Identifications (3 Pts. Each): Read the Passage Below and . .

1

Reading Assignments & Study Guide
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Date Assigned / Reading Assignment / Date Due
ACT I
ACT II
ACT III
ACT IV
ACT V

Study Guides—Senior English
“Act I” Macbeth

Identifications (3 pts. Each): Read the passage below and . . .

1. Identify the Speaker
2. Explain what is happening in the play at the time the words are being spoken
3. Paraphrase the lines
4. Explain how the passage is connected to a major theme, motif or symbol of the play.

1

1. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair:

Hover through the fog and filthy air.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme connection:

1. There’s no art
   To find the mind’s construction in the face:
   He was a gentleman on whom I built
   An absolute trust—

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step
   On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,
   For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires!
   Let not light see my black and deep desires.

Speaker:______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. Come, you spirits
   That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
   And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full
   Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood;

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme connection:

O! never shall sun than morrow see!
Your face, my Thane, is as a book, where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like th’innocent flower,

But be the serpent under’t.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme connection:

1

1. What is the point of the first scene and in reference to the whole play?
   
2. Why is it so important that Macbeth should be first be presented to us as a brave and honored soldier?
   
3. What do the witches predict in Act I, Scene 3 for Macbeth? For Banquo?

Macbeth

Banquo

1. What is the difference between Macbeth's and Banquo's reactions to the witches? How will this affect the whole play?
   
2. Can the weird sisters "make" anything happen, or do they merely foresee the future? How do you know?
   
3. What news does Rosse bring Macbeth?
   
4. What does Lady Macbeth read in the letter from her husband?
   
5. What does Lady Macbeth fear about her husband?
   
6. In scenes 5 to 7, how much evidence can we find that Macbeth is more frightened by the plan to kill Duncan than Lady Macbeth is? Is there evidence that there has been previous discussion of the plan? If so, refer to the line or lines.
   
7. How does Lady Macbeth manage to stiffen Macbeth's courage and determination? What arguments does she use to force Macbeth to kill Duncan?
   
8. What is Lady Macbeth’s plan?

“Act II” Macbeth

1. Is this a dagger that I see before me,
   The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
   I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
   Art though not, fatal vision, sensible
   To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but
   A dagger of the mind, a false creation
   Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes.
   Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
   Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
   Making the green one red.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. The night has been unruly: where we lay,
   Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,
   Lamentings heard i’th’air; strange screams of death

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. To Ireland I. Our separated fortune

Shall keep us bother safer. Where we are,

There’s daggers in men’s smiles. The near in blood,
The nearer bloody.

Speaker: ______
Situation:
Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. In the brief dialogue between Banquo and Macbeth in the beginning of the Act, what do we learn about their regard for each other?

1. What excuse does Lady Macbeth give for not killing Duncan herself?

1. After Macbeth kills Duncan , he goes to Lady Macbeth and is concerned about not being able to say “Amen.” What is her advice to him?
   

1. Then, Macbeth is worried about hearing a voice saying, “Macbeth does murder sleep.” What does Lady Macbeth tell him to do?
   

1. Why won’t Macbeth take the daggers back to the scene of the crime?
   

1. What dramatic effect is produced by the knocking and by the actions of the Porter?
   

1. What three things does drinking provoke?
   

1. What does Macduff discover?
   

1. Macduff says, “Oh, gentle lady, ‘Tis not for you to hear what I can speak. The repetition in a woman’s ear, / Would murder as it fell.” What is ironic about this?
   

1. What excuse or explanation does Macbeth give for killing the guards (grooms)? What is his real reason?
   
2. Why do Malcolm and Donalbain leave?
   

1. Why does Ross not believe Malcolm and Donalbain were responsible for Duncan ’s death?

“Act 3” Macbeth

1

1. Thou hast it all now—King, Cawdor, Glamis, all
   As the Weird Women promis’d; and, I fear,
   Thou has play’dst most foully for ‘t.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. He chid the Sisters,
   When first they put the name of King upon me,
   And bade them speak to him; then, prophent-like,
   They hail’d him father to a line of kings:
   Upon my head they plac’d a fruitless crown,
   And put a barren scepter in my gripe

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. Nought’s had, all’s spent,
   Where our desire is got without content:
   ‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy,
   Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. O, proper stuff!

This is the very painting of your fear.
This is the air-drawn dagger which you said
Led you to Duncan.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1. And I, the mistress of your charms,
   The close contriver of your harms
   Was never call’d to bear my part,
   Or show the glory of our art?
   And, which is worse, all you have done
   Hath been but for a wayward son,
   Spiteful, and wrathful; who, as others do,
   Loves for his own ends, not for you.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme Connection:

1

1.For what reasons does Macbeth want Banquo murdered? What reasons does he give the murderers? What does the conversation with the murderers reveal about Macbeth?

2. Do Scenes 1 and 2 taken together indicate that Macbeth has either fallen or risen in a moral sense? Explain.

3.Scene 4 is considered by many to be a turning point in the play. (You might agree or disagree) Explain why this might be considered the climax.

