Macbeth Appearance and Reality

Question 1

“Fair is foul and foul is fair
Hover through the fog and filthy air”
- Witches
- Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 1

. Alliteration of “f”
. Fair and Foul suggest confusion between good and bad
. Fog and Filthy - unclear vision - characters will be unable to understand what is going on around them

Question 2

“Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
Which outwardly ye show”
- Banquo
- Act 1 Scene 5

Answer 2

. Fantastical means imaginary or supernatural - he’s questioning if they’re supernatural spirits or what they appear to be on the outside - human people
. Can they be trusted?

Question 3

(after the witches disappear and Banquo asks whither have they vanished?)

“Into the air, and what seemed corporal,
Melted, as breath into the wind”
- Macbeth
- Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 3

. Corporal means to have a physical body - they seemed to have have bodies but they disappeared into thin air (simile)
- Witches disappearing like warm air that meets cold air - it’s visible for a moment and then it’s gone

Question 4

Metaphorical clothing
“The Thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me in borrowed robes?”
- Macbeth
- Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 4

. He uses the metaphor of ceremonial robes (borrowed robes) often used on formal occasions
. The metaphor suggests that he is not comfortable with his new title
. The metaphor of ill fitting clothing is repeated several times to let us know Macbeth is not fit to be a king

Question 5

“There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face.
he was a gentleman whom I built
An absolute trust”
- Duncan
- Act 1 Scene 4

Answer 5

. He - referring to the traitorous Thane of Cawdor - ironic - Macbeth the new one, will also be a traitor