The document provides study questions about key elements and characters in Shakespeare's Macbeth. It summarizes the setting, introduces the main characters of Macbeth and Duncan, discusses the role of the witches' prophecies, analyzes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's characters and their descent into evil, and outlines some of the major plot points and themes throughout the play.

1. STUDY QUESTIONS

3.  Setting establishes the mood
 Opening with witches
 Eerie mood
 Atmosphere permeated with evil
 Though human initiative brings forth the evil, the
witches personify that evil and give it substance
 Animals are “familiars”

4.  A favorable portrait is displayed regarding his exploits in
defeating the rebellion
 Main character introduced by Duncan: “What bloody man
is that?” – shows a wounded soldier but also foreshadows
what he becomes later and establishes the importance of
blood
 Duncan’s loyal subject
 Has defeated a rebellion led by Macdonwald
 Duncan declares the thane of Cawdor a traitor to be
executed and his title bestowed upon Macbeth
 Creates dramatic irony: Cawdor’s treason, as well as his
title, are passed to his heir
 Duncan: “What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won.”

5.  Superstition played an important role in Renaissance
thinking
 Added excitement
 Created suspense, irony, and horror

6.  Macbeth
 “So foul and fair a day.”
 Macbeth echoes the witches line, which links him to the
powers of evil
 Reflects his moral problem: when good and evil are
combined, it is hard to distinguish one from the other
 Prophecy of good fortune may carry with it undertones of
doom
 Banquo
 Notes they look unearthly and seem hallucinatory
 Emphasizes the ambiguity of evil
 Seem wicked, even though their prophecies seem true

7.  Macbeth
 Thinks the witches’ prophecy may come true entirely
 Witches’ thane of Cawdor prophecy is true, perhaps the
one about being king will come true as well
 Shows concern and fear
 Fear that he will not just allow fate to thrust it on him
 Fear that he must grasp it for himself
 Reasons that if destiny would have him king, destiny can
accomplish it without his own action
 At this point, he is content to wait and let fate take its
course

8.  Banquo
 Sees Macbeth liking the new title
 Wonders if there will be consequences
 Fears that the announcement of the title was arranged to
tempt Macbeth to rash action
 Even though he is included in the prophecy, he
deliberately refuses to heed the witches’ promise of
power

9.  Speaks of what he owes Macbeth, which is more than
he can repay
 Duncan names his son Malcolm heir to the throne,
which denies Macbeth complete fulfillment of the
witches’ prophecy
 Gives Macbeth a motive for murder
 Seals his fate by proposing to visit Inverness as a guest

10.  Learns of the witches’ prophecy through her husband’s
letter
 Very ambitious and more action-oriented
 Speaks of murder in a trifling manner
 She rejects her femininity
 Had to urge herself to the ruthlessness necessary to
carry out the murder of Duncan

11.  Genuine love
 Even in the contemplation of murder, Macbeth
addresses her as the “dearest partner”
 The act of murder is a gauge of their closeness
 She wants what she thinks is due him
 He is carrying out her apparent desires

12.  In Act 1, she is the dominant personality and knows it
 She loves him dearly, but she is able to make a clear
evaluation of him
 He wants the crown
 He has ambition
 But wants it without effort
 Her attitude is that if he wants to be king, then he
must do anything to achieve it
 She is willing to commit any act to help him attain his
apparent destiny

13.  Creates dramatic irony
 His compliments on the castle and his regard for
Macbeth contrast the fact that the castle will be the
scene of his death

14.  He is conflicted
 Faces what he intends to do
 Admits he has no real motive but ambition
 Admits Duncan is an able monarch and has treated
him well
 Considers eternal damnation, but would endure Hell if
he could safely accomplish his crime in this life

15.  Brings Macbeth back to the situation at hand
 Details the plan they have made
 Prepares her household to entertain Duncan
 Prepares her husband for murder

16.  She again denies her femininity because it will make
her weak

17. ACT II

18.  The conversation functions as a calm before the storm
 Fleance’s presence drives home the point that Banquo
has an heir, which spells ruin for Macbeth
 Banquo’s inability to sleep because of the witches’
prophecies

19.  1st of many apparitions that Macbeth has to deal with
 Macbeth sees the scene which lies ahead
 Interestingly, he sees a dagger, not the throne
 Since the killing takes place offstage, Shakespeare put
this in to foreshadow the deed

20.  Needs to take a drink, but remains in control
 Mentions that the sleeping Duncan reminds her of her
father
 Shows a slight inability to cope with the guilt and
stress

21.  Returns literally dripping with blood
 Even though the deed is done, the nightmare is not
over
 Babbles on about the killing, the words of the grooms,
and his inability to pray
 Intended to intensify the gruesomeness of driving a
knife into a living being

22.  She soothes her husband
 Yet her sleep will be interrupted by nightmares
 Her bloodstains will impossible to remove
prove
19. What is the function of the porter in
Scene 3?
 Knocking shows the total isolation of Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth
 Have drawn a boundary between themselves and the rest of
humanity
 Also provides a bit of comic relief

23.  He talks to the porter so that the dramatic spotlight
includes him
 After Macbeth names the servants (grooms) as the
killers and that he (Macbeth) has taken the grooms’
lives, Macduff asks directly, “Wherefore did you so?”
**Why did you take their lives?

