Macbeth

Question 1

Banquo’s son

Answer 1

Fleance

Question 2

Who did Shakespeare write Macbeth for?

Answer 2

King James I

Question 3

What major historical event in 1605 inspired Macbeth?

Answer 3

The Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes and others attempted to blow up Parliament to replace James with a Catholic king.

Question 4

What is Macbeth’s title at the beginning of the play?

Answer 4

The Thane of Glamis

Question 5

Traitor that Macbeth kills on a battlefield

Answer 5

Macdonwald

Question 6

King who Macbeth kills

Answer 6

Duncan

Question 7

Duncan’s two sons

Answer 7

Malcolm and Donalbain

Question 8

Who is suspected of hiring the guards to kill Duncan?

Answer 8

Malcolm and Donalbain

Question 9

Traitor executed on the king’s orders

Answer 9

Thane of Cawdor

Question 10

Three Prophecies

Answer 10

1. Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor, 2. Macbeth will become King, 3, Banquo will father kings

Question 11

How did the Thane of Cawdor react to his execution?

Answer 11

He faced it with dignity

Question 12

Why does Lady Macbeth not kill Duncan herself?

Answer 12

She says he looked too much like her father.

Question 13

What hallucination does Macbeth see before killing Duncan?

Answer 13

A dagger

Question 14

Who discovers Duncan’s body?

Answer 14

Macduff

Question 15

What happens to Duncan’s horses after his death?

Answer 15

They break free and begin eating each other.

Question 16

Does Lady Macbeth think Macbeth is ambitious?

Answer 16

Yes, but he lacks the evil to get what he wants.

Question 17

Refuses to go to Macbeth’s coronation

Answer 17

Macduff

Question 18

Plan’s Duncan’s murder

Answer 18

Lady Macbeth

Question 19

Stabs King Duncan

Answer 19

Macbeth

Question 20

Provides comic relief

Answer 20

The Porter

Question 21

Drugs the guards

Answer 21

Lady Macbeth

Question 22

Stabs the guards

Answer 22

Macbeth

Question 23

Where does the play take place?

Answer 23

Scotland

Question 24

Where do Duncan’s sons go after his death?

Answer 24

Malcolm goes to England and Donalbain to Ireland

Question 25

What was the historical inspiration for the figure of Macbeth?

Answer 25

There was an actual king named Macbeth in Scotland around 1040.

Question 26

Why does Shakespeare include supernatural elements in Macbeth?

Answer 26

To interest King James I

Question 27

Why is Macbeth so upset that he can't pray?

Answer 27

Inability to pray is associated with demonic possession.

Question 28

How is Duncan at Macbeth's house in "double trust"?

Answer 28

Macbeth is both his subject and his host.

Question 29

What is an aside?

Answer 29

A speech given by an actor that other characters on stage cannot hear. It expresses the speaker's thoughts.

Question 30

Why does Macbeth say he killed the guards?

Answer 30

Out of anger (but really he did it to cover his crime.)

Question 31

What is a tragic hero?

Answer 31

A tragic hero is someone of high status (usually nobility) who experiences a downfall. The downfall is brought on by a tragic flaw (hamartia).

Question 32

How does Banquo die?

Answer 32

He is murdered on his way to a banquet at Macbeth's castle. His son runs away.

Question 33

Does Lady Macbeth know ahead of time about Banquo's death?

Answer 33

No

Question 34

What is the shape and message of the first apparition that the witches show to Macbeth?

Answer 34

It is a armed head (head in a battle helmet) that warns him to beware of Macduff.

Question 35

What is the shape and message of the second apparition that the witches show to Macbeth?

Answer 35

It is a bloody child that says no man who is born of woman will hurt Macbeth.

Question 36

What is the shape and message of the third apparition that the witches show to Macbeth?

Answer 36

It is a chlld holding a tree that says Macbeth will never be vanquished (destroyed) until Birnam Woods (forest) moves to Dunsiname Hill (castle).

Question 37

What is a likely reason Macbeth hires a third murderer to go after Banquo?

Answer 37

He doesn't trust the first two and wants to make sure the job the done correctly.

Question 38

Why does Macbeth kill Macduff's family?

Answer 38

He had intended to kill Macduff, but since he missed his chance before Macduff fled to England he will kill his family in revenge.

Question 39

Why does Malcolm try to convince Macduff that he would be a lustful, greedy, and tyrannical leader?

Answer 39

To test Macduff's loyalty to Scotland.

Question 40

What does the doctor say is wrong with Lady Macbeth?

Answer 40

She suffers from an illness of the mind and nothing he can cure physically.

Question 41

How does Lady Macduff feel about her husband's trip to England?

Answer 41

She thinks he is a coward who has abandoned them.

Question 42

After the three apparitions, what do the witches then show Macbeth?

Answer 42

A line of 8 kings who all look like Banquo.

Question 43

How confident is Macbeth about his ability to win against Malcolm's army?

Answer 43

He is pretty confident due to what the apparitions said up until when he see the trees of Birnam Woods moving to the castle.

Question 44

How does Macbeth react to Lady Macbeth's death?

Answer 44

He says she should have died later when he had time to mourn her.

Question 45

Why is Siward not upset about his son's death?

Answer 45

The fact that he had wounds on the front meant that he died like a man and not retreating.

Question 46

What is happening to Macbeth's army over the course of the fifth act?

Answer 46

They are abandoning him and often joining the other side.

Question 47

Will Macduff fight anyone other than Macbeth?

Answer 47

No, he says that Macbeth's soldiers are pitiful men coerced into fighting and he'll save his sword for Macbeth or else not use it.

Question 48

Why does Macbeth hesitate to fight Macduff?

Answer 48

He has enough Macduff deaths on his hands already.

Question 49

Why does Macbeth go onto the battlefield despite knowing he'll likely lose?

Answer 49

He doesn't want to fall on his own sword, which he considers a coward's death, but would rather die fighting

Question 50

Who are the three characters who are King of Scotland in the span of this play?

Answer 50

Duncan, Macbeth, and Malcolm