Macbeth Selected Scenes Analysis Packet
Name:________________________________________________
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act I, Scene 1
A desert place.
Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches
First Witch
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch
When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
Third Witch
That will be ere the set of sun.
First Witch
Where the place?
Second Witch
Upon the heath.
Third Witch
There to meet with Macbeth.
First Witch
I come, Graymalkin!
Second Witch
Paddock calls.
Third Witch
Anon.
ALL
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
Exeunt
The three witches meet. Each witch would have a familiar
(animal spirit) that would help them carry out evil deeds. A
graymalkin is a gray cat. A paddock is a toad. They will meet
again on the heath (shrubby land).
1. Who are the witches planning to meet?
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act I, Scene 2
A camp near Forres.
[Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Captain]
Duncan
What bloody man is that? He can report,
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state.
Malcolm
This is the sergeant
Who like a good and hardy soldier fought
'Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil
As thou didst leave it.
Captain
1. What do King Duncan and his son Malcolm want
from the wounded soldier? Also, highlight the lines
that helped you figure out the answer.
5
Doubtful it stood;
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together 10
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald-Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him--from the Western Isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
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And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name-Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
20
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix'd his head upon our battlements.
25
Duncan
O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!
Captain
As whence the sun 'gins his reflection
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break,
So from that spring whence comfort seem'd to come
Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark: 30
No sooner justice had with valour arm'd
Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels,
But the Norweyan lord surveying vantage,
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men
Began a fresh assault.
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Duncan
Dismay'd not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Captain
Yes;
As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
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As cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they
2. In your own words, describe what Macbeth does to
the enemy, Macdonwald (lines 19-25). Highlight
relevant lines.
3. How would you characterize Macbeth based on the
Captain’s description? Highlight relevant lines.
4. How did the enemy respond to Macbeth’s actions
(lines 33-35)?
Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,
I cannot tell.
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But I am faint, my gashes cry for help.
Duncan
So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;
They smack of honour both. Go get him surgeons.
[Exit Captain, attended]
Who comes here?
[Enter Ross]
Malcolm
The worthy thane of Ross.
Lennox
What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look
That seems to speak things strange.
Ross
God save the king!
Duncan
Whence camest thou, worthy thane?
Ross
From Fife, great king;
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Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky
And fan our people cold. Norway himself,
With terrible numbers,
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor
The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict; 60
Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof,
Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm.
Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude,
The victory fell on us.
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5. How did the enemy’s reaction affect Macbeth and
Banquo (lines 38-46)? Highlight relevant lines.
6. What does King Duncan think of the wounded
Captain?
50
7. Which side has won the battle?
Duncan
Great happiness!
Ross
That now
Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition:
Nor would we deign him burial of his men
Till he disbursed at Saint Colme's inch
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Ten thousand dollars to our general use.
Duncan
No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive
9. What new honor will Duncan give Macbeth?
our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.
Ross
I'll see it done.
Duncan
What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won.
[Exeunt]
8. What has happened to the traitorous Thane of
Cawdor?
75
10. What literary element is this an example of?
(Remember, Macbeth doesn’t know he is receiving
this honor yet!)
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act I, Scene 3
A heath near Forres.
[Thunder. Enter the three Witches.]
Third Witch
A drum, a drum!
Macbeth doth come.
ALL
The weird sisters, hand in hand,
Posters of the sea and land,
Thus do go about, about:
Thrice to thine and thrice to mine
And thrice again, to make up nine.
Peace! the charm's wound up.
[Enter MACBETH and BANQUO. ]
1. Reread Macbeth’s first line. Where have we
heard this before? What might this line
foreshadow?
The ________________ said this line before.
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This line could foreshadow that Macbeth may
find out information that will both ___________
and _____________ him in the future.
MACBETH
So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
BANQUO
How far is't call'd to Forres? What are these
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So wither'd and so wild in their attire,
_______________ are you? Are you ______________?
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me, 2B. Draw a witch!
By each at once her choppy finger laying
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Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.
MACBETH
Speak, if you can: what are you?
First Witch
All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! 50
2A. How would you describe Banquo’s reaction to
seeing the witches?
Second Witch All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch
3. What three prophecies about Macbeth do the
witches reveal (lines 50-52)?
All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!
Macbeth is the
BANQUO
First Witch
Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear
Things that do sound so fair? I' the name of truth,
Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
55
Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope,
That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not.
If you can look into the seeds of time,
60
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
Your favours nor your hate.
Hail!
Second Witch Hail!
Third Witch
Hail!
