Characters
What title is Malcolm given at the end of the play?
King of Scotland
What is the paradoxical statement the witches state at the beginning of the play?
Fair is foul and foul is fair.
What is a soliloquy?
A soliloquy is when a character speaks for an extended period of time without intending to be heard by anyone.
What is the main theme of the play?
Ambition without morality can lead to one's downfall.
How does Lady Macbeth show she feels guilty about the murders?
She sleepwalks at night, where she writes secret notes, has conversations with Macbeth, and tries to scrub blood off her hands.
Why do Malcolm and Donalbain flee Scotland after King Duncan's murder?
They fear that their lives are in danger.
What are the three titles the witches call Macbeth?
1) The Thane of Glamis
2) The Thane of Cawdor
3) The Future King
How can Macbeth be classified as a tragedy?
Macbeth is a war hero brought to ruin by his fatal flaw of ambition.
What theme is represented by Macbeth acting nice towards Duncan in Act I, Scene 4?
Deception; appearance vs. reality
Why does Macbeth have Banquo killed?
Banquo's prophecy stated that his descendants would be kings and Macbeth wanted to eliminate that possibility.
Name three Scottish noblemen that ARE NOT Macbeth or Banquo.
Macduff, Ross, Lennox, Caithness, Angus, Menteith
How do the apparitions' prophecies about "no man born of a woman" and Birnam Wood marching to Dunsinane come true?
Macbeth learns Macduff was born by C-section
Malcolm's army disguises themselves with trees from Birnam Wood as they march to Dunsinane.
What do the witches symbolize in the play?
How does Lady Macbeth's character challenge dominant gender norms and roles of the time period?
She is violent, which is valued as a masculine trait.
She is commanding and authoritative over Macbeth.
She thinks he is too cowardly to follow through with murder.
Why does Malcolm act like he's not a good person when speaking to Macduff about becoming king?
Malcolm is trying to test Macduff's loyalty to the goodwill of Scotland rather than the corruption of a king.
Why does Hecate not like Macbeth and what is her plan for him?
She thinks he is arrogant, hateful, and spoiled.
She wants to make him feel overconfident, which she says is man's greatest weakness.
How does Shakespeare use dramatic irony in Act I?
The audience knows that Macbeth has received the prophecy and is contemplating Duncan's death while speaking to him.
What does the following statement mean:
"Now [Macbeth] seems too small to be a great king, like a [person with dwarfism] trying to wear the robes of a giant."
Macbeth was not meant to be king and does not have the honorable traits to be a king.
Thane of Glamis
Who is the person who finds King Duncan's body and alerts others within the castle?
Macduff
What is the "divine order" in the play called? (Christian God > King > Nobles > Commoners > Animals > Plants)
The Great Chain of Being
How does Lady Macbeth represent the motif of blood in Act IV?
While sleepwalking, she tries to wash imagined blood from her hands that won't come out, representing how she cannot get rid of her guilt.
What is Macbeth's attitude towards the remainder of his life at the start of Act V?
How does Lady Macbeth's character differ at the beginning of the play vs. the end of the play?
At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious and violent. She encourages Macbeth to kill King Duncan.
At the end of the play, Lady Macbeth is upset and consumed by her guilt. She commits suicide.