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empted by the Weird Sisters and urged on by his wife, Macbeth
is . . . caught between the irrational and the rational. There is a
sense, of course, in which every man is caught between them. Man
must try to predict and plan and control his destiny. That is man’s
fate; and the struggle, if he is to realize himself as a man, cannot be
avoided. The question, of course, which has always interested the
tragic dramatist involves the terms on which the struggle is accepted
and the protagonist’s attitude toward fate and toward himself.
Macbeth in his general concern for the future is typical—is Every
Man. He becomes the typical tragic protagonist when he yields
to pride and hybris.^1 The occasion for temptation is offered by the
prophecy of the Weird Sisters. They offer him knowledge which
cannot be arrived at rationally. They offer a key—if only a partial
key—to what is otherwise unpredictable. Lady Macbeth, on the other
hand, by employing a ruthless clarity of perception, by discounting
all emotional claims, offers him the promise of bringing about the
course of events which he desires.
Now, in the middle of the play, though he has not lost confidence
and though, as he himself says, there can be no turning back, doubts
have begun to arise; and he returns to the Weird Sisters to secure
unambiguous answers to his fears. But, pathetically and ironically
for Macbeth, in returning to the Weird Sisters, he is really trying
to impose rationality on what sets itself forth plainly as irrational:
that is, Macbeth would force a rigid control on a future which, by- hybris (HY brihs) n. hubris; arrogance.
12NOTESMark context clues or indicate
another strategy you used that
helped you determine meaning.
perception (puhr SEHP
shuhn) n.
MEANING:unambiguous (uhn am BIHG
yoo uhs) adj.
MEANING:Cleanth Brooks
from The Well Wrought Urn
from The Naked Babe
and the Cloak of Manliness
LITERARY CRITICISM386 UNIT 3 • FACING THE FUTURE, CONFRONTING THE PASTLIT22_SE12_U03_B2_SG.indd 386 23/03/21 12:30 PMFACILITATING
Concept Vocabulary
PERCEPTION If groups are struggling to define
perception in paragraph 1, as it is used in this
context, point out that the context clue is that
Lady Macbeth “employs” a “ruthless clarity...
by discounting all emotional claims” and offers
her husband “a promise of bringing about the
course of events which he desires.” From this
rich context, students can infer that perception
(a noun that derives from the verb perceive) must
refer to a way of looking at the world.
Possible response: Perception means “concept,
observation, or understanding.”
UNAMBIGUOUS If groups are struggling to
define unambiguous in paragraph 2, as it is used
in this context, point out that the context clue
is in the phrase “doubts have begun to arise.”
Because Macbeth has begun to doubt himself, he
seeks answers that show no doubt, answers that
are certain and true.
Possible response: Unambiguous means “clearly
expressed and understood, obvious, clear, and
transparent.”PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING
English Language Support
Sexist Language Focus students’ attention on
the way Brooks uses the term “Man” and “Every
Man” in paragraph 1. Remind them that the
collection in which this essay appears was first
published in 1947, at a time when it was common
practice to use male nouns and pronouns, e.g.,
man, him, his, to refer to all people. Another
common practice was to assume that anunidentified subject of a sentence was always
male, e.g., Every student should turn in his
homework on time. Discuss with students how
this kind of sexist language can lead to gender
bias in society. To start the discussion, you might
ask students how using the term fireman or
congressman can create gender bias. ALL LEVELS386 UNIT 3 • FACING THE FUTURE, CONFRONTING THE PAST
LIT21_TE12_U03_B2_SG.indd 386 14/04/21 2:08 PM