Unit 15 Vocabulary

1. Unit 15 Vocabulary Featuring William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth

2. Amenity – (n.) • That which is pleasant or agreeable Most people enjoy the holidays as moments of amenity when they can stop their work and spend pleasant times with family and friends. SYNONYMS: convenience, merit ANTONYMS: unpleasantness, disagreeableness

3. Amenities – (pl. n.) • Attractive features, customs, etc. The amenities that come with the appointment of Macbeth as King are few, as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth live in a tortured state after the dirty deed is done.

4. Aperture – (n.) • An opening, gap, hole; orifice After the earthquake, rain and cold came through the aperture in the wall of the damaged house. ANTONYMS: closure, blockage, occlusion

5. When the witches vanished suddenly into the earth after speaking to Banquo and Macbeth, Banquo commented about the earth’s apertures, comparing this orifice of the earth to bubbles. Aperture – (n.)

6. Dissidence – (n.) • A difference of opinion; discontent When the commanding officer announced that all leave was cancelled, there was dissidence in the ranks. SYNONYMS: disagreement, dissent, disaffection ANTONYMS: agreement, harmony, concord

7. Macbeth’s momentary decision not to go forward with the murder of King Duncan brought much dissidence between himself and his wife. In her discontented state, Lady Macbeth challenged her warrior husband’s manhood. Dissidence – (n.)

8. Epicurean – (adj.) • Devoted to the pursuit of pleasure; fond of good food, comfort, and ease; with discriminating tastes The chef took an Epicurean delight in presenting the most delicious dishes to his demanding clientele. • SYNONYMS: hedonistic, sybaritic, discriminating • ANTONYMS: ascetic, self-denying, abstemious

9. A person with discriminating tastes As an Epicurean in her royal tastes and pursuits, Lady Macbeth took evil delight in helping her husband win the throne. Epicurean – (n.)

10. Improvident – (adj.) • Not thrifty; failing to plan ahead Some people are so improvident that despite high incomes they struggle to make ends meet. SYNONYMS: prodigal, spendthrift, extravagant ANTONYMS: thrifty, frugal, economical, cautious

11. Being improvident was NOT something that could be said about Lady Macbeth in her pursuit of the crown. She had the murder all planned out for her husband. What she didn’t plan ahead for was the guilt she would experience that drove her to insanity! Improvident – (adj.)

12. Iniquity- (n.) • Wickedness, sin; a grossly immoral act English Puritans looked upon the court that surrounded King Charles I as a den of iniquity. SYNONYMS: evil, crime ANTONYMS: probity, rectitude, uprightness

13. Iniquity- (n.) Macbeth’s iniquity drove him deeper and deeper into criminal acts until he stated that if anything entered his mind to do, he would not consider it a second time but would immediately act upon it. Soon after this evil decision was made, he began killing innocent women and children.

14. Inviolable- (adj.) • Sacred; of such a character that it must not be broken, injured, or profaned Safeguarding the retirement income of millions of Americans is supposed to be an inviolable trust of the federal government. SYNONYMS: sacrosanct, unassailable ANTONYMS: vulnerable, assailable

15. Helping to uphold her husband’s integrity is an inviolable part of a woman’s duty to her man. However, Lady Macbeth violated this most sacred trust when she used her womanly wiles and taunted his courage as a man to get her husband to murder the king. Inviolable- (adj.)

16. Mutable- (adj.) • Open to or capable of change, fickle Most people would agree that one’s principles and moral values should not be as mutable as fashion. • SYNONYMS: changeable, variable • ANTONYMS: changeless, steadfast, constant

17. Mutable- (adj.) Macbeth’s character should have been so intact that it would not have been mutable, even to his own wife. Unfortunately, once he had committed his first murder, the next ones came so much easier. Macbeth very quickly shed his integrity and began eagerly pursuing the next crime to cover the previous one.

18. Nascent (adj.) • Just beginning to exist or develop; having just come into existence Recent public opinion polls registered nascent opposition to the proposed tax increase. SYNONYMS: budding, incipient, embryonic ANTONYMS: dying, moribund, senescent

19. Nascent (adj.) One of the clearest signs of Macbeth’s evil decline was his decision to act immediately upon any nascent ideas he had, not giving them a second thought. He first put these budding thoughts into action when he had Macduff’s wife and children murdered.

20. Obeisance – (n.) A deep bow, or other body movement indicating respect or submission; deference, homage This satirical cartoon is not showing obeisance to our President but is referencing a point in time when some believed he showed obeisance inappropriately. SYNONYMS: RESPECT, HONOR ANTONYMS: DISRESPECT, IRREVERENCE, DISREGARD

21. The obeisance shown to King Duncan when he deigned to stay at the castle of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth was not genuine respect. The host and hostess were plotting their guest’s demise! Obeisance – (n.)

