ENG3U
Macbeth
Macbeth - Act 1, Scenes 1-3
Comprehension Questions:
1. What reasons do you think Shakespeare had for starting his play with the three
witches?
2. At the end of Scene 1, the witches chant together that “Fair is foul and foul is fair”
(1.1.11). What do they mean? Why would Shakespeare put this couplet here?
3. Who is Malcolm? What do we find out about him? What is his significance to the
play?
4. In olden times, a king was usually the one who led his men into battle. Although
Duncan is generally considered to be a good king, there are obviously some
people who think otherwise – they have allied with the king of Norway and are
trying to overthrow Duncan. He has sent his soldiers into battle for him. What
does this tell us about Duncan?
5. We learn that in another battle, the Thane (“lord”) of Cawdor has been captured
as a traitor. What does Duncan plan to do with the now-vacant title and why?
6. Why does Macbeth say “so foul and fair a day I have not seen” (1.3.23)? What
other line does this remind you of?
7. Contrast Banquo’s reactions to the witches’ prophecies to Macbeth’s reactions.
8. Macbeth has a recurring image of borrowed clothing and badly fitting garments.
Find 1-2 examples of this in scene 3. What concept of Macbeth himself do these
images support?
9. Many critics have argued that Macbeth had already thought of trying to become
King of Scotland. Give proof of this by quoting at least 2 lines from scene 3.
10. Two views of Macbeth emerge in scenes 2 and 3. Contrast the view of Macbeth in
scene 3 with the Macbeth we hear about in scene 2. Incorporate quotations into
your answer.
Analysis:
When Macbeth learns that the second prophecy of the witches has come true and that he is
now indeed the new Thane of Cawdor, he voices his reaction in an aside that reveals his
personality for the first time; the longest aside in Shakespearean drama, it has the
importance of a soliloquy without having the status of a soliloquy only because Macbeth is
not alone on the stage when he speaks these lines:
Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme. This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor.
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings;
ENG3U
Macbeth
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smothered in surmise; and nothing is
But what is not.
1. Explain the meaning and significance of this speech.
2. What does this speech reveal about Macbeth’s character?
Creative writing
Write a diary entry from Macbeth OR Banquo’s point of view after Scene 3. The diary
entry can be written in modern day language, it should be ¾ page, written, singlespaced.