Question 13 • English 2 Sem 2 (10013400) BCPS 2025-26
Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 5 of The Tragedy of Macbeth.Lady Macbeth. Give him tending;He brings great news.—[Exit Messenger.] The raven himself is hoarseThat croaks the fatal entrance of DuncanUnder my battlements. Come, you spiritsThat tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here,And fill me from the crown to the toe top fullOf direst cruelty; make thick my blood,Stop up the access and passage to remorse,That no compunctious visitings of natureShake my fell purpose, nor keep peace betweenThe effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,Wherever in your sightless substancesYou wait on nature’s mischief! Come, thick night,And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,To cry, "Hold, hold!”
Answer
A
to petition the spirits in hopes that they will cast an enchantment over the guests in the castle
B
to implore the unseen beings to help her reform her villainous thoughts
C
to call on the supernatural to remove feminine characteristics that she thinks could hold her back
D
to persuade the three Weird Sisters to use their powers to influence her as they did her husband
Explanation
Lady Macbeth calls on spirits to “unsex” her and fill her with cruelty, asking them to remove qualities she associates with femininity and remorse. She believes those qualities could keep her from carrying out her murderous plan. Choice C captures this request; she is not asking for an enchantment over her guests or for the Weird Sisters to influence her.
AI-written and checked against the verified answer.