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Macbeth will become the
Macbeth will become the
Banquo wants to know if the witches have any
information for him, too.
First Witch
4. What three prophecies about Banquo do the
witches reveal (lines 50-52)?
Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Second Witch Not so happy, yet much happier.
Third Witch
Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!
Banquo will be _______________ than Macbeth and
greater.
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Banquo will not be as _________________ Macbeth,
but will be happier.
First Witch
Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!
MACBETH
_______________________ will become kings.
Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:
By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis;
But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king
75
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence? or why
Macbeth wants to know more details!
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you. 80
[Witches vanish.]
BANQUO
The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,
And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd?
MACBETH
Into the air; and what seem'd corporal melted
As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd!
BANQUO
Were such things here as we do speak about?
Or have we eaten on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner?
MACBETH
Your children shall be kings.
BANQUO
You shall be king.
MACBETH
And thane of Cawdor too: went it not so?
BANQUO
To the selfsame tune and words. Who's here?
[Enter ROSS and ANGUS.]
Banquo will never be ________________ but his
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Banquo and Macbeth talk about what they just saw.
Banquo wonders if they were actually real. Macbeth
wishes they would have stayed longer.
ANGUS
We are sent
To give thee from our royal master thanks;
Only to herald thee into his sight,
Not pay thee.
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ROSS
And, for an earnest of a greater honour,
He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor:
In which addition, hail, most worthy thane!
For it is thine.
BANQUO
What, can the devil speak true?
MACBETH
The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me
In borrow'd robes?
ANGUS
MACBETH
6. What news do Angus and Ross bring for
Macbeth?
Macbeth is also given the title: _______________
of ________________________.
7. How does this fulfill two of the witches’
prophecies?
The witches said Macbeth would become the
__________________ of ____________________
Who was the thane lives yet;
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and the __________________ of
But under heavy judgment bears that life
Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined ____________________.
With those of Norway, or did line the rebel
With hidden help and vantage, or that with both
He labour'd in his country's wrack, I know not;
But treasons capital, confess'd and proved,
Have overthrown him.
[Aside] Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor:
The greatest is behind.
[To ROSS and ANGUS.] Thanks for your pains.
[Aside to BANQUO.] Do you not hope your children shall be kings,
When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me
Promised no less to them?
127
BANQUO
[Aside to Macbeth] That trusted home
Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange:
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray's
In deepest consequence.
Cousins, a word, I pray you.
8. What warning does Banquo give Macbeth?
Be careful, these ____________________ may
be only telling you _________________ of the
truth. They may be ___________________
things from you that will hurt you later.
135
MACBETH
BANQUO
[Aside] Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme. -- I thank you, gentlemen.
[Aside] 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: 140
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:
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.
Look, how our partner's rapt.
150
9. What is Macbeth thinking about (lines 141-148)?
Macbeth starts believing that the witches’
prophecies are _________________. He is
unsure whether he should wait to become king
or _____________ for it.
10. What does Macbeth decide on this matter?
Macbeth decides that he will ______________
and leave his future up to ______________.
MACBETH
[Aside] If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me,
Without my stir.
BANQUO
New honors come upon him,
Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould
But with the aid of use.
MACBETH
[Aside] Come what come may,
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Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
BANQUO
Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.
MACBETH
Give me your favour: my dull brain was wrought
With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains
Are register'd where every day I turn
The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king.
160
[Aside to Banquo] Think upon what hath chanced, and, at more time,
The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak
Macbeth and Banquo decide to talk more about the
Our free hearts each to other.
witches’ prophecies later.
BANQUO
[Aside to Macbeth] Very gladly.
MACBETH
[Aside to Banquo] Till then, enough. Come, friends.
[Exeunt]
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act I, Scene 4
Forres. The palace.
In this scene, Malcolm reports that the former traitorous Thane of Cawdor was executed for his treason. As Macbeth and Banquo
return from battle, King Duncan commends them for their bravery and victory over the Norweyans.
DUNCAN
My plenteous joys,
Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves
In drops of sorrow. Sons, kinsmen, thanes,
And you whose places are the nearest, know
We will establish our estate upon
Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter
The Prince of Cumberland; which honour must
Not unaccompanied invest him only,
But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
On all deservers. From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.
1. What honor does Duncan bestow upon Malcolm?
Malcolm is now the ___________________ of
Cumberland. This means he is the heir to the
_________________.
MACBETH
The rest is labour, which is not used for you:
I'll be myself the harbinger and make joyful
The hearing of my wife with your approach;
So humbly take my leave.