4.What dramatic purpose is served by the appearance of Banquo's ghost? How does Lady Macbeth act react in this horrible scene? Compare her behavior with that of Macbeth.

5.Who else is missing from the banquet table, besides Banquo?

6.Macbeth says, “I am in blood Stepped in so far that should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” What does he mean?

7.What does Hecate want the witches to do?

8.What does Lennox think about Macbeth, Fleance, and Duncan ’s sons?

9.In this act, what hints or nuances are given of the gathering forces of opposition to Macbeth?

“Act 4” Macbeth

1

1. By the pricking of my thumbs,
   Something wicked this way comes.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme/Motif/Symbol connection

1. The castle of Macduff I will surprise,
   Sieze upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword
   His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls
   That trace him in his line.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme/Motif/Symbol connection

1. It is myself I mean; in whom I know

All the particulars of vice so grafted,

That, when they shall be open’d, black Macbeth

Will seem as pure as snow; and the poor State

Esteem him as a lamb, being compar’d

With my confineless harms.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme/Motif/Symbol connection

1. I shall do so;

But I must also feel it as a man:

That were most precious to me. –Did Heaven look on,

And would not take their part? Sinful Macduff!

They were all struck for thee. Naught that I am,

Not for their own demerits, but for mine,

Fell slaughter on their souls: Heaven rest them now!

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme/Motif/Symbol connection

1

1.Name all the devices Shakespeare uses in creating a feeling of horror and impending doom at the beginning of this act. Point these out in the play.

2. What are the four new prophecies the witches make to Macbeth? (What do they show & say?)Which seems the most immediately dangerous? What effects do the witches' enhancements have upon Macbeth's morals?

3. For what did Macbeth deliberately search out the witches? Why does the answer horrify him?

4. What further moral degeneration does Macbeth show at the end of Scene 2?

5. Where is Macduff? Why isn’t he with his family?

6. What is Lady Macduff’s attitude at the moment about her husband Macduff?

7. Why might Ross' appearance at Maduff's castle represent a weakening of Macbeth's position? Do you think the Messenger who warns Lady Macduff might have been sent by Lady Macbeth? Give reasons for or against.

8. In Scene 3, why does Malcolm misrepresent his own character to Macduff? How does Macduff's reaction as well as his horrible personal news set him up as a nemesis?

9. What does Malcolm tell Macduff to do with his grief?

10. What does Malcolm resolve to do by the end of Act 4?

1

“Act 5” Macbeth

1. Here’s the smell of blood still,
   All the perfumes of Arabia will not
   Sweeten this little hand.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme/Motif/Symbol connection

1. Let every soldier hew him down a bough,

And bear’t before him: thereby shall we shadow

The numbers of our host, and make discover

Err in report of us.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme/Motif/Symbol connection

1. She should have died hereafter:

There would have been a time for such a word.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard to more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme/Motif/Symbol connection

1. Despair thy charm;

And let the Angel, whom thou still hast serv’d

Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb

Untimely ripp’d.

Speaker: ______

Situation:

Paraphrase:

Theme/Motif/Symbol connection

1

1What do the doctor and the gentlewoman sees Lady Macbeth doing? What do they decide to do?

2What words by Lady Macbeth show that she has been brooding over the past crimes?

3What lines foreshadow (are harbingers) Lady Macbeth's death?

4What does Macbeth want the doctor to do for his wife?

5 How does Macbeth react to his wife's death?

6How is each of the witches' prophecies revealed? (Scenes 4, 5 and 8)

7Trace the final mental state of Macbeth through significant speeches. Where does he show false bravery which masks the underlying fear? Where does he reveal dependence upon the witches' prophecies? Where does he reveal the sense of betrayal by the witches? Where does he reveal his horrified realization of his misspent life?

8What excuse does Macbeth give Macduff for not wanting to fight him?

9When does Macbeth know he is in trouble?

10How does Macbeth die?

11Who will be the new king of Scotland ?

Macbeth Vocabulary

Key

n = noun

adj = adjective

adv = adverb

Trans. = transitive, use with a direct object

Intrans. = intransitive, use without a direct object

Act 1

deign(verb trans.)
corporal (adj)

surmise(n)

cleave(verb trans.)

recompense(verb trans.)

harbinger(n)

chastise(verb trans.)

beguile(verb trans.)

Act 2

husbandry(n)

repose(n)
augment (verb trans.)

palpable(adj)

surfeit(n)

infirm(adj)

lechery(n)

Act 3

indissoluble(adj)

parricide(n)

sundry(adj)

jocund(adj)

appall(verb trans.)

Acts 4-5

avaricious(adj)

voluptuousness(n)

hoodwink(verb trans.)

confound(verb trans.)

arbitrate(verb intrans.)

prowess(n)

infirmity(n)

mirth(n)

malevolence(n)

rue(verb trans.)