Macbeth Act 1, Scene 7

Was the hope drunk,

Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since,

And wakes it now, to look so green and pale 

On what it did so freely? From this time

I account thy love. Art thou afeard

To be the same in thine own act and valor

As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that

Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, 

And live a coward in thine own esteem, 

Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would,"

Like the poor cat i' the adage?

What beast was't, then, 

That made you break this enterprise to me?

When you durst do it then you were a man;

And, to be more than what you were, you would

Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place

Did then adhere, and yet you would make both:

They have made themselves, and that their

fitness now

Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know

How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me:

I would, while it was smiling in my face, 

Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, 

And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you

Have done to this.

     This is the passage I have chosen, spoken by Lady Macbeth to her husband,to memorize. Although I have a bit of a mental block when it comes to memorizing things, I am looking forward to this passage, merely because it does not bore me like most of the other works I have "had" to memorize in the past. 

     This monologue embodies the character of Lady Macbeth. She is a very complex character; her sadness and desperation and vindictivity combine to form an intriguing and powerful woman and, though we are not reading Macbeth for this class, I believe this character to be "essential".  

--AS