Macbeth
The Key Scenes for 2006
Name ……………………………..
1
Assessment Focuses
Your response to Shakespeare in the SAT exam will be assessed according to
the following criteria:
AF2
Can I find and quote information effectively?
AF3
Can I read and interpret meaning beyond the obvious?
AF4
Can I explain why writers choose to shape their work in a particular way?
AF5
Can I explain why writers choose to use particular words and sentences?
AF6
Can I explain the writer’s purpose, and how it achieved?
The question on the SAT paper will focus on one of the following:




Character and motivation
Ideas, themes and issues
The language of the text
The text in performance
This booklet will help to prepare you for all these focuses.
2
Act 2 Scene 1
Macbeth has reached the point where he must decide whether he will murder King Duncan
or not. Remember Lady Macbeth’s attempts to persuade him. What should he do? List
the reasons he should kill Duncan or not kill the King in the table below.
To kill Duncan . . .
Not to kill Duncan . . .
Next:
 Put the reasons in order of priority.
 Write a paragraph persuading Macbeth either to kill or not to kill Duncan
 Review how Lady Macbeth has tried to influence her husband.
3
Analysing Act 2 Scene 1
Court of Macbeth's castle.
Enter BANQUO, and FLEANCE bearing a torch before him
BANQUO
Highlight and draw arrows to the
words that suggest darkness.
What atmosphere is created?
_________________________
How goes the night, boy?
_________________________
FLEANCE
_________________________
The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.
_________________________
BANQUO
And she goes down at twelve.
FLEANCE
How is Banquo’s nervous state of
mind shown in this speech?
I take't, 'tis later, sir.
BANQUO
_________________________
Hold, take my sword. There's husbandry in heaven;
Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose!
_________________________
_________________________
Enter MACBETH, and a Servant with a torch
Give me my sword.
Who's there?
_________________________
_________________________
MACBETH
A friend.
What does Banquo tell the
audience about Duncan’s visit?
_________________________
BANQUO
What, sir, not yet at rest? The king's a-bed:
He hath been in unusual pleasure, and
Sent forth great largess to your offices.
This diamond he greets your wife withal,
By the name of most kind hostess; and shut up
In measureless content.
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
MACBETH
Being unprepared,
Our will became the servant to defect;
Which else should free have wrought.
4
All's well.
I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters:
To you they have show'd some truth.
What does Banquo ask Macbeth
about?
How does Macbeth
respond? Why?
_________________________
MACBETH
_________________________
I think not of them:
Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve,
We would spend it in some words upon that business,
If you would grant the time.
_________________________
BANQUO
_________________________
BANQUO
At your kind'st leisure.
How and why does Macbeth try to
bribe Banquo?
_________________________
MACBETH
If you shall cleave to my consent, when 'tis,
It shall make honour for you.
_________________________
BANQUO
_________________________
So I lose none
In seeking to augment it, but still keep
My bosom franchised and allegiance clear,
I shall be counsell'd.
_________________________
MACBETH
Good repose the while!
Key question: how has the relationship changed
between Banquo and Macbeth from Act 1?
BANQUO
Thanks, sir: the like to you!
Exeunt BANQUO and FLEANCE
MACBETH
Macbeth is alone on the stage,
speaking his thoughts aloud.
This is known as a SOLILOQUY
Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready,
She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed.
Exit Servant
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
5
Match the statements below to
quotations in the soliloquy
o Macbeth imagines that he
sees a dagger
o Macbeth thinks the dagger is
a hallucination due to extreme
stress
o Macbeth reaches out for the
dagger
o He thinks the dagger shows
his feelings
o He can’t believe his eyes
Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going;
And such an instrument I was to use.
Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses,
Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still,
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. There's no such thing:
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one halfworld
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder,
Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace.
With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time,
Match the statements below to
quotations in the soliloquy
o Macbeth believes the
dagger is a hint to murder
Duncan
o He thinks his eyes deceive
him
o The dagger is stained with
blood
o It is night time
o Strange and supernatural
events are occurring
o Macbeth needs to be
stealthy and quiet
o Macbeth decides to kill
Duncan
o Action and not words is
what is needed
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives:
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.
A bell rings
I go, and it is done; the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell.
Exit
TASK 1
Underline the images that suggest evil and supernatural events in Macbeth’s soliloquy
TASK 2
Write a paragraph to explain why you think Macbeth decides to kill Duncan.
you write think about the following:






