Name:______
Date:______
Period:______
Macbeth Acts 4 & 5 Packet
The following assignments for Macbeth Act 4 and 5 are due on ______. The table below lists the assignments and point values.
ALL assignments need to be complete to receive full credit. You will be given a bonus of 5 points for organization of your packet.
All assignments need to be complete, numbered, and (if completed on a separate page) stapled to the back of this packet in the correct order to receive organization points!
Assignment / On-Time and Complete / Points Earned- Theme Response Log
– 6 quotes
- Act 4 Reading Questions
- Lady Macbeth – Change over Time
- Act 5 Reading Questions
Bonus: organization points / 5
TOTAL / 70 points / _____/70
Assignment 1: Macbeth Theme Response Log
Directions: While reading Acts 4 and 5, find at least 6 more quotes related to the topic you chose. For each quote, ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER write the quote (with line numbers) and at least one paragraph analyzing the quote. Your paragraph should explain the importance of the quote, comment about the historical context, make predictions, and/or make connections to other subjects and topics. The topics are: masculinity and femininity, ambition, violence, order vs. chaos and good vs. evil.
Assignment 2: Act 4 Reading Questions
Act 4, scene 1
1. Regarding Macbeth’s lines near the end of 4.1:
The castle of Macduff I will surprise,
Seize upon Fife, give to th’edge o’th’ sword
His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls
That trace him in this line. No boasting like a fool;
This deed I’ll do before this purpose cool.
How is this planned murder different from the previous ones? What does this show you about Macbeth?What about the nature of violence itself?
Act 4, scene 2
2. Knowing what you know about Macbeth’s intentions to kill Macduff’s family, how do you respond to Lady Macduff’s criticisms of her husband?
3. Has Macduff done the “manly” thing in going to England to rally the English army while leaving his wife and child in Scotland alone?
4. How does Lady Macduff’s questioning of her husband’s manhood compare with earlier questioning by Lady Macbeth?
Act 4, scene 3
5. How do Ross and Malcolm react to Macduff’s intense show of grief at the news of his family’s murder?
6. Best lines ever: “Malcolm: Dispute it like a man
Macduff: I shall do so; / But I must also feel it like a man.” (4.3.221-223)
a. What does this exchange show you about Macduff’s definition of what it means to be a man?
b. How is Macduff’s definition different from Lady Macbeth’s?
Assignment 3: Lady Macbeth –Change over Time
Lady Macbeth said each of the paired lines below. Each pair contains a line from her sleepwalking scene (5.1) and a line said earlier. They have been paired because they refer to a common incident or situation, primarily the murders that the Macbeths have committed. Some use an important common word.
Directions: For each of these pairs of quotes, write one paragraph addressing how Lady Macbeth has changed between the earlier quote and the later one. Make any other conclusions that you see fit.
- Earlier) “Come thick night, /And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell” (1.5.47-48)
oDefinitions: pall = cover;
dunnest = most gray/brown.
murky: dark and gloomy, hard to see through. / How has Lady Macbeth changed?
- Earlier) After Macbeth kills Duncan: “A little water clears us of this deed. /How easy it is, then.” (2.2.71-72)
- Earlier) When framing the sleeping chamberlains: “Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead / Are but as pictures… If he [Duncan] do bleed / I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal…” (2.2.58-59)
- Earlier) “What’s done is done.” (3.2.14)
Assignment 4: Act 5 Reading Questions
Act 5, Scene 2
1. Explain lines 19-20.
Scene 3
2.Look at Macbeth’s first speech in Scene 3 (lines 1-10). Why does he feel so confident of his victory?
3.In 5.3.20-28, Macbeth expresses some regret. Re-read those lines. What is he saying about his life now?
Scene 4
Summary: This scene is set in the country near Birnam Wood, with Malcolm, Macduff and the other nobles planning to attack Macbeth. Macbeth’s soldiers, Malcolm says, “more or less have given him the revolt” (12) and don’t want to serve him.
4. What do Malcolm’s soldiers plan to do in order to keep secret how many soldiers are attacking? (See 5.4.5-7)
Vocab: hew: to cut; bough: a tree branch
Scene 5
5.Why does Macbeth say the screams of women no longer frighten him (lines 9-15)?
6.How does Macbeth respond to the news of his wife’s death? What does Macbeth say about life in lines 17-28.
Scene 6
Summary: Near the castle, Malcolm orders his troops to throw down their camouflage (the tree limbs) and attack. No question to answer.
Scene 7
7.In his first lines (ll. 1-4), why does Macbeth say he is still confident?
8.Why is Macduff determined to kill Macbeth himself (lines 14-24)?
Scene 8
9. This is the final scene. Macduff walks in and confronts Macbeth. For what two reasons does Macbeth tell Macduff to retreat (lines 3-13)?
10. In lines 15 and 16, Macduff reveals he was not born from a woman. How can this be?
11. How does Macbeth feel about the witches now (lines 19-21)?
12. Look at Macbeth’s final speech (lines 27-34). Describe his final actions and his attitude.
13. Briefly summarize Malcolm’s final speech at the end of the play. What does he reveal about Lady Macbeth’s death?