Describe the physical, mental, and moral state of the King and Queen at the close of this, their first state banquet. Why does M. employ spies? What are the strange things that M. has in head? What do you admire in Lady M.'s character? Which is the more difficult part to act in this scene, M.'s or Lady M.'s? Try to imagine, and if you are courageous put into blank verse, a scene between M. and Lady M.—time, immediately before the banquet.

Scene 5. Is this scene necessary? What fault does Hecate find with the witches? with Macbeth?

Scene 6. Is this scene necessary? Practice reading; try to bring out effectively the fine irony in the speech by Lennox. Mark the scansion.

Which is the most effective of the first three Acts? In which is the action most rapid? Had the rest of the play been lost, what could be guessed in regard to what the next two Acts contained? Pick out what seem to you the most poetical passages in Act III. Summarize each scene, employing the present tense.

ACT IV

Scene 1. Arrange the stage. Why is the witches' brew made so loathsome? What use is to be made of it? Describe M.'s appearance and manner of entering. Had M. ever before met the witches save by accident? Describe the manner in which the apparitions appear and disappear. Are they visible to the audience? Locate Birnam wood and Dunsinane hill. Is the tone of M.'s voice the same in the lines beginning Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo as in the passage beginning I conjure you by that which you profess? Explain the device by which the witches are made to vanish. Show the dramatic value of the announcement made by Lennox. Why does M. wish to kill Macduff's wife and children? Does this scene, more than some others, need stage representation to show its effectiveness? Explain lines 83-6, 120-22, 144-8.

Scene 2. For what purpose has Ross come to Macduff's castle? Was he sent? Is the conversation between Lady Macduff and her son introduced for relief through humor, or for some other

purpose? Would the scene be as effective without the messenger? Who sent him? Why is not Lady Macduff killed on the stage? In what respects is this murder worse than the preceding ones?

Scene 3. Macduff has had little prominence in earlier scenes; what is the dramatist's purpose in now making him the central figure? What is your final impression of Malcolm? Give in detail the grounds for Malcolm's mistrust of Macduff. Name the "king becoming graces." Purpose of the lines which tell of the power of the English king to cure disease? Would the last part of this scene, where Macduff learns of the death of his wife and children, be so effective had we not read the preceding scene? What character of all that we have met in the play has the strongest motives for killing Macbeth? There are many troublesome lines in this scene; pay particular attention to the following: 11. 2-4, 14-17, 19-20, 22-4, 29-30, 32-4, 107-8, 110-11, 112-13, 165-74, 192-4, 212, 228-9.

How does Act IV compare with the preceding Acts in interest? in poetic excellence? in dramatic skill? Briefly summarize each scene, employing the present tense. What remains to be done in Act V? Do you expect to learn of new atrocities committed by Macbeth? If the remainder of the play is to picture the punishment of wrong-doers, do you think the penalty should be the same for the Queen as for the King?

ACT V

Scene 1. Arrange the stage for this scene. Does the gentlewoman show affection for Lady M.? Would the scene be as effective without the presence of the doctor and the gentlewoman? Describe in close detail Lady M.'s actions throughout the scene? By what means may one taking the part of Lady M. convey to the audience the impression of sleep-walking? Should Lady M. be represented as actually washing her hands? writing letters? Should Out damned spot be spoken explosively? How long a time should the scene take? What is passing through Lady M.'s mind as she utters the following: (1) One: two: why then, 'tis time to do it; (2) Hell is murky; (3) You mar all with this starting? Does this scene throw new light on her character? Will she die "holily," or do you detect no signs of repentance?

Can you think of her as one who has committed crimes solely through love for her husband? Why did Shakespeare prefer to reveal Lady M.'s mind in this sleep-walking scene rather than through waking soliloquy? What other scenes in the play approach this in dramatic power?

Scene 2. Purpose of this scene? What is the most effective metaphor? Find a simile that presents a vivid picture. To what earlier scene are we carried back by the words Birnam and Dunsinane?

Scene 3. Purpose of this scene? Describe Macbeth's appearance and his mental condition. Could the first twenty lines be spared? the seven lines beginning I have lived long enough? the lines referring to the Queen? Does M. arouse our pity as Lady M. does in the sleep-walking scene? Has he absolute faith in the witches? Did he have in Act I? Is he mad or full of valiant fury? What was the final cause of Lady M.'s death?

Scene 4. Why is this scene necessary? What is the effect of so many short scenes?

Scene 5. What is M.'s state of mind before he hears of his wife's death? Does he show grief or indifference at the news? How do you explain lines 17-18? Explain the thought in lines 19-23. Is M. a deep thinker? Do you admire him for determining to die with harness on our back?

Scenes 6-7. How was the castle taken? Which should kill M., Macduff or Malcolm?

Scene 8. Is there anything of remorse in 1. 5? Why not have M. killed on the stage? Purpose of 11. 35-53? Would the ending have been more impressive had M. been taken captive? if the Queen had survived him? if the King and Queen had died at the same time? if the King had taken his own life? What is Shakespeare's way of representing a battle? Why not call the play The Macbeths?

ENGLISH LITERATURE,
BRIEF SUMMARY OF,
237-316

CAXTON'S PERIOD, 257- epic, the, 152

Ralph Roister Doister, Thackeray, 311