is he really evil?
can he tell the difference between right and wrong?
is he ambitious?
is he under the power of the witches and / or his wife?
is he aware of the seriousness and implications of what he is doing?
is he acting on the spur of the moment?
6
Before
TASK 3
Imagine you are writing either Macbeth or Banquo’s PUBLIC SPEECH and INNER
THOUGHTS for this scene. Split your page in half and use one half to write what
the character is speaking and the other column to write what they are thinking
Example: Banquo
PUBLIC SPEECH
INNER THOUGHTS
Fleance, we must be vigilant on a dark I have a bad feeling that is preventing
night such as this and guard the King with me from sleeping. Macbeth’s behaviour
our lives . . .
has been most strange at the banquet . .
.
7
Analysing Act 2 Scene 2
What has happened between this scene and the
previous one? Why has it taken place offstage?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
The same.
_______________________________________
Enter LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold;
What hath quench'd them hath given me fire.
Hark! Peace!
It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman,
Which gives the stern'st good-night. He is about it:
The doors are open; and the surfeited grooms
Do mock their charge with snores: I have drugg'd
their possets,
That death and nature do contend about them,
Whether they live or die.
MACBETH
[Within] Who's there? what, ho!
Underline words in Lady Macbeth’s
speech that show her confidence and
exhilaration in the plot.
How does Shakespeare build tension
here?
_____________________________
_____________________________
LADY MACBETH
_____________________________
Alack, I am afraid they have awaked,
And 'tis not done. The attempt and not the deed
Confounds us. Hark! I laid their daggers ready;
He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done't.
_____________________________
_____________________________
Enter MACBETH
My husband!
MACBETH
What is the effect of Shakespeare’s
use of short speeches and questions in
the dialogue between Macbeth and his
wife?
_____________________________
I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?
LADY MACBETH
I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.
Did not you speak?
MACBETH
_____________________________
When?
_____________________________
LADY MACBETH
_____________________________
Now.
_____________________________
8
MACBETH
As I descended?
LADY MACBETH
Ay.
MACBETH
What is on Macbeth’s hands? _________________
What state of mind after the murder?
________________________________________
Hark!
Who lies i' the second chamber?
________________________________________
LADY MACBETH
MACBETH
Who is the dominant partner – Macbeth of his wife?
Read through the speeches, highlighting quotations
that show:
Lady Macbeth being strong and decisive
This is a sorry sight.
Looking on his hands
Macbeth being weak and frightened
Donalbain.
LADY MACBETH
Copy and explain a quotation that
shows Macbeth’s troubled mind
“
A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.
MACBETH
There's one did laugh in's sleep, and one cried
'Murder!'
That they did wake each other: I stood and heard them:
But they did say their prayers, and address'd them
Again to sleep.
“
this means . . .
LADY MACBETH
What does Macbeth’s inability to say
‘Amen’ suggest?
There are two lodged together.
MACBETH
____________________________
One cried 'God bless us!' and 'Amen' the other;
As they had seen me with these hangman's hands.
Listening their fear, I could not say 'Amen,'
When they did say 'God bless us!'
____________________________
____________________________
LADY MACBETH
Consider it not so deeply.
MACBETH
But wherefore could not I pronounce 'Amen'?
I had most need of blessing, and 'Amen'
Stuck in my throat.
9
LADY MACBETH
What is Lady Macbeth’s warning?
These deeds must not be thought
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.
MACBETH
Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more!
Macbeth does murder sleep', the innocent sleep,
Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care,
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast,–
LADY MACBETH
Why is Macbeth worried that he has
murdered sleep?
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
What do you mean?
MACBETH
Still it cried 'Sleep no more!' to all the house:
'Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor
Shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more.'
LADY MACBETH
Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane,
You do unbend your noble strength, to think
So brainsickly of things. Go get some water,
And wash this filthy witness from your hand.
Why did you bring these daggers from the place?
They must lie there: go carry them; and smear
The sleepy grooms with blood.
MACBETH
I'll go no more:
I am afraid to think what I have done;
Look on't again I dare not.
LADY MACBETH
Infirm of purpose!
Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead
Are but as pictures: 'tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,
I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal;
For it must seem their guilt.
What practical advice does Lady Macbeth give
her husband?
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
How does this quotation suggest Macbeth’s
guilt and regret on killing Duncan?
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
Copy and explain TWO quotations that suggest
Lady Macbeth is frustrated with Macbeth
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
10
Exit. Knocking within
What is the dramatic impact of the knocking at the castle
gates?
Explain what the following quotations
reveal about Macbeth’s state of mind:
“What hands are here? ha! they pluck out
mine eyes”
________________________________
MACBETH
________________________________
Whence is that knocking?
How is't with me, when every noise appals me?
What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes.
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas in incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
________________________________
“Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this
blood Clean from my hand?”
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
“my hand will rather The multitudinous seas
in incarnadine”
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
Re-enter LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
My hands are of your colour; but I shame
To wear a heart so white.
Knocking within
I hear a knocking
At the south entry: retire we to our chamber;
A little water clears us of this deed:
How easy is it, then! Your constancy
Hath left you unattended.
Knocking within
Hark! more knocking.
Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us,
And show us to be watchers. Be not lost
So poorly in your thoughts.
Draw a line to connect the statement below
to a quotation from Lady Macbeth’s speech.
She is not worried about blood
She is braver than Macbeth
She is confident
She is practical
She doesn’t feel as guilty as Macbeth
She is happy to share in Macbeth’s guilt
11
MACBETH
To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself.
Knocking within
Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst!
What do Macbeth’s final lines reveal about
his feelings?
________________________________
________________________________
Exeunt
________________________________
________________________________
TASK 1: Copy THREE quotations that suggest that Macbeth regrets killing Duncan.
Explain how each quotation shows his guilt.
1. “ ____________________________________________________________”
explanation ________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. “ ____________________________________________________________”
explanation ________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. “ ____________________________________________________________”
explanation ________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
TASK 2
Imagine that you are creating a film production of this scene. Draw a storyboard to show
how you would film the most tense moment of this scene. Think about how you would use
camera angles, sound effects, costume, setting and lighting to create a tense atmosphere.
Write a paragraph explaining your ideas.
TASK 3
Essay style question. In this scene Lady Macbeth awaits and is then told of Duncan’s
murder. Explain how Shakespeare builds tension in this scene. Consider:




