L.O To be able to improve
my ability to answer
analytical questions about
Macbeth.
Things done well 
Good understanding of basic plot/character
development
Most people could draw from other places in the text
Most people attempted most questions in allotted time
‘Big ideas’ were mentioned in analysis.
The best answers!
1. What does Lady Macbeth feel guilty about? Make
reference with quotes (3 marks)
She feels guilty about the murder of King Duncan. “Yet
who would/have thought the old man to have so much
blood in him.”
She feels guilty about Macduff’s wife being murdered.
“The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What
will these hands ever be clean.”
She feels guilty about Banquo’s death.
“Wash your hands, out on your nightgown, look not
so/pale. I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he
cannot/ come out on’s grave.”
What is the role of the Gentlewoman and the Doctor
in this scene? ( 1 mark)
The Gentlewoman calls the doctor because
Lady Macbeth is sleep walking and saying
things that are making the her worried.
3. Find two references to blood in the scene, quote.
What is blood symbolic of? (4 marks)
The blood is symbolic of guilt. She is feeling
the wrongness of her act. She first mentions
the blood of King Duncan himself saying
‘Yet who would have thought the old man
to have so much blood in him’. Which
reveals what she is mainly feeling guilty
about. She goes on to say ‘What will these
hands ne’er be clean?’ Showing just how
bad she feels, how guilty she knows she is
and how much it’s affecting her.
4. Make a reference to another scene were blood is
mentioned. What is blood symbolic of? (4 marks)
‘Will
all great Neptune’s oceans wash this
blood clean from my hands?’ This quote is
symbolic of guilt because it’s trying to say
that nothing has the power to wash the
blood from Macbeth’s hands, because his
guilt is so great.
Received 3 marks – for 4 connect. How
does is relate to the scene you have been
given?
5. Find an example of a metaphor. (4 marks)
“All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten
this hand.” Because it smell like blood
Received 3 marks
For four why is it metaphorical? Eg: The
metaphor shows Lady Macbeth feels her
guilt has penetrated her so much that it
has a smell. This suggests that it’s
something that is always there lingering,
something she cannot escape.
6. Find an example of irony. (4 marks)
‘What will these hands never be clean?’ This
is ironic because earlier in the play, after
Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth was very
confident that they would very easily get
away with it, she mentioned that ‘a little
water clears us of this deed.’ This line and
Lady Macbeth’s metal state show how
wrong she was and that it would take a lot
more than a little water to wash away her
guilt.
7. What does this reveal about how Lady Macbeth has
changed from the beginning of the play? (10 marks)
At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth could not be
fazed, she was steady and had an ‘in charge’ attitude, she
convinced Macbeth to murder the king for the power of
the Queen and often had to comfort Macbeth when he
broke down. Up until this point in the play I was fair to
assume that Lady Macbeth was a cold and heartless
person and was never fazed by what she had done, but
in this scene we see a different side to her, we see her
true feelings, how vulnerable she is. We see that she is
guilt ridden, sorrowful and slowly falling apart as time
progresses. I this scene she is venerable and unstable so
different from the other images of her that we got.
(8 marks – to improve?)
Short answer questions under
timed conditions
Make sure you are familiar with key scenes before you start
Read question carefully. Underline the instruction Eg: This
scene or another scene? List or Quote?
If you are spending too long on a question skip it and go
back to it.
Answers need to be connected to the scene you have been
given but you are also expected to show knowledge of the
whole text
Discuss ‘big ideas’ where appropriate.
Can you add anything? What did you learn?
This is what you have been
told to study
Important bits
ACT 1:3
ACT 1:5
ACT 2:2
ACT 3: 2
ACT 4:1
ACT 5:1
ACT 5: 5
Do you know what these are?
Vocabulary
Metaphor
Along with having an
understanding of the ‘big
ideas’ covered in the oral,
you will also need to
know the following
language techniques:
Imagery
Soliloquy
Simile
Tragedy
Literal v Figurative
Language
What does this mean for you?
1. How much time have you devoted to studying at home?
2. What were your strengths? What do you feel confident
about?
3. What were your weaknesses? What do you need to
address?
4. How will you do this?