MACBETH
We first hear of Macbeth in the wounded captain’s account as’ valour’s minion’ and’ Bellona’s bridegroom’. Our first impression is of a brave and capable warrior. This vision becomes complicated, once Macbeth meets the three witches. Though he has a fearless character in battle, Macbeth is very concerned by the prophecies of the Witches .However his thoughts remain confused, both before, during, and after his murder of King Duncan. He has tremendous physical courage .He also has ‘vaulting ambition’ and a tendency to self-doubt. The prediction that he will be king brings him joy, but it also creates inner problems.
These three attributes—bravery, ambition, and self-doubt—struggle for mastery of Macbeth throughout the play. Shakespeare uses Macbeth to show the terrible effects that ambition and guilt can have on a man who lacks strength of character. We may classify Macbeth as irrevocably evil .But his weak character separates him from Shakespeare’s great villains—Iago in Othello, Richard III in Richard III, Edmund in King Lear
—who are all strong enough to conquer guilt and self-doubt. Macbeth, great warrior though he is, is ill equipped for the psychic consequences of crime. When he is about to commit the murder, he undergoes terrible pangs of conscience.
Before he kills Duncan, Macbeth is plagued by worry and almost aborts the crime. It takes Lady Macbeth’s steely sense of purpose to push him into the deed. After the murder, however, her powerful personality begins to disintegrate, leaving Macbeth increasingly alone. He fluctuates between fits of fevered action, in which he plots a series of murders to secure his throne, and moments of terrible guilt (as when Banquo’s ghost appears) and absolute pessimism
(after his wife’s death, when he seems to succumb to despair). These fluctuations reflect the tragic tension within Macbeth. He is at once too ambitious to allow his conscience to stop him from murdering his way to the top and too conscientious to be happy with himself as a murderer.
As things fall apart for him at the end of the play, he seems almost relieved—with the English army at his gates. He can finally return to life as a warrior, and he displays a kind of reckless bravado as his enemies surround him and drag him down. In part, this stems from his fatal confidence in the witches’ prophecies, It also derives from the fact that he has returned to the arena where he has been most successful and where his internal turmoil need not affect him— namely, the battlefield. Unlike many of Shakespeare’s other tragic heroes, Macbeth never seems to contemplate suicide: “Why should I play the Roman fool,” he asks, “and die / On mine own sword?” . Instead, he goes down fighting, bringing the play full circle: it begins with Macbeth winning on the battlefield and ends with him dying in combat.
LADY MACBETH
Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most powerful, famous and frightening female characters. When we first see her, she is already plotting Duncan’s murder. She is stronger, more ruthless, and more ambitious than her husband. Unlike her husband, she lacks all humanity, as

we see well in her opening scene, where she calls upon the "Spirits that tend on mortal thoughts" to deprive her of her feminine instinct to care. He knows that Macbeth is filled with the milk of human kindness .He would not do anything but holily.
She knows that she will have to push Macbeth into committing murder. Lady Macbeth taunts her husband for his lack of courage, even though we know of his bloody deeds on the battlefield
At one point, she wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself. Her burning ambition is to be queen This theme of the relationship between gender and power is key to
Lady Macbeth’s character .Her husband tells her that she is a masculine soul inhabiting a female body. It seems to link masculinity to ambition and violence.
Shakespeare, however, seems to use her, and the witches, to undercut Macbeth’s idea that
“undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males” (1.7.73–74). These crafty women use female methods of achieving power—that is, manipulation—to further their supposedly male ambitions. Women, the play implies, can be as ambitious and cruel as men, yet social constraints deny them the means to pursue these ambitions on their own. .. But in public, she is able to act as the consummate hostess, enticing her victim, the king, into her castle. When she faints immediately after the murder of Duncan, the audience is left wondering whether this, too, is part of her act.
Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband with remarkable effectiveness. She overrides all his objections. When he hesitates to murder, she repeatedly questions his manhood until he feels that he must commit murder to prove himself. Lady Macbeth’s remarkable strength of will persists through the murder of the king—it is she who steadies her husband’s nerves immediately after the crime has been done. Afterward, however, she begins a slow slide into madness. Just as ambition affects her more strongly than Macbeth before the crime, so does guilt plague her more strongly afterward.
Ultimately, she fails the test of her own hardened ruthlessness. Having upbraided her husband one last time during the banquet (Act III, Scene 4), the pace of events becomes too much even for her .By the close of the play, she has been reduced to sleepwalking through the castle, desperately trying to wash away an invisible bloodstain.
Once the sense of guilt comes home to roost, Lady Macbeth’s sensitivity becomes a weakness, and she is unable to cope. Significantly, she kills herself, signaling her total inability to deal with the legacy of their crimes. . Her death is the event that causes Macbeth to think for one last time on the nature of time and mortality in the speech "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow"
DUNCAN
The king of Scotland should be a figurehead of order and orderliness, and Duncan is the epitome, or supreme example, of this. His language is formal and his speeches full of grace and

graciousness, whether on the battlefield , where his talk concerns matters of honor, or when greeting his kind hostess Lady Macbeth . Duncan also expresses humility (a feature that
Macbeth lacks) when he admits his failure in spotting the previous Thane of Cawdor's treachery:
"There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face" .Most importantly, Duncan is the representative of God on earth, ruling by divine right (ordained by God), a feature of kingship strongly endorsed by King James I, for whom the play was performed in 1606. This "divinity" of the king is made clear on several occasions in the play, most notably when Macbeth talks of the murdered Duncan as having "silver skin lac'd with . . . golden blood" (Act II, Scene 3). The importance of royal blood, that is, the inheritance of the divine right to rule, is emphasized when, in the final scene, Duncan's son Malcolm takes the title of king, with the words "by the grace of
Grace / We will perform."
Macduff is the archetype of the avenging hero, not simply out for revenge but with a good and holy purpose. Macduff is the character who has two of the most significant roles in the play:
First, he is the discoverer of Duncan's body. Second, the news of the callous murder of his wife and children (Act IV, Scene 3) spurs him toward his desire to take personal revenge upon the tyrannical Macbeth. When he knocks at the gate of Macbeth's castle in Act II, Scene 3, he is being equated with the figure of Christ, who before his final ascension into Heaven, goes down to release the souls of the damned from hell (the so-called "Harrowing of Hell").Like Macbeth,
Macduff is also shown as a human being. When he hears of the death of his "pretty chickens," he has to hold back his emotions. Even when (in Act IV, Scene 3) Malcolm urges him to "Dispute it like a man," Macduff's reply "I will do so. But I must also feel it as a man" enables the audience to weigh him against Macbeth, an unfeeling man if ever there was one. In the final combat between hero and anti-hero, this humanity is recalled once more when Macduff cries out, "I have no words; my voice is in my sword." It is his very wordlessness that contrasts with Macbeth's empty rhetoric.
Banquo's role in the original source for Macbeth was as Macbeth's co-conspirator. In
Shakespeare's play, he is depicted instead as Macbeth's rival; the role of fellow plotter passed to
Lady Macbeth. Like Macbeth, Banquo is open to human yearnings and desires: He is, for example, just as keen to hear what the Witches have in store for him in Act I, Scene 3. He is kept from sleep by his dreams of the Witches (Act II, Scene 1). And in his soliloquy at the start of Act
III, Scene 1 — "Thou hast it now . . . " — there is more than a hint of resentment and, possibly, of the same naked ambition that leads Macbeth astray. Nevertheless, Banquo is a sympathetic figure for several reasons. First, he is ignorant of what the audience knows concerning the murder of the king and of his own impending doom. Second, he is a father whose relationship with his son is clearly an affectionate one.
With his brother Donalbain, Malcolm quickly ascertains the danger of remaining in Scotland and flees the country (Act II, Scene 3). By the time he reappears, in Act IV, Scene 3, he has won the support of Edward the Confessor (king of England), he has mobilized troops under
Northumberland and Siward, and (to borrow a phrase from King Lear ) he is "every inch a king."

