Both Uses of
despair
in
Macbeth
- How he solicits heaven,
Himself best knows: but strangely-visited people,
All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye,
The mere despair of surgery, he cures,
Hanging a golden stamp about their necks,
Put on with holy prayers; and, 'tis spoken,
To the succeeding royalty he leaves
The healing benediction.†p. 149.6
- Despair thy charm;
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb
Untimely ripped.†p. 185.9 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(despair as in: she felt despair) hopelessness; or distress (such as extreme worry or sadness from feeling powerless to change a bad situation)
-
(2)
(despair as in: do not despair) lose hope or feel distress
-
(3)
(despair as in: she was the despair of the team) something that causes hopelessness or great distress
- (4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)