Year 11 Literature Homework – Feb Half Term 2023

Revision focus: Violence in Macbeth

Task 1: Learn at least 5 of these quotations:

1. Captain about Macbeth – Act 1 Sc 2: ‘Till he unseamed him

from the nave to th' chops, And fixed his head upon our
battlements.’

2. Lady Macbeth – Act 1 Sc 7: ‘Have plucked my nipple from his

boneless gums And dashed the brains out’

3. Macbeth – Act 2 Sc 1: ‘Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell

That summons thee to heaven or to hell.’

4. Old Man to Rosse – Act 2 Sc 4 about the disruption of The

Great Chain of Being and Duncan’s horses: ’Tis said they eat
each other.’

5. Murderer to Macbeth about Banquo’s murder – Act 3 Sc 4:

‘Safe in a ditch he bides, With twenty trenchèd gashes on his
head’

6. After Banquo’s murder – Act 3 Sc 4: ‘It will have blood, they

say; blood will have blood.’

7. Macduff about the murder of all of his family: ‘All my pretty

ones? … All my pretty chickens’

8. Stage directions: Enter Macduff with Macbeth’s head.

Task 2: Answer these questions to help you construct your
hypothesis about Shakespeare’s use of violence in Maceth:
1. Think of the examples above, what does Shakespeare
exaggerate about Shakespeare’s character throughout the
play? His ambition of becoming king and any obstacle in the
way would not affect his goal
2. What happens to the nature immediately after King Duncan’s
death? Read this scene if you are unsure. Macbeth, Act 2, scene
4 | The Folger SHAKESPEARE It went strange – horses eating
each other
3. What has caused this disruption to nature? Change in the great
chain of being
4. What would this violence in the animal kingdom warn the
audience against? The battle between macbeth and macduff
5. Why does Shakespeare make Banquo’s death so violent? As it
exaggerates to the audience on how despite Banquo being
Macbeths best friend, he will still commit to his plan as he sees
Banquo as a threat to his throne
6. Why does Shakespeare make the murder of Macduff’s entire
family so violent? To show how defenceless they were. As
macduff had already left it creates sympathy for the family as
they were helpless
7. Why does Shakespeare ultimately have Macduff murder
Macbeth? What does it restore? I think the previous scene of
macduffs family would have been the final driving force of
macduffs strive to kill macbeth and it restores Scotland to what
it was in king duncan’s reign from a destructive and
dishonourable king.

Extract:
Spend 10 minutes planning the essay below – I would like to see your
ideas.
Then spend 40 minutes responding to the essay task below.

Success criteria:
- Make clear points, showing knowledge from throughout the
play.
- Support your points with evidence
- Analyse the choices Shakespeare makes; the language and
techniques he uses and the effect these have on the reader.
- Explore Shakespeare’s intentions – why is he doing this?
- Refer to contextual information
In the extract, we are introduced to one of the first acts of violence in
the play. Macbeth is described as ‘unseam(ing) him from the nave to
th’ chaps’ and we can infer (in this context) the Captain speaks of
him with high admiration and honour and he validates it previously
in the text with ‘brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name’.
Shakespeare constructs this to initially input this image into an
audiences mind to develop that drastic change from this extract from
the beginning and at the end of the play. ’The merciless Macdonald –
worthy to be a rebel, for to that the multiplying villainies of nature
do swarm upon him’ illustrates to a reader that Macdonwald was
swarmed by bad villains of nature which we can interpret to be a
foreshadowing for Macbeth’s fate, which can suggest Macbeth may
have been swarmed by ‘multiplying villainies of nature’ too (the
witches). Shakespeare also uses alliteration in ‘merciless Macdonald’
to connect the adjective to the name to demonstrate to the reader
that disdain for Macdonwalds name now and the use of the
repeating ‘m’ sound injects that ominous atmosphere that we now
relate with Macdonwald. The writer uses this scene in the extract as
a warning to the reader and Macbeth of what will happen in the
play.
Shakespeare continues this theme of violence with the death of King
Duncan. Macbeth states ‘I am afraid to think what I have done; Look
on't again I dare not.’ to demonstrate how ashamed Macbeth is of
his crime and how guilt has over throned him, and in turn, Macbeth
has now affected the Great Chain of Being and the audience is shown
nature acting very strange – ‘It's said that the horses ate each other’.
I think Shakespeare builds this scene to suggest that disrupting with
the monarch can have very big consequences; In context, we can link
this scene to the Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes and of which
threatened the life of King James I, thus the writer uses this to
advertise this idea in order to flatter his monarch.
The writer also writes the murder of Banquo ( Macbeths best friend )
and, in contrast, it is shown to be very violent and gory compared to
that of King Duncans. ‘safe in a ditch he bides, with twenty trenched
gashes on his head’. The writer uses juxtaposition of ‘safe’ and
‘gashes on his head’ to connote that development of Macbeths new
mindset of ambition, strive and determination for keeping his
position on the throne. The juxtaposition in the quote can infer how
although Banquo was a character he was close with and a good
friend, Macbeth no longer saw him as trustworthy, especially for the
throne; it provides proof that something deep in Macbeth has
changed. In addition, the reader is told that Macbeth organised the
death of Banquo instead of murdering him himself, which
demonstrates his new comfort in ordering others to do his dark
deeds and also marks an emotional violence between the twos
relationship, of betrayal.
I think Shakespeare has developed that theme of violence
throughout the play as it shows the changes in mindset of Macbeth
as his ambition continues to push him, his hamartia. Overall, the
effect of Macbeths character imprints on a Jacobean audience to
avoid any other events of violence to the king.