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This video is a line-by-line walkthrough guide for William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Act 3, Scene 2.
I provide a close reading of the entire scene, including: — Detailed explication — Commentary — Literary analysis
All commentary is supplemented by in-text, line-by-line study notes designed to help students: — Prepare for GCSE, A-Level, IB, and AP evaluation — Prepare for general high school and college quizzes, exams, and essays — Generate ideas for analysis essays — Participate knowledgeably in class discussions Click here to download the annotated text of Macbeth: https://sites.google.com/view/shakespeare-walkthrough/home
This video discusses :
PLOT: — Macbeth and Lady Macbeth finally have a few moments to talk after they’ve killed Duncan — Lady Macbeth admits to herself that she is as regretful and anxious as Macbeth; she scapegoats these “weak” thoughts by telling Macbeth to stop worrying — Macbeth reminds Lady Macbeth that they are not out of danger yet because Fleance is still alive; he envies the dead Duncan — Lady Macbeth reminds Macbeth to look happy at the upcoming banquet — Macbeth takes control; tells Lady Macbeth that he has more evil deeds to commit but doesn’t tell her what they are
CHARACTER: — Macbeth: very unhappy as king; hates the lies and false appearances; alienated from self; continues down the slippery slope of tyranny; willing to burn the world to support own ego — Lady Macbeth: No longer in dominant position; lonely; unhappy; alienated from self; looks to Macbeth for guidance; continues to attempt to scapegoat her own weaknesses onto Macbeth
THEME: — Necessary paranoia of the tyrant; slippery slope; “blood will have blood” — Alienation: both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth alone; cut off from God/good/love; life is now a chore — Scapegoating: Lady Macbeth deflects her own “weak” thoughts onto her husband — Appearance vs reality: tyrant’s need to constantly lie — Peripeteia: reversal of circumstances; Lady Macbeth is now in the subordinate position in marriage — Great Chain of Being; wasteland; both society and the Macbeths’ psyches are corrupt; hell/horror imagery
