Comprehension and Analysis Questions On Macbeth Acts 1-5

Comprehension and Analysis Questions on Macbeth
ACT 1:
1. What is the weather like at the beginning of the play? Use direct
quotations.
2. Witches: “When the ………..….. done, / When the ………..…. lost, and
…………”
3. What does “fair is foul, and foul is fair” suggest about Macbeth? Can you
link this to any other characters or themes within the play?
4. Who reports the victory to King Duncan? What is wrong with this man?
Why is his current state significant? What three important things do we
learn about macbeth’s character?
5. There are 3 enemies mentioned in Scene 2. One is the Thane of Cawdor
who is a traitor (‘most disloyal traitor’). Who are the other 2?
6. What animals are Macbeth and Banquo likened to, when their bravery is
being described to King Duncan?
7. Banquo to the Witches: “You should be women, / And yet your ……….
….. Forbid me to interpret / That you are so.”
8. ‘Speak if you can: what are you?’- what do we learn about the impression
that the witches have had on Macbeth from the way in which he
addresses them?
9. What is Banquo’s comment on Macbeth’s attitude when they first meet
the witches?
10.When Macbeth first considers murdering Duncan, what happens to his
hair and his heart?
11.What paradoxical remark do the witches make to Banquo?
12.What does Banquo refer to the witches as on discovering that Macbeth
has been made Thane of Cawdor?
13.‘But tis strange/ And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/ The instruments
of darkness tell us truths’. What does Banquo’s remark about the witches
tell us about him? Consider in what ways he is different to Macbeth and
why this is significant.
14.What does King Duncan say in Act 1, sc 4 which suggests that you
cannot trust a man’s appearance?
15.What does King Duncan call Macbeth on his arrival in Act 1, Scene 4?
16.What is Macbeth’s reaction to Duncan naming Malcolm, ‘Prince of
Cumberland’?
17.What does Macbeth address Lady Macbeth as in his letter to her? Why
might this use of nomination (the name that you give somebody) be
significant?
18.What does Lady Macbeth fear about Macbeth’s nature? Use a direct
quotation.
19.“Come you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, ….……. me here, /

And fill me from the ………….. to the ………….., top-full / Of direst
…………….”
20.What is King Duncan’s first impression of Macbeth’s castle? Why is this
significant? Consider what it tells us about King Duncan. Can you name
the device used in this moment of the play?
21.What 3 reasons does Macbeth have to not kill Duncan?
22.What is Lady Macbeth meaning when she says: ‘I have given suck, and
know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.’
Comment on what we learn about her character and how she differs to Macbeth
from this extract.What does Lady Macbeth plan to do after King Duncan’s
death in order to appear innocent?
ACT 2:
1. What metaphor does Banquo use in Scene 1 to describe the stars?
2. In Scene 1, when Banquo asks ‘Who’s there?’, what does Macbeth reply?
3. What would James I potentially been displeased with in Macbeth’s
closing lines of Act 2, Scene 1? ‘The bell invites me/ Hear it not, Duncan,
for it is a knell/ That summons thee to heaven or to hell.’
4. What quotation suggests that Lady Macbeth has been drinking in Scene
2?
5. What did Lady Macbeth hear whilst Macbeth was killing Duncan?
6. What could Macbeth not say in response to the chamberlains’ plea to him
just before he murdered them? (*chamberlains is the correct term for
those killed who were guarding Duncan’s bedroom)
7. Why is it significant that he could not say this?
8. What does Macbeth do with the daggers after killing the chamberlains?
How does Lady Macbeth respond to this and what does she do with
them?
9. What does Macbeth wish that the knocking could do in the final line of
this scene?
10.The porter ‘But this place is too…………………..
for……………………’ What is the significance of this line?
11.What are the three things which the porter says that drink provokes?
12.Who discovers Duncan’s body? What is the significance of this character
being unable to report to Lennox and Macbeth what has happened?
13.When Lady Macbeth first learns that Duncan has been killed, what she
seem primarily concerned about, which Banquo’s response seems to pick
up on?
14.What is the reason that Macbeth gives for killing the chamberlains?
15.Why do Malcolm and Donalbain decide to flee for England and Ireland?
16.Who doesn’t go to scone for Macbeth’s coronation? Where does he go
instead?
17.What three unnatural occurrences are mentioned by the Old Man and
Ross in Scene 4?
18.After Duncan’s murder, there are numerous references to God. Why do
you think this is? Consider who makes these references (and who
doesn’t) and why this might be significant.
Act 3
1. After contemplating Macbeth’s involvement in King Duncan’s murder

