© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.NOTES[Knock.] Knock, knock; never at quiet! What are you?
But this place is too cold for hell. I’ll devil-porter it no
further. I had thought to have let in some of all
professions that go the primrose way to th’
everlasting bonfire. [Knock.] Anon, anon!
[Opens an entrance.] I pray you, remember the porter.
[Enter Macduff and Lennox.]
Macduff. Was it so late, friend, ere you went to bed,
That you do lie so late?
Porter. Faith, sir, we were carousing till the second
cock:^9 and drink, sir, is a great provoker of three
things.
Macduff. What three things does drink especially
provoke?
Porter. Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep, and urine.
Lechery, sir, it provokes and unprovokes; it provokes
the desire, but it takes away the performance: there-
fore much drink may be said to be an equivocator
with lechery: it makes him and it mars him; it
sets him on and it takes him off: it persuades him
and disheartens him; makes him stand to and not
stand to; in conclusion equivocates him in a sleep,
and giving him the lie, leaves him.
Macduff. I believe drink gave thee the lie^10 last night.
Porter. That it did, sir, i’ the very throat on me: but I
requited him for his lie, and, I think, being too strong
for him, though he took up my legs sometime, yet I
make a shift to cast^11 him.
Macduff. Is thy master stirring?
[Enter Macbeth.]
Our knocking has awaked him; here he comes.
Lennox. Good morrow, noble sir.
Macbeth. Good morrow, both.
Macduff. Is the king stirring, worthy Thane?
Macbeth. Not yet.
Macduff. He did command me to call timely^12 on him:
I have almost slipped the hour.
Macbeth. I’ll bring you to him.
Macduff. I know this is a joyful trouble to you;
But yet ’tis one.
Macbeth. The labor we delight in physics pain.^13
This is the door.2025 9. second cock 3:00 A.M.3035- gave thee the lie laid you out.
40- cast vomit.
45- timely early.
50- labor... pain labor we enjoy
cures discomfort.
The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act II 287LIT17_SE12_U03_A2_WC.indd 287 3/14/16 1:10 AMAnalyze Verse
Students may have marked Scene iii, lines
38–44 during their first read. Use these lines
to help students understand how Shakespeare
uses dialogue to change mood in the play.
Encourage them to talk about the annotations
that they marked. You may want to model
a close read with the class based on the
highlights shown in the text.
ANNOTATE: Have students mark the parts of
lines 38–44 that are written in prose rather
than blank verse, or have students participate
while you highlight them.QuEsTiON: Guide students to consider what
these details might tell them. Ask what a
reader can infer from the dialogue that they
marked, and accept student responses.
Possible response: The comic relief from the
Porter has ended and the dialogue has changed
back to serious matters.
CONCLuDE: Help students to formulate
conclusions about the importance of these
details in the text. Ask students why the
author might have included these details.
Possible response: Shakespeare may have
meant to show the difference in rank among the
characters. Prose is for low-ranking characters,
such as the Porter, but blank verse is appropriate
for high-ranking Macduff and Lennox.
Remind students that Shakespeare uses
a variety of blank verse and prose to shift
between mood and characters. Blank verse
is unrhymed poetry usually written in iambic
pentameter (a rhythm of five iambic feet
where the second syllable is stressed, such as
da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM).CLOSER LOOK
Whole-Class Learning 287
LIT17_TE12_U03_A2_WC.indd 287 11/04/16 11:59 PM