| regicide | the action of killing a king |
| treason | the crime of betraying one’s country, esp. by attempting to overthrow the government |
| ambition | a particular goal or aim; something that a person hopes to do or achieve |
| soliloquy | A soliloquy is an extended speech in which a character alone on stage expresses his thoughts. At this time, the main character may reveal the private emotions of the speaker or may give information and display character. |
| What is the purpose of a soliloquy? | The purpose of a soliloquy is to help the audience understand the main character. Soliloquies often emphasize the main character’s emotions. |
| repentance | regret for any past action |
| thane | (n) a feudal lord in Scotland |
| surmise | (n) a guess(v) suppose that something is true without having evidence to confirm it |
| harbinger | (n) something that foretells or foreshadows; a person or thing that announces |
| impede | (vt) to hinder, to obstruct the progress of |
| surcease | (vt & vi) to bring to an end, to stop; (n) an end |
| faculty | (n) inherent power or ability to act |
| adage | (n) a saying that sets forth a general truth; saying |
| mettle | (n) courage, spirit; inherent quality of character |
| dire | (adj) warning of terrible consequences; urgent |
| Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it. (I, v) | simile |
| your face, my Thane, is as a book where menMay read strange matters. (I, v) | simile |
| I have begun to plant thee, and will laborTo make thee full of growing | metaphor |
| Why do you dress meIn borrowed robes? (I, iii) | metaphor |
| If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir (I, iii) | personification |
| Was the hope drunkWherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? | personification |
| But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears. (III, iv) | alliteration |
| A little water clears us of this deed. (II, ii). | symbol |
| Hover through the fog and filthy air. (I, i) | symbol |
| “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage.” | personification |
| Fair is foul and fouls is fair. (I.i) | paradox |
| Sleep no more!Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep,Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care | repetition |
| Is this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensibleTo feeling as to sight? or art thou butA dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? | soliloquy |
| It is an extended speech in which a character alone on stage expresses his thoughts. At this time, the main character may reveal the private emotions of the speaker or may give information and display character. | soliloquy |
| O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife. | metaphor |
| Fair is foul and foul is fair. | foreshadowing |
| irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play | dramatic irony |
Macbeth Act 1, Macbeth Vocabulary: Act 1, Macbeth Literary Devices
August 15, 2019