Quotation Explications Examples of Responses

Quotation Explication Who said it? To whom was it said? What is the context of the quotation? What does the quotation mean literally and in the scope of the entire play?

Identify and explain the following quotation: You should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so

Example of a 1-point answer. This quotation is from Act One in Macbeth when Macbeth encounters the witches.

Example of a 2-point answer When Macbeth first encounters the witches with Banquo in Act one, he questions their appearance because they have beards and are supposed to be women.

Example of a 3-point answer In Act One Macbeth and Banquo encounter three witches who reveal prophecies that set the conflict of the play in motion; however, Macbeth questions the weird sisters because they appear to be something other than what they are. In this quotation Macbeth says he unsure if they are actually women because they have beards.

Example of a 4-point answer From the beginning of The Tragedy of Macbeth, the paradox of “fair is foul and foul is fair” establishes the conflict between appearances and reality. In this quotation from Macbeth’s first encounter with the witches he questions their strange appearance since as “weird sisters” they should be women but they seem masculine because they have beards. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s manhood will be questioned by his wife as she takes on the masculine role in their marriage. The theme of appearance and reality and the dichotomy between masculine and feminine is hinted at in this quotation.

Identify and explain the following quotation: Lesser than Macbeth and greater, Not so happy, yet much happier. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.