Note that student work varies significantly from one assignment to the next, even within the same
mark range. The intent behind providing samples such as this one is to guide students in
recognizing key criteria of assignments and in assessing their own work.
SAMPLE QUOTATION ANALYSIS – EXCELLENT
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Strengths:
• The context is pertinent and complete (knowledge).
• Sound connections are made with the rest of the play, particularly when relating a
quotation’s significance to a central theme of the play (thinking).
• Smooth integration of excerpts into surrounding explanations is evident (application).
• The analysis is well-written in terms of sentence structure and diction (communication).
Tips for Improvement:
• While you support your points well in this analysis, it would be good to consider
whether or not Macbeth is confused at this point, going between his reason and emotion.
Given what transpires in the rest of the scene, is it fair to say that he is somewhat
vulnerable at this time? (thinking)
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Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off;
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,
And falls on the other. (1.7.16-27)
In this soliloquy, Macbeth stands alone while his wife and the king dine elsewhere. He is
reconsidering the plan his wife has just shared with him to murder King Duncan. Macbeth has
heard a prophecy that he will be king, and murdering the current king would help fulfill this
prophecy. He is listing reasons why he should not kill the king.
Macbeth reveals that he is both rational and emotional in his approach to problems. He
uses reason to weigh the positives and negatives of the plan to murder King Duncan. Macbeth is
reasonable when he acknowledges that Duncan has “borne his faculties so meek” that he does not
deserve to die. The word, "faculty", is a reference to a person’s abilities or powers. Therefore,
Macbeth is saying that Duncan does not exploit the powers of his office. Duncan is a fair and
good king. Macbeth also says that Duncan has been “clear in his great office”, meaning that
Duncan is a pure king. Macbeth really would like to be king and would like Duncan to die.
However, while he plans this murder, he is still being reasonable in his assessment of the intended
victim. He actually talks himself out of killing Duncan in this passage. In this soliloquy, Macbeth
also reveals himself to be emotional and allows his emotions to determine his actions. When
Macbeth imagines the murder, he does not focus on how much he wants to be king, but how
sorry everyone will be when it becomes known that Duncan has been murdered. He believes that
the overwhelming emotion will be pity, and that “Pity, like… Heaven’s cherubim, horsed/ Upon
the sightless couriers of the air,/ Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,/ That tears may drown
the wind”. In this simile, he compares pity to a type of angel that acts as a messenger to tell
everyone of the foul deed. Macbeth thinks that Duncan is such a good king that every creature
will mourn his murder and their “tears shall drown the wind”. Macbeth can think such an extreme
thing because he is an emotional man. By this point in his soliloquy, he has almost decided not to
proceed with the murder.
The final image of this speech is significant because Macbeth foreshadows his own
downfall with it. Macbeth is acknowledging the fact that he has only one reason to kill the king:
his ambition. He says, “I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting
ambition, which o’erleaps itself,/ And falls on the other”. Ambition is not a good reason for
murder and Macbeth has already listed all the reasons why he should not murder Duncan.
However, his speech ends with a description of how his ambition could cause problems.
Macbeth acknowledges that if he follows his desire, he will ultimately fail; his own "vaulting
ambition" will be like a horse that leaps too high and falls on the other side of the barrier. He will,
in other words, be destroyed by his own ambition. In the play, Macbeth becomes king because
his fellow noblemen regard him as a great warrior and an obvious replacement for Duncan. But
these same noblemen are the ones to bring him down when they realize that his ambitions made
him the murderer. In a sense, he is killed by his ambition to be king. Thus, Macbeth foreshadows
his demise through his "vaulting ambition" imagery.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print.