If Macduff is the stereotypical revenger, Malcolm is the embodiment of all that is good in kingship, and this is seen particularly in Act IV, Scene 3, in which he tests the allegiance of
Macduff. His testing of Macduff, although dramatically longwinded, is psychologically accurate.
By pretending to be what he is not, he hopes to coax from Macduff a confession of his loyalty.
This feature of his character — playing a part in order to strengthen the prospect of good — is in stark contrast to Macbeth, who plays a part in order to advance his own evil. In the final scene of the play, Malcolm is presented as the future king. His use of the phrase "by the grace of Grace" indicates the importance that he attaches to the service of good and reminds the audience of his direct descent from one who ruled by divine right, as opposed to Macbeth, who usurped the throne. Like his father Duncan, Malcolm is the representative of order.
THE SWAN SONG
ANTON CHEKHOV
“The Swan Song” by Anton Chekhov revolves round Svietlovidoff, a sixty-eight –year-old actor
.He was an actor playing his part in a drama staged for his benefit. He had fallen asleep in the dressing room when the play was over. He was a foolish old man .He had been drinking and so had fallen asleep in the dressing room. He had poured down his throat plenty of beer and wine.
His body was burning all over. He could play the fool and boast and pretend to be young but his life was over.
He came out of the dressing room with a candle in his hand to the stage of a country theatre.
On the stage there was no sound. Only echoes answered him. He felt that he was probably locked up in the theatre. He had been on the stage for forty five years. However he had never been on stage in total darkness at night .It was cold too. As he stood there Nikita Ivanitch, the prompter, came out of the dressing room in a long white coat and he was afraid.
Svietlovidoff told Ivanitch that the audience was thrilled to see him. They had brought him flowers. But no one came when it was all over to wake the poor drunken old man and take him home. He had nobody. He had no wife and no children. He was like the wind blowing across the lonely field .He felt awful to be alone with no one to cheer him, no one to caress him and no one to help him to bed.
In his youth he had served in the army, in the artillery .He was then handsome daring and eager.
When he first went on the stage a woman loved him for his acting. She was beautiful, graceful, young, innocent, pure and bright as summer dawn. Once she spoke to him with her eyes .Her eyes were so tender, so soft, so deep, so bright and so young. He had stood before her once and asked her to marry him. She said that she would marry him if he gave up acting. He understood

that the worship of art of acting was an empty dream. He understood his audience at last. He was always a stranger to the audience He was in deep despair. He began to wander about aimlessly
.He lived from day to day without looking ahead. He began to take the parts of buffoons and low comedians. Thus he threw away his talents .He lost his looks, lost the power of expressing himself and became a comedian in the end.
He told the prompter that once he had great power and eloquence. With Nikita’s prompting he recited some famous speeches from the plays of Shakespeare and Pushkin. He recited passages from KING LEAR AND HAMLET. He even asked the prompter to take the fool’s part. He simply enjoyed playing his part. He felt that where there was art and genius there never can be such thing as old age or loneliness or sickness. It made him think of the horrible experiences in his life. It reminded him that he was a great actor who had great talent and genius
.Indeed his performance by reciting the moving lines from OTHELLO is indeed the swan song of his forty five year long career in the theatre.
It is indeed a brilliant drama .He makes excellent portrayal of the character of Svietlovidoff. His craftsmanship is beyond comparison. The drama ends on a positive note as he discovers that he is still a talented actor.
Answers
C 1. First two sentences of Para 1 and para 3
2. Para 1 and para 3
3. First two sentences of Para 1 and para 2 & 4
B. 1.
He felt that he was ruining his health by drinking. Besides he was old.
2. He compares himself to the wind blowing across the lonely field as he had no wife and children. Infact he had nobody to cheer him and help him and he was alone .
3. He felt that he remained a stranger to them because the woman he loved refused to marry him unless he gave up acting. He understood that the worship of art was an empty dream.
4. theatre.
Svietlovidoff evokes in his swan song Shakespeare and Pushkin the great masters of the
Quiz
1. Who kills Macbeth?
(A) Macduff

(B) Banquo
(C) Lady Macbeth
(D) Malcolm
2. How many men reign as king of Scotland throughout the play?
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
2 C
3. Whom does Lady Macbeth frame for the murder of Duncan?
(A) Malcolm and Donalbain
(B) Duncan’s drunken chamberlains
(C) The porter
(D) Macbeth
4. Who kills Banquo?
(A) Macduff
(B) Fleance
(C) Macbeth
(D) A group of murderers hired by Macbeth

5. Which of the following best describes Lady Macbeth’s death?
(A) She dies offstage.
(B) She sleepwalks off of the palace wall.
(C) She declares her own guilt and stabs herself with a knife.
(D) Macduff slays her in revenge for his own wife’s murder.
6. Who discovers Duncan’s body?
(A) Lennox
(B) Ross
(C) Macduff
(D) Donalbain
7. Whom does Macbeth see sitting in his chair during the banquet?
(A) himself
(B) Banquo’s ghost
(C) Duncan’s ghost
(D) Lady Macbeth
8. What vision does Macbeth have before he kills Duncan?
(A) He sees a floating head urging him to spill blood.
(B) He sees a bloody axe lodged in Duncan’s brow.
(C) He sees a pale maiden weeping in the moonlight.
(D) He sees a floating dagger pointing him to Duncan’s chamber.
9. With whom are the Scots at war at the beginning of the play?

(A) Norway
(B) Denmark
(C) Poland
(D) Finland
10. Which nation’s army invades Scotland at the end of the play?
(A) Norway
(B) France
(C) England
(D) Finland
11. Who is the goddess of witchcraft in the play?
(A) Aphrodite
(B) Hecate
(C) Minerva
(D) Mordred
12. Who kills Donalbain?
(A) Macbeth

(B) Malcolm
(C) A group of murderers hired by Macbeth
(D) No one
13. What happens to Lady Macbeth before she dies?
(A) She is plagued by fits of sleepwalking.
(B) She is haunted by the ghost of Duncan.
(C) She sees her children killed in battle.
(D) She sees her children killed by Macbeth.
14. Who kills Lord Siward’s son?
(A) Duncan
(B) Lennox
(C) Macbeth
(D) Ross
15. Where are Scottish kings crowned?
(A) Edinburgh
(B) Scone
(C) London
(D) Dunsinane

16. Why is Macduff able to kill Macbeth despite the witches’ prophecy?
(A) He kills the witches first.
(B) He receives a charm from Grinswindle.
(C) He is a powerful warlock himself.
(D) He was born by cesarean section.
17. Where is Duncan killed?
(A) In the battle with Norway
(B) In his bedchamber at Macbeth’s castle
(C) In his bedchamber at Forres
(D) At Birnam Wood
18. Who flees Scotland to join Malcolm in England?
(A) Donalbain
(B) Ross
(C) Macduff
(D) Lennox
19. What was the weather like the night Duncan was murdered?
(A) Stormy and violent
(B) Calm and placid
(C) Foggy and ominous

(D) It was a night like any other night, according to Lennox
19 A
20. Who kills Lady Macbeth?
(A) Macbeth
(B) Macduff
(C) Lady Macduff
(D) Lady Macbeth
20 D
21. Who flees Scotland immediately after Duncan’s death?
(A) Macbeth
(B) Malcolm and Donalbain
(C) Fleance
(D) Lennox
21 B
22. Who jokes that he works at “hell gate”?
(A) Macbeth
(B) Macduff
(C) The porter
(D) Duncan

23. What title is Macbeth given after his victory described in Act 1?
(A) Thane of Cawdor
(B) Thane of Ross
(C) King of Scotland
(D) Prince of Cumberland
23 A
24. Who tells Macduff that his family has been killed?
(A) Donalbain
(B) Macbeth
(C) Lady Macduff
(D) Ross
25. How does Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane?
(A) By magic
(B) Through an earthquake
(C) It doesn’t
(D) Malcolm’s army hides behind cut-off tree branches
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair." (Act I, Scene I)( All witches)
"When the battle's lost and won." (Act I, Scene I)(Second witch)
"When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly 's done,
When the battle 's lost and won." (Act I, Scene I) )(Second witch)

"If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me." (Act I, Scene III)(Macbeth)
"Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it; he died as one that had been studied in his death to throw away the dearest thing he owed, as 't were a careless trifle." (Act I, Scene
IV)(Malcolm on the death of Thane of Cawdor)
"Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness." (Act I, Scene V)(Lady
Macbeth on Macbeth)
"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't." (Act I, Scene V) )(Lady Macbeth to
Macbeth)
"I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none." (Act I, Scene VII) (Macbeth to Lady Macbeth)
"Screw your courage to the sticking-place." (Act I, Scene VII) )(Lady Macbeth to Macbeth)
"I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, and falls on the other." (Act I, Scene VII)(Macbeth-soliloquy)
"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?" (Act II, Scene I)
)(Macbeth-soliloquy)
"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red" (Act II, Scene II)(Macbeth)
"There's daggers in men's smiles." (Act II, Scene III)(Donalbain to Malcolm)
"What's done is done." (Act III, Scene II)
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes." (Act IV, Scene I)(Second witch)
"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." (Act IV, Scene I)
"Out, damned spot! out, I say!" (Act V, Scene I).(Lady Macbeth with doctor)
"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." (Act V, Scene I)(Lady Macbeth )

