DAY 1 - CYCLE 6 - SEMESTER 2

Today, we read a "parallel" version of Act III, scenes i-iii. In these scenes, I asked, Macbeth plots the murder of Banquo and his son Fleance, and discusses some of his concerns with his wife. In scene three, the murderers kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes. I asked you to consider Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's emotional states while we read, and the state of their relationship.

You should be able to answer the following questions about the first three scenes. If you cannot answer these, you need to review the material.

• What does Banquo suspect?
• For what does Macbeth ask Banquo to return that evening?
• Where is Banquo going?
• What news does Macbeth report about Malcom and Donalbain?
• Why doesn't Macbeth enjoy being king?
• What has been the cost for Macbeth in "helping" Banquo's descendents?
• What do the murderers blame Banquo for?
• How does Macbeth convince the murderers to murder Banquo? How do his arguments resemble Lady Macbeth's? HINT:Why does Macbeth spend time talking about dogs?
• What reason does Macbeth give for not killing Banquo himself?
• Why doesn't Lady Macbeth enjoy being queen?
• Lady Macbeth complains about what tendency that Macbeth has?
• Why does Macbeth envy Duncan?
• How do Lady Macbeth's and Macbeth's speeches resemble one another?
• Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth tell each other to do what?
• What is Macbeth's brain full of? Isn't that an incredible image for describing mental stress?!
• For some of the lines to make sense, you need to consider the listening character's facial expressions. Identify those lines and imagine the expressions.

We watched some of Ian McKellen/Judy Dench's Royal Shakespeare version of Macbeth in class. We shall watch the rest of Act III tomorrow.

HOMEWORK:

Preview the remainder of Act III. You should have a very firm handle on what happens in each scene, the identity of the characters involved, their emotional states, and some assumptions about what they think about one another.