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GCSEs > English Macbeth > Flashcards

English Macbeth Flashcards

1
Q

Who was named prince of Cumberland and what was Macbeth’s reaction?

A

• Malcolm
• Macbeth begins to plot KD’s death out of envy and ambition

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2
Q

Who was executed for treason?

A

Macdonwald

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3
Q

When was Macbeth written?

A

1606

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4
Q

Chiasmus definition

A

Paradoxical language

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5
Q

Sleep is a symbol of

A

conscience and mental wellbeing

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6
Q

Children are symbols of

A

inheritance and succession

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7
Q

megalomaniac

A

a person with an obsessive desire for power

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8
Q

How is Macbeth still relevant today?

A

It’s themes relates to our modern day world

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9
Q

What did the Jacobean English perceive the Scottish as?

A

Brutish and barbaric

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10
Q

Regicide was known as

A

The worst sin

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11
Q

What did Macbeth’s murder of King Duncan represent in real life?

A

Guy Fawkes’ attempt to kill King James (Gunpowder plot)

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12
Q

What did King James I approve of in his book ‘Demonology’?

A

The practice of witch-hunting

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13
Q

How is a cyclical structure used in Macbeth?

A

• Previous Thane of Cawdor (MacDonwald) betrayed Scotland (by joining forces with Norway)
• Macbeth betrays King Duncan (by killing him)

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14
Q

Proto feminism

A

When women are presented differently to what they usually are

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15
Q

Soliloquy

A

When a character speaks alone about their thoughts

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16
Q

Aside

A

When a character speaks to the audience

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17
Q

What does the dagger symbolise in Macbeth’s hallucination?

A

His ambition to kill the king
and also guilt

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18
Q

Catharsis

A

Emotional release

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19
Q

Why do Donalbain (KD son) and Malcom flee Scotland?

A

They are worried about their safety after the king’s death

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20
Q

Equivocate meaning

A

Using unclear / ambiguous language

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21
Q

How is the porter presented in Macbeth?

A

He provides comic relief breaking tension in the play through his use of sexual innuendo and his relatability to audience

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22
Q

Pathetic fallacy in Macbeth (Act 2)

A

Lennox says ‘The night has been unruly’ (A2 S3)
• Denotes that a storm has occurred.
• Reflects how the natural order is chaos after the Divine right of kings has been broken.

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23
Q

Who did King James believe he was a descendant of?

A

Banquo

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24
Q

Omen meaning

A

An event taken as a sign of the future

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25
Q

What is ‘the Great Chain of Being’ and how was it broken?

A

Hierarchal system from the peasants to God at top • Macbeth commits regicide to break it

26
Q

What becomes of Lady Macbeth at the end of the play?

A

She sleepwalks and eventually commits suicide. This demonstrates how guilt and remorse has consumed her

27
Q

Who leads the attack against Macbeth’s castle near the end of the play?

A

Malcom & Macduff

28
Q

Why do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ask for darkness throughout the play?

A

• To hide their motives and stop them from feeling guilt

(Macbeth - stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires - A1 S4)
(Lady Macbeth - Come, thick night - A1 S5)

29
Q

What are hands symbolic of in the play?

A

Blood, guilt and death.
(Lady Macbeth - all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand - A5 S1)

30
Q

What does Lady Macbeth have by her side as she sleepwalks and what is its significance?

A

Lady Macbeth has a candle light by her side which may suggest she’s speaking to God. This demonstrates she’s conscious of her immorality.

31
Q

What is Macbeth’s hamartia?

A

His ambition

32
Q

How is Duncan’s blood and skin described by Macbeth upon ‘discovery’ of the king’s body?

A

Macbeth describes Duncan as ‘his silver skin laced with his golden blood’

• This implicates Duncan’s divinity and appointment by God
• Also emphasises how Macbeth isn’t suitable for the throne

33
Q

Who does the Porter imagine is knocking on the castle gates (hell gates)?

A

The devil
(‘ Who’s there in the name of Beelzebub? ’ - A2 S3)

34
Q

Descriptions of Macbeth at the beginning of the play

A

• O valiant cousin! (by Duncan)
• Brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution
• As cannons overcharged with double cracks (A1 S2)

35
Q

Descriptions of Macbeth at the end of the play

A

• ‘hell-hound’
• ‘tyrant’ (by himself too)
• ‘dead butcher’ (dehumanised)
by Malcolm and Macduff (A5 S8)

36
Q

Why does Macbeth kill Macduff’s children?

A

Macbeth commits infanticide to try intimidate Macduff

37
Q

How do the witches use equivocation in Macbeth?

A

‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ A1 S1.
• Introduces the theme of duplicity
• Equivocate suggests the witches are characters that can’t be trusted
• Audience questions the witches intent

38
Q

Who is Hecate?

A

The goddess of witches who views Macbeth as a ‘wayward son’

39
Q

How did Lady Macbeth contribute to the death of King Duncan?

A

She drugged the guards and smears blood on their faces to frame them

40
Q

What was Macbeth’s reason for killing the king’s guards?

