English 10h
Reading Journal
Macbeth
Macbeth 1.4-1.7
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!]
1.4 Quotes:
1. “There’s no art/To find the mind’s construction in the face.” (1.4.13-14)
2. “I have begun to plant thee and will labor/To make thee full of growing.” (1.4. 31-32)
3. “Stars, hide your fires;/Let not light see my black and deep desires.” (1.4.57-58)
1.5 Quotes:
1. “Yet do I fear thy nature:/It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/To catch the nearest way.”
(1.5.16-18)
2. “Come, you spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/And fill me from the crown to
the toe top-full/Of direst cruelty.” (1.5.47-50)
3. “Look like th’ innocent flower,/But be the serpent under ‘t.” (1.5.76-77)
1.6 Quotes:
1. “Fair and noble hostess,/We are your guest tonight.” (1.6.30-31)
1.7 Quotes:
1. “If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well/It were done quickly.” (1.7.1-2)
2. “I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps
itself/And falls on th’ other.” (1.7.25-28)
3. “I have bought/Golden opinions from all sorts of people,/Which would be worn now in thei r
newest gloss,/Not cast aside so soon.” (1.7.35-38)
4. “When you durst do it, then you were a man;” (1.7.56)
5. “When in swinish sleep/Their drenched natures lies as in a death,/What cannot you and I
perform upon/Th’ unguarded Duncan?” (1.7.77-80)
6. “false face must hide what the false heart doth know:” (1.7.95)