How tension is continued from the previous scene – Act 2 Scene 1
Lady Macbeth’s speech and behaviour as she awaits Macbeth’s return
The differences between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s reactions to Duncan’s murder
Dramatic techniques used to build tension
12
TASK 4
In this scene Shakespeare uses a number of techniques to create tension. Fill in the
table below with an example of each technique and an explanation of how it creates
tension.
Technique to create
tension
Quotation: example of
technique
Impact: how it creates tension
Punctuation
Sentence / line
length
Use of contrast or
opposites
Dramatic images
Sound
TASK 5 – who do you feel most sympathy for at this point in the play – Macbeth or
Lady Macbeth? Explain why you think this.
13
Preparing for Act 5 Scenes 3 to 5
Remind yourself of the second set of prophecies the witches gave to Macbeth. As a
result, Macbeth feels his position as King of Scotland is secure. Fill in the prophecies and
explain why Macbeth feels so secure because of them.
Macbeth’s Three Prophecies
Prophecy 1:
Prophecy 2:
Prophecy 3:
Why does this
prophecy make
Macbeth feel secure?
Why does this
prophecy make
Macbeth feel secure?
Why does this prophecy
make Macbeth feel
secure?
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
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__________________
__________________
__________________
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14
__________________
Act 5 - Scene 3
Why is the doctor at Macbeth’s castle? Who has he
seen? What have we learnt about the patient?
_______________________________________
Dunsinane. A room in the castle.
_______________________________________
Enter MACBETH, Doctor, and Attendants
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
MACBETH
Bring me no more reports; let them fly all:
Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane,
I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm?
Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know
All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus:
'Fear not, Macbeth; no man that's born of woman
Shall e'er have power upon thee.' Then fly,
false thanes,
And mingle with the English epicures:
The mind I sway by and the heart I bear
Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.
Highlight quotations that show Macbeth
relying on the prophecies for security.
Explain how they show this
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
Copy and explain THREE insults
Macbeth uses to describe the servant
Enter a Servant
The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!
Where got'st thou that goose look?
_____________________________
Servant
There is ten thousand–
_____________________________
MACBETH
_____________________________
Geese, villain!
_____________________________
Servant
_____________________________
Soldiers, sir.
_____________________________
MACBETH
_____________________________
Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear,
Thou lily-liver'd boy. What soldiers, patch?
Death of thy soul! those linen cheeks of thine
Are counsellors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face?
_____________________________
15
Colour code parts of this speech that
Servant
 show Macbeth’s bravery
The English force, so please you.
 create sympathy for Macbeth
MACBETH
Take thy face hence.
Exit Servant
 show Macbeth being demoralised
Seyton!–I am sick at heart,
When I behold–Seyton, I say!–This push
Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now.
I have lived long enough: my way of life
Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf;
Copy words that suggest autumn
And that which should accompany old age,
imagery.
As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,
I must not look to have; but, in their stead,
Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath,
Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not. Seyton!
Enter SEYTON
Why does Macbeth use them?
SEYTON
___________________________
What is your gracious pleasure?
___________________________
MACBETH
___________________________
What news more?
SEYTON
How does Macbeth react to the
news that his castle is surrounded?
All is confirm'd, my lord, which was reported.
MACBETH
___________________________
I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack'd.
Give me my armour.
___________________________
How are the audience meant to see
