Paige Rowley

English 12
Cindy Rogers
November 10, 2016
English 12 A11 Macbeth

1.) Act 4
Do you have any sympathy left for Macbeth? Why or why not?
Act 5
Were you satisfied with the way the play ended? Why or why not?
I have no sympathy left for Macbeth. He has been warped and twisted by power,
and has no more good in him. I was satisfied with the way the play ended. At the end,
Macduff avenged his family, and Scotland crowned a better king. Macbeth was brought
to justice, and Lady Macbeth was taken out of the picture one way or another. I feel that
Lady Macbeth brought the visions onto herself, so I am not upset with the fact that she
committed suicide at the end.

2.) Act 5- Compare and contrast the final days of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. How are
both characters affected by the knowledge of their evil deeds? Whom do you find more
sympathetic at the end? Why?
Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are plagued with hauntings and visions of
bloody hands, floating daggers, and ghosts of the people they killed. They were both
eventually driven insane by their guilt. Though I feel little sympathy for either Lady

Macbeth or Macbeth himself, I suppose I feel more sympathy for Macbeth, because he
was good before he was corrupted by his wife Lady Macbeth, who urged him to commit
the murder of Duncan.

3.) Write an alternative ending (two paragraphs) for Macbeth.

An alternative ending for Macbeth would be to die with honor. He can admit
defeat to his enemies. Then he would confess all his wrongs. He could plead a quick
death. He would weep for his dead wife, regardless of the circumstances. I don't see a
realistic ending to this play where Macbeth doesn't die.
Having this ending gives Macbeth a chance to redeem himself. He isn't seen as the
insane, sadistic character he is in the original ending. If Macbeth goes out with honor, he
goes back to being the trustworthy honorable man he started out as. This ending will
affect how we as readers see Macbeth only. The other characters will be seen in roughly
the same light as they were before in the original ending.