Macbeth

Question 1

brave macbeth - captain (1,1)

Answer 1

• positive description of macbeth (these become rare as play develops)
• he’s desperate for his audience and the king to appreciate macbeth’s courage and his patriotic actions

Question 2

he unseemed his from the nave to th’ chaps - captain (1,1)

Answer 2

• description of macbeth in an inhumane and supernatural tone
• although the captain admires this, macbeth is killing someone, this foreshadows the rest of the murder, however this is the penultimate time macbeth murders through his own actions, not cowardly until guilt of innocence is upon him

Question 3

like valour’s minion - captain (1,2)

Answer 3

• uses a simile to portray macbeth’s character as audacious and fearless
• he is suggesting that macbeth is the servant of bravery

Question 4

what he hath lost, noble macbeth hath won - duncan (1,2)

Answer 4

• referring to the title of the thane of cawdor
• juxtaposition between the 2 thanes, one is honourable and loyal, the other is dishonourable and a traitor
• close quote to what the witches said in (1,1) ‘when the battle’s lost and won’
• macbeth’s inheritance of the title is something of a poisoned chalice if victory and defeat are so closely related and it is as easy to win as it is to lose
• foreshadowing the downfall of macbeth

Question 5

good sir, why do you start and seem to fear things that do sound so fair? - banquo (1,3)

Answer 5

this demonstrates that macbeth is already considering what he will need to do to become king

Question 6

if chance may have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir - macbeth (1,3)

Answer 6

macbeth does not plan to try to become king, he already understands that he would have to murder to achieve kingship

Question 7

there’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face. he was a gentleman on whom i built an absolute trust - duncan (1,4)

Answer 7

• dramatic irony (macbeth will do the same to him)
• links to the theme of deception, deliberately hiding your true intentions

Question 8

starts, hide your fires, let light not see my black and deep desires - macbeth (1,4)

Answer 8

• dark and light imagery
• links to the theme of deception, echoed in 1,5

Question 9

my dearest partner of greatness - lady macbeth (1,5)

Answer 9

• shows the equality in macbeth and lady macbeth’s relationship at the start of the play
• this will deteriorate as they commit their crimes

Question 10

yet do i fear thy nature, it is too full o’th milk of human kindness - lady macbeth (1,5)

Answer 10

• LM is surprisingly critical of macbeth, with ‘milk’ having connotations of innocence and childhood
• she fears he cannot achieve his potential

Question 11

the raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of duncan under my battlements - lady macbeth (1,5)

Answer 11

• animal imagery heavily links to death
• LM shows her control by referring to the castle as hers, while ‘fatal’ shows duncan’s demise is inevitable

Question 12

come you spirits… unsex me here …take my milk for gall - LM (1,5)

Answer 12

• asking to replace her milk with poison shows a disregard for femininity, including basic maternal instinct
• highly shocking to the audience and sets a tone to her character throughout the play

Question 13

come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark - LM (1,5)

Answer 13

• darkness imagery links to the theme of deception similarly to 1,4
• despite aligning herself with the devil, LM still fears that heaven could hold her back

Question 14

look like th’innocent flower, but be the serpent under it - LM (1,5)

Answer 14

• snake links to the devil and the theme of deception

Question 15

the air is delicate - banquo (1,6)

Answer 15

• shakespeare shows how reality and appearance are different
• though the air appears delicate and the castle is describe by banquo as ‘loved’ - it will be the setting for a murder
• shows the deceitfulness of macbeth, and his reign later on

Question 16

fair and noble hostess - duncan (1,6)

Answer 16

• fair is a nice compliment, but is suspiciously similar to the witches’ statements from the play’s opening

Question 17

he’s here in double trust - macbeth (1,7)

Answer 17

dunan trusts macbeth as a subject and a host

Question 18

i have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition - macbeth (1,7)

Answer 18

macbeth’s ambition to become king is the only reason he has for murdering duncan, who is a good king

Question 19

when you durst do it, then you were a man - LM (1,7)

Answer 19

LM undermining her husband’s manliness would’ve been extremely powerful, she clearly knows how to manipulate him

Question 20

i have given suck… i would… have dashed the brains out, had i so sworn - LM (1,7)

Answer 20

violent imagery emphasises LM’s lack of maternal instincts and her commitment to power

Question 21

screw your courage to the sticking-place - LM (1,7)

Answer 21

another example of LM’s controlling nature

Question 22

false face must hide what false heart doth know - macbeth (1,7)

Answer 22

theme of deception

Question 23

is this a dagger which i see before me? - macbeth (2,1)

Answer 23

• opening line of macbeth’s solioquy introduces his internal debate about whether or not he should kill duncan
• his hallucination of the dagger demonstrates the toll the murder is already having on him

Question 24

hear it not, duncan for it is a knell. that summons thee to heaven or to hell - macbeth (2,1)

Answer 24

• rhyming couplet emphasises the finality of macbeth’s decision
• he is aware that he could be condemning duncan to hell yet still proceeds
• links to his decision to murder banquo in 3,1