"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." (Act V, Scene V)(Macbeth with Seyton)
"I bear a charmed life." (Act V, Scene VIII)(Macbeth with Macduff)

Macbeth as a tragedy: The Greek and the Christian perspectives
The ancient Greek notion of tragedy concerned the fall of a great man, such as a king, from a position of superiority to a position of humility on account of his ambitious pride, or hubris . To the Greeks, such arrogance in human behavior was punishable by terrible vengeance.
The tragic hero was to be pitied in his fall but not necessarily forgiven. Greek tragedy frequently has a bleak outcome. Christian drama, on the other hand, always offers a ray of hope .Hence,
Macbeth ends with the coronation of Malcolm, a new leader who exhibits all the correct virtues for a king.
Macbeth exhibits elements that reflect the greatest Christian tragedy of all: the Fall of
Man. In the Genesis story, it is the weakness of Adam, persuaded by his wife (who has in turn been seduced by the devil) which leads him to the proud assumption that he can "play God." But both stories offer room for hope. Christ will come to save mankind precisely because mankind has made the wrong choice through his own free will. In Christian terms, although Macbeth has acted tyrannically, criminally, and sinfully, he is not entirely beyond redemption in heaven.
Fortune is another word for chance. The ancient view of human affairs frequently referred to the "Wheel of Fortune," according to which human life was something of a lottery.
One could rise to the top of the wheel and enjoy the benefits of superiority, but only for a while.
With an unpredictable swing up or down, one could equally easily crash to the base of the wheel.
Fate, on the other hand, is fixed. In a fatalistic universe, the length and outcome of one's life (destiny) is predetermined by external forces. In Macbeth, the Witches represent this influence. The play makes an important distinction: Fate may dictate what will be, but how that destiny comes about is a matter of man's own choice or free will.
Although Macbeth is told he will become king, he is not told how to achieve the position of king, that much is up to him. We cannot blame him for becoming king (it is his Destiny), but we can blame him for the way in which he chooses to get there (by his own free will).
Macbeth is set in a society in which the notion of honor to one's word and loyalty to one's superiors is absolute. At the top of this hierarchy is the king, God's representative on Earth. Other relationships also depend on loyalty: comradeship in warfare, hospitality of host towards guest, and the loyalty between husband and wife. In this play, all these basic societal relationships are perverted or broken. Lady Macbeth's domination over her husband, Macbeth's treacherous act of regicide, and his destruction of comradely and family bonds, all go against the natural order of things.
The medieval and renaissance view of the world saw a relationship between order on earth. Thus, when Lennox and the Old Man talk of the terrifying alteration in the natural order of the universe — tempests, earthquakes, darkness at noon, and so on — these are all reflections of the breakage of the natural order that Macbeth has brought about in his own world.

Analysis
Macbeth begins in "an open place" — a place without any landmarks or buildings — with the appearance of the three "weird sisters ". The bleakness of the scene is a dramatic representation both of the wild Scottish landscape in which the play is set and the more universal wilderness of man's existence.
The Three Witches' speech is written in short rhyming verse that imitates the casting of a spell. The women's language is also full of the imagery of witchcraft and of chaotic weather: thunder, lightning, rain, fog, and "filthy air." The lines "When the battle's lost and won" and
"Fair is foul and foul is fair" are the most significant in the scene. Life frequently presents a confused picture of events in which discerning truth from falsehood is difficult.
Macbeth offers an exception to this rule, as Macbeth and his wife are partners in the truest sense of the word. Of course, the irony of their “happy” marriage is clear—they are united by their crimes, their mutual madness, and their increasing alienation from the rest of humanity.Though Macbeth is a brave general and a powerful lord, his wife is far from subordinate to his will. Indeed, she often seems to control him, either by crafty manipulation or by direct order. And it is Lady Macbeth’s deep-seated ambition, rather than her husband’s, that ultimately makes Macbeth to murder Duncan. Macbeth does not need any help coming up with the idea of murdering Duncan, but it seems unlikely that he would have committed the murder without his wife’s powerful taunts and persuasions.
One of the important themes in Macbeth is the idea of political legitimacy, of the moral authority that some kings possess and others lack. With particular attention to Malcolm’s questioning of Macduff in Act 4, scene 3, try to define some of the characteristics that grant or invalidate the moral legitimacy of absolute power. What makes Duncan a good king? What makes Macbeth a tyrant? After Duncan’s death, the nobles of Scotland begin to grumble among themselves about what they perceive as Macbeth’s tyrannical behavior. When Macduff meets
Malcolm in England, Malcolm pretends that he would make an even worse king than Macbeth in order to test Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland. The bad qualities he claims to possess include lust, greed, and a chaotic and violent temperament. The king must be able to keep order and should reward his subjects according to their merits. For example, Duncan makes Macbeth thane of
Cawdor after Macbeth’s victory over the invaders. Perhaps the most important quality of a true king to emerge in Malcolm’s conversation with Macduff is loyalty to Scotland and its people above oneself. Macbeth wishes to be king to gratify his own desires, while Duncan and Malcolm wear the crown out of love for their nation.
An important theme in Macbeth is the relationship between gender and power, particularly Shakespeare’s exploration of the values that make up the idea of masculinity.
Manhood, for most of the characters in Macbeth, is tied to ideals of strength, power, physical courage, and force of will It is rarely tied to ideals of intelligence or moral fortitude. Most

significantly, Lady Macbeth questions her husband repeatedly, knowing that in his desperation to prove his manhood he will perform the acts she wishes him to perform. Macbeth echoes Lady
Macbeth’s words when he questions the manhood of the murderers he has hired to kill Banquo, and after Macduff’s wife and children are killed, Malcolm urges Macduff to take the news with manly reserve and to devote himself to the destruction of Macbeth, his family’s murderer.
Ultimately, there is a strong suggestion that manhood is tied to cruelty and violence: note Lady
Macbeth’s speech in Act 1, scene 5, when she asks to be “unsexed” so that she can help her husband commit murder. Yet, at the same time, the audience is clearly meant to realize that women provide the push that sets the bloody action of the play in motion. Macduff, too, suggests that the equation of masculinity with cruelty is not quite correct. His comments show that he believes emotion and reflection are also important attributes of the true man.
Suggested Essay Topics
1. The fantastical and grotesque witches are among the most memorable figures in the play. How does Shakespeare characterize the witches? What is their thematic significance?
2. Compare and contrast Macbeth, Macduff, and Banquo. How are they alike? How are they different? Is it possible to argue that Macbeth is the play’s villain and Macduff or Banquo its hero, or is the matter more complicated than that?
3. Discuss the role that blood plays in Macbeth, particularly immediately following Duncan’s murder and late in the play. What does it symbolize for Macbeth and his wife?
4. Discuss Macbeth’s visions and hallucinations. What role do they play in the development of his character?
5. Is Macbeth a moral play? Is justice served at the end of the play? Defend your answer.
6. Discuss Shakespeare’s use of the technique of elision, in which certain key events take place offstage. Why do you think he uses this technique?

Quiz
1. Who kills Macbeth?
(A) Macduff
(B) Banquo
(C) Lady Macbeth
(D) Malcolm
1 A
2. How many men reign as king of Scotland throughout the play?
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
2 C
3. Whom does Lady Macbeth frame for the murder of Duncan?
(A) Malcolm and Donalbain
(B) Duncan’s drunken chamberlains
(C) The porter
(D) Macbeth

3 B
4. Who kills Banquo?
(A) Macduff
(B) Fleance
(C) Macbeth
(D) A group of murderers hired by Macbeth
4 D
5. Which of the following best describes Lady Macbeth’s death?
(A) She dies offstage.
(B) She sleepwalks off of the palace wall.
(C) She declares her own guilt and stabs herself with a knife.
(D) Macduff slays her in revenge for his own wife’s murder.
5 A
6. Who discovers Duncan’s body?
(A) Lennox
(B) Ross
(C) Macduff
(D) Donalbain
6 C
7. Whom does Macbeth see sitting in his chair during the banquet?

