Read Macbeth Online

36 Macbeth [Act I 

Their drenched natures lie as in a death, 

What cannot you and I perform upon 

The unguarded Duncan? what not put upon 70 

His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt 

Of our great quell? 

Macbeth. Bring forth men-children only ; 

For thy undaunted mettle should compose 
Nothing but males. Will it not be received, 
When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two 
Of his own chamber and us'd their very daggers, 
That they have done't? 

Lady Macbeth. Who dares receive it other, 

As we shall make our griefs and clamour roar 
Upon his death? 

Macbeth. I am settled, and bend up 

Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. go 

Away, and mock the time with fairest show ; 
False face must hide what the false heart doth 
know. [Exeunt. 

1. In what sense is Act I an introduction to the play? 

2. Where does the inciting moment occur? 

3. Should the witches be represented on the stage when 
the curtain rises, or enter afterward? 

4. Is Lady Macbeth's ambition for herself or for her 
husband ? 

5. What is the dramatic purpose of the praise of Mac- 
beth in Scene II ? 

6. At what point in Scene VII does Macbeth determine 
to murder? 

7. The scene and act conclude with a rhyming couplet. 
Why?