Quotes: Act 1 Scene 3

Question 1

Foregrounds theme of sleep.

Answer 1

“I’ll drain him dry as hay: Sleep shall neither night nor day”

First witch.

Question 2

Almost parallels witches words.

Foregrounds the influence of supernatural.

Answer 2

“So foul and fair a day I have not seen”
Macbeth.
Echoes act 1 scene 1

Question 3

Unnatural looking women - witches.

Answer 3

“So withered, and so wild in their attire,
That look not like th’inhabitants o’th’earth and yet are on’t?”
Banquo.

Question 4

Promises for Macbeth

Answer 4

“All hail Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”
First, Second andThird witch.

Question 5

Macbeth’s reaction to the witches’ prophecies as told by Banquo
good sir..

Answer 5

“Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear things that do so sound so fair?”

Banquo

Question 6

Banquo’s first reaction to the witches

Answer 6

“Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear your favours nor your hate”

Banquo

Question 7

Prophecy for Banquo.

Answer 7

“Lesser than Macbeth, and greater”
“Not so happy, yet much happier”
“Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”
First, second, third witch.

Question 8

Macbeth orders the witches to elucidate

Answer 8

“Speak, I charge you”

Macbeth

Question 9

Confirms witches prophecy.

Answer 9

“He bade me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor”

Ross.

Question 10

Idea of supernatural.
Reference to the witches.
Banquo when the witches leave, in disbelief

Answer 10

“What, can the devil speak true?”

Banquo.

Question 11

Significance of clothing and appearance.

Answer 11

“The Thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me in borrow’d robes?”

Macbeth.

Question 12

The worst is still to come

Answer 12

“Glamis and Thane of Cawdor, the greatest is behind!”

Macbeth

Question 13

Banquo’s view on the witches prophecies.

One of the deepest truths in the play.

Answer 13

“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray ‘s in deepest consequence”

Banquo

Question 14

Soliloquy

Macbeth speaking his thoughts about the validity of the witches prophecies for him.

Answer 14

“Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme”
“If ill, why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth
he sees the two truths as delightful introductions to a magnificent drama in which he will become king.

Question 15

Can’t stop thinking about the witches.

his thoughts are worse than current affairs

Answer 15

“Present fears are less than horrible imaginings”

Macbeth.

Question 16

Nothing matters except what is to come.

Answer 16

“Nothing is but what is not”
Macbeth.
paradox, riddle

Question 17

Why does Macbeth imagine murdering Duncan

quote why are these thoughts coming to him

Answer 17

“Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs against the use of nature?”

Macbeth

Question 18

Macbeth may not have to do anything to become king

Answer 18

“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir”

Macbeth

Question 19

Clothing imagery 2

Answer 19

“new honours come upon him, like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould, but with the aid of use”

Question 20

Explain “Ill drain him dry as hay” in relation to Macbeth

Answer 20

It can be read as a forecast of macbeth’s fate. He will be drained spiritually and morally; he will also be deprived of sleep, cursed and ostracised.

Question 21

What is the function of this scene?

Answer 21

It is to show the malignant effect of the witches

Question 22

What has Macbeth already thought about?

Answer 22

He has already entertained guilty thoughts of killing Duncan for his crown; hence the vivid and terrifying images of murder in his revealing aside.

Question 23

What is Banquo sceptical about?

Answer 23

He is sceptical about the significance of their prophecies and is conscious that evil spirits can bring about our downfall by telling us the truth about small things in order to deceive us about vital matters.

Question 24

What does act 1 scene 3 reveal?

Answer 24

It reveals the temptations, the fears and the inner struggles of Macbeth.