FAMOUS PLAYWRIGHT POET AND OTHERS
MACBETH
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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stone ____ insects
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flower ____ serpent
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soil ____ beast
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child ____ doormat
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Detailed explanation-1: -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). Effect. The symbolism here shows that Lady Macbeth wishes her husband to appear well-meaning and gentle to hide his deceit.
Detailed explanation-2: -In the scene with Lady Macbeth that follows, Macbeth again echoes her previous comments. She told him earlier that he must “look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t” (1.5. 63–64).
Detailed explanation-3: -In this simile, Lady Macbeth exhorts her husband to conceal his murderous intentions with innocent behavior, similar to a snake lurking beneath a harmless flower.
Detailed explanation-4: -When Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to ‘look like th’ innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t’ (1.5. 65–66), she echoes the image of the medal – well known to Shakespeare’s audience – and associates their planned deception of Duncan with Jesuit treason and the Gunpowder Plot.