Macbeth Acts I-III

Macbeth Quiz, Act I, Scenes 1-4

___________ appear/s in the first scene

the witches

The first scene sets a ______ tone for the play.

mysterious, dark, creepy

The king of Scotland is ________

Duncan

The hero of the battle described in Act I is ________

Macbeth

The soldier reporting from the battle, when describing Macbeth and Banquo's response to the enemy's reinforcements, compares them to…

double-loaded cannons

Because of his treachery, _______________ is condemned to execution and stripped of his title.

The Thane of Cawdor

The reader is to assume the witches are not good characters. Explain at least two ways we can assume this from the text.

We can assume this because of the presence of cats as demonic familiars and their demonic supernatural ability of clairvoyance.

What two things do the witches predict about Macbeth?

They predict that he will be thane of Cawdor and they predict that he will be king.

When the witches call Banquo "lesser than Macbeth, and greater... not so happy, yet much happier," what literary device is this?

paradox

What do the witches predict about Banquo?

his descendants will be kings

The significance of Macbeth being named Thane of Cawdor is that

the witches’ prophecy came true

When Macbeth hears that he is now Thane of Cawdor, what idea comes to his mind that frightens him?

He may need to murder to become king

Macbeth says that the witches' prophecy "cannot be ill, cannot be good." It must not be bad because

it said he would be king

When Macbeth says the witches' prophecy cannot be good, he is referring to

the way his mind instantly went to murder

The report of the former Thane of Cawdor's execution describes him as being ___________ at his death.

repentant and humble

In scene 4, Duncan says of the Thane of Cawdor, " There's no art/To find the mind's construction in the face: /He was a gentleman on whom I built/An absolute trust."  He means that

there is no way to tell on the outside what someone is really thinking

Right before Macbeth, the new Thane of Cawdor, enters the room, Duncan makes the following comment regarding the former Thane of Cawdor:  "There's no art/To find the mind's construction in the face: /He was a gentleman on whom I built/An absolute trust." Explain why this is ironic.

This is ironic because just as Duncan finishes describing an instance when the he trusted the Thane of Cawdor and the Thane betrayed him, the new Thane of Cawdor walks in planning to betray him too.

Shakespeare probably wrote Macbeth in order to

demonstrate his loyalty to the king

Shakespeare intended Duncan, the Scottish king, to parallel

King James I

Briefly describe the Gunpowder Plot and the connection to Shakespeare.

The Gunpowder Plot was a Catholic assassination attempt on the Protestant King James I. Shakespeare was a Catholic and his friends and family were connected to the assassination attempt. Macbeth was written to demonstrate loyalty to King James I and clear up any suspicion surrounding Shakespeare.

What is the significance of the letter from Macbeth to Lady Macbeth being in prose?

it broke iambic pentameter (when Shakespeare breaks iambic pentameter it means something; evil is occurring)

How does Lady Macbeth respond to Macbeth’s letter about the witches prophecy?

she’s afraid he’s too nice to get it done

What are some terms to describe Lady Macbeth?

deceitful, conniving, ruthless, evil

What does Lady Macbeth do to give her courage to commit murder?

she asked to be possessed

wants to be filled with evil and manly ability

“look like the flower but be the serpent unde’t it” What is the significance of this analogy?

it is a reference to King James

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth want to get away with their crime

What is the “royal ‘we’”?

royal pronouns

referring to the king himself, God, and the kingdom

What is an example of dramatic irony when Duncan enters Macbeth’s house?

he says he’s getting good, peaceful vibes

What is holding Macbeth back from murdering Duncan?

the idea that he could get caught and punished as a traitor

What are the cons for Macbeth murdering Duncan?

he could get caught and die

morality

he is Duncan’s host and should be warding away murderers instead of bearing the knife himself

What is the pro for murdering Duncan?

ambition

What does Lady Macbeth do to Macbeth to set him back on track to murder Duncan?

she questions his manhood

What finally convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan?

he can get away with it if he blames the guards

Why are Banquo and Fleance outside?

guard duty and Banquo has had bad thoughts

Significance of this quote: “there’s husbandry in heaven, their candles are all out”

lights are gone, dark night —> Lady Macbeth’s asking for the darkness to carry out the deed, biblical aspect of evil being done in darkness)

What does Macbeth offer that Banquo declines?