(A) himself
(B) Banquo’s ghost
(C) Duncan’s ghost
(D) Lady Macbeth
7 B
8. What vision does Macbeth have before he kills Duncan?
(A) He sees a floating head urging him to spill blood.
(B) He sees a bloody axe lodged in Duncan’s brow.
(C) He sees a pale maiden weeping in the moonlight.
(D) He sees a floating dagger pointing him to Duncan’s chamber.
8 D
9. With whom are the Scots at war at the beginning of the play?
(A) Norway
(B) Denmark
(C) Poland
(D) Finland
9 A
10. Which nation’s army invades Scotland at the end of the play?
(A) Norway
(B) France
(C) England

(D) Finland
10 C
11. Who is the goddess of witchcraft in the play?
(A) Aphrodite
(B) Hecate
(C) Minerva
11
(D) Mordred
B
12. Who kills Donalbain?
(A) Macbeth
(B) Malcolm
(C) A group of murderers hired by Macbeth
(D) No one
12 D
13. What happens to Lady Macbeth before she dies?
(A) She is plagued by fits of sleepwalking.
(B) She is haunted by the ghost of Duncan.
(C) She sees her children killed in battle.

(D) She sees her children killed by Macbeth.
13 A
14. Who kills Lord Siward’s son?
(A) Duncan
(B) Lennox
(C) Macbeth
(D) Ross
14 C
15. Where are Scottish kings crowned?
(A) Edinburgh
(B) Scone
(C) London
(D) Dunsinane
15 B
16. Why is Macduff able to kill Macbeth despite the witches’ prophecy?
(A) He kills the witches first.
(B) He receives a charm from Grinswindle.
(C) He is a powerful warlock himself.

(D) He was born by cesarean section.
16 D
17. Where is Duncan killed?
(A) In the battle with Norway
(B) In his bedchamber at Macbeth’s castle
(C) In his bedchamber at Forres
(D) At Birnam Wood
17 B
18. Who flees Scotland to join Malcolm in England?
(A) Donalbain
(B) Ross
(C) Macduff
(D) Lennox
18 C
19. What was the weather like the night Duncan was murdered?
(A) Stormy and violent
(B) Calm and placid
(C) Foggy and ominous
(D) It was a night like any other night, according to Lennox
19 A
20. Who kills Lady Macbeth?

(A) Macbeth
(B) Macduff
(C) Lady Macduff
(D) Lady Macbeth
20 D
21. Who flees Scotland immediately after Duncan’s death?
(A) Macbeth
(B) Malcolm and Donalbain
(C) Fleance
(D) Lennox
21 B
22. Who jokes that he works at “hell gate”?
(A) Macbeth
(B) Macduff
(C) The porter
(D) Duncan
22 C
23. What title is Macbeth given after his victory described in Act 1?

(A) Thane of Cawdor
(B) Thane of Ross
(C) King of Scotland
(D) Prince of Cumberland
23 A
24. Who tells Macduff that his family has been killed?
(A) Donalbain
(B) Macbeth
(C) Lady Macduff
(D) Ross
24 D
25. How does Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane?
(A) By magic
(B) Through an earthquake
(C) It doesn’t
(D) Malcolm’s army hides behind cut-off tree branches
The Three Witches
Throughout the play, the witches—referred to as the “weird sisters” by many of the characters— lurk like dark thoughts and unconscious temptations to evil. In part, the mischief they cause stems from their supernatural powers, but mainly it is the result of their understanding of the weaknesses of their specific interlocutors—they play upon Macbeth’s ambition like puppeteers.

The witches’ beards, bizarre potions, and rhymed speech make them seem slightly ridiculous, like caricatures of the supernatural. Shakespeare has them speak in rhyming couplets throughout
(their most famous line is probably “Double, double, toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble” in 4.1.10–11), which separates them from the other characters, who mostly speak in blank verse. The witches’ words seem almost comical, like malevolent nursery rhymes. Despite the absurdity of their “eye of newt and toe of frog” recipes, however, they are clearly the most dangerous characters in the play, being both tremendously powerful and utterly wicked (4.1.14).
The audience is left to ask whether the witches are independent agents toying with human lives, or agents of fate, whose prophecies are only reports of the inevitable. The witches bear a striking and obviously intentional resemblance to the Fates, female characters in both Norse and Greek mythology who weave the fabric of human lives and then cut the threads to end them. Some of their prophecies seem self-fulfilling. For example, it is doubtful that Macbeth would have murdered his king without the push given by the witches’ predictions. In other cases, though, their prophecies are just remarkably accurate readings of the future—it is hard to see Birnam
Wood coming to Dunsinane as being self-fulfilling in any way. The play offers no easy answers.
Instead, Shakespeare keeps the witches well outside the limits of human comprehension. They embody an unreasoning, instinctive evil.
Themes, Motifs & Symbols
Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition
The main theme of Macbeth
—the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints—finds its most powerful expression in the play’s two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare’s most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder’s aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth’s repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition—helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches—is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one’s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne—Banquo, Fleance, Macduff—and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.

The Relationship Between Cruelty and Masculinity
Characters in Macbeth frequently dwell on issues of gender. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood, wishes that she herself could be “unsexed,” and does not contradict Macbeth when he says that a woman like her should give birth only to boys. In the same manner that Lady Macbeth goads her husband on to murder, Macbeth provokes the murderers he hires to kill Banquo by questioning their manhood. Such acts show that both
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth equate masculinity with naked aggression, and whenever they converse about manhood, violence soon follows. Their understanding of manhood allows the political order depicted in the play to descend into chaos.
At the same time, however, the audience cannot help noticing that women are also sources of violence and evil. The witches’ prophecies spark Macbeth’s ambitions and then encourage his violent behavior; Lady Macbeth provides the brains and the will behind her husband’s plotting; and the only divine being to appear is Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. Arguably, Macbeth traces the root of chaos and evil to women, which has led some critics to argue that this is
Shakespeare’s most misogynistic play. While the male characters are just as violent and prone to evil as the women, the aggression of the female characters is more striking because it goes against prevailing expectations of how women ought to behave. Lady Macbeth’s behavior certainly shows that women can be as ambitious and cruel as men. Whether because of the constraints of her society or because she is not fearless enough to kill, Lady Macbeth relies on deception and manipulation rather than violence to achieve her ends.
Ultimately, the play does put forth a revised and less destructive definition of manhood. In the scene where Macduff learns of the murders of his wife and child, Malcolm consoles him by encouraging him to take the news in “manly” fashion, by seeking revenge upon Macbeth.
Macduff shows the young heir apparent that he has a mistaken understanding of masculinity. To
Malcolm’s suggestion, “Dispute it like a man,” Macduff replies, “I shall do so. But I must also feel it as a man” (4.3.221–223). At the end of the play, Siward receives news of his son’s death rather complacently. Malcolm responds: “He’s worth more sorrow [than you have expressed] /
And that I’ll spend for him” (5.11.16–17). Malcolm’s comment shows that he has learned the lesson Macduff gave him on the sentient nature of true masculinity. It also suggests that, with
Malcolm’s coronation, order will be restored to the Kingdom of Scotland.
The Difference Between Kingship and Tyranny
In the play, Duncan is always referred to as a “king,” while Macbeth soon becomes known as the
“tyrant.” The difference between the two types of rulers seems to be expressed in a conversation that occurs in Act 4, scene 3, when Macduff meets Malcolm in England. In order to test
Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland, Malcolm pretends that he would make an even worse king than
Macbeth. He tells Macduff of his reproachable qualities—among them a thirst for personal