DUNCAN
My worthy Cawdor!
MACBETH
[Aside] The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.
Exit
2. In his aside, Macbeth reveals his private thoughts
only to the audience. What does Macbeth consider?
Macbeth knows that to become king, two
people stand in his way. These two people are
_____________________ who is the king and
_____________________, who is his heir or next
DUNCAN
True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant,
And in his commendations I am fed;
It is a banquet to me. Let's after him,
Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome:
It is a peerless kinsman.
Flourish. Exeunt
in line. By “overleaping the step” Macbeth
really means that he may have to ___________
_______________________________________.
3. Draw a diagram of how close Macbeth is to
becoming king.
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act I, Scene 5
Inverness. A Room in Macbeth’s Castle
[Enter Lady Macbeth, reading a letter.]
LADY MACBETH.
"They met me in the day of
success; and I have learned by the perfecte’st report they
have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I
burned in desire to question them further, they made
themselves air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood
5
rapt in the wonder of it, came missives from the King,
who all-hailed me, 'Thane of Cawdor'; by which title,
before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me
to the coming on of time, with 'Hail, king that shalt
be!' This have I thought good to deliver thee, my
10
dearest partner of greatness; that thou mightst not lose
the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what
greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell."
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promis'd; yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition; but without
The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou'dst have, great Glamis,
That which cries, "Thus thou must do, if thou have it:
And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone." Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valor of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal.
30
…
The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
40
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here;
And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood,
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
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Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, your murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief!
1.
What does Lady Macbeth now know?
Since Lady Macbeth read the _______________
from her husband, she know knows all about the
_________________ prophecies and how they
seem to be coming true.
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2. Paraphrase the stanza to the left by filling in the
blanks below.
Macbeth is the The Thane of Glamis and of Cawdor
20 and shall be the _____________ as promised.
Unfortunately, I fear that Macbeth is too
________________ to be able to gain the thone by
25 __________________, even though he does have
the __________________ to be king.
I will do my best to _________________ him of
what must be done.
3. What does the raven often symbolize?
4. Consider the bolded words and phrases. What is Lady
Macbeth asking the spirits to help her do? Be specific.
Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to make her act more
like a __________. She does not want to feel
_________________ so she will be
_____________________ enough to help her
husband carry out Duncan’s murder.
Come, thick night, 50
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark
To cry, "Hold, hold!"
5. What does Lady Macbeth ask of the night? Why?
Lady Macbeth wants the night to be very ___________
so that she will not be able to see what she is doing
and feel guilty and so that nobody will be able to see
[Enter Macbeth.]
Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor!
Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter!
Thy letters have transported me beyond
This ignorant present, and I feel now
The future in the instant.
the _____________________ of Duncan.
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MACBETH.
My dearest love,
Duncan comes here tonight.
6. Who is coming to visit?
LADY MACBETH.
And when goes hence?
MACBETH.
To-morrow,--as he purposes.
60
LADY MACBETH.
O, never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters:--to beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, 65
But be the serpent under't. He that's coming
Must be provided for: and you shall put
This night's great business into my dispatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.
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MACBETH.
We will speak further.
LADY MACBETH.
Only look up clear;
To alter favor ever is to fear:
Leave all the rest to me.
[Exeunt.]
7. How does Lady Macbeth say her husband should act
when the guests arrive? Why?
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he should act
________________________ so that nobody will
become _______________________ of them.
8. What does Lady Macbeth instruct her husband to do?
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he should let
__________ come up with a murder plan.
9. Does Macbeth agree to murder Duncan at this point?
_________
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act I, Scene 7
[Hautboys. Torches. Enter a Sewer, and divers Servants with dishes and service over the stage. Then enter Macbeth.]
MACBETH.
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly. If the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch,
With his surcease, success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all--here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,-We'd jump the life to come. But in these cases
We still have judgement here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which being taught, return
To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice
To our own lips. He's here in double trust:
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed: then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off:
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubin, hors'd
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind.--I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,
And falls on the other.
[Enter Lady Macbeth.]
How now! what news?
LADY MACBETH.
He has almost supp'd: why have you left the chamber?
MACBETH.
Hath he ask'd for me?
LADY MACBETH.
Know you not he has?
Macbeth argues with himself about whether he should
murder King Duncan.
1. In this scene, Macbeth talks himself out of killing
Duncan. First, he worries that killing the king may have
terrible ___________________________ for himself.
