Question

who should against his murderer shut the door,
not bear the knife myself. besides, this duncan
hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
so clear in his great office, that his virtues
will plead like angels, trumpet - tongued, against
the deep damnation of his taking - off;
and pity, like a naked newborn babe
striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin horsed
upon the sightless couriers of the air,
shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
that tears shall drown the wind. i have no spur
to prick the sides of my intent, but only
vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
and falls on th’ other—

1. what act does lady macbeth say she would go through with if she had sworn to do it?
2. rephrase the following lines in your own words:

|we fail?
but screw your courage to the sticking place
and we’ll not fail| |

a. who speaks these lines?

Explanation:

Question 26

To answer this, we refer to the context of "Macbeth". Lady Macbeth, in her dialogue, implies that if she had sworn to kill her own child (a metaphorical or extreme statement to show her resolve), she would do it. The key is recalling her lines about not hesitating if sworn, related to the act of killing (here, metaphorically her child, but in the play's context of committing murder, her resolve is shown by this extreme example).

First, understand the original lines: "We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking place And we'll not fail" means questioning the idea of failure, then urging to muster all courage, and asserting that with that courage, they will succeed. Rephrase by preserving the meaning: doubt about failure, encourage courage, and state success will follow.

In "Macbeth", these lines are spoken by Lady Macbeth. She is encouraging Macbeth to be brave for their plan to kill Duncan, so she is the speaker.

Answer:

Lady Macbeth says she would kill her own child (or "dash the brains out of her baby") if she had sworn to do it.

Question 27 (Rephrasing)