- Entire class: Let's look at Lady Macbeth! In the case of her sleepwalking scene, Shakespeare seems to have anticipated, centuries ago, some of the most important psychological findings and insights of our own time, which deal with the symbolic interpretation of dreams and the effects of suppression of deeply buried feelings. Modern psychology holds that mental breakdown is often due to long-suppressed or repressed feelings, and that clues to the causes of such breakdown can be found in dreams. What?! Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking can be viewed as such a dream — a dream in motion, a nightmare being acted out.
- How is Lady macbeth's language disjointed and unconnected?
- According to her utterances, what are the causes and origins of her present condition?
- What previous conversations does she repeat or paraphrase?
- What are the real causes of her breakdown? Why do you think she broke down first? Is this a larger commentary on women? Mental illness?
- Where can you find dramatic irony in her speech?
Discussion
- Soliloquy #7 (5.3.19-29)
- What's the significance of the key metaphor? What does this reveal about Macbeth?
- What is the meaning of Macbeth's figurative language: mouth-honour, breath
- Soliloquy #8: (5.5.18-27)
- What general feeling about life is expressed in this soliloquy?
- Four metaphors
- Identify key words and meaning they express
- Are these thoughts Macbeth's alone or might they represent Shakespeare's? Is there some universal quality in these thoughts, a significance and relevance that go beyond Macbeth's situation and touch all people?
- Macbeth vows to die like a man and go down fighting. Does this affect your view of him? Does choosing death give a kind of nobility and dignity? When is death preferable to captivity?
- Malcolm calls Macbeth "this dead butcher," (5.9.36) and most readers will agree that Macbeth's fate has been deserved. Did Shakespeare want the audience to view Macbeth exactly as Malcolm views him, or did he want the audience to have a different feeling about him?
- Where do you think Shakespeare wanted the audience to lay the primary responsibility for Macbeth's course of evil? on the witches, Lady Macbeth or on himself?
- Some audience members retain some measure of sympathy and respect for Macbeth. How does Shakespeare's presentation of his thoughts and actions in the last scenes serve to make the audience retain such a measure of sympathy and respect? Refer to specific lines.
- Major themes? symbols?
- Last thoughts, comments, ideas, insights?
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