2. Next, Macbeth knows that he currently has a good
relationship with King Duncan. He is Duncan’s
_________________ and his ____________________.
He is also Duncan’s host. Duncan has been a
_______________ king so far and has done nothing
wrong.
3. Macbeth has no real _______________ to kill King
Duncan. The only reason Macbeth would be killing
Duncan is for his own __________________ for power.
MACBETH.
We will proceed no further in this business:
He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.
LADY MACBETH.
Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since?
And wakes it now, to look so green and pale
At what it did so freely? From this time
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valor
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem;
Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would,"
Like the poor cat i' the adage?
MACBETH.
Pr'ythee, peace!
I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none.
LADY MACBETH.
What beast was't, then,
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both:
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now
Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.
MACBETH.
If we should fail?
LADY MACBETH.
We fail!
But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep,-Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey
Soundly invite him, his two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassail so convince
That memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason
4. What decision has Macbeth made?
Macbeth will ____________ murder Duncan.
5. Explain Lady Macbeth’s reaction in your own words.
Lady Macbeth feels __________________ and accuses
her husband of being a _______________________.
6. According to Lady Macbeth, what has Macbeth done?
According to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth has broken a
__________________ to her; however, Macbeth never
actually agreed to the plan.
5. What point is Lady Macbeth trying to make when she
references killing a baby?
Lady Macbeth would do something so extreme like
killing a baby if her husband asked because she
________________ him that much.
7. According to Lady Macbeth, what will ensure they get
away with murder?
They will be able to get away with murder if Macbeth
can be ______________________ and not scared.
A limbec (drink) only: when in swinish sleep
Their drenched natures lie as in a death,
What cannot you and I perform upon
The unguarded Duncan? what not put upon
His spongy officers; who shall bear the guilt
Of our great quell?
MACBETH.
Bring forth men-children only;
For thy undaunted mettle should compose
Nothing but males. Will it not be receiv'd,
When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two
Of his own chamber, and us'd their very daggers,
That they have don't?
LADY MACBETH.
Who dares receive it other,
As we shall make our griefs and clamor roar
Upon his death?
MACBETH.
I am settled, and bend up
Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.
Away, and mock the time with fairest show:
False face must hide what the false heart doth know.
8. What is Lady Macbeth’s plan to carry out the murder?
Lady Macbeth will get the guards _______________.
While the guards are asleep, Macbeth will take the
guards’ ________________ and stab King Duncan to
death. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will then take the
daggers and put them back on the guards so the
guards will be ________________ for the crime. The
couple will _________ so they will seem like they
actually feel sad that the king is dead.
9. Does Macbeth agree to Lady Macbeth’s plan to kill King
Duncan?
________
[Exeunt.]
10. By the end of Act I, what has Lady Macbeth accomplished? What has Macbeth decided? What do their words/actions
reveal about each of their characters?
MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
Important Actions
Important Actions
One Important Quote
One Important Quote
What do we learn about Macbeth’s character (his personality,
values, what kind of person he is)?
What do we learn about Lady Macbeth’s character (her
personality, values, what kind of person she is)?
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act II, Scene 2
The same.
Enter LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold;
What hath quench'd them hath given me fire.
Hark! Peace!
It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman,
Which gives the stern'st good-night. He is about it:
The doors are open; and the surfeited grooms
Do mock their charge with snores: I have drugg'd
their possets,
That death and nature do contend about them,
Whether they live or die.
MACBETH
[Within] Who's there? what, ho!
LADY MACBETH
Alack, I am afraid they have awaked,
And 'tis not done. The attempt and not the deed
Confounds us. Hark! I laid their daggers ready;
He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done't.
Enter 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.
Looking on his hands
1. What has Lady Macbeth done? What
emotions does she display?
Lady Macbeth has gotten the guards
drunk so now they are ___________________.
Lady Macbeth is feeling __________________.
2. What does Lady Macbeth fear?
Lady Macbeth worries that the guards might
______________________.
3. What excuse does Lady Macbeth give
for being unable to kill Duncan herself?
Duncan looked like her ___________________.
4. What does Macbeth see on his hands?
LADY MACBETH
A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.
MACBETH
There's one did laugh in's sleep, and one cried
'Murder!'
That they did wake each other: I stood and heard them:
But they did say their prayers, and address'd them
Again to sleep.
LADY MACBETH
There are two lodged together.
MACBETH
One cried 'God bless us!' and 'Amen' the other;
As they had seen me with these hangman's hands.
Listening their fear, I could not say 'Amen,'
When they did say 'God bless us!'
