killing her from guilt. This sleep walking helps the audience get a better understanding of Lady Macbeth character because it shows us that as tough as she has acted she is deep down a very weak character that can not handle the power she sought to have. In the line, “It is an accustomed action with her to seem thus washing her hands” (Macbeth 5.1.30), the maid reveals Lady Macbeth’s continuous mid-slumber ritual.  Hand washing was referenced in Act 2 immediately following the murder of Duncan, however, that action was described to illustrate Lady Macbeth’s desire to destroy any evidence of the murder which would lead to Macbeth or herself being suspected.  In this scene the hand washing is a sub-conscious action meant to show how Lady Macbeth’s heart is burdened and she is desperately trying to cleanse her soul. We can see through this scene that Lady Macbeth’s character has changed quite a bit since the early scenes where she was adamant about Macbeth doing anything he had to in order to be King.  Here, she appears to regret the deaths, especially the wife and children, and wonders if her hands will ever be clean, meaning her heart free of guilt. When a person washes their hands they do it to rid their hands from germs and other unwanted debris and that’s exactly what Shakespeare is implying here. Lady Macbeth is trying to rid herself from the guilt that she has and trying to get over what she did but she cannot.

Close Reading Assignment 6

Act 3 of Macbeth illustrates the preparations for the murder of Banquo.  Macbeth’s insidious plot is growing.   In Act 3, scene 1 Macbeth, in his soliloquy, relates his loathing and resentment of Banquo’s virtue and wisdom and how Banquo will be his downfall.  Since the Weird Sisters had prophesised that Banquo would be the father of many kings, Macbeth surmises that his murder is essential to the future of his kingship.  During this soliloquy Macbeth refers to fertility several times, which at first glance could be interpreted to mean Macbeth’s lack of offspring to carry on his royal lineage, however in the context of the passage, the words fruitless and barren, in the line “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown and put a barren sceptre in my grip”, illustrate his meaningless and irrelevant reign (3.1.66-67).  The reader can sense that Macbeth is feeling regretful for his actions, yet unwilling to allow the future to play out as the witches had foretold. In regard to the possibility of Banquo’s descendants ascending the throne, if becomes quite obvious that Macbeth is appalled that he murdered Duncan for the benefit of Banquo’s children.  In the passage “For Banquo’s issue I have filed my mind; for them the gracious Duncan murdered…to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo’s kings”, Shakespeare refers to fertility with the words issue and seeds (3.1.70-75).  Issue meaning the offspring of Banquo and seeds meaning future descendants.  These references to fertility show how Macbeth feels about potentially losing his descendant’s kingship to Banquo and he is incensed by the thought, which makes him decide to have Banquo and his son Fleance murdered.

Close Reading Assignment 5

Throughout the entirety of act 2, scene 2, Shakespeare makes several references to sleep, utilizing metaphor to enhance the meaning wherein Macbeth yields to his ambition and follows through with the murder of Duncan.  The first reference to sleep is made by Lady Macbeth in describing how she drugged the king’s groomsmen so they would sleep through the murder.  Sleep is used here to depict the ignorance of those who are supposed to protect Duncan.  However, Macbeth’s references to sleep have a deeper meaning.  When Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are discussing the murder, Macbeth relates how he heard a voice cry out, “Sleep no more! Macbeth murders sleep! – the innocent sleep , that knits up the raveled sleeve of care, the death of each days life, sore labor’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast” (2.2.47-51).  The line ‘the innocent sleep’, is the explanation of the meaning behind these lines.  Macbeth realizes that in his guilt that he will never have another night of peaceful sleep.  Sleep, that is so important for a content and healthy life, will never again come to Macbeth.  The ‘innocent’ also relates to Duncan, as he is the innocent victim as he sleeps soundly while Macbeth terrorizes his peaceful slumber with a deathly bludgeoning. The scene depicts the moral horror that Macbeth faces for the remainder of his life.  Another reference to the sleep by the voice is, “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more” (2.2.54-57).  Macbeth’s conscience is telling him that he has sentenced his entire realm to a sleepless future because of the threat posed by sleep.  The scene also has several references to hand washing which, for Lady Macbeth, in the lines “Go and get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand” (2.260), means a simple cleansing of the evidence of the murder to hide their guilt.  However, for Macbeth in the lines, “With all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” (2.2.78-81) he tells that all of the water in the ocean couldn’t wash the remorse from his hands, that the blood (his guilt) would turn the oceans red.

Close Reading Assignment 4

In Macbeth’s second soliloquy he is hallucinating. Shakespeare uses this as a tool to further depict the detrimental physiological effect that the Weird Sisters and their prophecy have had on Macbeth.  The references to sight and touch characterize his thoughts as visions rather than reality. When Macbeth says “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still, art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art though but a dagger of the mind” (2.1.46-50), Shakespeare helps the reader to understand that Macbeth is hallucinating about the murder and how his conscience is having such a difficult time with the witches fateful prediction.  He speaks directly to the ‘fatal vision’ and questions why it cannot be felt. This inability is see his reality is altering his perception of morally correct thing to do.   Another reference to sight and touch is made in the lines,  “Mine eyes are made the fools o th’ other senses or else worth all the rest, I see the still, and, on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood” (2.1.56-58).  Macbeth’s ‘fool’ eyes see blood on the blade of the dagger that doesn’t exist.  He realizes that his eyes are deceiving him as a direct result of his doubts and fears.  Macbeth is losing control and he seems to realize it.  In the line, “Now o’re the one-half world nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep” ( 2.1.61-63), he suggests that his life has become meaningless and sleep impossible, filled with bad dreams.  The use of ‘curtained sleep’ could have a double meaning; the curtained 4-poster bed from Elizabethan times and also Shakespeare could possibly have used the word curtained to refer to covering up the truth, supressing Macbeth’s thoughts about the hideous deed that he is planning.  The nightmares wake him up from the lie he is trying to sell himself.  Macbeth is falling apart.