Klein E402
Macbeth (Optional) Reading Guide
Act I
1. The play is set in what country? And, this country is at war with whom?
2. What kind of atmosphere is created in scene 1 with the witches? Why?
3. What is Macbeth’s title at the start of the play?
4. How is Macbeth characterized through the words of those that know him?
5. Who is the person that grants Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor (in addition to the one he already has)?
How is this made possible?
6. What are the witches’ three predictions (or their three titles) for Macbeth?
1.
2.
3.
7. What do they predict for Banquo?
8. Who does the King name as heir to the throne?
9. When Duncan announces to the gathered noblemen his successor to the throne, what does Macbeth realize he
must do if the witches’ predictions are to come true?
10. What “bigger idea” might the three witches symbolize?
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11. Lady Macbeth’s comment that her husband is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness” indicates something
about Macbeth’s character, but what quality of Lady Macbeth’s does it reveal?
12. How is Macbeth able to easily kill the King?
13. Why might we be able to call Macbeth ambitious?
14. Who does Lady Macbeth plan on blaming for the King’s death?
15. Explain the following quote by Lady Macbeth:
Come you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me, from the crown to the toe, topfull
Of direst cruelty!
Act II
1. How can we tell that Banquo is nervous or fearful in scene 1?
2. What does Macbeth hallucinate that he sees before committing the crime?
3. How does Lady Macbeth prevent the servants from coming to King Duncan’s rescue?
4. Who is the one that commits the crime? How might this be slightly ironic?
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5. Give an example of a line from the play that illustrates Macbeth’s guilt following the murder? (hint: There
are a few of these in scene 2.)
6. What does Lady Macbeth say is the reason she was unable to kill the King herself?
7. What do you think is the main purpose of the scene with the porter (scene 3)? Keep in mind, it comes right
after the murder.
8. Why do Malcolm and Donalbain flee the country once the murder of their father becomes known?
9. What is to take place at the town of Scone (refer to scene 4)?
10. What evidence do we have at the end of Act III of Macduff’s opposition to Macbeth?
Act III
1. What can we can we infer is Macbeth’s plan (or next move) from his soliloquy in scene 1?
2. Why is Macbeth so insistent on Banquo’s death?
3. Why does Macbeth decide to hire murderers to kill Banquo as opposed to doing the deed himself?
4. By scene 2, what is now Lady Macbeth’s attitude about her newly-gotten crown?
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5. Why is it ironic that Macbeth scolds Banquo for being absent from the banquet?
6. In scene 4, what does the ghost of Banquo likely represent?
7. How does Lady Macbeth react to Macbeth’s “episode” during the banquet?
8. Who is Hecate? Why is she angry with the witches?
9. The audience learns that Macduff has gone to England to do what?
Act IV
1. Why does Macbeth return to the witches?
2. What or whom do they conjure up? Also, what are the three warnings/prophecies?
1.
2.
3.
3. How is Macbeth encouraged by the witches’ prophecies?
4. Why does Macbeth decide to kill Lady Macduff and her children? How are their murders different from those
of King Duncan and Banquo?
5. How does Malcolm lie to Macduff at first? Why does he do this?
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6. When Macduff asks about the welfare of his family, Ross replies that “they were all at peace” when he last
saw them. How is this partially true?
7. What does Macduff then set out to do?
8. How has Macbeth changed as a person over the course of the play?
Act V
1. What has Lady Macbeth been seen doing late at night?
2. What do the words of Lady Macbeth during her most recent “episode” reveal about her feelings?
3. Why is Macbeth not worried when he receives word that the Scottish nobles, along with thousands of English
troops, are marching toward the castle? Which part of the witches’ prophecy does he overlook?
4. What do the marching soldiers do to conceal their numbers and camouflage themselves?
5. What is the point of the following lines and what do they reveal about Macbeth’s attitude by the end of the
play:
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
Klein E402
6. How does Macbeth die? What is the loophole in the witches’ prophecy?
7. Why is it said that Young Siward dies with honor?
8. How was Macbeth viewed differently by the other characters at the end of the play than he was at the very
beginning?
9. What sort of moral or lesson can we gather from the play’s action?