Lesson on Macbeth's speech "I have almost forgot the taste of fears"

1. Macbeth posters –
buy on Amazon
character and plot
maps

3. Macbeth 2 –
I have almost forgot the taste of fears.
[A cry of women within]
What is that noise?
SEYTON It is the cry of women, my good lord.
[Exit]
MACBETH I have almost forgot the taste of fears;
The time has been, my senses would have cool'd
To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in't: I have supp'd full with horrors;
Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts
Cannot once start me.
— Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17–28)

4. At the exam, be a detective / psychologist. Ask
yourself: What is this person saying? What do
these words mean?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

5. Separate the speech into sentences and then
highlight key words
I have almost forgot the taste of fears;
The time has been, my senses would have cool’d To hear a night-shriek; and
my fell of hair Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir As life were in’t:
I have supp'd full with horrors; Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts
Cannot once start me.

6. Main mood / moods that you can detect?

8. Let’s watch
Christopher Eccleston as Macbeth, The Royal Shakespeare Company,
2018
https://youtu.be/ihETAnRLC8M

9. «Макбет», перевод Бориса Пастернака
Макбет
Что там за шум?
Сейтон
Крик женщин, государь.
(Уходит.)
Макбет
А я совсем утратил чувство страха.
Бывало, не шутя я леденел
От вскрика ночью, а от страшных сказок
Вздымались волосы на голове.
С тех пор я ужасами сыт по горло,
Чудовищность сродни моей душе.
Что может напугать ее?
What is that noise?
SEYTON It is the cry of women, my good lord.
[Exit]
MACBETH I have almost forgot the taste
of fears;
The time has been, my senses would have
cool'd
To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in't: I have supp'd full with horrors;
Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts
Cannot once start me.

10. GCSE Character question: How is Macbeth presented in this extract?
GCSE Theme question: How is the theme of power presented in this extract?
Finish the following sentences in your book:
• In this extract, Macbeth is presented as_______________. We can
see this in the line “____________” (insert the best quote). In this
quote, the words “_______” and “_______” suggest that
Macbeth____________________. In Shakespeare’s time this was
important because_________.
• Only NOW we can look at the comments! 
https://myshakespeare.com/macbeth/act-5-scene-5

11. Homework: copy out this paragraph by hand. Do you feel sorry for
Macbeth? Why? Write down your own thoughts
• Starting with this speech, explain how far you think Shakespeare presents
Macbeth as an evil man (Act V, Scene V).
Macbeth at this point in the play is presented as a man who has become
evil; someone who is no longer a heroic character. When he hears a woman's
cry, he says, "I have almost forgot the taste of fear". Shakespeare uses the
adverb, "almost", to show Macbeth has ordered so many murders of his
enemies that he has 'almost' forgotten he has any feelings left inside him.
However, the adverb does also suggest that somewhere, deep down, there is
the "noble" hero Macbeth that we met at the start of the play who is
capable of feelings. The metaphor that Macbeth uses, "taste of fear",
reminds us of a time when Macbeth was very sensitive to his feelings.
During the era this play was written, Jacobean, men were not really
expected to fear things. However, what arguably makes Macbeth's
portrayal as evil is his unnatural responses where he has become so
desensitized and almost unaffected by things and events that most people,
including the audience, would react to with some level of shock or fear.

12. A Level Homework: copy out a paragraph from the lesson’s handout by
hand. Did the actor in the RSC 2018 production manage to convey these
emotions? Which production of Macbeth did you see?
• “I have almost forgot the taste of fears.” Almost, but not quite; taste, in the mouth, in the body,
sour, metallic, cold. This speech is full of confused sensory experiences: fears taste, a sound is
experienced as touch. I haven’t really felt anything for ages, says Macbeth, and now I feel, feel
afraid. Just a bit. A taste.
• “Once upon a time, ages ago, the time has been my senses would have cooled to hear a night-
shriek.” A scream, a cry; owl, raven, the animal cry of hunter or prey; I’d jump, at least, feel a chill,
my blood run cold. More than that, my hair would stand on end, rouse and stir, the hairs on the
back of my neck prickle, even at a dismal treatise—a frightening story, read or heard. My body
used to respond, be swept with sensation. Now though, nothing. I don’t feel; I don’t experience
fear, or anything else. My skin is steel, my body hollow metal.
• Nothing appals me anymore, because I have “supped full with horrors”. Supped, eaten, picks up
the taste of fears, as if he’s become so glutted with terrible things that he’s heard, seen, and done
that nothing has any effect any longer.
• “Direness familiar to my slaughterous thoughts cannot once start me.” Nothing shocks me,
because the things that I imagine, the murderousness of my thoughts, the horrors in my mind—
those are things that I’ve seen, things that I’ve done. All I do is imagine the worst, over and over.
Because I can’t feel anything any longer. It’s almost as if Macbeth is longing for fear, for pain—
anything—just to feel something again.