Task 1
To annotate the below scene
In this scene we see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and dreaming about the murder of Duncan. A doctor has come to visit
and observe her as she has become increasingly ‘unwell’.
LADY MACBETH Yet here's a spot.
Doctor Hark! she speaks: I will set down what comes from
her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.
LADY MACBETH Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,
then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my 40
lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we
fear who knows it, when none can call our power to
account?--Yet who would have thought the old man
to have had so much blood in him.
Doctor Do you mark that?
LADY MACBETH The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?--
What, will these hands ne'er be clean?--No more o'
that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with
this starting. 50
Doctor Go to, go to; you have known what you should not.
Gentlewoman She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of
that: heaven knows what she has known.
LADY MACBETH Here's the smell of the blood still: all the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand. Oh, oh, oh!
Doctor What a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged. 60
Gentlewoman I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the
dignity of the whole body.
Doctor Well, well, well,--
Gentlewoman Pray God it be, sir.
Doctor This disease is beyond my practise: yet I have known
those which have walked in their sleep who have died
holily in their beds.
LADY MACBETH Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so
pale.--I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he 70
cannot come out on's grave.
Doctor Even so?
LADY MACBETH To bed, to bed! there's knocking at the gate:
come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's
done cannot be undone.--To bed, to bed, to bed!
[Exit]
Task 2
Questions
1. What quotation shows that Lady Macbeth is hallucinating and what does she see?
Extension: Why is she hallucinating and what does this show about how her character has changed?
2. Find a quotation to show she is referring to King Duncan.
Extension: Why is she constantly using questions – consider why people ask questions and conclude your
response based on this.
3. Where does Lady Macbeth think she will go once she dies?
Extension – why would Lady Macbeth assume this?
4. Lady Macbeth suggests that she still sees blood on her hands, find the quotation to show this.
Extension: what does the conversation between the Gentlewoman and the Doctor reveal to the audience?
5. Lady Macbeth uses a metaphor to say that she can smell blood.
Extension: explain what Lady Macbeth is suggesting in this metaphor
6. The doctor says: ‘My heart is sorely charged.’ What does this mean?
Extension: what are the connotations of heart and what could the doctor be suggesting here.
7. Which quote shows the doctor is unable to treat Lady Macbeth?
Extension: Lady Macbeth acknowledges that Macbeth has had others murdered, find these quotations.
8. Lady Macbeth uses a list, find this quotation.
Extension: What does this quotation refer to and select one word out of the quotation and explore its
connotations.
9. What imperative verbs show that Lady Macbeth was in control after the murdering of Duncan?
Extension: Why does Lady Macbeth take control and how does this subvert the expectations of an Elizabethan
woman.
Task 3
- Either draw a picture of Lady Macbeth at this stage in the play.
- Create a Powerpoint summarizing each scene in Macbeth up until this point.
