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QuizMultiple Choice

Macbeth, Part 8: Universal Themes — Quiz

Question 3 • English 2

Excerpt 1: Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 7 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth has just told Lady Macbeth that he no longer thinks it is right to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth to move forward with the murder by accusing him of being a coward. Lady Macbeth: Was the hope drunk, Wherein you dress’d yourself? hath it slept since, And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely? From this time Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valour As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’ Like the poor cat i’ the adage? Excerpt 2: Read the excerpt from act 5, scene 1 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking and rubbing her hands together as if she were trying to remove a spot from them. A doctor and a gentlewoman are observing her. Lady Macbeth: Out, damned spot! out, I say!—One: two: why, then, ’tis time to do’t.—Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him. Doctor: Do you mark that? Lady Macbeth: The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?—What, will these hands ne’er be clean?—No more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that: you mar all with this starting. How does the universal theme "the quest for power” relate to the universal theme "the consuming power of guilt” in these excerpts?

Answer
A
Lady Macbeth believes she has the power to wash away the guilt of her actions.
B
Lady Macbeth wants to obtain more power in order to free herself from guilt.
C
Lady Macbeth’s desire for power is strong enough to overcome any guilt she feels.
D
Lady Macbeth is incapable of handling the guilt caused by her actions to gain power.

Explanation

In the first excerpt, Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth toward murder to gain power, mocking his fear and hesitation. In the second, guilt overwhelms her: she sleepwalks, imagines blood on her hands, and asks whether they will ever be clean. This shows that the quest for power has led to guilt she is incapable of handling, so D is correct.

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