Character Development
Three adjectives to describe Lady Macbeth by the end of Act 1.
Suggestions:
Who is confident, manipulative, and controlling? (answers may vary)
"Will all Great Neptune's oceans wash this blood clean from my hand?"
is an example of this type of figurative language:
[hint: is it simile, hyperbole, or personification?]
What is hyperbole?
This symbol is frequently referenced by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to represent remorse.
What is blood?
This character escapes after his father is assassinated, making Banquo's prophecy still possible.
Who is Fleance?
Finish the quote:
"Stars, hide your _____
Let not light see my black and deep _____".
What is "Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires."
This character grows emotional when he finds out about the murder of his wife and children at Macbeth's hand, stating, "But I must also feel it as a man." (4.3.224)
Who is Macduff?
"I must report they were as cannons overcharged with double cracks/" (1.1.36-37) is an example of this type of figurative language.
What is a simile?
This repeated symbol represents innocence, vulnerability, and the peace that Macbeth has lost by murdering the king.
What is sleep?
This is the name of the forest that looks like it moves towards Dunsinane Hill in Act V due to the Scottish and English armies camouflaging themselves with the forest's boughs.
What is Birnam Wood?
Fill in the blank:
"Come to my woman's breasts and take my ____ for gall."
What is milk?
This character acts as a foil, or contrasting character, to Macbeth, warning Macbeth of the perils of trusting "instruments of darkness" in Act 1, scene 3.
Who is Banquo?
"Fair is foul" is an example of this type of figure of speech.
-or-
What is antithesis?
These 2 symbols are referenced throughout the play to reflect the evil deeds committed by Macbeth.
What are animals that behave unnaturally & darkness?
[other accepted answers: bad/unruly weather, animals associated with poison or evil--snakes, bats, toads, scorpions, etc.]
This event intensifies the conflict between Macbeth and the Thane of Fife.
Finish the quote by Macbeth:
"Is this a ____________ I see before me, its handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee."
What is dagger?
At what point in the play does Macbeth's remorse turn into paranoia?
What is when Macbeth has Banquo killed and subsequently sees his ghost at that night's banquet?
When Macbeth states, "The Thane of Cawdor Lives./Why do you dress me in borrowed robes?" (1.3.109-110) he substitutes the specific concept of someone else's identity & noble title with the associated idea of "borrowed robes". This is an example of this type of figurative language.
[Hint: Metaphor, hyperbole, synecdoche, antithesis, or metonymy?]
What is metonymy?
This theme is clearly communicated in Act I, Scene 7, lines 47–54: "When you durst do it, then you were a man;/ And to be more than what you were, you would/ Be so much more the man".
What is the theme that as a society, we tend to associate masculinity with cruelty?
What is the theme that men are expected to more heartless than women?
[answers may vary]
This character sends the message to Macbeth that the queen has died in Act V.
Who is Seyton?
The witches tell Banquo in Act 1, "thou shalt get ______, though thou be none."
How does Lady Macbeth's character change by the end of the play? Cite 2 specific examples.
Sample answer: Lady Macbeth establishes herself as ambitious and determined in Act 1, longing to be cruel-hearted enough to kill the king without remorse. After the king's murder, she quickly realizes the power they have gained was not worth the unhappiness she feels now and becomes gravely remorseful.
She tries to remain stable and speak on behalf of Macbeth's display of insanity at their banquet in Act 3, but by Act 5, scene 1, she is sleepwalking and confessing all of the murders she and her husband have committed, referencing the blood on her hands and ritualistically attempting to wash them off.
By the end of Act V, Macbeth uses these 3 metaphors to explain that he believes life is meaningless.
What are "Out, out, brief candle",
"life is but a walking shadow",
and "a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing"?
[other responses may be accepted]
***DAILY DOUBLE***
2 specific examples (from any act of the play) that demonstrate the theme of the destructive nature of unchecked ambition. [Can be direct quotations, or in the form of summary]
What are the scenes where Macbeth plots Banquo's death and follows through with it (Act III, scenes 1-3), and when Macbeth has Macduff's family killed (Act IV, scenes 1-2).
[answers may vary; killing King Duncan and the guards also applies].
These are 3 examples of dramatic irony utilized throughout the entire play.
What are when Duncan calls Macbeth's castle "pleasant" in Act 1, scene 6,
when Macbeth tells the noblemen that he killed the guards out of love and fury for the King in Act 2, scene 2,
when Lady Macbeth faints upon hearing that King Ducan was murdered?
[answers may vary]
Macbeth says "She should have died _______" when he finds out Lady Macbeth dies, meaning, she should have died at a later time, when he had time to mourn her. (Act V, scene 5, line 17)
What is "hereafter"?