The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act Five

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THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, ACT FIVE

Literary Analysis

SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY: TRAGIC HERO

In a Shakespearean tragedy, the main character is a royal tragic hero who fails due to human error or weakness. This tragic flaw leads the hero to ruin, but it is often assisted by antagonists, characters who oppose the hero. Action climaxes in a catastrophe, a dreadful ending where many characters die.

Directions: Use the chart to record the characteristics of tragedy in Macbeth. Then answer the question that follows.

In what ways could Macbeth be considered a tragic hero rather than a villain?

1. RECALL What happens to Lady Macbeth in Act Five?

2.CLARIFY Why does Macbeth have to face his enemies basically alone?

3.SUMMARIZE How do the apparitions’ three predictions in Act Four come true?

4. COMPARESCENES Reread Scene 1, lines 28–55. Compare this scene, revealing Lady Macbeth’s madness, with Scene 4 in Act Three, in which Macbeth believes he sees Banquo’s ghost. What is ironic about Lady Macbeth’s behavior in these scenes? (Recall that situational irony is a contrast between what is expected and what actually occurs.)

5. EXAMINE SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA How have both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth changed during the course of the play? Cite evidence to support your response.

6. INTERPRET FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Reread Macbeth’s famous soliloquy in Scene 5, lines 19–28. In the metaphors in these lines, what does Shakespeare compare life to? What do the metaphors suggest about Macbeth’s mental state?

7. MAKE JUDGMENTS Do you think Macbeth’s downfall is a result of fate or of his own ambition? Cite evidence from the play to support your answer.

8. SYNTHESIZE THEMES A theme is the central idea the writer wishes to share with the reader. This idea may be a lesson about life or about people and their actions. Use specific details to explain the message Macbeth conveys about the following issues:

• appearance versus reality

• loyalty

• impulses and desires

9. CRITICAL INTERPRETATIONS In a famous critique of Shakespeare’s plays, the poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, “The interest in the plot is always . . . on account of the characters, not vice versa.” Do you agree, based on your reading of Macbeth? Support your answer.

ACT 5: Interpreting the text

1. Lines 40-55 (Scene 1) What event is Lady Macbeth reliving in her sleepwalking?

2. Lines 40-55 (Scene 1) Reread lines 54–55; then review line 12 in Act Three, Scene 2. How does the difference in these comments reflect a change in Lady Macbeth?

3. Lines 40-55 (Scene 1) How do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem to have switched roles?

4. Lines 11-29 (Scene 3) As the scene opens, why does Macbeth speak the words “Fear not, Macbeth”?

5. Lines 11-29 (Scene 3) How do Macbeth’s feelings change when the servant announces that ten thousand soldiers are approaching?

6. Lines 11-29 (Scene 3) Do Macbeth’s expressed feelings make readers sympathize more with him as a tragic hero?

7. Lines 11-11 (Scene 6) When Macbeth says, “They have tied me to a stake” (line 1), to whom is he referring? What does he mean?

8. Lines 11-11 (Scene 6) Notice how Macbeth taunts Young Siward in lines 5 and 9. What do these taunts reveal about Macbeth’s state of mind?