Plot & Prophecy
The title the Witches greet Macbeth with that he does not yet know he has.
Who is Thane of Cawdor?
The general who is told his descendants will be kings, though he will not.
Who is Banquo?
Macbeth begins his famous final soliloquy with this triple repetition after learning that his wife has died.
What is "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow"?
Written just months after this failed 1605 assassination attempt to blow up Parliament and King James I, the play heavily warns against committing treason.
What is the Gun Powder Plot?
Macbeth wants to be king but chooses a violent shortcut instead of earning it, showing that cheating or hurting others to get ahead always destroys your reputation and peace of mind.
What is ambition (or success)?
The three Witches predict that Macbeth will eventually hold this highest political title in Scotland.
What is King?
This ambitious character is the one who convinces Macbeth to go through with murdering King Duncan when he starts to hesitate.
Who is Lady Macbeth?
Macbeth uses this brief, flickering image to describe how short and fragile human life is: "Out, out, brief ____!"
What is candle?
Shakespeare purposefully changed the historical character of Macbeth's best from from a co-conspirator into an innocent hero because King James I claimed this man as a direct ancestor.
Who is Banquo?
Macbeth falls victim to this fallacy when he believes that murdering King Duncan will inevitably force him to murder Banquo, Fleance, and Macduff’s family just to keep his throne secure.
What is a Slippery Slope?
The prophecy that states Macbeth shall never be vanquished until this moves.
What is the forest or the woods?
At the start of the play, this brave Scottish general is praised as a war hero before his ambition leads him down a dark path.
Who is Macbeth?
Describing life as an illusion with no substance, Macbeth says, "Life's but a walking ____."
What is shadow?
Shakespeare included the three Witches because King James I was terrified of witchcraft and even wrote a 1597 book on how to hunt them called Daemonologie.
What is witchcraft (or demonology)?
Lady Macbeth uses this fallacy to manipulate Macbeth by convincing him that anyone who desires true success, power, and courage would naturally seize the crown. She frames the murder of the king not as an isolated choice, but as the standard behavior expected of any real, ambitious man—suggesting that by hesitating, he is failing to do what everyone in his position ought to do to achieve greatness.
What is Bandwagon fallacy?
The reason Macduff is able to kill Macbeth despite the Witches' prophecy.
What is he was born via Cesarean section
These three supernatural characters speak in rhymes, brew potions, and start the events of the play by telling Macbeth his future.
Who are the Witches (or the Weird Sisters)?
In this speech, Macbeth compares a human being to a "poor ____ / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage."
What is player?
When King Duncan is murdered, the weather goes completely crazy. This reflects the belief that kings are chosen by God, so killing one ruins the natural order of the universe.
What is the Divine Right of Kings?
When Macbeth hesitates because of his conscience, Lady Macbeth uses a version of this fallacy to suggest that any brave, ambitious person in his position would naturally seize the crown without hesitation.
What is the False Dilemma fallacy?
Lady Macbeth frantically rubs her hands because she is experiencing deep guilt and hallucinates that this substance is permanently staining her skin.
What is blood
He is the kind and generous King of Scotland who is murdered in his sleep while staying as a guest at Macbeth's castle.
Who is King Duncan?
Macbeth pessimistically concludes that life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying this.
What is nothing?
How does Lady Macbeth manipulate her husband into committing murder by breaking away from traditional expectations of women and killing the king?
What is challenging his masculinity or love for her?
Macbeth initially fears going against his moral duties as a subject and a host. Lady Macbeth uses a form of this fallacy by arguing that any real man would eagerly join her in this plot, pressuring him to conform to a toxic standard of bravery.
What is the Bandwagon fallacy?