A

He says his anger was to blame • Also feigns loyalty to the king when he lies ‘the expedition my violent love outran the pauser’ (A1 S7)

41
Q

Quotes that demonstrate guilt in the play Macbeth

A

Macbeth - ‘a dagger of the mind, a false creation’ (hallucinates before the murder) (A2 S1)
- ‘I could not say Amen’ (A2 S2)
- ‘sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep’ (after killing the king) (A2 S2)

Lady Macbeth - ‘all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand’ (A5 S1)
- ‘Out, damned spot!’ (sleepwalking) (A5 S1)

42
Q

Quotes that demonstrate ambition in the play Macbeth

A

Macbeth

  • ‘stars hide your fires let not night see my black and deep desires’ (A1 S4) (soliloquy of guilt)
  • ‘Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown’ (A3 S1) (dissatisfaction)
  • ‘We have scorched the snake not killed it’ (A3 S2) (megalomaniacal & paranoia)

Lady Macbeth

  • ‘Too full of the milk of human kindness’ (A1 S5) (emasculate)
  • ‘Look like the innocent flower, but the serpent under it’ (A1 S5) (duplicity)
43
Q

Quotes that demonstrate the supernatural in the play Macbeth

A

Witches - ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’

Banquo - ‘The instruments of darkness tell us truth’

44
Q

Purpose of the supernatural in Macbeth

A

• Challenges characters’ moral compasses

• Majority of Jacobean England were Christian therefore the supernatural would’ve been viewed as evil

• Engages the audience

45
Q

How is Banquo presented?

A

• Moral compass of the play • skeptical of the evil witches (’Can the devil speak true?’ A1 S3) • perceptive (understands that Macbeth is rapt from prophecies) • Political propaganda - King James believes he’s a descendant of Banquo

46
Q

Quotes that present anagnorisis

A

Macbeth: ‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow’
Refers to life as: ‘a walking shadow’ and ‘a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing’ (A5 S5)
(Futility of life and demoralisation)

47
Q

What bird ‘croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan’ under Lady Macbeth’s ‘battlements’?

A

A raven

48
Q

How is Macduff presented?

A

• Macbeth’s foil • Symbolises justice, loyalty and patriotism to Scotland • Restores the Great Chain of Being by killing Macbeth • Thane of Fife

49
Q

Macbeth’s title before becoming thane of Cawdor

A

Thane of Glamis

50
Q

First round of prophecies given by the witches

A

• Macbeth will be thane of Cawdor
• Macbeth will be king
• Banquos sons will be king

51
Q

Second round of prophecies given by the witches

A

• Beware Macduff
• No man of woman born shall hurt Macbeth
• Macbeth will be vanquished when great Birman Wood moved to Dunsinane Hill

52
Q

How does Macduff prove the prophecies true?

A

He beheads Macbeth and was able to kill him because he was untimely ripped from mother’s womb

53
Q

Key messages in Macbeth

A

• Regicide will result in your downfall

• Uncontrolled desires can destroy your moral compass

• Do not trust the supernatural

54
Q

Context surrounding Macbeth and Lady Macbeth asking for darkness

A

• LM ‘Come, thick night’
• M ‘Stars hide your fires’ (A1 S4)

• Both on the stage alone giving a soliloquy
• Both characters are aware of the immorality of their decisions
• Macbeth echoes LM’s words to suggest the close relationship
• Could also signify how Macbeth is currently controlled by LM’s thinking

55
Q

Act 1 summary

A

• Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches who give them prophecies

• Duncan makes Macbeth thane of Cawdor. Macbeths starts to wonder if the witches’ prophecy about him being king will come true too.

• Macbeth tells lady Macbeth about the prophecy and plans to persuade him to murder Duncan.

• Duncan comes to stay with the Macbeths
• Macbeth is reluctant to kill him but lady Macbeth convinces him that they can frame Duncan’s servants for the murder
• Macbeth agrees to the plan

56
Q

Summary of Act 2

A

• Macbeth murders King Duncan and Lady Macbeth plants blood-stained daggers on Duncan’s servants.

• Macduff arrives and discovers the King’s body. The kings sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, leave Scotland because they fear for their lives

• Ross and an old man discuss the strange and unnatural things that have been happening since Duncan’s murder. Macbeth is about to be crowned, but not all the noblemen support him.
• Macbeth is crowned king

57
Q

Summary of Act 3

A

• Despite Macbeth being king he’s worried by the witches’ prophecy about Banquo’s descendants being kings. He orders some murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance.

• The murderers kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes. Macbeth hosts a feast and sees Banquo’s ghost. He decides to visit the witches again.

• Lennox and a lord suspects Macbeth of murdering Duncan and Banquo. They say that Macduff is getting an army together to attack Macbeth and out Malcom on the throne

58
Q

Summary of Act 4

A

• Macbeth visits the witches again and they summon three apparitions.

• Each apparition makes a prophecy. The first warns Macbeth about Macduff, the second tells him that no one born from a woman can harm him and the third tells him that he can’t be beaten until Birnam wood moves to Dunsinane hill.

• The witches also show him Banquo’s ghost and a line of kings who seem to be Banquo’s descendants.

• Macduff has fled to England and Macbeth also sends his murderers to kill Macduff’s wife and children

• In England, Macduff proves his loyalty to Malcolm, and Malcolm reveals that the English king has given him ten thousand soldiers to fight Macbeth.

59
Q

Summary of Act 5

A

• Lady Macbeth becomes paranoid. She sleepwalks and keeps washing invisible blood from her hands.

• The Scottish lords plan to meet the English army at Birnam Wood and attack Macbeth.

• Macbeth hears about the approaching English army however hes unfazed because of the witches’ predictions.

• Malcolm tells the soldiers to cut down branches from birnam wood and hide behind them as they march towards Macbeths castle.

• Macbeth prepares for battle and finds out that lady Macbeth has killed herself.

• Macbeth and Macduff meet on the battlefield and he finds out that Macduff was born by caesarean
• They fight and Macbeth is killed.

• Malcolm is made king of Scotland

60
Q

What was Lady Macbeth’s reason for not killing King Duncan?

A

GCSEs (21 decks)

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