Macbeth

Question 1

What 3 things did aristotle believe was needed for a tragic hero

Answer 1

Had to be well renowned
Had to have a change in fortune
Had to have a fatal flaw (hamartia)

Question 2

What is a hamartia

Answer 2

A fatal flaw which causes the characters demise

Question 3

What quotes show macbeth is well renowned

Answer 3

Brave macbeth - well he deserves that name
Till he unseamed him from the knave to the chaps

Question 4

Why does ‘Till he unseamed him from the knave to the chaps’ show that macbeth is well respected

Answer 4

Because of the society in which macbeth was set. You earned respect and status on the battlefeild

Question 5

What is a foil, and who is macbeth’s foil

Answer 5

A foil is a character who contrasts another character, to highlights qualities about them. Macbeth’s foil is banquo

Question 6

What quote shows that banquo is skeptical and uninterested by the witches prophecies

Answer 6

“neither beg nor fear your favours nor your hate”

Question 7

What quote shows macbeth realising that ambition is his hamartia

Answer 7

“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’other

Question 8

Macbeth’s views change as he becomes more unstable. What two quotes show his changing views on lady macbeth

Answer 8

Act 1 scene 5 - “my dearest love”
Act 5, scene 5 - “she should have died hereafter” (after hearing of her suicide)

Question 9

What else did aristotle believe about a tragic hero

Answer 9

That they had to evoke pity in the audience, so as to teach them a lesson

Question 10

How does macbeth evoke pity in the audience

Answer 10

Macbeth kills duncan offstage, which means that we still can find a shred of humanity in him, despite his actions.
He is also presented as heroic in his last moments, when he says to macduff - “i will not yeild”

Question 11

What are the 2 key contrasting ideas of how lady macbeth is depicted

Answer 11

1) As a woman who converts feminine stereotypes
2) As a woman who conforms to feminine stereotypes

Question 12

In act 2 scene 3, after duncan’s death, what quote from macduff shows how he sees lady macbeth as weak and feminine

Answer 12

“the repetition, in a woman’s ear, would murder as it fell” - this shows macduff feels the knowledge of the kings death would be too much for lady macbeth to handle, which shows dramatic irony, as the audience knows that it was lady macbeth who formulated the plan to kill him

Question 13

What does lady macbeth say to macbeth, to convince him to kill the king

Answer 13

“when you durst do it, then you where a man” - this is lady macbeth questioning macbeth’s manhood, which affects macbeth greatly, as his whole perception of power and respect, is built on manhood

Question 14

What evidence is there that shakespeare is NOT a protofemenist

Answer 14

In act 1 scene 5, when lady macbeth is giving her soliloquy, she says “unsex me here”, and “take my milk for gall”, which illustrates her beliefs that to be strong, she needs to strip herself of her womanly nature.

Question 15

In lady macbeth’s soliloquy in act 1 scene 5, she mentions “heaven” and “hell”. What could this antithesis suggest?

Answer 15

Makes lady macbeth seem in great turmoil

Question 16

How could you argue that lady macbeth is presented as conforming to feminine traditions

Answer 16

You could argue that lady Macbeth is a mere helper to her husband, which is the view that women should be doing at the time