24.  Sign of human weakness or a tactical maneuver
22. Why are there unnatural omens
during the night?
 Renaissance philosophy: cosmos a pattern of interwoven
planes; each element must function correctly; if disorder
erupts at one level, chaos will occur throughout the
universe
 Political obedience was paramount in Elizabethan Age
 If a subject kills a king, disruption would occur at all levels
of the chain

25.  He suffers tremendous guilt
 All went as planned
 He was not discovered during the act
 No one has contradicted his explanation of Duncan’s
death
 He expects to get the throne
 He wishes at this point that he could undo his actions

26.  Stunned and sense danger
 Malcolm goes to England; Donalbain goes to Ireland
25. What is the effect of the old man’s
talk in Scene 4?
 Affirm the belief in the chain of being
 Macbeth’s act has disrupted the entire cosmos

27.  Does not attend the banquet
 Sets him apart from allegiance to Macbeth
 Does not overtly show any suspicion of Macbeth
 Speaks with an undertone of uneasiness

28. ACT III

29.  Realizes that to be king is meaningless unless he can
relax his fears
 Can never be “safely thus”
 Has created a world of his own against which every
man is a threat
 Does not enjoy his position
 Tension, anxiety, and fear pervade
 His reign depends on the need to carry out another
murder and yet another

30.  Enflames them with lies about Banquo
29. In Scene 2, is Lady Macbeth enjoying her
new position?
 No, maybe even less than Macbeth
 She is saddened because her husband doesn’t enjoy it
 Is eventually overwhelmed by guilt

31.  In previous murder, she was instigator and planner,
alibi, and accomplice
 He has moved beyond her
 He no longer needs her support
 Evil has become so much a part of him that his
cunning surpasses even her

32.  Night is the power of darkness
 He allied himself with it with Duncan’s murder
 Evil is symbolically associated with darkness
32. Who is the third assassin at Banquo’s
murder?
 Much debated
 Some scholars suggest that it may have been Macbeth himself
 His surprise about Fleance’s escape would be a show to disguise
his involvement
 The text just suggests that Macbeth sent a third man

33.  Understands immediately what is happening
 Suspicions of Macbeth satisfied
 Becomes creator and protector of Fleance
 Tells Fleance to run

34.  Is the turning point in the play
 All of Macbeth’s murders are futile
 The prophecy will come true
 Banquo will beget a dynasty of kings
 Destroys Macbeth’s own hope for the future

35.  Since the prophecy, he has felt just one murder away
from contentment
 Has believed that if only he can silence one mouth,
eliminate one threat, he will be at ease
 He can never escape the guilt
 After killing Banquo and now that Fleance has
escaped, he now believes Macduff is that one threat to
be eliminated

36.  His visualization of Banquo’s ghost reveals his sense of
guilt

37.  Intercedes to hide his guilt
 As she acted to prevent his exposure of Duncan’s
murder, she now acts to persuade the guests to ignore
him

38.  The country has become a brutal police state
 Assassins are hired by those in power
 Macbeth keeps paid informers to spy on his subjects

39.  Foreshadows Macbeth’s confrontation with the
witches
 Some Shakespearean writers believe it was added by
some later writer
 The rhyme scheme and length of line differ from those
used in other scenes

40.  Conversation provides exposition about conditions in
Scotland
 Appearance of the first mention of organized
opposition to Macbeth’s rule

41. ACT IV

42.  Provides “good theater” with its emphasis on the
grotesque and the spectacular
 Conjures up an image of he inferno itself

43.  Each apparition provides comfort for Macbeth, but
Hecate instructed the witches to construct his doom
 So the comfort is couched in riddles
 Though Macbeth thinks he understands each
apparition, their real meaning isn’t given until later

44.  Scene 2 reveals political terror on a personal level
 She has no one to protect her
 She has nowhere to run
 Her death is unnecessary

45.  Probably someone who cannot bear Macbeth’s
barbarism
 His warning reflects the growing unrest in Scotland
 Some scholars have suggested that the messenger is
Lady Macbeth

46.  Foreshadowing and irony
 Malcolm and Macduff do not realize they are dealing
with something that will become personal
 They discuss the state of Scotland just before
Macduff’s personal disaster
 Irony is present in Malcolm’s thought that Macduff
might be Macbeth’s spy

47.  Accuses himself of kingly vices
 Says he would bring disorder to the land
 Macduff says he is not fit to rule as a response
 Malcolm realizes Macduff’s sincerity

48.  Were intended to honor King James, patron and
benefactor of Shakespeare’s theatrical company

49.  He is unable to comprehend the scope of the tragedy
and responds numbly

50. ACT V

51.  Deeply depressed
 Is suffering extreme reaction to the horrors which she
has created and shared with her husband

52.  War is imminent
 Scottish thanes have revolted against Macbeth
 Malcolm stands ready to launch his forces with the aid
of the English
 Foreshadowing: Macbeth is fortifying Dunsinane
while Malcolm gets his army ready at Birnam Wood

53.  Seems like a member of the living dead
 Unable to feel joy or pain
 Maintains a purely physical bravery
 But it is obvious he would welcome death

54.  Witches’ prophecies’ hidden meaning is now revealed
 Malcolm’s army moves camouflaged with the trees of
Birnam Wood to Macbeth’s castle at Dunsinane
 A new and contradictory interpretation is suggested
 Macbeth believed that the prophecies ensured his
success
 Now a different outcome is indicated

55.  Suggest two interpretations
 He has no time to mourn for her in a proper way
 His words indicate acceptance

56.  Places Macduff in the forefront for his role in the final
scene
 Malcolm stresses the significance of British support

57.  Is a synonym for butcher
 Contrasts the earlier scenes when the name was
associated with admiring words

58.  He refuses to take his own life as a means of preventing
his enemies’ full triumph, just as Brutus did
 Will face his enemies bravely

59.  Divulges the facts of his birth
 Reveals the hidden riddle of the prophecies
 Delivered in a Caesarian section was “not of woman
born”

60.  Order is restored to Scotland
 Renewed operation of moral order: the powers of evil
have been overthrown and the forces good are
triumphant