LADY MACBETH
Consider it not so deeply.
MACBETH
But wherefore could not I pronounce 'Amen'?
I had most need of blessing, and 'Amen'
Stuck in my throat.
LADY MACBETH
These deeds must not be thought
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.
MACBETH
Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more!
Macbeth does murder sleep', the innocent sleep,
Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care,
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast,-LADY MACBETH
What do you mean?
MACBETH
Still it cried 'Sleep no more!' to all the house:
'Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor
Shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more.'
LADY MACBETH
Who was it that thus cried? 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.
5. What is Macbeth’s mental state at this
point if he can’t say “Amen?”
Macbeth is feeling ____________________.
6. What is Lady Macbeth’s warning to her
husband?
Lady Macbeth warns her husband not to ____________
about the crime so he doesn’t go crazy.
7. What may be the meaning of the lines
“Macbeth shall sleep no more” and “Glamis
hath murder’d sleep?”
Macbeth will not be able to ______________ or feel
peace anymore because he has committed murder.
Why did you bring these daggers from the place?
They must lie there: go carry them; and smear
The sleepy grooms with blood.
8. What mistake in the plans has Macbeth
made?
Macbeth forgets to put the _____________________
back on the guards.
MACBETH
I'll go no more:
I am afraid to think what I have done;
Look on't again I dare not.
9. Why won’t Macbeth put the daggers back?
Macbeth feels too ________________ to go back.
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
10. What does Lady Macbeth say about fearing the
dead? What does she suggest about Macbeth? What
is Lady Macbeth going to do?
Lady Macbeth says that you should _______ fear the
dead because they cannot ___________ you. She
suggests that Macbeth is acting like a ______________.
Lady Macbeth will put the ________________ back.
MACBETH
Whence is that knocking?
How is't with me, when every noise appalls 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 incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
Re-enter LADY MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
My hands are of your colour; but I shame
To wear a heart so white.
Knocking within
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.
Knocking within
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.
Knocking within
Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would (wish) thou couldst!
Exeunt
11. What does Macbeth notice about his hands?
What does his statement about the ocean reveal?
Macbeth says that all the ocean water could never wash
the _____________ from his hands. Instead, the ocean
would turn the color, _______. This statement reveals
that Macbeth feels ______________ for killing Duncan.
12. What does Lady Macbeth accuse her husband
of when she talks about the color of her hands?
Lady Macbeth mentions that she also helped ________
King Duncan, but she does not feel ________________.
13. What does Lady Macbeth say will help them feel
better?
They should _______________ their hands and not
________________ about the murder.
14. How does Macbeth feel about his participation in
the Duncan’s murder?
Macbeth wishes that ____________________________
_____________________________________________.
Scene Analysis Macbeth Act II, Scene 3
Macbeth’s Castle
Lady Macduff: The night has been unruly: where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death,
And prophesying with accents terrible
Of dire combustion and confused events
New hatch'd to the woeful time: the obscure bird
Clamour'd the livelong night: some say, the earth
Was feverous and did shake.
Macduff: O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart
Cannot conceive nor name thee!
Confusion now hath made his masterpiece!
Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope
The Lord's anointed temple, and stole thence
The life o' the building!
1. Strange things have happened tonight.
Our chimneys were blown down by strong
____________. We could hear
____________________ and bird shrieking.
There was even an earth_____________!
2. I am scared to say that someone has
____________________ the king!
At some point, Macbeth sneaks to Duncan’s room and kills the
guards so they won’t be able to tell what happened. Soon, the
men discover the bloody guards, but they don’t understand how
the suspected murderers have died. Macbeth confesses to killing
the guards.
Macbeth: O, yet I do repent me of my fury,
That I did kill them.
Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious,
Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man:
The expedition my violent love
Outrun the pauser, reason. Here lay Duncan,
His silver skin laced with his golden blood;
And his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature
For ruin's wasteful entrance: there, the murderers,
Steep'd in the colours of their trade, their daggers
Unmannerly breech'd with gore: who could refrain,
That had a heart to love, and in that heart
Courage to make 's love known?
3. When I saw my king all dead and bloody, I
felt _________________ and new I had to
show my ________________ for the king
and kill the murderers!
4. If you _________________the king like I
do, you would do the same thing!
Banquo: Fears and scruples shake us:
In the great hand of God I stand; and thence
Against the undivulged pretence I fight
Of treasonous malice.
Macduff: And so do I.
All: So all.
