Macbeth test

Question 1

Wyrd

Answer 1

fate and destiny/doom

Question 2

Comitatus

Answer 2

A body of wellborn men attached to a higher subject

Question 3

Monologue

Answer 3

A long speech by one of the characters

Question 4

Soliloquy

Answer 4

An act of speaking ones thoughts aloud when by themselves regardless if anyone hears

Question 5

Aside

Answer 5

a remark or passage in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play

Question 6

iambic pentameter

Answer 6

a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable, for example Two households, both alike in dignity.

Question 7

tragic hero

Answer 7

A noble figure that experiences a tragic downfall

Question 8

Divine rights of kings

Answer 8

Royal subjects were chosen by Gods so they couldn’t be accountable for their actions

Question 9

regicide

Answer 9

The act of killing a king

Question 10

“the instruments of darkness tell us truths,/Win us with honest trifles, to betray ‘s/in deepest consequence”

Answer 10

They lure you in with a bit of truth to harm you

Question 11

So foul and fair a day I have not seen

Answer 11

Things are not always as they seem

Question 12

Lesser than Macbeth and greater

Answer 12

Banquo will have a lesser title than Macbeth but will be a greater person in regards to character

Question 13

. “I dare do all that may become a man/Who dares do more is none.

Answer 13

everything that is appropriate for a man – if you go further, you have dehumanized yourself

Question 14

The sleeping and the dead/Are but as pictures. ‘Tis the eye of childhood/That fears a painted devil.

Answer 14

the sleeping and the dead are essentially harmless and unthreatening

Question 15

“A little water clears us of this deed:/How easy it is then!”

Answer 15

simply washing their hands with a small amount of water can erase the evidence of their crime

Question 16

“Things without all remedy/should be without regard.”

Answer 16

when something cannot be fixed or changed (“without all remedy”), you should not worry about it or give it any further thought (“without regard”)

Question 17

“This supernatural soliciting/Cannot be ill, cannot be good.”

Answer 17

the witches’ prophecy, which is considered “supernatural” and is actively encouraging Macbeth to take action, is so ambiguous that it can’t be definitively labeled as either evil or good

Question 18

Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/To catch the nearest way.

Answer 18

to express her concern that her husband, Macbeth, lacks the ruthlessness to kill Duncan and take the throne

Question 19

“What thou wouldst highly,/That wouldst thou holily/wouldst not play false/And yet wouldst wrongly win.”

Answer 19

he wants to do things in a good or holy way, he doesn’t want to cheat in life or play unfairly, but he does want something that shouldn’t be his

Question 20

“He’s here in double trust:/First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,/Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,/Who should against his murderer shut the door,/Not bear the knife myself.”

Answer 20

He says that as subject to the King he cannot kill him because he owes him his loyalty. Secondly as his host, due to hospitality, he should care for his safety instead of killing him.

Question 21

“Is this a dagger which I see before me,/The handle toward my hand?”

Answer 21

Macbeth is unsure of the existence of the dagger

Question 22

“The worm that’s fled/Hath nature that in time will venom breed/No teeth for th’ present.”

Answer 22

while a small, seemingly insignificant threat (the “worm” - referring to Banquo’s son, Fleance) has escaped, it has the potential to grow into a dangerous enemy in the future