te.

What other variations from the normal line help to keep the verse from
becoming monotonous?

Explain the metrical difficulties of the following lines:

"'Speak, strike, redress.' Am I entreated" (II, 1, 55).

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" (III, 2, 78).

"As a sick girl. Ye gods! it doth amaze me"(I, 2, 128).

Why do you think we have both prose and verse in I, 1?

Why prose in Brutus's speech and verse in Antony's?

Find, if you can, passages that express true patriotism (like II, 1,
52-58), others that express hollow rhetoric (like I, 3, 91-100), and
others that express true and beautiful sentiment.

THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR.--See outline for the study of _The
Merchant of Venice_, p. 72.

OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF MACBETH

I. Preparation

A review of the facts about Shakespeare's work and the development of
his art previously studied; a short explanation of the meaning and
purpose of tragedy; and an account of the general belief in witchcraft
in the early seventeenth century, will help to give the class the right
attitude toward the play.

II. Reading and Study

The purpose of the first and second readings is the same as that already
stated in the general plan and in the outline for the study of _The
Merchant of Venice_. The large number of puzzling passages in _Macbeth_
makes the second reading unusually important.

III. Study of the Play as a Whole

SETTING.--Where and between whom were the battles fought in the
beginning of the play?

Where are Inverness and Scone?

About how long a time is involved in the entire play? Which scenes
follow one another without loss of time, and which do not?

From the various hints given, what impression do you get of the
conditions of life in Scotland at the time of the play? (I, 2, 20-24; I,
4, 37-38; III, 2, 22-26.)

How is external nature used to heighten the effect made by the witches?

In what other instances is nature used to heighten the effect? (I, 5;
II, 1, etc.)

PLOT.--What is the purpose of the introductory scene? Compare it with
the opening scene in each of the other plays that you have studied.

At what point is the introduction of the plot, or the "exposition,"
complete?

What evidence is there that Macbeth had planned before the opening of
the play for the murder of Duncan? (I, 3, 51-52; I, 7, 47-53.)

What three incidents help to his success? (I, 4, 42-43; II, 3, 112-113;
II, 4, 25-26.)

By