Please analyze the following quotes from Macebeth; identify the speaker, provide context for the meaning, and interpret the meaning.
1.
Yet do I fear they nature;
It is too full o'th' milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend to it.
2.
The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step
On which I must fall down or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.
3.
Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round.
Shelley:
ReplyDelete1.
Yet do I fear they nature;
It is too full o'th' milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend to it.
Lady Macbeth said these lines in Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 16 to 19. Lady Macbeth has just read the letter from Macbeth explaining the situation with the war, the witches, and the new title Thane of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth thinks that killing King Duncan is the only way that Macbeth will be the king, but she believes that her husband is too kind to kill the king or support her plan. Lady Macbeth is more power hungry than her husband.
2.
The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step
On which I must fall down or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.
Macbeth speaks these words in Act 1 Scene 4 Lines 48 to 51 as an aside after King Duncan announces Malcolm as the Prince of Cumberland. The “Prince of Cumberland” is the title of the heir apparent to the Scottish throne. Macbeth believes that he not Malcolm will be the next king, so he says to himself that he must either give up or find some way to beat Malcolm and become king. Macbeth does not want to show others his desire to be king because he does not want to be suspected when something bad happens to the king. When the king is murdered, Macbeth must make the others suspect that Malcolm murdered him so Macbeth will be chosen as king.
3.
Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round.
Lady Macbeth states these sentences in Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 25 to 28. Lady Macbeth wants her husband to come home so she can tell him about her plan to kill King Duncan and try to convince him that it is the only way for him to be king like the witches told him is his fate.
Chisom Oraedu: (post 1).
ReplyDelete1. The speaker of this quote is Lady Macbeth. She says it after she reads the letter from Macbeth that tells her about his encounter with the witches. After she reads the letter, Lady Macbeth says, ”’Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way’” (I.v.16-18). Lady Macbeth does not think that her husband has the strength to do what is necessary and kill Duncan in order to become king. She sees the witches’ prophecy as a blessing. She wants nothing more to be queen and for her husband to be king. She completely trusts what the witches said: ”’...fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have thee crowned withal’” (I.v.29-30). In her mind, it is Macbeth’s fate to become king. That is why she cannot condone his weak nature. He needs to pack up the strength to kill Duncan. She says of him, ”’Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it’” (I.v.18-20). Macbeth has enough ambition. All that he lacks is the strength to kill Duncan.
2. The speaker of this quote is Macbeth. He says it at Duncan’s palace after the original Thane of Cawdor is executed. Right before he says this, Duncan pronounces, “’…We will establish our estate, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter The Prince of Cumberland…’” (I.iv.37-39). The Prince of Cumberland is the title of the heir apparent to the Scottish throne. This means that Malcolm will become king after Duncan dies. Macbeth does not know how to take this. He hoped to become king in the future. How will he become king after Duncan if he is not the heir? This confuses him. Macbeth says to himself, “’The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step On which I must fall down or else o’erleap, For in my way it lies’” (I.iv.48-50). If Macbeth wants the witches prophecy to come true, he must take some actions. This does not necessarily mean that he must kill Malcolm, but rather he must take a few extra precautions that ensure that he be king. When Macbeth later says, “’Stars, hide your fires, Let not light see my black and deep desires’” (I.iv.50-51), he means that he wants to close his eyes towards what he must do. He knows that he must do something, though, if he truly wants to become king.
3. Lady Macbeth says this quote after she reads the letter from Macbeth that tells her about the witches’ prophecy. The prophecy says that Macbeth will become king of Scotland after Duncan. She desperately wants it to come true. She wants to get rid of everything that stands in the way of him becoming king. When she says, “’…I may…chastise with the valor of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round…’” (I.v.26-28), she means that she will do whatever is necessary for Macbeth to become king. She wants Macbeth to gain the strength and ambition that she has. She does not think that he has the courage necessary to kill Duncan so he can become king. She wants Macbeth to be more like her when he says, “’…I may pour my spirits in thine ear’” (I.v.26 ). She wants to transfer her strength to him. Macbeth thinks very highly of his wife, which is why he calls her, “’…my dearest partner of greatness’” (I.v.11). He trusts her completely and thinks of her as his equal. Lady Macbeth knows that her husband will listen to her and try to do what is necessary to become king.
