Macbeth Act III Scene ii (scene ii starts on page 249) Alyssa Kroesen, Claire Schildt, Brandon Swarek

1. Lines 11-27: What animal imagery does Macbeth use? What does he mean by “scorched the snake, not killed it”? In what was is the image of a snake ironic, coming from Macbeth? Macbeth says “we have scorched the snake, not killed it. She’ll close herself whilst our poor malice remains in danger of her former tooth.” (lines 13-15). What he means by “scorched the snake, not killed it” is that the snake represents a threat to that throne. By killing Duncan, Macbeth has “scorched” a threat to the throne, but has not “killed” every single threat as Banquo and his son still live. The snake can be considered to be ironic because a snake can be considered sneaky and manipulative like Macbeth was.

2.) What is the meaning of Lady Macbeth’s saying: “Naught’s had, all’s spent/Where our desire is got without content”? Lady Macbeth by saying “naughts had” means that she feels as if she has gained nothing, while “all’s spent” is to show she feels she has given all she has. Her and Macbeth’s desire was to kill Duncan, and now that it is done, she is still not content. Overall, she feels her and Macbeth have given everything to get their desire, and now that they have got it, they’re still not content and left with nothing.

3) Lines 18-28, from what affliction does Macbeth suffer? The affliction Macbeth suffers from is sleep depravity, as he feels too guilty from killing King Duncan for him to be able to sleep.

4) Lines 29-39: what instruction does Macbeth give Lady Macbeth with regard to speaking about Banquo? Which phrase suggests they should hide their true feelings? What does Lady Macbeth’s comment in line 34 tell the reader about the different between Macbeth’s words and the way he might be acting? Macbeth’s instructions about Banquo are to make him feel like an important guest and to act like nothing’s wrong. The phrase, “And make our faces vizards to our hearts, disgusting as they are,” suggests that Macbeth and his wife should hide their feelings, as vizard means mask, and mask means to hide something. Lady Macbeth says, “You must stop this,” to Macbeth. In his mind he does want to stop, but his actions will prove differently as he will not.

5) Lines 51-52: Explain how Macbeth describes the ending of the day. Which words describe the images of predators and prey? What might “black agents” refer to? How does this imagery contribute to the overall mood of Scene 2? Macbeth describes the ending of the day by saying “Good things of day begin to droop and drowse”, meaning the good happenings of the day are beginning to turn dark. The words “blank agents” and “prey” describe the images of the predators and prey. The black agents are referring to the assassins Macbeth hired on Banquo and it creates an overall dark and dreary mood.

6) In line 39, Lady Macbeth says, “You must leave this.” What does she mean? By saying this to Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is trying to tell him that he must stop feeling guilty for Duncan’s murder. She sees the guilt is messing with his head and slowly driving him crazy, so she tells him to leave the guilt and stress behind and not think of it anymore. (Question seven is a scene i question We skipped it)

8) How is the planning of Banquo’s murder quite different from that of Duncan’s? Cite text evidence from scenes i and ii. Macbeth states “Both of you know Banquo was your enemy… So is he mine”. This dialogue is Macbeth hiring assassins to take out Banquo which differs from Macbeth doing the dirty work himself. The quote “Remains in danger of her former tooth”, also shows that Macbeth is not killing to gain power, but to try and protect the power that he now already has.

Literary Elements Chart IRONY: In this scene Macbeth and Lady Macbeth discuss how they will act towards Banquo yet again deceiving a friend yet again. Banquo and other characters are not aware that he is about to be deceived to be killed along with his son. (like father like son) (ironic) What else is ironic is the fact that the reader knows what’s to happen but Banquo and Fleance do not know.

Literary Elements SYMBOLISM: Line 52 “While night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.” This is symbolizing the murderers as agents of dark or night. Typically when one is referred to an agent of dark it will often symbol a thief or assassin. It is metaphorical meaning that no you can not physically be an “agent of night” but rather you represent ill omen, stealth, death, or a matter of all three.

Literary Elements IMAGERY: lines 45 to 50 “Till thou applaud the deed.-- Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, And with thy bloody and invisible hand Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond Which keeps me pale. Light thickens, and the crow Makes wing to th’ rooky wood” Macbeth is explaining to his wife that what will be done is that an assassin (3) will go to kill their prey in the night so that shadow may hide and guide them. Macbeth fears that he will be overthrown by Banquo’s son as the witches foretold Banquo would have kin to be king. The bond Macbeth mentions is his bond with Banquo his friend whom he must now have killed. The crow is to help us picture the oncoming doom and death.

Literary Elements HYPERBOLE: Line 35 to 36 “O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou know’st that Banquo and his Fleance lives.” No. Totally unrealistic to have scorpions in his mind. Rather the thought of Banquo and Fleance living would POISON his mind. Scorpions are poisonous. TEXT TO WORLD CONNECTION Macbeth has an affiliation (Question 3) of sleep deprivation. Possibly part of his affiliation is the fact that he cannot rest easy as king for he may be overthrown. After all, the witches prophecy came true for him why would Banquo’s prophecy not be true?

Literary Elements CONFLICT: line 13 “We have scorched the snake, not killed it” This proves conflict for Macbeth as he worries he will not be king for long. This also proves problematic for Banquo and Fleance considering they are the ones to be assassinated. Also may later become a problem for Macbeth and his wife. (Mariagal stress stuff, you know….adult things) (NOTE: Personally if I was married and my husband and me were running around plotting the death of the ruler of where we live or death on others I think I’d just go crazy myself or leave that bum for killing others. -Alyssa)