The following questions are based on Shakespeare, Macbeth, ed. Kenneth Muir (the Arden Shakespeare: Second Series). Please choose one of the following questions and write four pages of essay (support your assertions with textual evidence, or with quote from the book.)
1) Defend the position that Lady Macbeth is the ?perfect wife? for Macbeth. Don?t rest with the conclusion that he may be weak while she is strong. Examine their compensator relationship from as many angles as you can. (Note the quoted phrase, and consider the irony.)
2) In Act 1, Scene V of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband and then reflects on his character. Use this letter and speech as a focal point for analyzing their relationship. What does the letter tell you about his view of the world? What does her subsequent speech tell you about hers? Stay with these few pages of the text and examine as many of the words and phrases as possible.
3) Oppositions and inversions established at the start of the play (?fair is foul?) set forth the themes of evil, chaos, and moral uncertainty. How does Shakespeare use the opposition between Macbethand nature to give readers the experience of such chaos and uncertainty? Remember that ?nature? in this play may include references to sleep, food, blood, sexuality, time, etc.