(the opening of the act), Banquo says in reference to the witches ‘May
they not be my oracles as well/ And set me up in hope? But hush, no
more.’ What could be the different reasons why Banquo quietens himself
on Macbeth’s arrival?
2. What word does Macbeth use to describe the murder of a father?
3. ‘To be thus is nothing,/ But to be safely thus.’ What does Macbeth mean
by this? What does this belief lead him to decide?
4. What reason did Macbeth give to the murderers to kill Banquo?
5. What reason does Macbeth give for not killing Banquo himself?
6. In Scene 2, Lady Macbeth’s comment ‘How now, my lord, why do you
keep alone[…]’ and Macbeth’s decision not to tell her about his order to
kill Banquo and Fleance- ‘Be innocent of the knowledge dearest chuck’-
suggest what changes in their relationship? Explain these in detail,
making references to other parts of the play.
7. What does Banquo state in his last dying words that he hopes Fleance
will get?
8. How was Banquo killed? We find this out in Scene 4.
9. On first seeing Banquo’s ghost, what does Macbeth tell Banquo to stop
doing?
10.Who did not turn up to the feast, apart from Banquo?
11.Why does Lady Macbeth think that Macbeth is hallucinating? Why is her
comment regarding this significant?
12.What reason does Hecate give for being angry in Scene 5?
13.How is the King of England described in Scene 6?
14.What arrangements are mentioned that are being made in England in
Scene 6?
Act 4
1. What is significant about the weather at the beginning of Act 4 Scene 1?
2. What are the witches doing in this scene and what is the significance of
the number ‘three’?
3. What does ‘Double, double, toil and trouble; / Fire burn and cauldron
bubble’ mean? Why is it spoken three times?
4. What is the purpose of the cauldron?
5. What is Hecate’s response to the witches’ potions? Include a quotation.
6. How do the witches know Macbeth is coming?
7. What are the three apparitions? What do each of them represent?
8. What does Macbeth feel after leaving the witches? Why? Include a
quotation.
9. What does Macbeth decide to do at the end of this scene and why?
Include a quotation.
10.Where does Act 4 Scene 2 take place?
11.Choose a quotation which shows that Lady Macduff is angry at her
husband. Analyse a key word.
12.What quotation illustrates that Lady Macduff is maternal?
13.What happens at the end of scene 2? What has changed about Macbeth’s
murders?
14.What does Malcolm mean when he says:
“What I believe I'll wail,
What know believe, and what I can redress,
As I shall find the time to friend, I will.

What you have spoke, it may be so perchance.
This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues,
Was once thought honest: you have loved him well.
He hath not touch'd you yet. I am young;
but something
You may deserve of him through me, and wisdom
To offer up a weak poor innocent lamb
To appease an angry god.”
15.How does Ross describe the conditions in Scotland? Include quotations

and your analysis.
16.What is the final decision made at the end of scene 3? Why is Macduff
so certain of this?
Act 5
1. In scene 1, what does Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking reveal about her

conscience? Include a quotation and analyse key words.
2. How is her hand-washing symbolic and what does it contrast with from
earlier in the play? Include a quotation.
3. What does the doctor imply in lines 71-79? What does he think Lady
Macbeth needs more than a doctor? What is his reaction to hearing Lady
Macbeth?
4. In scene 2, what is reported about Macbeth? Include a quotation.
5. In scene 3, what is Macbeth’s attitude and mood? Why is this so?
6. In scene 4, what does Malcolm instruct the soldiers to do? Include a

quotation.
7. In scene 5, what is Macbeth’s reaction to Lady Macbeth’s death? Include

a quotation (lines17-18) and analyse.
8. Write out lines 23-27 and explain their meaning and significance.
9. What is achieved in scene 6? Include a quotation.
10.Who does Macbeth kill in scene 7? Why is this significant?
11.What have some of Macbeth’s men reportedly done?
12.In scene 8, what does Macduff tell Macbeth about the former’s birth?
13.What is Macbeth’s response to this news from Macduff?
14.Who kills Macbeth?
15.Who will be the new King of Scotland?

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Comprehension and Analysis Questions on Macbeth

19.“Come you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, ….……. me here, /

1. After contemplating Macbeth’s involvement in King Duncan’s murder

What know believe, and what I can redress,

As I shall find the time to friend, I will.

15.How does Ross describe the conditions in Scotland? Include quotations

1. In scene 1, what does Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking reveal about her

4. In scene 2, what is reported about Macbeth? Include a quotation.

5. In scene 3, what is Macbeth’s attitude and mood? Why is this so?

6. In scene 4, what does Malcolm instruct the soldiers to do? Include a

7. In scene 5, what is Macbeth’s reaction to Lady Macbeth’s death? Include

9. What is achieved in scene 6? Include a quotation.

10.Who does Macbeth kill in scene 7? Why is this significant?

11.What have some of Macbeth’s men reportedly done?

13.What is Macbeth’s response to this news from Macduff?

14.Who kills Macbeth?

15.Who will be the new King of Scotland?

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