Chisom Oraedu (post 2):
ReplyDelete1. Lady Macbeth speaks this quote. Its context is after she reads the letter sent by Macbeth. In it, he tells her of his encounter with the witches. It reads, ”...these Weird Sisters...referred me to the coming of time with ’Hail, king that shalt be!’” (I.v.8-10). From the letter, Lady Macbeth learns that her husband is prophecied to become king in the near future. She immediately conspires about how he will attain this crown. She knows that Duncan lies in the way, and she is willing to do whatever is necessary to get rid of him. But she does not think that Macbeth has the strength to carry out the deed. She says of him, ”’Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness...’” (I.v.16-17). She does not think that Macbeth has the gall to kill Duncan, which scares her. She wants so badly for him to become king and for her to become queen.
2. Macbeth says this quote aside to himself after Duncan names his heir apparent. Duncan announces in his palace, “’We will establish our estate upon Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter The Prince of Cumberland…’” (I.iv.37-39). Macbeth had hoped that he would be named heir seeing as though he is high in the king’s favor and because he recently defeated the Norwegians in battle , catching the treacherous Thane of Cawdor. Unfortunately, though, Duncan decides to keep the crown in the family, which is why he names his oldest son heir. Macbeth wants the witches’ prophecy to come true, but now that Duncan has named his heir, he ponders over how he will become king. He wonders, “’That is a step On which I must fall down or else o’erleap, For in my way it lies’” (I.iv.48-50). Although Macbeth hasn’t necessarily decided to kill Malcolm, he knows that he must step in and do something if he ever wishes to become king. Malcolm is the only thing in the way of him getting what he wants.
3. Lady Macbeth says this quote after she reads the letter from Macbeth saying that the witches prophesied that he would become king. She desperately wants the prophecy to become reality and immediately begins to conspire against the life of Duncan. Nothing and no one will stand in the way of her getting what she wants. She will crush anything that stands in the path of Macbeth becoming king. When she says the line, “’...That I may…chastise with the valor of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round…’” (I.v.26-28), she means that she wishes to punish anyone that dares to stand in the way of Macbeth. Nothing is more important than him getting the crown. She is confident that Macbeth will become king, which is implied when she says, “’…fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have crowned withal’” (I.v.29-30). She thinks that since the witches have already prophesied it, it must come true. And she is willing to take whatever means necessary to make sure it does.
Chisom Oraedu (post 3):
ReplyDelete1. The speaker of this quote is Lady Macbeth. The context is after she reads Macbeth’s letter that tells her that the witches prophesied him to become this next king. In the quote, Lady Macbeth worries over Macbeth’s gentle nature. She thinks that he is too kind to do what is necessary to become king. That is, to kill Duncan. That is the only way for the prophecy to come true in her eyes. She has the strength do it, but unfortunately, he doesn’t. She says of Macbeth, ”’Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it’” (I.v.18-20). In her mind, Macbeth doesn’t lack the ambition to become king; the only thing that he lacks is that little bit of evil that will allow him to ultimately acquire the crown.
2. The speaker of this quote is Macbeth. The context is at Duncan’s palace after the original Thane of Cawdor is executed. Duncan has just announced that his heir is his eldest son, Malcolm. This baffles Macbeth because he hoped that he would be named successor. He begins to wonder how he will become king if Malcolm is next in line. He secretly wonders whether he is willing to kill Malcolm: “’Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires’” (I.iv.50-51). Deep down he contemplates whether or not to kill Malcolm. He does not know what lengths he is willing to go to for the prophecy to come true.
3. The speaker of this quote is Lady Macbeth. The context is after she reads Macbeth’s letter, which says that the witches prophesied him to become king. Lady Macbeth longs for some of her strength to be transferred over to Macbeth. She wishes him to stay close at her side, so that he may pick up on some of her more evil and treacherous traits: “’Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear’” (I.v.25-26). She knows that one must be of a harder and more tough nature if they wish to prosper in life. She will let nothing stand in the way of Macbeth becoming king, but Macbeth is a bit more relaxed. He is not as aggressive. Lady Macbeth hopes that Macbeth will soon acquire more competitive and animalistic qualities.
