If you have enjoyed this video, please consider making a small donation: https://www.patreon.com/literature_walkthrough
See also my tips on reading Shakespeare’s LANGUAGE: https://dai.ly/x80qtdh You might also find my Romeo and Juliet series interesting: https://dai.ly/x80qt0r
This video is a line-by-line walkthrough guide for William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Act 4, 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: — At MacDuff’s castle, Lady MacDuff and Ross discuss MacDuff’s flight to England — Lady MacDuff says her husband is a traitor to abandon his family; Ross defends his decision — Ross leaves — Lady MacDuff complains to her son that his father is dead and a traitor; son wittily defends his father — Murderers arrive and kill Lady MacDuff and son
CHARACTER: — Lady MacDuff / son: Cynical, bitter, innocent victims of cruel historical forces / vicious tyrant — Ross: conflicted about duties owed to family vs to society
THEME: — Juxtaposition: physical/moral disgust of previous scene (act 4 scene 1) contrasts with tender pity of this one (act 4 scene 2) — Self vs society: MacDuff’s conflict; duty to self/family vs duty to Scotland — Nature vs the unnatural — Great Chain of Being disruption leads to wasteland paranoia, denunciation, cynicism, inauthentic lives — Appearance vs reality — Tyrant’s willingness to burn the world; Cain’s spite
