Macbeth - Act 1

• What character says this? "have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you Have done this"

  Lady Macbeth
• What character's name completes this? First witch: Where the place? Second witch: Upon the heath Third witch: There to meet _______

  Macbeth
• What word completes this? "the _____ himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements"

  Raven - an omen of death. This makes her murderous intentions towards Duncan clear to the audience from the start
• What word completes it? "Hie thee hither, that i may pour my _______ in thine ear"

  Spirits
• What word completes it? "Fair is ____, and is ____ is fair; hover through the filthy air"

  Foul
• What word completes it? "when shall though three meet again? in _______, _________ or in rain?

  Thunder, lightning
• T or F? Macbeth remains consistent in his views on killing the king

  False - Macbeth is torn between his loyalty to the king and his ambition to the crown
• How does Lady Macbeth persuade Macbeth to kill the king?

  She emasculates him, suggesting he is not a man
• what reason does Macbeth give for not wanting to kill the king?

  He has "bought golden opinions from all sorts of people" following the battle Macbeth is a respected soldier. Perhaps the crown would have found its way to him in time anyway, without having to "play most foully for't" as Banquo later observes
• How does Macbeth describe his ambition in Act 1 scene 7?

  "Vaulting ambition o'er leaps itself" - Macbeth is torn in this scene, he is fighting between his loyalty to the king and his ambition to be king. He describes his ambition as "vaulting", suggesting that it is excessive and that he is willing to "jump" his place in hierarchy
• Lady Macbeth says she "fears" Macbeth's "Nature", that may keep him from the crown. What does she feel she needs to do?

  Persuade Macbeth to kill the king - Lady Macbeth bids Macbeth "Hie thee hither" (hurry)
• How does Lady Macbeth find out about the prophecies?

  Macbeth sends her a letter - we can see the trust in their relationship here
• For his bravery in the battle, what does the king award him?

  Thane of Cawdor
• Which king does the Captain report news of the battle?

  King Duncan
• A semantic field is a group of words linked closely by their meaning. In Lady Macbeth soliloquy, where she asks the spirits to "unsex" her, she uses words a semantic field of darkness. What is the best example of this?

  "dunnest smoke of hell" and "blanket of the dark"
• Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to take away her femininity: "Unsex me here". How does she later use her femininity to her advantage?

  She faints when she hears the king has been murdered and is helped exiting the stage by other characters - Lady Macbeth hides behind her femininity following the King's murder. In that era, women - who had the role of nurturer - were thought to be incapable of such evil.
• Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to put on a façade. Which is NOT an example of this?

  1. "Look like th'innocent flower,/ but be the serpent under't."
  2. "Peep through the blanket of the dark,"
  3. "To beguile the time,/ look like the time;"

  2 - Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth he should welcome his guests as the perfect host whilst, secretly, they are plotting the King's murder.
• Macbeth uses different vocatives (ways of referring to someone) to refer to Lady Macbeth. Which vocative does he use to address his wife in Act One?

  1. "my dearest chuck"
  2. "my dearest partner of greatness"
  3. "my dear, ambitious angel"
  4. "my dearest wife"

  2 - This line gives an impression of closeness between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth at the beginning of the play
• Lady Macbeth says that Duncan will be "under my battlements". Why would this have been unusual in the Jacobean era?

  It suggests that she owns the castle, and not her husband - The personal pronoun "my" suggests she sees the castle as her possession. In the Jacobean era, men owned, and controlled the majority of land and dwellings. The fact that Lady Macbeth says “my battlements” suggests that she has power in their relationship, even though she doesn’t own the castle.
• What effect would Lady Macbeth's words about dashing the brains out of her own baby have had on a Jacobean audience?

  They would be shocked that a Mother would be so callous against her own child - A Jacobean audience would not have been used to a woman so subverting the traditional role of mother.
• Macbeth considers "If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir". Which of these statements best sums up how he feels at this point?

  1. He thinks he can leave it up to fate and not have to take any action.
  2. He thinks he can get someone to kill the King for him so he doesn't have to.
  3. He thinks Lady Macbeth will have to kill the King because he's a coward.

  1 - It is clear at this point that Macbeth is not planning to murder Duncan in order to become king. He is happy to leave it to chance. This changes later at Lady Macbeth’s suggestion
• Banquo is with Macbeth in Act One, Scene 3 when he meets the witches. Which of these phrases is NOT used by the witches to refer to Banquo?

  1. "not so happy yet much happier"
  2. "you imperfect speaker and kin of Macbeth"
  3. "lesser than Macbeth and greater"
  4. "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.

  2 - This is not a genuine quotation from the play, but is similar to a line Macbeth says to the Witches: "Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more"
• In Act One, Scene 3, Macbeth says, "so foul and fair a day I have not seen". Which other characters use this paradox?

  The witches - "fair is foul and foul is fair"
• An attendant rushes to tell Lady Macbeth the King will be visiting her castle that night. Lady Macbeth says, "The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan." Why does Lady Macbeth compare the messenger to a raven?

  A raven is a bird of ill omen (bad luck/ a warning) it signal an upcoming death: the messenger has brought news of the King. Perhaps Lady Macbeth sees it as fate that the King would come to them; she can act on the prophecies
• What effect does Shakespeare's use of pathetic fallacy create at the start of the play? Choose the best answer.

  1. It sets the tone for the rest of the play: of bad weather and rain.
  2. It sets the tone for the rest of the play: a stormy start that will brighten.
  3. It sets the tone for the rest of the play: of chaos and confusion and darkness.

  3 - Witches were thought to control the weather in the Jacobean era; the audience will have linked this type of weather to the evil in the play
• When the witches ask "When shall we three meet again?" who else do they say they will see?

  Macbeth
• what character is being described here? "(well he deserves that name), Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked bloody execution"

  Macbeth