Act 1 Scene 3

Question 1

overview of act I scene iii

Answer 1

the witches speak strange prophecies to macbeth and banquo - and the first prophecy comes true

Question 2

finish the quote: ‘so foul…

Answer 2

..and fair a day I have not seen’

Question 3

‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen’

Answer 3

• links him to the Witches and their ‘Foul is fair’ prophecy
• shakespeare is linking macbeth with the supernatural and evil elements from the very beginning
• echo of the witches -> confirms the impression that he is already under the influence

Question 4

banquo

Answer 4

acts as a foil to macbeth

Question 5

finish the quote: ‘speak if..

Answer 5

..you can’

Question 6

‘speak if you can’

Answer 6

• intrigued by them
• shocking for a jacobean audience
• wanting to interact with something so evil

Question 7

finish the quote: ‘thane of…

Answer 7

…glamis’
…cawdor’
…king’

Question 8

‘thane of glamis’
‘thane of cawdor’
‘king’

Answer 8

three different greetings
- the prophecy that sparks macbeth’s ambition

Question 9

finish the quote: ‘why do you start…

Answer 9

…and seem to fear/Things that do sound so fair?’

Question 10

‘why do you start and seem to fear / Things that do sound so fair’

Answer 10

• implicit stage direction - startled
• banquo is surprised by macbeth’s reaction
• shakespeare intends for his audience to believe this isn’t the first time thoughts of being king have entered macbeth’s head
• macbeth’s ambition has clearly led him to think of something like this before, otherwise why would he react to such good news with fear rather than surprise

Question 11

finish the quote: ‘look into..

Answer 11

…the seeds of time’

Question 12

‘look into the seeds of time’

Answer 12

• growth and fertility imagery
• banquo is prepared to accept the witches’ power to see into the future
• banquo won’t put himself in their power
• the witches talk to macbeth in plain statements but talk to banquo in riddles

Question 13

finish the quote: ‘rapt…

Answer 13

…withal’

Question 14

‘rapt withal’

Answer 14

• macbeth is entranced by them and spell-bound

Question 15

finish the quote: ‘can the devil..

Answer 15

…speak true?’

Question 16

‘can the devil speak true?’

Answer 16

• banquo refers to the witches as the ‘devil’
• witches -> evil
• banquo responds to the witches with scepticism, wariness and disinterest

Question 17

finish the quote: ‘thou shalt get kings…

Answer 17

…though thou be none’

Question 18

finish the quote: ‘your children..

Answer 18

…shall be kings’

Question 19

‘thou shalt get kings though thou be none’
‘your children shall be kings’

Answer 19

• banquo will be the ancestor of kings -> his children

Question 20

finish the quote: ‘stay, you…

Answer 20

….imperfect speakers’

Question 21

finish the quote: ‘speak..

Answer 21

..I charge you’

Question 22

finish the quote: ‘would they..

Answer 22

..had stay’d’

Question 23

‘stay you imperfect speakers’
‘speak, I charge you’
‘would they had stay’d’

Answer 23

• macbeth demands them to ‘stay’
• unconventional -> most are afraid and wouldn’t want to be near them
• macbeth wishes he could talk to them longer - already entranced and manipulated by them which would make the audience question macbeth’s true character

Question 24

finish the quote: ‘most worthy..

Answer 24

…thane’

Question 25

finish the quote: ‘why do you dress me…

Answer 25

..in borrow’d robes’

Question 26

finish the quote: ‘like our strange..

Answer 26

..garments, cleave not to their mould, but with aid of use’

Question 27

‘why do you dress me in borrow’d robes’
‘like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould, but with aid of use’

Answer 27

• imagery relating to clothes
• macbeth is wearing clothes not meant for him
• banquo compares honours to new clothes which take time to shape themselves comfortably to the body -> foreshadow macbeth’s growth into treason and treachery
• macbeth’s initial hesitation

Question 28

finish the quote: ‘two..

Answer 28

..truths are told’

Question 29

finish the quote: ‘cannot be ill..

Answer 29

…cannot be good’

Question 30

finish the quote: ‘why do i yield…

Answer 30

…to that suggestion’

Question 31

finish the quote: ‘nothing is..

Answer 31

..but what is not’

Question 32

finish the quote: ‘whose horrid…

Answer 32

…image doth unfix my hair’

Question 33

finish the quote: ‘against the…

Answer 33

..use of nature’

Question 34

‘two truths are told’
‘cannot be ill, cannot be good’
‘why do i yield to that suggestion’
‘against the use of nature’
‘nothing is but what is not’
‘whose horrid image doth unfix my hair’

Answer 34

• macbeth’s first major soliloquy
• ‘two truths are told’ - he believes the witches and is confident about them
• ‘cannot be ill….’ - macbeth language becomes riddle-like and mimics that of the witches - nothing is as it seems
• ‘suggestion’ - euphemism - regicide - cannot bring himself to say it - hierarchy - seen as disrespectful
• ‘against the use of nature’ - something done against god- great chain of being disrupted - cause upheaval on earth

Question 35

finish the quote: ‘have we eaten….

Answer 35

..on the insane root’

Question 36

finish the quote: ‘win us…

Answer 36

…honest trifles’

Question 37

finish the quote: ‘instruments..

Answer 37

…of darkness’

Question 38

how do macbeth and banquo react differently to the news?

Answer 38

• banquo is suspicious and questions his own sanity - he asks - ‘have we eaten on the insane root’
• he warns that the witches ‘win us honest trifles - to betray’s’ and accepts that the witches are telling the truth, but he’s also aware that they’re manipulating macbeth and himself
• banquo is less easily deceived than macbeth - he calls the witches ‘instruments of darkness’ because he sees that they’re evil whereas macbeth is less certain, he says they cannot be ill, cannot be good’
• the encounter with the witches leaves macbeth ‘rapt withal’ - he is spellbund by the predictions, but he is also scared by the powerful ambition that the witches have awaken in him

Question 39

what do the witches tell banquo?

Answer 39

• he will be ‘lesser than macbeth, and greater’
• reference to banquo’s sons being kings, but it could also mean that banquo is greater because he isn’t driven by greed and ambition

Question 40

what is macbeth’s reaction to the prophecies?

Answer 40

• he cannot stop thinking about them - demonstrates his lust for power
• he immediately thinks about killing duncan (‘why do i yield to that suggestion’) but he is also reluctant
• at this point, macbeth isn’t an evil character
• he is wrestling with his conscience and torn between his ambition and his loyalty

Question 41

how does the witches’ prophecy get confirmed?

Answer 41

• macbeth finds out he has been made thane of cawdor
• this convinces him that the prediction about him becoming king will come true as well, which strengthens his ambition

Question 42

finish the quote: ‘not so happy…

Answer 42

…yet much happier’

Question 43

finish the quote: ‘lesser than macbeth…

Answer 43

..and greater’

Question 44

‘not so happy yet much happier’
‘lesser than macbeth, and greater’

Answer 44

• witches tell banquo this
• paradox
• this hints that although macbeth will get what he wants, it won’t make him happy
• witches use paradoxes and riddles to confuse macbeth and banquo and lead them astray