Macbeth: Let's briefly put on manly readiness,
And meet i' the hall together.
All: Well contented.
[Exeunt all but Malcolm and Donalbain.]
The men realize that someone hungry for
power must have hired the guards to kill
the king. Banquo and all the men pledge
to find out who the murdeerr is and bring
him to justice!
Malcolm: What will you do? Let's not consort with them:
To show an unfelt sorrow is an office
Which the false man does easy. I'll to England.935
Donalbain: To Ireland, I; our separated fortune
Shall keep us both the safer: where we are,
There's daggers in men's smiles: the near in blood,
The nearer bloody.
[Exeunt]
Scene Summary: Macbeth Act II, Scene 4
brothers
eat
5. The king’s sons will not stay around with
everyone else because one of them could be
the __________________________.
Malcolm will head to ____________________
and Donalbain will go to _________________
so they can stay safe from the killer(s).
Outside Macbeth’s Castle
Word Bank
killed
night
refuses
strange
Malcolm and Donalbain have left Scotland because they fear that they will be ________________
next. The nobility of Scotland believe that the _______________ may have been behind their father’s
murder. Since Malcolm, the current heir to the throne, is gone and a suspect, Macbeth will be next in line
as king. In this scene, we learn of more ______________ events that have been happening since Duncan’s
death. It is so dark during the daytime that it looks like ______________. An owl kills a falcon and King
Duncan’s horses break out of their stalls and begin to ________ each other. Macduff ________________ to
go to Scone to see Macbeth be crowned king.
Making Inferences:
1. What can we infer (tell) about Macduff if he is refusing to see Macbeth be crowned king?
2. Weather and nature are acting very strangely and unnaturally (pathetic fallacy). What might this
foreshadow about Macbeth’s rule as king?
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act III, Scene 1
Line from Macbeth
BANQUO:
Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and, I fear,
Thou play'dst most foully for't: yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be the root and father
Of many kings. If there come truth from them-As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine-Why, by the verities on thee made good,
May they not be my oracles as well,
And set me up in hope? But hush! no more.
MACBETH:
To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus.
MACBETH:
Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be feared. 'Tis much he
dares,
And to that dauntless temper of his mind
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety.
MACBETH:
There is none but he
Whose being I do fear, and under him
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. He chid the sisters
When first they put the name of king upon me
And bade them speak to him. Then, prophetlike,
They hailed him father to a line of kings.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
And put a barren scepter in my grip,
Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding.
MACBETH:
If ’t be so,
For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered;
Put rancors in the vessel of my peace
Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!
Meaning/Translation
1. Macbeth has everything now. He is even the
_______________, just as the witches have promised. I fear
that he has gained power by ____________________. If
what the witches said about Macbeth came
__________________, then maybe there is
_________________ that my _____________ will become
king someday.
2. To be the _______________ means nothing if I don’t feel
_________________.
3. I fear Banquo for the following reasons:



4. The only person I fear is _____________________.
Banquo was skeptical of the witches when they said I would
be _______________, but then asked them to
________________ to him. The witches said he would
father many _________________, while I would never have
any _________________ to take over when I’m gone.
5. If the witches are correct, then I have killed
____________________ only to help Banquo’s
___________________ to become king in the future!
Macbeth then hires two poor men to murder Banquo and Fleance. Macbeth convinces them that Banquo is the reason
for all of their troubles and they should take revenge.
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act III, Scene 2
Line from Macbeth
MACBETH:
We have scorched the snake, not killed it.
She’ll close and be herself whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth.
But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds
suffer,
Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep
In the affliction of these terrible dreams
That shake us nightly. 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. Duncan is in his grave.
After life’s fitful fever he sleeps well.
Treason has done his worst; nor steel nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing
Can touch him further.
MACBETH:
Oh, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!
Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives.
Meaning/Translation
1. We have only temporarily fixed our problems. We have
LADY MACBETH:
But in them nature’s copy’s not eterne.
3. They will not __________________ forever.
MACBETH:
There’s comfort yet; they are assailable.
Ere the bat hath flown his cloistered flight,
ere to black Hecate’s summons
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.
4. That is comforting to know. Before the end of tonight, they
will be ___________________.
LADY MACBETH:
What’s to be done?
5. What are you going to do?
MACBETH:
Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale. Light thickens, and the crow
Makes wing to th' rooky wood.
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.
Thou marvel’st at my words: but hold thee still.
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.
So, prithee, go with me.
