For Tuesday: Chapter 7 from Poole and Wells

Be sure to read Wells' Chapter 7, "Macbeth" and Poole's Chapter 7, "Words, words, words" for Tuesday's class. Here are some questions to ponder as you read--answer two as usual for our next class.

Q1: Poole references the famous scene in Macbeth (4.3) when the Messenger tells Macduff about the death of his wife and children. He notes that "This is an important and recurring scene in tragedy. Something terrible happens off-stage, and a messenger must bring the bad news to the nearest and dearest" (86). Why do you think this is such a popular and effective stock scene? Why does Shakespeare use it over and over again in his own plays? 

Q2: Wells notes that Macbeth's "worst crimes are committed with none of the awareness of evil he had felt in contemplating the murder of Duncan" (72). Considering all the anguish he endures (complete with floating daggers) upon killing Duncan, why are the subsequent murders dispatched so quickly and without remark? Even when his wife dies (which he may or may not have had a hand in), he notes, "she should have died hereafter." Why are the 'worst' crimes the easiest for him to ignore?

Q3: Despite being "the most obviously topical--and to that extent dated--of Shakespeare's plays," Macbeth is surprisingly universal, spawning a number of retellings, many of them as famous as Shakespeare's version itself (such as Kurosawa's film, Throne of Blood). According to Wells, what makes the play so translatable and universal? Why is it more than a witch play meant to capitalize on the king's taste for the occult?

Q4: What role does silence and wordless sounds play in tragedy? Why does Shakespeare employ so many exclamations and empty words such as "alas," "alack" and the infamous "O!"? Why in some cases are words simply not enough?

Q5: On the flip side of Q4, why do plays often make people speak through moments of unbearable tragedy, when in real life we would simply scream or faint? Why do we sometimes need words in these impossible situations? What do they help us see or experience?