1. This passage is said by Lady Macbeth. She says if right after she has received the letter from Macbeth saying that he has received the title Thane of Cawdor along with the Thane of Glamis. When she says this she says that she is glad that he has received both of the titles but she fears that he doesn’t have what it takes to be in that position. She says that he is filled with too much human kindness and does have the aggression of the assertiveness to seize the crown. She knows that he wishes to be power and she isn’t saying that he doesn’t have the ambition to actually achieve it but she knows that people of high position and with a lot of power have to have a sort of meanness to their personalities to be very successful. In this passage is kind of seems like she is questioning his abilities.
ReplyDelete2. In this scene which is said by Macbeth is said when him, Duncan, and Banqou are having a conversation. He says this scene to himself. He starts off by trying to fully realize that Malcolm has now been granted the Prince of Cumberland. Which is a higher title than his. He then realizes that if he were want to be the king that he were either going to have to sabotage him or not be able to become the king in all. And with this he also realizes that the only thing that is enabling him from becoming king was Malcolm. But he is Macbeth who is an overall good person and if people were to know that sabotage was in his mind because his desire to be more powerful, it would ruin people’s view on him. So he hopes that the stars won’t shine so that no light will be shown on the malicious and strong desire in him.
3. In this scene that is said by Lady Macbeth, she is talking after she has received the message from Macbeth. She knows that they both want the crown and the power, mainly her, but she wants Macbeth to hurry home. She knows that he has a kind heart and to get the position if king he must be a little more cold hearted. So she knows that without her persuading him and giving him her advice that he won’t fulfill that position. And she knows that he will keep his kind heart and try to get Duncan’s positions but wants to convince him to go her way because in her mind her way is the quickest way to get the king. Also in the end she says “which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned withal.” She is saying that he getting the crown is both supported by fate and by witchcraft. So by convincing him that he is meant to get the crown all she has to do is persuade him to be aggressive in getting the title
Deidre
1. Lady Macbeth is saying that she fears that Macbeths kind heart will keep him from getting all of the power. In this scene it seems like Lady Macbeth is also questioning Macbeth’s masculinity and his abilities to be asserative and go for the crown with full force. Macbeth wants to get the crown jus as much as Lady Macbeth does but Lady Macbeth’s methods are maybe a little bit more harsh than Macbeth’s . it seems that lady Macbeth wants a lot of power in a fast amount of time. By lady Macbeth saying this it is showing that she is power hungry and probably wanting power more than Macbeth does.
ReplyDeleteIn this scene it shows the ambition and the desire that Macbeth does have inside of him. By his wife she makes the impression that Macbeth doesn’t have enough ambition and aggressiveness to get the crown and take over Duncan’s positions. But Macbeth does have the desire his position. However his wants for the crown is slowly become very large and strong that he begins to want to step on Malcolm to get the title. But he must cover this from other people because if he is seen as being malicious and wanting nothing but power it will ruin the reputation that he has made for himself.
deidre
Sedale Scullark
ReplyDelete1. During this quote Lady Macbeth and Macbeth had just read the note and Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to go through with her plan. She believes that her husband is too much of a coward to do it so she decides to trick him into Killing King Duncan. She insults his manhood and things to give him the motivation to kill Duncan.
2. In this quote Macbeth is making a speech to himself talking about how bad he wants to be king and how he will do anything to become it. He complains that Malcolm is standing in the way of him being King. So he plans to do what he has to do to make sure that he is king. Although he wants to be king he doesn’t want people to notice that he wants to be king so he tries to hide his feeling of being king. He does this because he doesn’t want people to be suspicious of what he thinks. So he tries to make Malcom seem suspect to the murder of Duncan.
3. Lady Macbeth announces these words as she is thinking to herself to kill King Duncan. She wants Macbeth to come home so that she can tell her ideas for killing Duncan. She wants to make it seem like killing King Duncan is the only way that he can become king. Macbeth does not really want to kill Duncan but is willing to do what he has to, in order to be king. Macbeth is sort of pressured into killing Duncan which makes it hard on Macbeth in the long run.
Sedale Scullark:
ReplyDelete2. Malcolm plays a big role in whether or not Macbeth is king or not. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth both understand that Malcolm is originally next in the family to take over the thrown. Even though Macbeth and Lady Macbeth think of plans to get rid of Malcolm. They have to be discreet when doing this or otherwise there is no hope of them becoming king. although Macbeth wants to be king at times through the book Lady Macbeth seems to want it more.