power and a violent temperament, both of which seem to characterize Macbeth perfectly. On the other hand, Malcolm says, “The king-becoming graces / [are] justice, verity, temp’rance, stableness, / Bounty, perseverance, mercy, [and] lowliness” (4.3.92–93). The model king, then, offers the kingdom an embodiment of order and justice, but also comfort and affection. Under him, subjects are rewarded according to their merits, as when Duncan makes Macbeth thane of
Cawdor after Macbeth’s victory over the invaders. Most important, the king must be loyal to
Scotland above his own interests. Macbeth, by contrast, brings only chaos to Scotland— symbolized in the bad weather and bizarre supernatural events—and offers no real justice, only a habit of capriciously murdering those he sees as a threat. As the embodiment of tyranny, he must be overcome by Malcolm so that Scotland can have a true king once more.
Motifs
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Hallucinations
Visions and hallucinations recur throughout the play and serve as reminders of Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth’s joint culpability for the growing body count. When he is about to kill Duncan,
Macbeth sees a dagger floating in the air. Covered with blood and pointed toward the king’s chamber, the dagger represents the bloody course on which Macbeth is about to embark. Later, he sees Banquo’s ghost sitting in a chair at a feast, pricking his conscience by mutely reminding him that he murdered his former friend. The seemingly hardheaded Lady Macbeth also eventually gives way to visions, as she sleepwalks and believes that her hands are stained with blood that cannot be washed away by any amount of water. In each case, it is ambiguous whether the vision is real or purely hallucinatory; but, in both cases, the Macbeths read them uniformly as supernatural signs of their guilt.
Violence
Macbeth is a famously violent play. Interestingly, most of the killings take place offstage, but throughout the play the characters provide the audience with gory descriptions of the carnage, from the opening scene where the captain describes Macbeth and Banquo wading in blood on the battlefield, to the endless references to the bloodstained hands of Macbeth and his wife. The action is bookended by a pair of bloody battles: in the first, Macbeth defeats the invaders; in the second, he is slain and beheaded by Macduff. In between is a series of murders: Duncan,
Duncan’s chamberlains, Banquo, Lady Macduff, and Macduff’s son all come to bloody ends. By the end of the action, blood seems to be everywhere.
Prophecy

Prophecy sets
Macbeth’ s plot in motion—namely, the witches’ prophecy that Macbeth will become first thane of Cawdor and then king. The weird sisters make a number of other prophecies: they tell us that Banquo’s heirs will be kings, that Macbeth should beware Macduff, that Macbeth is safe till Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane, and that no man born of woman can harm Macbeth. Save for the prophecy about Banquo’s heirs, all of these predictions are fulfilled within the course of the play. Still, it is left deliberately ambiguous whether some of them are self-fulfilling—for example, whether Macbeth wills himself to be king or is fated to be king.
Additionally, as the Birnam Wood and “born of woman” prophecies make clear, the prophecies must be interpreted as riddles, since they do not always mean what they seem to mean.
Symbols
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Blood
Blood is everywhere in Macbeth, beginning with the opening battle between the Scots and the
Norwegian invaders, which is described in harrowing terms by the wounded captain in Act 1, scene 2. Once Macbeth and Lady Macbeth embark upon their murderous journey, blood comes to symbolize their guilt, and they begin to feel that their crimes have stained them in a way that cannot be washed clean. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” Macbeth cries after he has killed Duncan, even as his wife scolds him and says that a little water will do the job (2.2.58–59). Later, though, she comes to share his horrified sense of being stained: “Out, damned spot; out, I say . . . who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” she asks as she wanders through the halls of their castle near the close of the play (5.1.30–34). Blood symbolizes the guilt that sits like a permanent stain on the consciences of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, one that hounds them to their graves.
The Weather
As in other Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth’s grotesque murder spree is accompanied by a number of unnatural occurrences in the natural realm. From the thunder and lightning that accompany the witches’ appearances to the terrible storms that rage on the night of Duncan’s murder, these violations of the natural order reflect corruption in the moral and political orders.
Plot Overview
T HE PLAY BEGINS with the brief appearance of a trio of witches and then moves to a military camp, where the Scottish King Duncan hears the news that his generals, Macbeth and Banquo, have defeated two separate invading armies—one from Ireland, led by the rebel Macdonwald, and one from Norway. Following their pitched battle with these enemy forces, Macbeth and
Banquo encounter the witches as they cross a moor. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will be made thane (a rank of Scottish nobility) of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. They also

prophesy that Macbeth’s companion, Banquo, will beget a line of Scottish kings, although
Banquo will never be king himself. The witches vanish, and Macbeth and Banquo treat their prophecies skeptically until some of King Duncan’s men come to thank the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell Macbeth that he has indeed been named thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed Scotland by fighting for the Norwegians and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbeth is intrigued by the possibility that the remainder of the witches’ prophecy—that he will be crowned king—might be true, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits with King Duncan, and they plan to dine together at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, that night. Macbeth writes ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has happened.
Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband’s uncertainty. She desires the kingship for him and wants him to murder Duncan in order to obtain it. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husband’s objections and persuades him to kill the king that very night. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan’s two chamberlains drunk so they will black out; the next morning they will blame the murder on the chamberlains, who will be defenseless, as they will remember nothing. While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural portents, including a vision of a bloody dagger. When Duncan’s death is discovered the next morning, Macbeth kills the chamberlains—ostensibly out of rage at their crime—and easily assumes the kingship. Duncan’s sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing that whoever killed Duncan desires their demise as well.
Fearful of the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs will seize the throne, Macbeth hires a group of murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. They ambush Banquo on his way to a royal feast, but they fail to kill Fleance, who escapes into the night. Macbeth becomes furious: as long as Fleance is alive, he fears that his power remains insecure. At the feast that night, Banquo’s ghost visits Macbeth. When he sees the ghost, Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests, who include most of the great Scottish nobility. Lady Macbeth tries to neutralize the damage, but
Macbeth’s kingship incites increasing resistance from his nobles and subjects. Frightened,
Macbeth goes to visit the witches in their cavern. There, they show him a sequence of demons and spirits who present him with further prophecies: he must beware of Macduff, a Scottish nobleman who opposed Macbeth’s accession to the throne; he is incapable of being harmed by any man born of woman; and he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle.
Macbeth is relieved and feels secure, because he knows that all men are born of women and that forests cannot move. When he learns that Macduff has fled to England to join Malcolm, Macbeth orders that Macduff’s castle be seized and, most cruelly, that Lady Macduff and her children be murdered.
When news of his family’s execution reaches Macduff in England, he is stricken with grief and vows revenge. Prince Malcolm, Duncan’s son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and
Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth’s forces. The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth’s tyrannical and murderous behavior. Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes plagued with fits of sleepwalking in

which she bemoans what she believes to be bloodstains on her hands. Before Macbeth’s opponents arrive, Macbeth receives news that she has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deep and pessimistic despair. Nevertheless, he awaits the English and fortifies Dunsinane, to which he seems to have withdrawn in order to defend himself, certain that the witches’ prophecies guarantee his invincibility. He is struck numb with fear, however, when he learns that the English army is advancing on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood.
Birnam Wood is indeed coming to Dunsinane, fulfilling half of the witches’ prophecy.
In the battle, Macbeth hews violently, but the English forces gradually overwhelm his army and castle. On the battlefield, Macbeth encounters the vengeful Macduff, who declares that he was not “of woman born” but was instead “untimely ripped” from his mother’s womb (what we now call birth by cesarean section). Though he realizes that he is doomed, Macbeth continues to fight until Macduff kills and beheads him. Malcolm, now the King of Scotland, declares his benevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see him crowned at Scone

