The Tragedy of Macbeth
Acts 4-V Test
Act 4 – Multiple Choice
1. A major purpose of Act 4 is to foreshadow events related to:
a. Lady Macbeth’s fate
b. Macduff’s family
c. Macbeth remaining King
d. Malcolm’s future
2. When the witch says, “Something wicked this way comes,” readers know that:
a. the apparitions are about to appear. b. even the witches consider Macbeth evil.
c. the witches’ “master” is approaching. d. the witches are afraid of Macbeth.
3. After visiting the witches, why does Macbeth initially change his mind and decide not
to have Macduff killed?
a. He is reassured by the second apparition.
b. He knows Macduff has fled to England.
c. He believes the witches will protect Macduff.
d. He decides instead to kill Macduff’s wife.
4. In scene 2, Lady Macduff and her children are murdered. What role does this scene
play in the development of the plot?
a. It allows the introduction of several important characters.
b. It emphasizes how ruthless Macabeth has become.
c. It provides a motive for Macduff to leave the country.
d. It represents the witches’ prophecies beginning to come true.
5. Which of the following best describes how Shakespeare portrays Macduff’s son in Act 4?
a. shy and confused
b. naïve and courageous
c. fearful and timid
d. cheerful and outgoing
6. In scene 3, what finally convinces Malcolm that Macduff is loyal?
a. Macduff’s reaction to the murder of his family.
b. Macduff’s reaction to Malcolm’s claim that he doesn’t possess the qualities of a king.
c. Macduff’s professed hatred for Macbeth.
d. Macduff’s refusal to refute Malcolm’s claims of character flaws.
7. What is Malcolm’s primary role in Act 4?
a. to fulfill the witches’ prophecies
b. to bring Macduff news about his family
c. to be established as a strong leader d. to motivate Macduff to return to Scotland
8. Which of the following lines spoken by Malcolm best conveys how he truly feels about
Scotland?
a. “…yet my poor country/Shall have more vices than it had before…”
b. “…were I King,/I should cut off the nobles for their lands…”
c. “…It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash/Is added to her wounds.”
d. “…were I King,/I should cut off the nobles for their lands,…”
9. Which of the following plot developments occurs as a direct result of Macduff’s leaving his
castle and fleeing Scotland?
a. Macduff tries to persuade Malcolm to become king of Scotland.
b. Three apparitions prophesy events in Macbeth’s future.
c. His family is unprotected when Macbeth’s henchmen arrive.
d. Ross follows Macduff to Scotland and tells him bad news.
10. The end of Act 4 foreshadows an important conflict between:
a. Macbeth and Macduff
b. Malcolm and Ross
c. Macbeth and his wife
d. Macduff and Malcolm
Act 5 – Multiple Choice
11. What is the main message of Macbeth in Act 5, scene 1, which includes Lady
Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene?
a. Illness comes to evil people.
b. A guilty conscience is not easily mended.
c. Wives should be forgiven for their husbands’ misdeeds.
d. One is doomed to relive evil deeds.
12. Which of the following helps most to create the eerie atmosphere of scene 1?
a. Lady Macbeth’s desire for a candle b. the watchful gentlewoman
c. the doctor’s note-taking
d. Lady Macbeth’s exit
13. What is the meaning of Lady Macbeth’s symbolic words, “All the perfumes of Arabia
will not sweeten this little hand”?
a. Macbeth will never love her again.
b. The blood will be easily washed away with soap and water.
c. No measure of virtue will undo her guilt.
d. Perfume cannot distract her from her past.
14. In scene 3, what does Macbeth’s continual changing of behavior ultimately show
about his character?
a. he has grown brutal
b. he has remained honorable
c. he has grown timid
d. he has become radical
15. When Macbeth reveals in scene 5 that he has grown impervious to fear and horror, he
is highlighting the play’s theme of:
a. destructiveness of blind ambition.
b. conflict between love and ambition.
c. betrayal of friends and family.
d. senselessness of battle and the brevity of life.