6. Right now, you do not need to ____________________.
killed Duncan, but _____________________ still poses a
danger to us. The world will fall apart before I will let Banquo
threaten me and haunt my ______________________. It is
better to be __________________ than to keep staying
_________________ at night. We have done the worst thing
to Duncan by _____________________ him. Now, nothing
else can hurt him further, not poison, rebellion, or anything
else.
2. I am feeling _____________________ because I know that
_________________and___________________are still alive.
Come, night, and help hide the murder of Banquo, who
makes me feel _____________. The good creatures of the
day begin to fall asleep, while the predators of the night begin
to search for their _______________. You seem surprised by
my words, but don’t question me.
Act III, Scene 3: The murderers are successful at killing Banquo, but Fleance escapes.
Scene Summary Macbeth Act III, Scene 4
In this scene, Banquo is noticeably absent from the feast. Only Macbeth and Lady Macbeth know that he has been killed.
Suddenly, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost. None of the other guests can see the ghost. Lady Macbeth does her best to try to cover
for her husband’s strange behavior. Seeing Banquo’s ghost most likely represents Macbeth’s feelings of _____________ because
he___________________________________.
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act IV, Scene 1
MACBETH
Tell me, thou unknown power,--
A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron and the witches.
Thunder. First Apparition: an armed head
First Apparition
Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff;
Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.
MACBETH
Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks;
Thou hast harp'd my fear aright: but one
word more,--
1A. The first apparition shown to Macbeth is: “Beware of
___________________________.”
1B. Macbeth thinks: “I knew I was right to
__________________ him!
Thunder. Second Apparition: A bloody child
Second Apparition
Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!
MACBETH
Had I three ears, I’d hear thee.
Second Apparition
Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.
MACBETH
Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee?
But yet I'll make assurance double sure,
And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live;
That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies,
And sleep in spite of thunder.
2A . The second apparition revealed to Macbeth is: “none of
a ____________________ born shall __________________
Macbeth.”
2B. Macbeth thinks, “Do I really need to fear
__________________ if no man can harm me?”
Thunder. Third Apparition: a Child crowned, with a tree in his
hand
What is this
That rises like the issue of a king,
And wears upon his baby-brow the round
And top of sovereignty?
ALL
Listen, but speak not to't.
Third Apparition
Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care
Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are:
Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him.
3A. The third apparition revealed to Macbeth is: “Macbeth
shall not be defeated unless the ___________________
moves towards Macbeth’s castle, Dunsinane.
MACBETH
That will never be
Who can impress the forest, bid the tree
Unfix his earth-bound root? Sweet bodements! good!
Rebellion's head, rise never till the wood
Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth
Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath
To time and mortal custom. Yet my heart
Throbs to know one thing: tell me, if your art
Can tell so much: shall Banquo's issue ever
Reign in this kingdom?
ALL
Seek to know no more.
3B. Macbeth thinks: “Great! The forest cannot
__________________ so I can relax and not worry
about being defeated!
4. Macbeth-“I still need to know one thing: will
Banquo’s ___________ ever become king?”
The Witches- “You don’t want to know!”
MACBETH
I will be satisfied: deny me this,
And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know.
Why sinks that cauldron? and what noise is this?
ALL
Show his eyes, and grieve his heart;
Come like shadows, so depart!
The Witches- “Let’s make him feel bad and answer his
question!”
A show of Eight Kings, the last with a glass in his hand;
GHOST OF BANQUO following
MACBETH
Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo: down!
Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls. And thy hair,
Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first.
A third is like the former. Filthy hags!
Why do you show me this? A fourth! Start, eyes!
What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?
Another yet! A seventh! I'll see no more:
And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass
Which shows me many more; and some I see
That two-fold balls and treble scepters carry:
Horrible sight! Now, I see, 'tis true;
For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me,
And points at them for his.
5. Macbeth sees a line of #____ kings that look like
Banquo. The last holds a _______________ which
reveals ______________________________________.
Apparitions vanish
What, is this so?
First Witch
Ay, sir, all this is so: but why
Stands Macbeth thus amazedly?
Macbeth- “Is this real?”
First Witch- Yes, why are you so surprised?
6. Should Macbeth have been surprised by this last
apparition? Why or why not?
Scene Analysis Macbeth Act IV, Scene 2
Line from Macbeth
LADY MACDUFF:
What had he done to make him fly the land?
ROSS:
You must have patience, madam.
LADY MACDUFF:
He had none.
His flight was madness. When our actions do not,
Our fears do make us traitors.
ROSS:
You know not
Whether it was his wisdom or his fear.
