ENG 3U1: Macbeth – Acts I to III Test
Total:
/30 = _____% = _______
Name: ___________________________
Part A – Multiple Choice (18 marks)
Choose the most correct response to the following questions.
1. The former Thane of Cawdor was
(a) Duncan’s nephew
(b) Macbeth’s brother
(c) a traitor
(d) an equivocator
2. The play is set in
(a) Norway
(b) Scotland
(c) Ireland
(d) England
3. Duncan’s sons are:
(a) Macduff and Malcolm
(b) Lennox and Ross
4. The murdered Duncan is first discovered by
(a) Ross
(b) Lennox
(c) Malcolm and Donalbain
(d) Ross and Donald
(c) Malcolm
(d) Macduff
5. Which of the following is not one of the witches’ prophesies?
(a)
Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor
(b)
Macbeth will be king
(c)
Macbeth will kill the king
(d)
Banquo will be the father of kings
6. "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No. This my hand will rather the multitudinous
seas incarnating making the green one red."
(a) This is an example of personification
(c) This is an example of alliteration
(b) This is an example of metaphor
(d) This is an example of hyperbole
7. The porter scene is used to
(a) provide background information to Macduff
(b) provide comic relief
(c) foreshadow the death of Duncan
(d) create suspense
8. Who warns, “Where we are, there are daggers in men’s smiles”?
(a) Donaldbain
(b) Banquo
(c) Macduff
(d) Malcolm
9. On the night of Duncan’s murder, Macbeth sees
(a) a dagger
(b) the witches
(c) a ghost
(d) the witches’ cave
10. Who does Macbeth instruct the murderers to kill?
(a) Duncan
(b) Banquo and Fleance
(c) Macduff
(d) Fleance and Malcolm
11. How does Lady Macbeth appeal to her husband to bring him out of his hallucinations during the banquet scene?
(a) she pretends to faint
(c) she questions his manhood
(b) she threatens to leave him
(d) she slaps him
12. How is the murder plot of Banquo and his son unsuccessful?
(a) the murderers decide to expose Macbeth’s plan
(b) Banquo survives
(c) Fleance escapes
13. Who does Macbeth decide to visit at the end of Act III?
(a) the witches
(b) Macduff’s children
(d) the murderers
(c) King Edward
14. By the end of Act III, what change is apparent in the character of Macbeth?
(a) greater power in his relationship with his wife
(b) moral deterioration
(c) controlled by his fear
(d) all of the above
15. “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown. And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, thence to be wrenched with an
unlineal hand.” The foregoing underlined words all refer to:
a) Macbeth's mental torment following the death of Duncan.
b) Macbeth's belief that he’s unable to accomplish greatness as king.
c) the witches' prophecy that Banquo's descendants would be kings.
d) Macbeth's suspicions that his subjects did not respect him.
16. “And often times to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles
to betray's in deepest consequence.” In this speech, Banquo warns Macbeth that:
(a) it is sometimes good for a man to suffer after he sins
(b) the witches will expect to be rewarded for their truths
(c) the witches will betray Macbeth by telling him what he wants to hear.
(d) the witches might speak truthfully and bestow small favours in order to cause their downfall
17. Macbeth reveals his reluctance to kill Duncan in all of the following except:
(a) "Bloody instruments ... return to plague the inventor."
(b) "I am his kinsman and his subject."
(c) "As his host ... should against his murderer shut the door."
(d) "If it were done ... then 'twere well it were done quickly."
18. "Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here."
(a) These words are said by the witches
(c) These words are said by Hecate
(b) These words are said by Lady Macbeth
(d) These words are said by Macbeth
Part B – Character Identification (12 marks)
In the space provided, identify the appropriate character based on his/her description.
1.
_____________________
says, "A little water clears us of these deeds."
2.
_____________________
“imperfect speakers” who inspire greater ambition in Macbeth
3.
_____________________
believes “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.”
4.
_____________________
the Prince of Cumberland; is suspected of murder when he flees to England
5.
_____________________
ironically the king’s “most valiant cousin”
6.
_____________________
tells Macbeth, “… I fear thou play’dst most foully for’t.”
7.
_____________________
plans to use “illusions” to “draw [Macbeth] on to his confusion.”
8.
_____________________
“does murder sleep”
9.
_____________________
“the worm” whose future threatens Macbeth’s reign as king
10.
_____________________
greets Macduff at the castle gate on the morning after Duncan’s murder
11.
_____________________
“Is gone to pray the holy King, upon his aid, to wake Northumberland and
warlike Siward [to] prepare for some attempt of war.”
12.
___________________
tells his old man that “Duncan’s horses [ate] each other” after the king’s
murder.
Part C – Quotation Recognition (2x5=10 marks)
Choose two of the quotations, and for each:
(i) identify the speaker, (ii) describe its context (what is happening), (iii) and explain its significance.
A. “...yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch to nearest way...”
B. “Better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy.”
C. “Thou hast it now – King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the Weird Women promised, and I fear
Thou play’dst most foully for it.”
Part D – Short Answer (15 marks)
Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. What purpose do the witches serve in Macbeth? (3)
2. Identify two reasons why Macbeth wants to kill Banquo. Explain which reason is most valid (4)
3.
Read the Attached Passage and complete the following:
(a) What is the purpose of this scene? (2)
(b) Identify and explain the effectiveness of irony or pathetic fallacy or imagery in this scene. (3)
(c) Paraphrase Lady Macbeth’s speech – the lines in bold type. (3)
The Attached Passage
Enter Macbeth
LADY MACBETH
My husband!
MACBETH
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.
MACBETH
As I descended?
LADY MACBETH
Ay.
MACBETH
Hark! Who lies i' the second chamber?
LADY MACBETH
Donalbain.
MACBETH
This is a sorry sight.
[Holding up his bloody hands.]
LADY MACBETH
A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.
…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.
Exit. Knocking within.
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.
Enter Lady Macbeth.
LADY MACBETH
My hands are of your colour; but I shame
To wear a heart so white. [Knock.]
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. [Knock.]
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.
MACBETH
To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself. [Knock.]
Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst!
Exeunt.