16. At what point does Macbeth begin to realize that he has been tricked by the witches?
a. when he confronts and kills Young Siward
b. when he learns that Birnam Wood is moving toward the castle
c. when he is told that Lady Macbeth is dead
d. when Macduff reveals the details of his birth
17. In Act 5, in what way does Macbeth revert to his former self?
a. He laments the death of his wife.
b. He treats his followers with respect.
c. He fights with courage and skill.
d. He puts other’s interests before his own.
18. Why does Shakespeare have Macbeth display certain admirable traits at the end of the
play?
a. to reinforce the idea that Macbeth is a victim of his own tragic flaw
b. so the audience will realize that Macbeth was deceived by the witches
c. to make Macbeth’s death seem less tragic
d. so the audience will no longer consider Macbeth a villain
19. In Act 5, which of the following represents the resolution of the plot?
a. Lady Macbeth dies.
b. Macbeth kills Young Siward.
c. Macbeth vows to fight.
d. Macduff kills Macbeth.
20. Siward realizes his son died admirably when he discovers:
a. he died fighting.
b. he died at the hands of a traitor.
c. he was stabbed in the back.
d. he was stabbed in the front.
Quotations
a. witches
b. Macbeth
ab. Malcolm ac. Siward
c. Lady Macduff
ad. Messenger
d. Lennox
ae. Doctor
e. Macduff
bc. Lady Macbeth
21. “Fathered he is, and yet he’s fatherless.”
22. “I looked toward Birnam, and anon, me thought, The wood began to move.”
23. “If thou be’st slain and with no stroke of mine, My wife and children’s ghost will
haunt me still.”
24. “Why then, God’s soldier be he!”
25. “Double, double, toil and trouble;”
26. “So thanks to all at once and to each one, Whom we invite to see us crowned at Scone”
27. “I bear a charmed life, which must not yield To one of woman born.”
28. “Remove from her the means of all annoyance.”
29. “What’s done cannot be undone”
30. “’Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word Macduff is fled to England.”
A=True / B=False
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
The second witch’s spirit servant is a cat, Paddock.
The bloody child apparition is a symbol of Macduff at birth.
Macbeth learns through the spirits of the kings that Elizabeth I’s line will continue.
One of Malcolm’s honest fears of becoming king is that he will lust after too many women.
Some of the play’s lines were written to honor the then present king, James I.
When Macbeth hears of the approaching 10,000 soldiers, he immediately becomes
frightened.
When Macbeth realizes he misinterpreted the witches’ warnings, he considers
surrendering.
Macbeth leaves the safety of his castle to fight in the open fields.
Macbeth is eager to fight with Macduff.
Macduff beheads Macbeth and names Malcolm King of Scotland.
Vocabulary – Matching
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
pernicious
judicious
sundry
imtemperance
avarice
credulous
perturbation
pristine
clamorous
harbingers
a. untouched; unspoiled
b. greed
c. miscellaneous; various
d. noisy
e. disorder
ab. evil; wicked
ac. forerunners
ad. tending to believe to readily
ae. showing good judgment
bc. lack of restraint
Completion
51-53. What are the three witches spirit servants?
54-56. What are the three apparitions seen by Macbeth and what does each symbolize?
57-59. What are Malcolm’s three supposed concerns or fears of becoming king?
60. How does Macduff finally convince Malcolm of his sincerity?
61.What does Lady Macbeth talk about when she walks in her sleep?
62. What concerning Lady Macbeth does the doctor fear?
63. Where do the opposing forces plan to meet Malcolm’s army?
64. What term does Macbeth use to describe the witches’ ambiguous speech?
65. How does Macbeth react to his wife’s death?
66. Why does Macbeth station himself and his men inside the castle?
67. What vital information does Macduff provide Macbeth before they battle?
68. What does Macduff do to Macbeth after he kills him?
69. What promises does Malcolm make in his final soliloquy?
70. What about Lady Macbeth is confirmed in Malcolm’s final soliloquy?