This definitions covers The Vocabulary for Lady Macbeth within Lady Macbeth (character) for GCSE English Literature. Revise Lady Macbeth (character) in Macbeth for GCSE English Literature with 10 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 10 of 16 in this topic. Make sure you can use the exact wording confidently, because definition marks are often lost through vague language.
📜 The Vocabulary for Lady Macbeth
- Invocation
- A formal calling-upon of a higher power. "Come, you spirits" is liturgical invocation addressed to demonic forces.
- Blank verse
- Unrhymed iambic pentameter — elevated speech of noble characters. Lady Macbeth loses it in Act 5: the formal signal of collapse.
- Apostrophe (rhetorical)
- A direct address to an absent or non-human entity. "Come, you spirits" is apostrophe — she speaks to forces that cannot answer.
- Foil
- A character whose qualities highlight the protagonist's by contrast. Lady Macbeth's direction inverts Macbeth's.
- Dramatic irony
- When the audience knows what a character does not. "A little water clears us of this deed" — we will see her washing nothing in Act 5.
- Agency
- The capacity to act and choose. Macbeth has agency (he names his ambition first); Lady Macbeth is catalyst, not cause.
Practice questions for Lady Macbeth (character)
Which of the following is a famous quotation spoken by Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5?
Identify ONE technique Shakespeare uses in Lady Macbeth's invocation ("Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here") and explain its effect on the audience. [2 marks]