Name _____________________
Macbeth Study Guide: Acts IV & V
Act IV
1. Act IV begins with a scene of the witches brewing up a nasty charm. When it is
finished, one of the witches remarks that “something wicked this way comes.”
What is the “something wicked” to which she refers? __________________
2. The witches call up three apparitions, or visions, who speak to Macbeth. What
does each tell him? (Don’t tell me what it looks like. Tell me what it says.)
A. The first: ____________________________________
B. The second: _____________________________________
C. The third: __________________________________
3. What further question does Macbeth have for the witches? __________________
4. What is the answer? ______________________________
5. Why is Macbeth encouraged by the messages of the second and third apparitions?
____________________________________________________________
6. What action does Macbeth take in response to the first apparition’s message?
_______________________________________________
7. What does this action reveal about Macbeth’s continued moral decline?
_____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Act V
1. What strange behavior has been noticed in Lady Macbeth?
_________________________
2. To what three specific crimes/events is Lady M. heard to refer?
A. __________________
B. __________________
C. _________________________
3 Who is attacking Macbeth’s castle? ____________________________
4. To what hope does Macbeth still cling? _______________________________
5. What news does Macbeth receive concerning Lady M.? ___________________
Name _____________________
6. How does Macbeth feel about life at this point? _______________________ To
what does he compare it? Cite two specific metaphors from his soliloquy that
begins “Tomorrow, and tomorrow…” 1) ___________________________
2) ___________________________________
7. How does Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane?
_______________________________________________________________
8. How is Macduff “not of woman born”? ______________________________
9. Who kills Macbeth? ___________________________
10. Who becomes king? _______________________
Theme Idea: In the full text of the play, Macbeth says, “Things bad begun make
strong themselves by ill.” In other words, once someone starts on a course of doing
evil, more and more evil will result. How does this idea apply to Macbeth?