22. Panegyric – (n.) • formal or elaborate praise; a tribute The speaker delivered a panegyric in honor of the award-winning author. SYNONYMS: tribute, encomium, testimonial ANTONYMS: diatribe, tirade, philippic

23. Macbeth’s panegyric to Banquo when Banquo’s ghost had “not failed the feast,” were probably words of tribute in hopes that the ghost would leave the banquet table and stop haunting him. Panegyric – (n.)

24. A device for publicly punishing offenders; a means for exposing one to public contempt or ridicule The pillory was placed in the center of town so that everyone could view the shameful outlaws. Pillory – (n.)

25. To expose to public contempt or ridicule ANTONYMS: praise, extol, laud, acclaim Macduff threatened to pillory Macbeth if he allowed him to live in their final fight. Macduff told Macbeth that he would be the shameful attraction for all to come and gaze upon. Pillory – (v.)

26. Pittance – (n.) • A woefully meager allowance, wage, or portion. In comparison to the overwhelming need for food and medicine, the shipment was a mere pittance. SYNONYMS: Modicum, Trifle ANTONYMS: Fortune

27. Macbeth viewed his newly bestowed title as Thane of Cawdor as a mere pittance in comparison to becoming King. Pittance – (n.)

28. Presage – (v.) • To foreshadow or point to a future event; to predict The skirmishes at the border presaged a war. SYNONYMS: augur, portend, foretell

29. Presage – (v.) The witches presaged that Macbeth would be Thane of Cawdor and King and that Banquo would be the father of Kings. While Banquo himself would be lesser than Macbeth, his legacy would be much richer, according to the witches’ prediction.

30. Presage – (n.) • A warning or indication of the future The fall in stock prices and retail sales may be a presage of hard economic times to come. SYNONYMS: prediction, foretelling

31. The witches’ presage was either an accurate foretelling, or Macbeth’s tragic flaw to be ambitious to the point of taking matters into his own hands won him the temporary titles. Presage – (n.)

32. Progeny – (n.) • Descendants, offspring, children, followers, disciples The Bill of Rights guarantees certain civil rights and protections to ourselves and our progeny. SYNONYMS: issue, posterity ANTONYMS: ancestors, forebears, antecedents

33. The part of the prophecy that infuriated Macbeth was the fact that he would have no progeny to take the throne after him. In fact, he stated that he had sold his soul (or his “jewel”) for Banquo’s descendants, a revelation that led to his murder of Banquo. Progeny – (n.)

34. Promulgate – (v.) • To proclaim or issue officially; to make known far and wide The School Board promulgated a new approach to education that emphasized phonics. SYNONYM: Announce ANTONYMS: withdraw, retract, abrogate, nullify

35. Promulgate – (v.) In the end, after Macbeth has been defeated by Macduff and the throne has been rightfully bestowed back to Malcolm, King Malcolm of Scotland promulgates that for the first time ever, he is bequeathing the title of Earl on all who helped defeat this tyrant, Macbeth. He also announces that everyone is invited to his coronation at Scone.

36. Rectitude – (n.) • Uprightness, righteousness, correctness The mayor is a person of unquestionable rectitude. SYNONYMS: probity, integrity ANTONYMS: iniquity, heinousness

37. Rectitude – (n.) Macduff is distinguished in the drama as a man of rectitude, one who loves his country and rushes to seek England’s assistance. In the end, good conquers evil, as Macduff the Upright defeats Macbeth the Evil Tyrant! Good WINS!

38. Restive – (adj.) • Restless, hard to manage, balky The restive horse had not been taken out of the stable for days. SYNONYMS: uneasy, fidgety, recalcitrant ANTONYMS: serene, unruffled, docile

39. Restive – (adj.) The night that King Duncan is murdered, his horses became so restive and out of control that they went wild, eating one another.

40. Seraphic – (adj.) • Angelic, heavenly, celestial The artist painted the children with seraphic smiles to suggest their innocence. SYNONYM: cherubic ANTONYMS: devilish, impish

41. Seraphic – (adj.) There is nothing angelic in the entire tragedy of Macbeth except for Macduff’s seraphic, innocent children who are ruthlessly murdered at Macbeth’s order.

42. Subsist – (v.) • To have existence; to remain alive, manage to make a living or maintain life; to persist or continue Peasants in nineteenth-century Ireland were able to subsist almost exclusively on potatoes. SYNONYMS: last, survive, sustain

43. Macbeth himself could scarcely subsist on his own evil, demonstrating his hopeless view in the famous “Tomorrow” soliloquy. Subsist – (v.)

44. “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” ~ Act V, scene v – The Tragedy of Macbeth

45. The End But…thankfully, our life stories have HOPE! Just BEWARE of those tragic flaws!