Macbeth offers power and Banquo declines because he says he will only be loyal if he is free of guilt

(he won’t help Macbeth become king)

What does Macbeth hallucinate before killing Duncan?

a dagger (significance w Hecate, goddess of witchcraft)

Why didn’t Lady Macbeth kill Duncan?

he looked like her father when he was sleeping

What frightens Lady Macbeth?

an owl (her demeanor is cracking…she’s losing it)

“sorry sight”

blood on Macbeth’s hands from killing Duncan

Once Macbeth commits the murder, he tells Lady Macbeth he heard a voice say "'Sleep no more! ' to all the house: 'Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more,—Macbeth shall sleep no more!'"

What does he mean by this? 

his conscience will never let him rest

sleep = death

Macbeth put Duncan into an eternal sleep, but Macbeth will never sleep again

Who is the only comic relief in the play?

the porter

Macduff is the Thane of _____

Fife

Where does the porter pretend he is guarding the gates of?

hell

What does Lennox say about the weather the night before?

he said it was a terrible night because the weather was terrible knocked off chimneys, screams were heard and bad prophecies, dead people walking, and daytime animals would be out @ night

Why was Macduff at Macbeth’s house?

to wake Duncan up in time to go

What does Macduff say when he finds Duncan’s body?

he calls Duncan God’s anointed and compares the sight of Duncan’s body to Medusa (it will freeze the viewer)

Why does Lady Macbeth pass out?

Macbeth killed the guards; it was unexpected and gives more reason for blame to be placed on them

What do Malcolm and Donalbain do?

Malcolm goes to England and Donalbain to Ireland; they split up for their safety but it looks like they were guilty

What does Banquo swear to do?

out the traitor; he is on the side of God and justice

Throughout Macbeth, disorder in nature symbolizes…

something wrong among men

Macbeth is going to Scone to be crowned, but Macduff is going home to Fife.  This might indicate that

Macduff already opposes the new king

Is Banquo suspicious of Macbeth?

yes

he thinks that Macbeth committed “foul play”

Who does Macbeth blame for Duncan’s death?

Malcolm and Donalbain

How does Macbeth create an alibi?

He tells everyone he will be by himself in his room preparing to be a good host leading up to the dinner

Does Macbeth notice a difference between his and Banquo’s reaction to the prophecy?

yes, he notices that Banquo will remain good-hearted (and this is why Banquo is a threat)

Why does Macbeth want to kill Banquo?

Banquo’s kids will be King and Macbeth doesn’t want them to take it from him

if he kills Banquo and Fleance, Banquo’s line can never be king

Who is Macbeth jousting?

fate

Significance of the meeting with the murders?

Lady Macbeth wasn’t there, Macbeth is becoming eviler, he offers the murderers favor with the King, makes Banquo seem like their enemy

Why can’t Macbeth kill Banquo himself?

they have shared friends/connections

Wounded snake synonym

the threat to the crown is not gone

Does Macbeth tell Lady Macbeth everything about Banquo’s murder?

no

she can fake it and remain innocnet

What unexpected person shows up with the two murders?

a third murderer (possibly Macbeth, super familiar with the instructions, Banquo’s route, identifies Banquo etc…)

How many fatal injuries did Banquo have?

20

When does the ghost of Banquo appear?

When Macbeth calls his name or says something about him

What is the repeated theme in Act 3 when Macbeth is losing his mind over Banquo’s ghost?

murder will come out; the truth will always come out

Besides Banquo, who wasn’t at the dinner?

Macduff

What is Macbeth planning to do at the end of Scene 3?

go and find the witches and force them to tell him what will happen

he even wants to know the worst case scenario

Where is Macbeth’s morality at the end of Scene 3?

he knows the things are doing are bad so he doesn’t want to put much thought into them

he is accepting of his evil

What does Lady Macbeth say of their guilt at the end of Scene 3?

they only feel guilty because they’re not used to murder yet

What does Macbeth take his first vision to mean?

he takes the dagger as a sign that he should go ahead and kill Duncan

When Macduff sees that Duncan is murdered, he says, "Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope/The Lord's anointed temple, and stole thence/The life o' the building!"

His reference to the murder as "sacrilegious" indicates

the belief in the divine right of kings

How does Macbeth explain the fact that he murdered Duncan's servants?

Macbeth explains that he was so overcome with emotion that he murdered those who seemed to have commit the crime. He argued that it was impossible for a man to experience various serious emotions at one time and remain level headed.

According to the scene with the Old Man, Ross, and Macduff at the end of Act II, people now suspect that

the guards were bribed to kill Duncan

The old man tells Ross about the weather the previous night. One strange detail was that

horses went wild and ate each other