Macbeth here?
SEYTON
'Tis not needed yet.
___________________________
MACBETH
I'll put it on.
Send out more horses; skirr the country round;
Hang those that talk of fear. Give me mine armour.
How does your patient, doctor?
___________________________
Doctor
What is Lady Macbeth suffering
from?
___________________________
___________________________
Not so sick, my lord,
As she is troubled with thick coming fancies,
That keep her from her rest.
___________________________
16
___________________________
Macbeth asks the doctor to cure his
wife. How might the cure also be
relevant to Macbeth?
___________________________
MACBETH
Cure her of that.
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain
And with some sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?
___________________________
___________________________
Doctor
Therein the patient
Must minister to himself.
What is the doctor’s diagnosis?
_________________________________________
MACBETH
___________________________
Throw physic to the dogs; I'll none of it. ___________________________
Come, put mine armour on; give me my staff.
Macbeth ignores the doctor’s advice; he
Seyton, send out. Doctor, the thanes fly from me.
asks for a cure for Scotland’s ‘diseases’
Come, sir, dispatch. If thou couldst, doctor, cast
The water of my land, find her disease,
– highlight phrases that suggest illness
And purge it to a sound and pristine health,
I would applaud thee to the very echo,
That should applaud again.–Pull't off, I say.–
What rhubarb, cyme, or what purgative drug,
Would scour these English hence? Hear'st thou of them?
Macbeth PERSONIFIES Scotland, making it seem like a diseased human. Why are images of disease used?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Doctor
What does Macbeth continue to rely
on?
_____________________________
Ay, my good lord; your royal preparation
Makes us hear something.
MACBETH
_____________________________
Bring it after me.
I will not be afraid of death and bane,
Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane.
_____________________________
Doctor
What impression do the doctor’s final
words give?
_____________________________
[Aside] Were I from Dunsinane away and clear,
Profit again should hardly draw me here.
Exeunt
_____________________________
17
_____________________________
Macbeth – THEN and NOW
Compare your impressions of Macbeth in this scene with your views of him after the
murder of Duncan in Act 2 Scene 2. Which words best describe him?
THEN
Act 2 Scene 2
Keywords
in control
confident
nervous
calm
guilty
brave
deceptive
confused
ambitious
fearless
ruthless
fearful
aggressive
remorseful
weak
manipulated
vicious
confused
mislead
18
NOW
Act 5 Scene 1
The next scene switches to Malcolm, Duncan’s son, and the English forces, who are
preparing to attack Macbeth’s castle.
The quick changes of scene remind the
audience just how close Macbeth’s enemies are and make them wonder how reliable
the witches’ prophecies are.
Act 5 - Scene 4
Country near Birnam wood.
Drum and colours. Enter MALCOLM, SIWARD and YOUNG SIWARD, MACDUFF, MENTEITH,
CAITHNESS, ANGUS, LENNOX, ROSS, and Soldiers, marching
MALCOLM
MENTEITH
Malcolm mentions “chambers” meaning
bedrooms: what does this remind the audience
of?
__________________________________
We doubt it nothing.
__________________________________
Cousins, I hope the days are near at hand
That chambers will be safe.
SIWARD
What wood is this before us?
MENTEITH
The wood of Birnam.
MALCOLM
Let every soldier hew him down a bough
And bear't before him: thereby shall we shadow
The numbers of our host and make discovery
Err in report of us.
Soldiers
What has Malcolm ordered? Why? Explain
how the witches’ prophecy comes true.
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
It shall be done.
SIWARD
What is happening to people who were
loyal to Macbeth?
____________________________
We learn no other but the confident tyrant
Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure
Our setting down before 't.
MALCOLM
____________________________
'Tis his main hope:
For where there is advantage to be given,
Both more and less have given him the revolt,
And none serve with him but constrained things
Whose hearts are absent too.
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
19
Let our just censures
Attend the true event, and put we on
Industrious soldiership.
What clues are given in these
speeches that Macbeth will soon be
