TRAGIC HERO VOCABULARY
Macbeth’s most commonly argued fatal flaw that drives his actions.
What is ambition?
The stage of a play where characters and conflict are introduced.
What is exposition?
The scene where Macbeth first hears the witches’ prophecies.
What is Act 1, Scene 3?
The two main external influences on Macbeth.
Who are the witches and Lady Macbeth?
The sentence that presents the main argument of an essay.
What is a thesis statement?
The emotional release experienced by the audience at the end of a tragedy.
What is catharsis?
The turning point of the play.
What is the climax?
The hallucination Macbeth sees before killing Duncan.
What is the dagger?
The character who contrasts Macbeth by rejecting the witches’ prophecies.
Who is Banquo?
A sentence that introduces the focus of a paragraph and supports the thesis.
What is a topic sentence?
The term for a tragic hero’s fatal flaw.
What is hamartia?
The section where complications build before the climax.
What is rising action?
The phrase that shows Macbeth’s awareness that the dagger is not real.
What is “a dagger of the mind, a false creation”?
The evidence that Macbeth is already considering regicide before Lady Macbeth influences him.
What is his reaction to the witches in Act 1, Scene 3?
A key feature of strong analysis that includes quotations smoothly in writing.
What is embedding quotations? (and make sure they look like: "This!"
The moment when a character recognises their true situation.
What is anagnorisis?
In Macbeth, the event most often identified as the climax.
What is the murder of King Duncan?
The scene where Banquo’s ghost appears.
What is Act 3, Scene 4?
The argument that Macbeth is responsible because he chooses to act on the prophecies.
What is free will?
A way to improve analysis by considering more than one viewpoint.
What is a nuanced interpretation?
The sudden turning point in a tragedy.
What is peripeteia?
The final outcome or unravelling of the play.
What is the denouement?
The quotation that reflects Macbeth’s view of life’s meaninglessness near the end.
What is “a tale told by an idiot… signifying nothing”?
A nuanced argument explaining Macbeth’s downfall.
What is Macbeth is influenced by others but ultimately responsible for his own choices?
The key focus of the Macbeth end-of-unit assessment.
What is evaluating how Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a tragic hero and his responsibility for his downfall?