ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -We have scotch’d the snake, not kill’d it. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that, by killing Duncan, they have not put the matter of the throne to rest. By scorching the snake but not killing it, Macbeth means that they still have threats to face, even with Duncan out of the picture.

Detailed explanation-2: -Lady Macbeth tells her husband “What’s done is done”. She is convinced that all they need to do is killing Duncan and then everything would be fine. But Macbeth is still worried. When he tells her they have “scotched” the snake and not “killed” it, he is using the snake as a metaphor for the threat to his being king.

Detailed explanation-3: -Study focus: Scorching the snake In telling Lady Macbeth that they have scorched the snake (line 13), Macbeth indicates that the ‘snake’ is wounded but is still dangerous and despite their weak attempt to kill it off, it will threaten them in the future.

Detailed explanation-4: -Yet, despite his displays of fearlessness, Macbeth is undeniably beset with guilt and doubt, which he expresses in his reference to the “scorpions” in his mind and in his declaration that in killing Banquo they “have scorched the snake, not killed it” (3.2.15).

Detailed explanation-5: -The serpent is a symbol used to represent treachery. Lady Macbeth warns her husband to ‘look like the innocent flower, /But be the serpent under’t’ (I. 5.63–4). The symbolism here shows that Lady Macbeth wishes her husband to appear well-meaning and gentle to hide his deceit.