defeated?
____________________________
SIWARD
____________________________
The time approaches
That will with due decision make us know
What we shall say we have and what we owe.
Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate,
But certain issue strokes must arbitrate:
Towards which advance the war.
____________________________
MACDUFF
____________________________
____________________________
Exeunt, marching
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
20
Act 5 - Scene 5
Dunsinane. Within the castle.
Enter MACBETH, SEYTON, and Soldiers, with drum and colours
MACBETH
Hang out our banners on the outward walls;
The cry is still 'They come:' our castle's strength
Will laugh a siege to scorn: here let them lie
Till famine and the ague eat them up:
Were they not forced with those that should be ours,
We might have met them dareful, beard to beard,
And beat them backward home.
A cry of women within
What is that noise?
Highlight phrases that show
Macbeth’s confidence that he will
win the siege of his castle
How does the cry of women affect
Macbeth’s mood?
SEYTON
_________________________
It is the cry of women, my good lord.
Exit
_________________________
MACBETH
_________________________
I have almost forgot the taste of fears;
The time has been, my senses would have cool'd
To hear a night- shriek; and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in't: I have supp'd full with horrors;
Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts
Cannot once start me.
_________________________
Re-enter SEYTON
Wherefore was that cry?
Seyton brings news of Lady
Macbeth’s death. How does
Macbeth react?
_________________________
SEYTON
The queen, my lord, is dead.
_________________________
MACBETH
_________________________
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
21
The news of his wife’s death causes Macbeth to brood on the hopelessness of life in this
SOLILOQUY
Connect the statements to the relevant
quotations in the speech.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
o
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
Life is over as quickly as a burning
candle
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
o
Life is meaningless
o
Repetition is used to show the
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
monotony of life
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
o
People are foolish
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
o
No-one knows the true meaning of life
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
o
Life seems as short as an actor in a
performing a scene in a play
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
o
No-one is remembered after they die
o
Macbeth is unafraid of death
Enter a Messenger
Thou comest to use thy tongue; thy story quickly.
Messenger
Gracious my lord,
I should report that which I say I saw,
But know not how to do it.
MACBETH
What news does the messenger bring?
Well, say, sir.
__________________________________
Messenger
As I did stand my watch upon the hill,
I look'd toward Birnam, and anon, methought,
The wood began to move.
__________________________________
MACBETH
Liar and slave!
Messenger
Let me endure your wrath, if't be not so:
Within this three mile may you see it coming;
I say, a moving grove.
22
MACBETH
How does Macbeth react to this news?
If thou speak'st false,
Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive,
Till famine cling thee: if thy speech be sooth,
I care not if thou dost for me as much.
I pull in resolution, and begin
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth: 'Fear not, till Birnam wood
Do come to Dunsinane:' and now a wood
Comes toward Dunsinane. Arm, arm, and out!
If this which he avouches does appear,
There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here.
I gin to be aweary of the sun,
And wish the estate o' the world were now undone.
Ring the alarum-bell! Blow, wind! come, wrack!
At least we'll die with harness on our back.
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Exeunt
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SATS Practice Questions
Act 2 Scenes 1 and 2, Act 5 Scenes 3 and 5
Task 1
In these scenes, Macbeth murders Duncan and covers up the crime. He
gradually sees his position as King become less certain.
How do the audience’s impressions of Macbeth change as they watch
these scenes?
Before you begin to write you should think about:

