NAME: ANUSHKA MUDULI

COURSE: B.A ENGLISH HONS

ENROLLMENT NUMBER: A91606122044

SEMESTER: 1

SECTION: A

DRAMA HOME ASSIGNMENT

Q1. Explain the significance of the Cauldron Scene in the context of the play “MACBETH”

ANS: The Cauldron scene happens in Act 4 Scene 1 in the play ‘Macbeth”. And this scene happens in
a dark cave with a boiling Cauldron standing in the middle with Thunder. In the text the line “Double,
double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble” is sung by all three witches when they were
making the potion and this becomes an important line of this scene. The Witches behaviors in this
scene reinforce the fact they are evil and sinister character notice the ingredients in their cauldron.
The Witches charm is absolutely fantastic. Its ingredients thrown into a bubbling cauldron are all
poisonous because of the ingredients. Moreover, these ingredients are all the entrails or body parts
of loathed animals or human beings, which taken together can be interpreted as making a complete
monster’s tongue, leg, liver, lips, scales, teeth, and so on. The strong implication is that Macbeth is
no longer a complete human, he himself has become a kind of a half-man, half-monster. Macbeth
arrives at the Witches place with extraordinary boldness, knocking at the entrance in a way that
recalls the entry of Macduff into Macbeth’s castle. When he conjures the Witches to him, his
language is uncompromising, he matches their power with a powerful curse of his own, demanding
to have an answer even if it requires the unleashing of all the elements of air, water, and earth even
if all the universe. The cauldron sinks and then a strange sound is heard. Macbeth proceeds towards
witches to learn how to make his kingship tight. In response they summon for him three apparitions
an armed head in the text it was written “Beware Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife” that means
Macduff will try and kill Macbeth, a bloody child in the text it was written “ No man of woman born
shall harm Macbeth” that means a person born from a women cannot harm Macbeth, then a child
crowned with a tree in his hand that means Macbeth won’t fall until the forest of Birnam Wood
walks to Dunsinane Hill, in other words, until the tree moves to Macbeth’s castle, he will rule. To him
these predictions suggest that he will neither be killed nor defeated, but will die naturally. The
witches now show Macbeth a show of kings, the eighth of whom holds a mirror in his hand, which is
followed by Banquo. This showing that Banquo descendants will one day be rules of Scotland. As
Banquo points out that the line of kings, Macbeth realizes that they are indeed his family line. These
apparitions teach Macbeth to be aware of Macduff but reassure that no man born of woman’s
womb can harm Macbeth and that he will not be overthrown until Birnam wood moves to his castle
which is in Dunsinane. After the witches’ dance and then disappear. Lennox enters with the notice
that Macduff has fled to England. Lady Macduff is upset that her Husband Macduff has left them
alone and fled to England. When her son asks, she tells him that his father has been killed, but
doesn’t believe her. Macbeth is told that Macduff has fled and has gone to England to beg the help
of king Edward on behalf of Malcolm, and to join forces with them. Macbeth resolves that he will do
a fourth act immediately on his ambitions. The first step will do is to seize fife and kill Lady Macduff
and his children. This scene shows how Macbeth’s character has deteriorated, he has wholly given
himself over to evil and he becomes more desperate by the minute. He now seeks out the evil
witches intentionally. Even more terrible is the difference between the Macbeth described by his
wife and children. The malicious cruelty of this crime, by which Macbeth has nothing to gain, marks
the lowest point of his failure. This Macbeth does not need his wife to do something as a guilt child.
In this scene, technically the dilemma to fall, fall in any lower or is this the end point? is this the
moment which will gain some realizations to riddim himself and become heroic if not in life but in his
death.

Q3. Critically analyze the character of Lady Macbeth.

ANS: Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters in his
‘Macbeth’. When we first see her, she is already plotting/planning Duncan’s murder. She is stronger,
cruel and ambitious more than her husband. She seems fully aware of thus and knows that she will
have to push Macbeth into committing murder. At the point she wishes that she were not a woman
so that she could do it herself. This theme of relationship between gender and power is key to lady
Macbeth’s character. Her husband thinks that she is a masculine soul with a female body. The whole
situation which is created by the both characters seem to link masculinity to ambition and violence.
Shakespeare seems to use her, and the witches to weaken Macbeth’s idea. These women use female
methods of achieving power that is manipulation. Women are shown ambitious and cruel as men.
Social rules deny to accept these things.

Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness, overriding all his objections
he hesitates to murder, she repeatedly questions his manhood. She continues this until he feels that
he must commit murder to prove himself. Lady Macbeth’s remarkable strength of the king. It is lady
Macbeth who steadies her husband’s nerves immediately after the crime. Afterwards however, she
begins a slow slide into madness. Just because of ambition, she is stronger than Macbeth before the
crime. By the close of the play, she has been reduced to sleepwalking through the castle, trying to
wash away an invisible bloodstain. Once the sense of guilt comes home to roost Lady Macbeth’s
sensitivity, it becomes a weakness for her and she enables to cope it. Afterall, she kills herself.
Signaling her total inability to deal with their crimes. Though she is the only reason for the fall of
Macbeth. Yet, she is regarded as the protagonist of the play. This is so because she never leaves her
husband even in bad times. In fact, she considers herself the reason and so she decides to kill
herself. Lady Macbeth is one of the major characters of the play. She makes the plot interesting.
Although she is very ambitious yet, she is responsible wife. She tries her best to protect her husband.
When she comes to know that it is impossible to deal with the situation. She leaves his company
forever. She seems to be favorite of both the playwright and the reader as well. Without her, the
play would not have been complete. Thus, like her husband Lady Macbeth is also an important
character, well suited for the tragic drama. Lady Macbeth plays the role of true wife. She hold
responsible for Macbeth’s fall.