Macbeth VOCAB

Question 1

Ruthless

Answer 1

adjective
having or showing no pity or compassion for others

Question 2

Villainy

Answer 2

noun
wicked or criminal behaviour

Question 3

Turbulent

Answer 3

adjective
characterized by conflict, disorder, or confusion; not stable or calm

Question 4

Trepidation

Answer 4

noun
a feeling of fear or anxiety about something that may happen

Question 5

Trepidatious

Answer 5

adjective
apprehensive or nervous; filled with trepidation

Question 6

Tyrannical

Answer 6

adjective
exercising power in a cruel or arbitrary way

Question 7

Unscrupulous

Answer 7

adjective
having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair

Question 8

Deceitful

Answer 8

adjective
guilty of or involving deceit; deceiving or misleading others

Question 9

Duplicitous

Answer 9

adjective
deceitful; guilty of or involving deceit; deceiving or misleading others

Question 10

Ambitious

Answer 10

adjective
having or showing a strong desire and determination to succeed

Question 11

Zealous

Answer 11

adjective
showing great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective

Question 12

Eponymous

Answer 12

adjective
giving their name to something
Macbeth, the eponymous character of this Shakespearean tragedy, is the tragic hero around whom the plot revolves. This ironically highlights his lack of autonomy by alluding to his as the object of other people’s actions rather than the subject of his own.

Question 13

Autonomy

Lacks autonomy

Answer 13

noun
the state of being free from the control or power of another

Question 14

Tormented

Answer 14

adjective
experiencing or characterized by severe physical or mental suffering

Question 15

Nihilistic

Answer 15

adjective
rejecting all religious and moral principles in the belief that life is meaningless
Macbeth’s Act 5 Scene 5 soliloquy establishes him as nihilistic where he says life “is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing”.

Question 16

Guilt

Answer 16

noun
the state of one who has committed an offense especially consciously
Macbeth’s ambition propels him into a state of inescapable regret, suggesting that cripling guilt is just as much of a punishment for regicide as execution, if not more because, unlike execution, it causes a prolonged internal agony which inherently cannot be diverted to others as it is rooted in a personal realisation of one’s own failure.

Through this, Shakespeares implores the audience to respect their God-given conscience so that they can avoid debilitation from guilt.