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Lady Macbeth - Coggle Diagram
Lady Macbeth
reaction to letter
What does a raven symbolise?
An “ill-omen” carrier of bad news, always found on battlefields
What is Lady Macbeth saying will happen to Duncan once he arrives at the castle? What is the significance of her language here?
“Fatal entrance” he will die when he arrives under my battlements, she’s taking charge? Pronoun “my” showing it will be her sin not Macbeth’s?, her home her domain, certainty
What is Lady Macbeth calling upon and how would a Shakespearean audience react to this?
She is calling upon the witches for help, they’re like shocked, surprised that they choose to interact with the witches again
What is Lady Macbeth asking for and why is it necessary to do so? Consider the historical context.
She wants to be more manly, and have more willpower in order to carry out her plan, possibly women were never on the battlefield so they wouldn’t know how to kill , to be stronger and not the 'weaker' sex
extra notes
Acknowledges her feminine weaknesses. “Unsex me here” - without gender, allow me to be more like a witch.
Very straighforward, directly addressing “spirits” directly mentions “the dunnest smoke of hell” very terrifying for contemporary audience who believed greatly in hell and heaven
“Crown” head, but also symbolising her thinking of the prophecies
“Knife keen”
Very determined
Exclamation marks
What are the connotations of ‘milk’? Why does Lady Macbeth ask for her milk to turn bitter?
Mothers usually give milk to their children, a sign of femininity, which she wants to be removed from her, also symbolizes her caring/good-natured/loving motherly attitudes.I suppose milk is smth that you feed a child for them to grow and for it to turn bitter will do the opposite, so a link towards death,
and talking about the “female breast” mostly referred to as sexual can be used as a weapon “femme fetale” and her “seductive behaviour”
What is Lady Macbeth asking for here and how is this similar to Macbeth in Act 1, scene 4?
“Come thick night” “cover the world”, Macbeth and Lady M mirror each other’s language, both begging to be hidden from heaven and God’s vision, Lady M not too worried about God’s judgement, worried she will be persuaded to stop her plan
M writes a letter to Lady M
Tells her his thoughts about the witches, he is not secretive to her, doesn’t use paradoxical language, element of trust, values her opinion
“My dearest partner of greatness”
partner = equal in status to him, in levels, does not treat her as less or as greatness possibly looks up to her, admires her, dearest = affectionate, greatness is promised thee = share with him, wants her opinion
“That wouldst thou holily;wouldst not play false”
again talking about his innocent nature of wanting to do things the right and honest way “Tragic hero factors” “and yet wouldst wrongly win” - does not belong to him
“Hie thee hither” - impatience, urgency
“Chastise him with the valour of my tongue”
shakespeare reusing that word “valour” contrasts Macbeth’s lack of bravery
“Catch the nearest way”
to kill King Duncan, fins the easiest solution, straightforward, simple
Her fear he is unable to kill King Duncan, is too innocent
“Fate” and “metaphysical”
fate and the witches have confirmed his fate in being king
“Pour my spirits in thine ear”
foreshadowing what she is going to tell him
contemporary, metaphorically poisoning, surprising for that time period
"spirits" her link to the witches, interpretation of her also being a with or 3rd witch, her interests in the supernatural and eager to align with them
“You shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch”
‘my’ dispatch, “shall” no negotiation, must be done. Night’s great business - “the murder” parallel Macbeth’s earlier refusal of using ‘murder’
“Leave all the rest to me”
pronouns ‘me’ , urgency
“My dispatch”
‘my’ cannot rely on Macbeth, power hungry, egocentric nature
“Look like th’inncent flower, but the the serpent under’t”
deceiving, pretense, basically appear innocent, religious connotations “serpent” devil’s act (Regocide), adam and eve,
duplicity appearance vs reality, going against the bible but uses biblical references, be the biblical villain, “innocent flower” beauty and growth, Duncan nurturing, opposite.
Judi Dench version of Lady Macbeth
Has a clear idea, excited, thrilled
Maintains a straight eye content-metaphorically showing she has a vision, very calm tone, speeds up when rereads the letter, speaks with an astonished tone, body language is very small and closed up, portraying kind of her
“Fear thy nature it is too full o’th’milk of human kindness”
(metaphor) contradictory to how he spoke of her, the way she speaks of him, and his weaknesses of being too kind, milk nurture from mothers to children, femininity of him “milk
AO4
jacobean era / elizabethean
Jacobean men had property rights
Men were expected to be loyal to their king and country
Women were considered the “weaker” sex
Women were supposed to be pure and completely against violence of any sort
Before marriage a girl was under control of her father, after marriage her husband, after that her son
The main responsibility of married women was to take care of the household matters and raise children
Kate Fleetwood version of Lady M
Reads very quickly, tone is not so calm, shaky voice, sounds scared, worried/nervous, stressed and then almost immediately changes to a gleam of hope, as she has taught out her idea, she begins to smile, speaks slowly, thoughtful, then relieved