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Lit Analysis & Comp II
Macbeth Fall Essay Prompts
Choose one of the following prompts to focus on for your thesis-driven literary analysis essay:
1. Trace Shakespeare’s use of one of the following motifs (blood, sleep, hands, stars, or night) and
explain the significance of that motif in the play. Connect your motif to a major theme.
2. In part, Macbeth is a commentary about gender roles. How does Shakespeare have Lady Macbeth
and Macbeth define masculinity and femininity? How and why do these definitions shift over the
course of the play? How does Shakespeare use the shifting characterization of Lady Macbeth and
Macbeth throughout the play to connect to a major theme?
3. Select one of the following themes and show how it is illustrated and developed through
Shakespeare’s use of a literary device (imagery, metaphor, motif, irony, paradox, symbolism, etc.)  The destructive effects of ambition, guilt, and fear
 Appearance vs. Reality
 Nature reflecting the unnatural
 Sleeplessness caused by guilt
 Fate vs. free will
4. Examine Aristotle’s model of the tragic hero. To what extent does Macbeth fit the tragic hero
archetype? Include each element of the tragic hero archetype in your analysis.
 Noble birth
 Tragic flaw
 Reversal of fortune
 Self-realization/self-knowledge
 Catharsis