How he Lied to Her Husband
G. B. Shaw wrote the comedy“How he Lied to Her Husband” for Arnold Daly in four days, while on vacation in Scotland. It presents a familiar triangular situation involving a husband, wife and a lover poet. Henry Apjohn, the lover in the play, is a handsome young man madly in love with Aurora .He even dedicates a book of poems to her with the name Aurora written all over .He asks her to walk out on her husband and into his life.
It is eight O’clock in the evening. Henry the poet lover, a beautiful youth of eighteen, comes in alone to Aurora’s house with a bunch of flowers in his hands. He is a very beautiful youth, moving as in a dream, walking as on air. He puts his flowers down carefully on the table
.He looks at his watch. He notices the things on the table. He lights up as if he saw heaven opening before him. He goes to the table and the takes the cloud in both his hands and kisses it
.He kisses the gloves .He kisses the fan .He takes the mirror from the table to make sure of his tie. He is looking at his watch again when she comes in. She is dressed for the theatre .She has spoilt and petted ways. She wears many diamonds. She has an air of being a young and beautiful woman but she is a very ordinary South Kensington female of about 37.She is hopelessly inferior in physical and spiritual distinction to the beautiful youth.
Aurora is very angry that she has lost the poems given to her by Henry. She sees the loss as a dreadful thing. She fears that it will be the end of her marriage.She believes that her sister- in -law must have taken it. The poems have Aurora written all over. As the name is rare in
London everyone will be able to identify her easily. She thinks that all sisters- in- laws are bad
.She thinks that there must be a law against a man’s sister ever entering his house after he is married. She fears that the poems would be given to her husband Teddy. However Henry is not worried. He wants her to leave her husband .He wants to tell her husband all about their love.
He thinks that first they will go to the theatre and see “Candida”. “Candida” is a story of a triangular love affair too. She thinks that Candida is the drama that created all these problems.
After her divorce he is ready to go through the idle ceremony of marriage if she so desires. He does not give much importance to law. His love for her was not created by law.
Aurora asks for Henry’s help . She knows that she will be in trouble if the poems get into his hands. She wants him to tell a lie. He should tell Teddy that the poems were addressed to some other Aurora. At first Henry is unwilling. Finally he agrees to tell him a lie. Then Teddy comes in. He is robust, thick necked well groomed city man. He has a strong chin and credulous mouth. He has a momentous air.
When Aurora leaves he asks Henry whether he had written the poems that are in his custody .He says that he had written the poems to Aurora the goddess of dawn. He had given her the poems only because they had the name Aurora in them. He tells him that he never had the slightest feelings for her. Hearing this Teddy becomes angry. Henry tells her husband that he would never have dreamt of writing poems to her. At this Teddy becomes furious. He tells him that he does not admire her at all. Teddy loses all control and tells him that most men in

Kensington had great love for her .They thought that she was the smartest , handsomest ,the cleverest and most attractive woman. He cannot imagine why Henry does not admire her. Then
Teddy attacks him .She rushes into the room to stop the fight. She warns Teddy that Henry is a prize fighter. Henry becomes furious and confesses that he had written the poems to Aurora. He tells him that he had only told the lie at the behest of Aurora and that he truly loved her. Hearing this husband is very happy. He promises to print the collection of poems that Henry had written.
He suggests that they shall call the collection “How He Lied to Her Husband”.
The comedy is brilliant and sparkling. There are so many interesting situations in the play. While Henry tries to remain on the upper plane of love Aurora is simply living at the lower level, the level of reality. The twist at the end of the play is truly fantastic. Teddy loves her so much that he cannot imagine anyone speaking badly about her. In his excitement he even forgets to listen to the true story .It is real fun to read the play.
B 1.He wants to take her to the theatre to see “Candida” and then to his home. Once she is divorced he is willing to go through the idle legal ceremony of marriage if she so desires.
2.
According to Henry, Aurora’s husband being physically, weak can only show a burst of passion that can last for 15 seconds.
3. He thinks that marriage is an idle legal ceremony. He thinks that love in him was not created by law so law has no say in matters concerning love.
4. “Candida” is a story of a triangular love affair too. She thinks that Candida is the drama
that had caused all the mischief and made her fall in love with the young poet lover
C 1. Para 1 & 3
2.
3.
4.
Para 1 & 3 para 1,4 & 5 para 1,4 , 5 & 6
The opening scene
He opening scene of MACBETH is really exciting and thrilling. The appearance of the three witches’ in medias res’ having choppy fingers, Skinny lips and beards excites the
Audience. They meet in the desert heath There is thunder, lightning and rain. Shakespeare introduces Macbeth indirectly to the audience in the opening Scene. The witches discuss
Macbeth. They plan to meet him on his return to the palace after the battle. So the audience is eager to know about the outcome of the battle .The witches love foul things .What is good for us is evil for them and what is good for them is evil for us. The audience becomes simply curious.

Thus the seeds of further action are sown. Everyone wants to know why the witches wish to meet
Macbeth .They want to know about the participants in the battle. The key note of the play is struck in this scene. Shakespeare lived in an age of superstition. It is said that Shakespeare introduced the witches in the first scene to please King James I ,the then king of England. He was a persecutor of the witches .However there are critics who hold the view that the opening scene is not necessary for the play at all. However the scene sets the atmosphere of the play .We know the play is about darkness, blackness and evil. The witches symbolize evil in themselves and hence the atmosphere suits them best. The audience feels thrown directly into the action of the play with the opening scene. Shakespeare loved to use the opening scene for very high dramatic purposes in his plays. May be MACBETH is also remembered for the witches and the very remarkable opening scene.
The witches
In the opening scene of MACBETH three witches appear in thunder lightning and rain.
They speak of battle and about meeting Macbeth .Their motto is fair is foul and foul is fair .They are withered and wild in their attire .They do not look like inhabitants of the earth. They have choppy fingers, skinny lips and beards. The witches are weird sisters who are fantastical. They greet Macbeth calling him Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis and the king hereafter. They tell
Banquo that his sons will be kings thereafter. The come to meet Macbeth on their own without being asked for. They excite and thrill the audience by their first appearance. They create a supernatural atmosphere. It must have been greatly pleasing to the Shakespearean audience as most of them had great interest in the supernatural and the witches. In the play witches actually decide the nature of the action. Macbeth depends on them to know his fate .Infact they make great preparations to meet him when he goes looking for them .They have the blessings of
Hecate the goddess of the witches. They actually want to lead Macbeth into great danger through their equivocations. They sing and dance though they are so much a part of evil and darkness.
When Macbeth meets them the second time they refuse to be spoken to. They create apparitions before him . He does not have complete and total faith in the witches .Certainly the presence of the witches creates a supernatural atmosphere for the play. Shakespeare also wanted to please his king James I who was on a witch hunt.
The Porter Scene
The Porter Scene is a remarkable creation of the creative genius of Shakespeare. Duncan is murdered in the Castle of Inverness by Macbeth .Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are going to change their dress and wash their hands .It is then a knocking is heard. The porter who thinks that he is porter of Hell -gate is to open the gate. He says that the knocker may be a farmer who committed suicide .When the knocking is heard again he is angry. He says it must be equivocator who could not equivocate to God. When he hears yet another knocking he thinks it must be the tailor who stole out of the French hose. Thus the porter lightens the mood of the play after the

murder of Duncan. He speaks in prose suited for a person of lower rank. The language he uses is very simple and does not have any complexity of thought. Finally the gate is opened and
Macduff and Lennox come in. The speech of the porter has been the subject of much discussion.
Many critics have suggested that the scene is not necessary .However it has great relevance.
Macduff has come to call on the King early. But the dramatist uses him to discover the murder.
The porter in the drama is really the porter of Hell Gate .It is a hell with in Macbeth castle. Evil resides there. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are black and devilish .Duncan has been murdered already in the castle and the blood is on them. The scene gives time for them to change their dress and wash themselves. It also acts as a relief to the horrible happening. Therefore it is a very necessary and important scene .It is also a scene with a difference .It is very highly imaginative as well as real. It is an integral part of the play and so there is no meaning in seeing it as spurious
.Besides it also helps us to fix the date of the composition of the play .Thus the porter scene has high dramatic significance.
Banquet Scene or the ghost scene
Shakespeare blends beautifully the real and the imaginative .He has a way of using the supernatural to create tremendous dramatic effect. Macbeth murders Duncan and becomes the king of Scotland. But he fears Banquo and decides to kill him with the help of hired murderers.
Witches had prophesied that Banquo’s children would become king. At the same time according to Macbeth Banquo had the nature of a king and was prudent and courageous. So there was need to murder Banquo . He asks the murderers to kill ,Banquo and Fleance his son, who are on their way to attend the royal banquet. However he keeps the plan of murder to himself and does not reveal it to Lady Macbeth .But while the Murderers kill Banquo Fleance escapes. When the murderers tell him about it he is greatly upset. At the banquet Banquo’s chair is vacant. Macbeth tells the guests that he is worried about Banquo’s absence .It is then that the ghost of Banquo takes the chair. Macbeth sees Banquo shaking his gory locks at him. Macbeth loses his sense of mind. Lady Macbeth is perplexed to see his behavior .She does not understand anything. She tries to put order but in vain. Having disappeared the ghost reappears again .Lady Macbeth does not understand the behavior of Macbeth and asks the guests to go home .When everyone has left
Macbeth tells her that murder cannot be kept as a secret forever .He feels insecurity. He feels the deeper consequence of the murder. It is this that drives him to meet the witches again. This scene marks the beginning of the tragic end of Macbeth .Like in the dagger scene it is the heat oppressed brain that creates this vision. He alone sees the ghost and so no one else understands him. He makes a very embarrassing figure at the royal wedding held to celebrate his crowning.
As the audience believed in the supernatural the ghost was something real for them .It certainly creates very dramatic moments in the play.

