Act 5 Scene 3

Act 5 Scene 3

1. Macbeth receives news of the army approaching

   • Recalls the apparitions prophecies
     • Rages at a soldier who tells him of Malcom's approach
       • He reflects on a bleak future
         • But then decides to fight to the death
           • Wants Lady Macbeth to be cured- but the Doctor says that he cannot cure mental disorders
             • Macbeth dismisses Medicine

2. Reliance on the prophecies

   • Dismisses reality- refusing to believe it
     • 'Bring me no more reports, let them fly all'
       • Ignorance
         • Sense of desperation- last hope
       • Has created a false sense of security
   • over confidence
     • Link back to Hecate- one of the pitfalls of humanity
     • 'The heart I bear shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear'
       • verbs 'sag' and 'shake'
         • He is physically and mentally stable- unaffected
   • Repeated and sustained reference Birnam Wood throughout the scene
     • Rhyming couplet at the end of the scene
       • 'I will not be afraid of death and bane, /Till Birnam Forest come to Dunsinane'
       • witchlike- his reliance on them

3. Treatment of his servant Seyton

   • 'thou cream face loon'
     • 'goose-look'
       • 'thou lily-livered boy'
         • Repetition of pale colours
           • bombardment of insults
           • To suggest his cowardice
     • Repetition of 'thou' throughout- talking down to him
   • Imperatives
     • interrupts him 'There is ten thousand-'
     • 'Go prick'
       • 'Take thy face hence!'
         • shouting
           • perhaps a representation of his 'valiant fury'
     • Questions and exclamations
     • 'Give me my armour'
       • 'Pull't off'
         • unpredictable nature
   • 'Seyton!'
     • 'Seyton, I say'
     • demanding/impatient

4. Macbeth's bleak future

   • Repetition of lifeless imagery
     • 'sere'
       • 'yellow leaf'
     • 'old age'
   • We are reminded of his potential
     • 'honour, love, obedience, troops of friends '
     • Lists- extent to which he has changed- lost potential
   • But then talks of bravery and fighting until death
     • 'I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked'
       • reminder of his character before- noble, heroic warrior in battle
         • talks of action - rumour-mongers to be killed
           • 'Hang those who talk of fear'

5. Lady Macbeth

   • 'mind diseased'
     • 'Cure her of that.'
       • 'pluck', 'raze' 'cleanse'
         • verbs- cleansing of the sin
           • But Doctor says this is not possible
             • 'Throw physic to the dogs'
               • abrupt, immediate dismissal of his profession
                 • Another example of his lack of respect for others- unpredictable nature
                   • Dashes
                     • give me my staff-'
                     • defensive/ angry- lady Macbeth's condition is out of anyone's control
                       • angry- deterioration of his language- flustered
             • rhyming couplet at the end of the scene summing his fears
           • Repeated throughout
             • 'purgative drug'
               • 'cynne'
       • loving caring nature- reintroduction of humanity/emotions