Back to the action. Macbeth 3.1-3.2

ACT-ivity: Let's get angry!

Working in pairs you'll examine the fifth main soliloquy: 3.1.49-73. Macbeth contemplates why he wants Banquo out of the way, and his speech rises toward the close to a pitch of dramatic intensity. This intensity is created through the use of vivid metaphors.

1. Identify the key metaphors in the lines
2. Explain how they serve to heighten the expression of Macbeth's feelings
3. Figure out how you and your partner are going to deliver the lines (think tone, volume, etc; one of you will be Macbeth and the other will be Banquo).
4. Film: 1:02.29

Discussion

• In Scenes 1 & 2 the audience discerns significant changes in Macbeth's character and in his relationship with his wife. What evidence of these changes do you see in the two scenes (please cite scene and line numbers)?
• The pervading sense of a dark and anguished world of horror is sustained in these scenes, particularly in Macbeth's speeches to Lady Macbeth, in which he describes his own state of mind and his sense of the world he inhabits. Find 2-3 such passages in Act 3, Scene 2, and comment on the key images in each passage. Look for vivid and effective description. (Think about where else in the play we've heard an appeal to evil and darkness.)
• Why doesn't Macbeth just give the order to kill Banquo? Why does he have to convince the murders to do it? How does he employ a little Lady Macbeth-style convincing?
• Compare Macbeth's last lines before killing Duncan to his last lines before killing Banquo. How do the lines compare and contrast?