ACT 1 FULL TEST

Macbeth

Scottish general, Thane of Glamis, then Cawdor; hero turned murderer by ambition

Lady Macbeth

Macbeth's wife; pushes him to murder Duncan and calls on spirits to unsex her

Duncan

The virtuous King of Scotland; trusting, generous, and the murder victim

Malcolm

Duncan's eldest son, named Prince of Cumberland and heir to the throne

Donalbain

Duncan's younger son

Banquo

Macbeth's fellow general and friend; told his descendants will be kings

Fleance

Banquo's son

The Three Witches

The Weird Sisters who deliver the prophecies that spark Macbeth's ambition

Ross

Nobleman who reports battle news and tells Macbeth he is Thane of Cawdor

Angus

Nobleman who accompanies Ross to deliver the Cawdor news

Lennox

Scottish nobleman attending Duncan

The Captain (Sergeant)

Wounded soldier who reports Macbeth's heroism in battle

Macdonwald

The rebel Macbeth kills and beheads in battle

The Thane of Cawdor

Traitor executed for siding with Norway; his title passes to Macbeth

Sweno

The King of Norway, defeated by Macbeth's army

Graymalkin

The first witch's familiar spirit, a grey cat

Paddock

The second witch's familiar spirit, a toad

Weird Sisters

Another name for the witches; "wyrd" means fate

Inverness

Macbeth's castle, where Duncan is hosted and murdered

Forres

Where Duncan's palace is located

Prince of Cumberland

Title given to the heir of the Scottish throne

Thane

A Scottish nobleman ranking below the king

Bellona's bridegroom

Ross's description of Macbeth as husband of the war goddess

Scene 1 summary

The witches meet in a storm and plan to find Macbeth after the battle

Scene 2 summary

The Captain and Ross report Macbeth's heroism; Duncan gives him Cawdor's title

Scene 3 summary

The witches prophesy to Macbeth and Banquo; Cawdor prophecy comes true

Scene 4 summary

Duncan praises Macbeth but names Malcolm heir, blocking Macbeth's path

Scene 5 summary

Lady Macbeth reads the letter, calls on dark spirits, and plans Duncan's murder

Scene 6 summary

Duncan arrives at Inverness and is warmly welcomed by Lady Macbeth

Scene 7 summary

Macbeth backs out, Lady Macbeth shames him, and he commits to the murder

Macbeth's first prophecy

Thane of Glamis

Macbeth's second prophecy

Thane of Cawdor

Macbeth's third prophecy

He shall be king hereafter

Banquo's first prophecy

Lesser than Macbeth, and greater

Banquo's second prophecy

Not so happy, yet much happier

Banquo's third prophecy

His sons shall be kings, though he will not be

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"

The witches' paradox; appearances deceive and good and evil are reversed

"When the battle's lost and won"

Suggests every victory in the play carries a loss

"So foul and fair a day I have not seen"

Macbeth's first line, unknowingly echoing the witches

"Brave Macbeth — well he deserves that name"

The Captain establishing Macbeth as a war hero

"What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won"

Duncan giving Macbeth Cawdor's title; ironic since Macbeth becomes a traitor

"Instruments of darkness tell us truths"

Banquo warning that evil reveals small truths to cause great harm

"This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good"

Macbeth's confusion over the prophecy

"If chance will have me king… without my stir"

Macbeth considering letting fate act without murder

"My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical"

Proof Macbeth imagines killing Duncan before Lady Macbeth suggests it

"Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it"

Malcolm on Cawdor's dignified execution

"There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face"

Duncan admitting traitors cannot be read by appearance

"Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires"

Macbeth asking darkness to conceal his ambition

"That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o'erleap"

Macbeth on Malcolm blocking his path to the throne

"Too full o' th' milk of human kindness"

Lady Macbeth fearing Macbeth is too gentle to seize the crown

"Unsex me here"

Lady Macbeth asking spirits to strip away her femininity

"Make thick my blood, stop up th' access to remorse"

Lady Macbeth asking to be made incapable of guilt

"Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell"

Lady Macbeth calling darkness to hide the murder

"Look like th' innocent flower, but be the serpent under't"

Lady Macbeth telling Macbeth to mask his intentions

"The raven himself is hoarse"

Ominous imagery announcing Duncan's fatal arrival

"This castle hath a pleasant seat"

Duncan admiring the place where he will be murdered

Temple-haunting martlet

Bird Banquo says nests at the castle, falsely suggesting holiness

"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly"

Macbeth wishing murder had no consequences

"Double trust"

Macbeth's phrase for breaking bonds as both kinsman and subject

"Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself"

Macbeth admitting ambition is his only motive and will destroy him

"We will proceed no further in this business"

Macbeth's decision to call off the murder

"When you durst do it, then you were a man"

Lady Macbeth equating murder with masculinity

"Screw your courage to the sticking-place"

Lady Macbeth urging Macbeth to commit fully

"False face must hide what the false heart doth know"

Macbeth's final line of Act 1, accepting deception

Appearance vs. reality

Central theme; characters hide evil behind pleasant faces

Fate vs. free will

Do the witches cause Macbeth's actions or simply reveal them?

Ambition

The driving force behind Macbeth's fall

Light and dark imagery

Light means goodness and truth; darkness conceals evil deeds

Blood imagery

Represents violence, guilt, and the cost of ambition

Pathetic fallacy

Weather reflecting mood, like the storm in Scene 1

Dramatic irony

Audience knows Duncan will die while he praises the castle and his hosts

Hospitality theme

Guests were sacred in Jacobean culture; killing one was monstrous

Gender roles theme

Lady Macbeth rejects femininity while questioning Macbeth's manhood

The murder plan

Drug the guards, kill Duncan with their daggers, smear them with blood

Who is blamed for the murder plan

Duncan's drunken chamberlains

Duncan's character flaw

He trusts too easily and misjudges people

Banquo's response to the prophecy

Cautious and suspicious; he refuses to act on it

Macbeth's state at the end of Act 1

Fully resolved to murder Duncan