What the audience learns about Macbeth as he speaks to Banquo

Macbeth’s feelings after the murder and his relationship with Lady Macbeth

What the audience learns from Macbeth’s soliloquies

Macbeth’s behaviour and language as his enemies surround his castle
Act 2 Scenes 1 and 2, Act 5 Scenes 3 and 5
Task 2
In these scenes, Macbeth murders Duncan and covers up the crime. He
gradually sees his position as King become less certain.
How does Shakespeare make these two scenes dramatic and exciting
for the audience?
Before you begin to write you should think about:

The mood created before Duncan’s murder

How Macbeth’s soliloquies build up tension

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s behaviour after the murder

Macbeth’s behaviour and language as his enemies surround his castle
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Top Tips - How to Write a Successful SATs answer on ‘Macbeth’
DO . . .
 Read the question carefully: highlight key words and use them to plan your answer
 Look back at the scenes quickly – SCAN them and highlight useful quotations that you will
use.
 Plan your answer – use a brainstorm or bullet points to
plan your key points. Number them in the order you will
do them.
 Write a brief opening where you start to answer the
question with a BIG IDEA – example: In these scenes
Shakespeare shows the audience how Macbeth
changes from being insecure and uncertain about killing
Duncan to becoming convinced that his murder is
justified.
 Use POINT – EVIDENCE – EXPLANATION every time
you make a point.
 Make sure you balance you time so that you don’t say
too much about one scene and then don’t have enough
time to write about the later scenes.
 Check your spelling and punctuation carefully.
DON’T . . .
 Re-tell the story of Macbeth
 When you use a quotation don’t use your explanation to
rewrite it in your own words – instead explain what the
quotation reveals about the character, how it builds drama
or how it uses interesting language.
 Don’t try to write about all the scenes – you haven’t got
enough time!!! Pick out details that help you write a good
answer to your question – ignore the rest.
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Heroes and Villains
TASK 1
Copy the table below, deciding which words best describe a hero and which best
describe a villain.
Hero
Villain
Brave
Coward
Strong
Clever
Good
Bad
Devious
Honest
Idol
Criminal
Hated
Champion
Admired
Courageous
Unpleasant
Superior
Dishonest
TASK 2
Now choose ONE person who you think is a hero or heroine and ONE person who is a
villain.
Write a paragraph to explain WHY you have chosen these people. Use the ideas
below to help you write:
I think (character’s name) is a hero / heroine / villain. What makes a heroic /
villainous character is . . .
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TASK 3
Now read through the list of characters from ‘Macbeth’ below; decide which are
heroes and which are villains. Set out in your work on a hero or villain line.
Worst villain
Most heroic
Macbeth
Duncan
Malcolm
Banquo
Witches
First Thane of
Cawdor
Lady Macbeth
Captain
Fleance
The murderers
TASK 4
Now copy and complete the sentences below using your line from task 3.
1. The most heroic character in ‘Macbeth’ is _____ because . . .
2. The most villainous character in ‘Macbeth’ is _____ because . . .
3. Macbeth can be seen as a hero because . . . However, he can also be seen as a
villain because . . . My view of him is that he is . . .
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