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Macbeth Act 5 Scene 1
Macbeth Act 5 Scene 1
Rearrange these 10 jumbled events to make up the summary of the tragedy Macbeth.
1. Malcolm becomes the King of Scotland and declares his benevolent reign for
the country.
2. Meanwhile, conscience-stricken by her crime, Lady Macbeth suffers from
sleepwalking, telling her secret to her doctor and commits suicide.
3.. Macbeth goes to visit the witches and receives three further prophecies
4. After the battle, Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches who prophesy that
Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland.
5. In the battle, Macduff beheads Macbeth and brings his head to Malcolm.
6. Malcolm and Donalbain, King Duncan’s sons, flee to England for their own life,
but they are blamed for the murder.
7. Urged by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and assumes the kingship
8. Frightened, Macbeth slaughters many, including Macduff’s family.
9. Prince Malcolm and Macduff’s army in England march on Dunsinane Castle to
attack Macbeth’s force.
10 Fearful of the witches’prophecy that Fleance, Banquo’s son, will seize the
throne, Macbeth has Banquo and Fleance killed, but Fleance escapes.
Correct order: 4→7 →6 →10 →3 →8 →9 →2→5 →1
ACT I SCENE 1
ↆ“Three witches are speaking during a storm on the
heath”
→ The bleak Scottish scene: set universal wilderness of
human’s existence
ↆ“Thunder and lightning. Enter three witches”
→ foreshadow: turmoil and chao
→ Trinity of witches: embodiment of Weird
(Witches can control weather and create bad omen)
ↆ “When the hurly-burly’s done
When the battle’s lost and won”
→ Paradox: All is not what it seems.
One can win as well as lose simultaneously
Graymalkin: spirit in a grey cat
Paddock: spirit in a toad
ↆ “That will be ere the set of sun”(to meet Macbeth)
Hurlyburly: noisy disorder and confusion → Foreshadow: a darkness is overcoming Macbeth
ↆ “ Fair is foul and foul is fair
Hover through the fog and filthy air”
→ A leitmotif
→ Paradox: Life is a confusion, in which discerning
good and evil is difficult.
ACT V - SCENE I: ANALYSIS
Lady Macbeth’s problem
→Lady Macbeth is doing some weird acts in her
sleepwalking.
→The paper recalls the letter from Macbeth, telling
her about the witches’ prophecy.
→Her sleepwalking and uncontrolled deeds show
that she is suffering from a mental disorder.
Enter Lady Macbeth
ↆ.Gentlewoman: She has light by her continually, ‘tis
her command
Why is Lady Macbeth scared of darkness?
→Most murders she got involved occured in
darkness. Darkness recalls her sinful deeds.
Lady Macbeth’s repentance
ↆ Lady Macbeth: Yet here’s a spot […] Out, damned spot!
What spot does she see on her hands? What is the symbol of this
spot to her?
→ The imagined spot of blood on her hands is the symbol for
her ridden guilt.
ↆ. Lady Macbeth: Hell is murky!
Why is she sinking in the dark hell?
→ She is so guilt-ridden that she is undergoing the obsession of
being pushed to the hell.
→ Ironically, she always has light by her, but her restless soul
deeply sinks in darkness.
ↆ Lady Macbeth: Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the
perfume of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh,oh,oh!
Does she repent of her sin?
→ This most ironic line shows her deep remorse.
→ she is aware that what she had done can never be tolerated by
her conscience court.
Who are recalled in lady Macbeth’s delirium?
ↆ “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had
so much blood in him?”
→ King Duncan
ↆ“The Thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now?”
→ Lady Macduff
ↆ “Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on’s grave”
→ Banquo
ↆ “There’s knocking at the gate, give me your hand”:
→ Macduff
ↆ Lady Macbeth: “what’s done cannot be undone.”
What is her implication when saying so?
→ What happened in the past can not be changed
→ There is no turning back when Macbeth commited
murder, so he should get over it.
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“What's done is done" (Act III, Scene 2).
"We have done those things which we ought not to have
done, and there is no health in us.” (Prayer Book)
The doctor’s prescription
ↆ Doctor:“ Foul whisperings are abroad: unnatural deeds
Do breed unnatural troubles”
What do the doctor’s words imply?
→ Evil is exposured through peculiar deeds and that makes the
sinner’s conscience restless and stricken to death.
ↆ Doctor: “: infected minds
To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets:
→ The sinners will utter their sinful secrets in their sleep. Evil
acts can never be hidden but will be sooner or later brought
under the daylight.
ↆ. Doctor: “More needs she the divine than the physician.”
What is the best treatment for lady Macbeth according to the
doctor?
→Lady Macbeth needs a priest for her salvation rather than a
doctor.
THEMES:
Ambition and Evil
One’s rampant ambition can manufacture evil deeds and ruins himself.
Guilt and conscience court
“We have done those things which we ought not to have done, and there is no
health in us.” (from Prayer Book)
Conscience is the supreme court which can judge one’s sin most properly.
SOURCES
https://www.enotes.com/topics/macbeth/themes
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/macbeth/summary-and-analysis/act-v-
scene-1
SUMMARY OF ACT V SCENE 1
1. Where does this scene occur?
A. In Lady Macbeth’s bedroom in England
B. In Macbeth’s castle in Dunsinane
C. In King Duncan’s castle in Dunsinane
2. What physical problem is Lady Macbeth suffering?
A. insaneness B. sleepwalking C. stroke
3. What crime did she indirectly commit before?
A. Murdered King Duncan
B. Murdered Banquo
C. Murdered King Duncan, Banquo, and lady Macduff
4. What does Lady Macbeth keep doing in this scene?
A. rubbing her hands B. cleaning her face C. crying
5. What does she relive in her unconsciousness?
A. her words with Macbeth about murder they committed
B. her attempt to convince Macbeth to kill the King
C. her conversation with Macbeth before the murder
6. How did the doctor cure Lady Macbeth?
A. Giving her some medicine
B. Asking her to pray for her sin
C. saying it is beyond his power to cure