The Cauldron Scene (The Hecate Scene)
The three witches meet upon the heath in thunder and lightning .They are about to prepare some charm. They want to bring greater confusion into the mind of Macbeth. They call for Hecate’s presence. They will create artificial spirits. Macbeth will be encouraged to mock fate, scorn death and bear his hopes above wisdom, grace and fear. After the charm is prepared the witches and Hecate wait for Macbeth. Soon he enters. It is in a dumb show the witches reveal to him his successors. Macbeth is given to understand that Banquo’s issues will succeed him to the throne. He is disappointed. The first apparition is that of an armed head. It tells him that
Macduff is dangerous .The second apparition; a bloody child says that no man of woman born will harm Macbeth. The third apparition, a crowned child with a tree in his hand tells that
Macbeth will not be destroyed until Great Birnam wood comes to Dusinane hills. Then the procession of 8 kings passes before him. The last carries a glass in his hand which shows many more. Finally Banquo’s ghost appears .It shows that Banquo’s children will be kings. The predictions are just equivocations. It was to please James I that Shakespeare introduced the show of eight kings. Besides Shakespeare lived in an age of superstitions. Therefore the audience was pleased to see such thrilling and exciting scenes. Macbeth goes to meet them on his own.
However he does not have complete faith in the predictions of the witches. The scene heightens

the supernatural atmosphere of the play .Many critics have felt that Shakespeare was just flattering King James I .
The Sleep walking scene
Perhaps Shakespeare’s play MACBETH is most remembered for the sleep walking scene.
He has already prepared a feast for the audience with the witches , the porter of hell gate, the dagger scene and the ghost scene .He freely blends the natural with the supernatural. In the first part of the play Lady Macbeth is presented as a character wanting to be unsexed. She wants to be filled with the direst cruelty from top to toe. She has distaste for Macbeth who is filled with the milk of human kindness. She is supportive after the murder has taken place. She personally cleans up the place of murder and smears the chamberlains with blood .She even faints on hearing the news about the murder of the Duncan. Once the murder is committed Lady Macbeth slowly moves away from her husband. She is not informed of the murder of Banquo or of Lady
Macduff and her children. She is deeply upset by the murders committed by her husband. In the sleep walking scene she carries a taper in her hands .She rubs her hands. She wants to remove the blood stains from her hands. Perhaps the most quoted lines from Macbeth is :”all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! Oh! Oh ! “She recalls all the important moments in her life. She speaks of the murder of Duncan and how she encouraged Macbeth to the deed. She speaks of the murder of Banquo and Lady Macduff .She even recalls the knocking at the gate. She cannot imagine how an old man like Duncan could have so much blood in his body. She also reminds us of the ghost scene. The doctor suggests that “More needs she the divine than the physician”. He is also sure that “unnatural deeds/Do breed unnatural troubles.”The scene creates in us a feeling of terror. It inspires pity and awe. It intensifies the tragic element in the play.
Before Breakfast
O’Neill’s “Before Breakfast ’is a monodrama which depicts the strain of family life. The central figure is Mrs. Rowland, who is unhappy with her poet husband Alfred. He does not make an appearance nor does he speak a word in the play. However he remains a powerful presence.
Mrs. Rowland and Alfred belong to different social, cultural and economic backgrounds. She is disillusioned with the marriage.
The scene of the play is a small room serving as kitchen and dining room in a flat in
Christopher Street in New York City. It is 8.30 of a fine sun shiny morning. Mrs. Rowland enters the room yawning. She is of medium height and untidy in appearance .Though she is in her early twenties she looks much older. She wears a formless shabby and worn blue dress. Her face is

characterless. She looks sickly and unhappy. Before she begins her kitchen work she gulps down a large drink of Gordon gin. She is a little intoxicated .She becomes energetic. She begins a long monologue .The language is harsh .We get to know her story though her violent narration.
She calls out for Alfred who is in the bedroom but there is no reply. She searches his coat and finds a letter which she opens and reads. It brings a cruel smile on her lips. She upbraids her husband for being lazy. She is angry that he has pawned the watch, the last valuable thing they had. She has to go to sew everyday to keep the family going. .Alfred is alcoholic, lazy and does not go to work. He plays the gentleman and loafs around. She does not know how they will pay the rent. She is upset that Alfred is unwilling even to look for work.
She cannot understand how he can spend time writing silly poetry which no one will buy. She wants him to beg, borrow or steal money from somewhere. All they have for a morning breakfast is bread , butter and coffee.
She tells him that he looks like an indecent tramp. When he extends his hand and takes hot water from her, his hand trembles. She scolds him for being so alcoholic. She is angry with him for keeping the place untidy. While she sweeps the floor she can hear him shaving.
She knows his family won’t help. They are tired of him too. She had married millionaire
Rowland’s only son who was a Harvard graduate and a poet. Everyone was jealous of their marriage. However the millionaire father died owing money to everyone in the world .At the time of marriage Alfred was ashamed of marrying the daughter of a grocer. His father even tried to buy her off. She believed that he truly loved her.
Later she learns that he had another love affair with a girl named Helen. She is happy that he can’t marry her now anyway. She wonders whether Helen was an artist or one who writes poetry. Her letter any way sounded like that. She feels sorry for Helen. She wonders what her family would say. She appears to be pregnant also. She wonders whether she is rich.
Her attitude towards Helen is one of pity and curiosity.
In the meanwhile she hears groan of pain from the next room. She moves slowly towards the room. She hears a chair being overturned and something crashing heavily to the floor. Then she rushes into the room .She stands in the door way looking down the floor with horror. She cries wildly and runs to the other door, unlocks it and shrieks madly.
The play is astonishing particularly for its method of depiction. The audience can listen to a very extremely disappointed sad and angry woman. She expresses her frustration in most violent terms. she is ill-tempered and nagging. Alfred cannot stand the pressure of the situation and commits suicide. The tension in the marriage is excellently and most brilliantly depicted. .
B. 1 Sewing
2. He does not look for a job. He looks like a tramp and indecent fellow
3. Her millionaire father in law died owing everyone in the world. Her father though only a grocer was at least honest.
4 Her letter sounded that way .

A Sunny Morning
“A Sunny Morning” centers around Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura who were lovers in their youth. They were separated by fate. However very many years later, they meet each other in the park on a sunny morning. Though they do not recognize each other, slowly they come to realize that they were once lovers. However the usual reunion of long-lost lovers does not take place. Both are unwilling to disclose their identity.
One sunny morning Dona Laura enters the corner of a park in Madrid leaning upon the arm of her maid Petra. She is beautiful white haired old lady of about seventy. She is refined in appearance. Her mental faculties appear to be fine. She has a parasol in her hand. She sends
Petra to chat with the guard who is her lover. She feeds the pigeons with the bread crumbs.
Don Gonzalo enters the park with Juanito.He is an old gentleman of seventy. He is gouty and impatient. He drags his feet as he walks. He leans on Juanito’s arm .Dona Laura comments that Gonzalo is an ill-natured old man, fussy and cross. He returns and sits at the extreme end of bench with the old lady .Laura is angry. She says that he should have asked her permission before sitting on the bench. Then slowly they turn friends as they share a snuff together. He reads out poems to her. She pretends to read without the glass but only recites them by heart.
He tells her that he was from Valencia .He had spent his youth there. She tells him that she had spent several seasons in Valencia. She lived in a villa near the sea hidden among lemon and orange trees. They called it Maricella .They realize that once they were lovers but decide to hide the fact. Gonzalo remembers a very beautiful woman who once lived in that villa and her name was Laura. She was known as the Silver Maiden in that locality. Laura tells him that she was her best friend. He recalls his cousin, who was her lover telling him ,of how she stood in the lighted window with the red roses.
Gonzalo describes her to be as fair as lily. She had jet black hair and black eyes.
She had an uncommonly sweet expression. She was beautiful and perfect. Laura adds that she was unfortunate and had a sad love affair. The lover used to pass by on horseback every morning and toss up her balcony a bouquet of flowers which she caught. A merchant wanted to marry her but she would not permit. Then there was a duel between the two at sunrise on the beach .The merchant was badly wounded so the lover had to run away.
He went to Madrid and wrote Laura many letters. But her parents took them and she was never able to answer them, Then, in despair, his cousin joined the army, went to Africa and died there with the flag of Spain in his hands and whispering the name of Laura. Laura tells him her friend waited for days, months, a year and no letter came. She went to the beach where he had lost the duel. She wrote his name on the sand and she was taken by the waves.
In reality Laura had married two years later and Gonzalo had run away to Paris with a ballet dance. They find it interesting that two strangers meet to discuss the romance of old friends of long ago. They decide to meet in the park again and depart. On the way Gonzalo picks up the violets which Laura has dropped and she sees it.

