Question

read the excerpt from act 1, scene 7 of the tragedy of macbeth. macbeth, who is alone in his castle, is contemplating whether to kill duncan. macbeth. if it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly; if the assassination could trammel up the consequence, and catch with his surcease success; that but this blow might be the be - all and the end - all here, but here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we’d jump the life to come. but in these cases we still have judgment here; that we but teach bloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plague the inventor; this even - handed justice commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice to our own lips. how does shakespeare develop the universal theme “the inescapability of justice” in this excerpt? by suggesting that macbeth hopes to kill duncan without getting caught by highlighting that macbeth is worried that someone will try to poison him by showing that macbeth is hesitant to act because he fears the consequences by implying that macbeth intends to convince someone else to murder duncan

Explanation:

To determine how Shakespeare develops the theme "the inescapability of justice", we analyze each option:

• Option 1: Hoping to kill without getting caught doesn't emphasize justice's inescapability.
• Option 2: Worrying about being poisoned is not related to the theme of justice's inescapability.
• Option 3: Macbeth's hesitation due to fearing consequences (like "bloody instructions... return to plague the inventor" shows that unjust acts will be punished, highlighting justice is inescapable).
• Option 4: Intending to convince others to murder doesn't relate to justice's inescapability.

Answer:

C. by showing that Macbeth is hesitant to act because he fears the consequences