English 10h
Reading Journal
Macbeth
Macbeth 2.3-2.4
Assignment: For many students, reading Shakespeare is arduous work. Diligent students, who regularly
read, struggle with the most basic elements of the play like character and plot. Even honors students
lingering over Shakespeare’s poetic passages soon give up in favor of the quick fix of Sparknotes or the
like, but as in most things in life, contentious practice is ultimately rewarded. So, for the initial reading of
Macbeth, I would like you to read the Shakespearean text and respond to 5 of the following quotes on a
separate sheet of paper. This will provide you with the much needed practice of wrestling with
Shakespeare’s language and, hopefully, nurturing a rewarding reading experience!
Each quote analysis should address the following topics:
 A translation of the line in your own words (DO NOT SIMPLY COPY NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE)
 An explanation of what is immediately happening at the time the quote is said (Context)
 A brief analysis of the significance of the quote to the entire play thus far
[Remember, you only need to respond to 5 TOTAL!]
2.3 Quotes:
1. “Here’s a knocking indeed! If a man were porter of hell gate, he should have old turning the
key.” (2.3.1-3)
2. “The night has been unruly. Where we lay,/Our chimneys were blown down and, as they
say,/Lamentings heard i’ th’ air, strange screams of death” (2.3.61-63)
3. “Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope/The Lord’s anointed temple and stole thence/The life
o’ th’ building.” (2.3.77-79)
4. “O, yet I do repent me of my fury,/That I did kill them.” (2.3.124-125)
5. “Let’s not consort with them./To show an unfelt sorrow is an office/Which the false man does
easy.” (2.3.160-162)
6. “Where we are,/There’s daggers in men’s smiles. The near in blood,/The nearer bloody.”
(2.3.164-166)
2.4 Quotes:
1. “By th’ clock ‘tis day,/And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp.” (2.4.8-9)
2. “’Tis unnatural,/Even like the deed that’s done.” (2.413-14)
3. “Well, may you see things well done there. Adieu,/Lest our old robes sit easier than our new.”
(2.4.52-53)
4. “That would make good of bad and friends of foes.” (2.4.56)