Thus the usual reunion does not take place. They are both unwilling to disclose their real identity. Laura would like Gonzalo to think of her as the black eyed girl tossing flowers at him. Gonzalo would prefer to be the horse man who passed beneath her window every day. It is indeed a blend of romance and comedy.
B. 1
2 to feed the pigeons in the park as a past time.
.He has become fussy and cross being an old man . He does not get a
3 bench to sit on and he has scared the birds away.
.No.Laura was happily married two years later. Gonzalo ran off to Paris with a ballet dancer.
He feels he is grotesque now 4.
The Trick
“The Trick is the adaptation of “The Shadow of the Glen” by Synge. A musician knocks at a house for shelter and finds Kamuli, the lady of the house beside the corpse of her husband
Kalekezi. It is a rectangular hut .Kamuli receives the musician. He sees the dead man but says that the dead man looks queer. She tells him that she was not to touch the dead body for fear of a curse. He had said that if he touched his dead body she would never sleep again.
Her husband, Kalekezi loved to think of his childhood and his own people. He was cold towards her. Besides he was drunk most of the time. .The musician finds it strange to see a woman stay the whole night alone with a dead body. She tells him she had to stay because her neighbours were far away .It is horrible for her to be a young woman, to be without a child and to be married to an old drunk. She always felt lonely and afraid . He tells her that he had met Kazungu on the road. She goes to meet Kazungu
Kalekezi gets up when the musician is alone. The musician is terrified to see the dead man move. He learns that he has been feigning death to expose his wife. He asks for a drink. He tells the musician that Kamuli is a bad woman. She is always worried about money .Besides he is a bad wife. He asks the musician not to tell Kamuli that he is alive.He goes back to feigning death when Kazungu and Kamuli enter. (Kazungu had lots of cattle. He had a small shed near their home where he slept on market days. He was greedy for money.) Kamuli notices that there is smell of waragi in the room .Kamuli tells them that she had married him for the good land and the money he had. She tells them that she was always lonely with no one for company
.Kazungu promises to move in with her once the old man is buried. Kamuli tells him that it is stupid to marry any man. They will all get old. They will be smelling of drink and be tiresome because of their snoring.

Kalezeki slowly gets up and sneezes He is angry that they are not even willing to wait for him to be buried before discussing marriage. Kalekezi asks her to get out of the house.
He knows before long that she will also be old .Then young men will not want her. They will laugh at her toothless gums and her wrinkled face. However Kazungu is unwilling to accept her and suggests that she could go back to her own family. Kalekezi is sure that they won’t take her back.
Kalekezi snatches the money from her hands and dismisses her from the house.
He suggests that Kazungu might take her. She realizes that Kazungu wants her only if she has all the money. Then the musician invites her to join him. He tells her that he has no house or food to give her. He promises to teach her how to live. He tells her that he will teach her to dismiss loneliness. He thinks that they can earn money with his songs and her dance.
He tells her that she will hear the laughter of the world if she goes with him. He also promises hard times. He tells her that it is meaningless to sit and watch an old man snoring in his drunken sleep. She likes the way the musician talks. Besides she thinks that he has a kindly face. She agrees to go with him leaving the old man behind. They leave while Kalekezi and Kazungu share a drink.
The drama has an interesting twist at the end Surprisingly Kamuli leaves the house with a musician whom she knows so little. She is happy when he promises her a real life of freedom.
B 1.She would never sleep again if she touched him or let any one touch his body except his sister Sirisita
2. The musician is never lonely or afraid because he is too poor and homeless. He cannot afford to be afraid because he had to walk through forests or where robbers were.
3. Kamuli wants Kazungu to go and tell her husband’s sister Sirisita that her brother is dead
3. He will move with her after her husband has been buried , after all the rites are over and some of the money is given to his family.
4. He had good land, money and who would look after her when she grew old if she didn’t marry someone like him.
Matsyaganddhi”
“M.Sujatha’s “Matsyaganddhi” is delightful monodrama which focuses on the lives of the fisherwomen in coastal Kerala. She speaks about many of the concerns of her community
.Globalization has really changed their life .She presents very moving and very familiar scenes to depict her concern. The fisherwomen are victims of exploitation .The drama has in it sublime moments and scenes from ordinary lives of the fisherwomen.
The scene is seashore where sea itself forms the audience. Thus she imparts an idea of the loneliness of the fisherwoman. A middle aged araya woman speaks in a dream like frenzy. She highlights the glories surrounding her .She listens to the rhythm of the sea and thinks of herself as a mermaid. She can see a giant ship and many more .Little baby fishes are terrified.

Then he comes back to the real life. Her husband is a fisherman .She waits for his coming.
Chemmeen tells that if the mukkuvas are to be protected by kadalamma, the sea mother, their women have to remain chaste and faithful. She cannot stay back in her hut because she is waiting for food .She tells that only a skillful fisherman can know where to find fish. They need to know the position of the stars and also about nets and the ways to catch fish. It is lovely to be watching someone fishing in a boat. Her husband was very good at fishing .When he came home he had the smell of fish and arrack.
After giving instructions to Molay her daughter she leaves for the harbour. She has a very tough life . She has to argue with the fish trader. She is worried about the interest she has to pay for the loan she has taken to buy the fish. When she gets down from the bus with the fish, people turn away in disgust. They feel the stench. Everyone dislikes fish but once it is cooked it is delicious.
She tries to get into a bus but they go by without stopping. If she doesn’t reach the market in time the puffed up males will take her place. They wear polyester shirts, spray themselves with perfumes and go around in vehicles. Those sons of bitches sell fish cheap also.
She contrasts the life of the fisher woman with that of the rich .They have swimming pools, water parks and rain dance. However the tap in the fish market does not provide a drop of water.
All the fisher woman smell of fish and cannot clean themselves. They do not have clean water to drink also. She goes on to narrate the story of Satyavati the Matsyaganddhi .She used to take people across the river in her little boat. One day a muni got interested in her because she smelt of fish .He took her in the boat and created a cover for the boat with thin blue mist
She narrates how at one time the people on the sea coast lived a very comfortable life. They had plenty of fish. They had enough money to buy what they wanted .It was then that motor boats and trawlers came to disrupt their life. She does not think that Kerala is any more God’s own country. It is the land of the exploited and the exploiters. The government has taken over the sea coast. They will build new harbours claiming to give jobs to many. They will also build new hotels and walls between the sea and the coast.
She is angry that her husband’s boat was hit by the trawler boat.( He went for fishing on a clear day. His men had checked everything. Her husband once held the sea on the palm of his hands. He paddled the boat and fished in tune with the season, in tune with the rhythm of the sea. However he went down into the depths of the sea after his boat was hit.) Trawlers destroy the little fishes .They say kadalamma will be angry if a mukkuva woman stands on the shore with her hair unloosened.
She wants to be such a one so that kadalamma gets angry and the waves break up all the trawler boats and foreign vessels. Then there will be no more the stench of fish but only the stench of the decaying sea. Then there will be the smell of little fish slaughtered. It will be the stench of the decaying dreams of Matsyaganddhi,
Sajitha has skillfully woven familiar incidents into the text of the play .She points her fingers at the rotten system which does not care about the exploitations and discriminations.
B.1.Chemmen tells us that if the mukkuvas who go out to the sea are to be protected by kadalamma, the Sea Mother, their woman have to remain chaste and faithful.

2.
God’s own Country is going to be a land of the exploited and the land of the exploiters.
There will be man-made walls and man-made harbours and man- made trawlers.
3. She has hope in the Matsyaganddhi because it reminds her of the time when sea was full of fish and fisher men were happy. Kadalamma protected her children and they had plenty to eat.
4. The kadalamma will be angry if a woman stood with her hair untied and unloosened.