LADY MACDUFF:
Wisdom! To leave his wife, to leave his babes,
His mansion and his titles in a place
From whence himself does fly? He loves us not;
He wants the natural touch. For the poor wren,
The most diminutive of birds, will fight,
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl.
All is the fear and nothing is the love,
As little is the wisdom, where the flight
So runs against all reason.
ROSS:
My dearest coz,
I pray you school yourself. But for your husband,
He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows
The fits o' th' season. I dare not speak much further…
Meaning/Translation
Why has my husband, Macduff, ___________________?
Be patient.
Macduff was not patient. He is a traitor to his family, and he
left out of ____________________.
You don’t know why he left.
He must not _______________ his family if he would leave
like that. A mother would never leave her children. He left
out of fear.
Calm down. There is a reason why your husband left that
you don’t know about.
Imagine you were in Lady Macduff’s position. Her husband,
Macduff, has left her and her children while a killer is on the
loose, and he has not explained why (probably because
women were kept out of such matters).
What emotions would you be feeling? What would you say
or do when you see Macduff again?
Scene Analysis Macbeth Act IV, Scene 3
Macduff has come to England to seek out Malcolm and convince him to return home and take his rightful place as king.
Malcolm is unsure if he can trust Macduff so he decides to test him by telling a bunch a lies about himself. (If Macduff is
truly concerned about the kingdom, he will not want an unvirtuous and immoral Malcolm to return.)
Line from Macbeth
MALCOLM:
It is myself I mean, in whom I know
All the particulars of vice so grafted
That, when they shall be opened, black Macbeth
Will seem as pure as snow, and the poor state
Esteem him as a lamb, being compared
With my confineless harms.
MALCOLM:
I grant him bloody,
Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful,
Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin
That has a name. But there’s no bottom, none,
In my voluptuousness. Your wives, your daughters,
Your matrons, and your maids could not fill up
The cistern of my lust, and my desire
All continent impediments would o'erbear
That did oppose my will. Better Macbeth
Than such an one to reign.
MALCOLM:
With this there grows
In my most ill-composed affection such
A stanchless avarice that, were I king,
I should cut off the nobles for their lands,
Desire his jewels and this other’s house.
And my more-having would be as a sauce
To make me hunger more, that I should forge
Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal,
Destroying them for wealth.
MALCOLM:
But I have none. The king-becoming graces,
As justice, verity, temperance, stableness,
Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness,
Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude…
MACDUFF:
Fit to govern?
No, not to live.—O nation miserable,
With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptered,
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,
Since that the truest issue of thy throne
By his own interdiction stands accursed,
And does blaspheme his breed?—Thy royal father
Was a most sainted king. The queen that bore thee,
Oftener upon her knees than on her feet,
Died every day she lived. Fare thee well!
These evils thou repeat’st upon thyself
Have banished me from Scotland.—O my breast,
Thy hope ends here!
Meaning/Translation
1. I have so many faults and weaknesses that I will make
Macbeth seem as pure and sinless as _________________.
He will be thought of as being sweet as a ______________
compared to me and the evil I will bring.
2. I will admit that _______________________ is greedy,
deceitful, malicious, and extremely sinful, but there is no
end to my __________________ for women. All of your
wives and daughters will not be ______________________
from me and my desires. Nobody will be able to stop me.
It is better for Macbeth to be king than me.
3. I am also extremely greedy. I will _________________
land from the nobles. I will steal _____________________
and houses. As I acquire more wealth I will be hungry for
more. I will start unjust __________________ just to
destroy good and loyal men for their wealth.
4. I have no good qualities. I am __________ just, truthful,
understanding, stable, merciful, humble, devoted, patient, or
courageous.
5. You are not fit to ____________________, let alone fit to
govern Scotland. When will Scotland see better days again? The
heir to the throne is a disgrace to his
________________________. His father was a
_______________________ king, and his mother
___________________________ every day of her life. I cannot
return to Scotland now. There is no ___________________ left.
MALCOLM:
Macduff, this noble passion,
Child of integrity, hath from my soul
Wiped the black scruples, reconciled my thoughts
To thy good truth and honor.
I put myself to thy direction and
Unspeak mine own detraction, here abjure
The taints and blames I laid upon myself,
For strangers to my nature. I am yet
Unknown to woman, never was forsworn,
Scarcely have coveted what was mine own,
At no time broke my faith, would not betray
The devil to his fellow, and delight
No less in truth than life. My first false speaking
Was this upon myself. What I am truly,
Is thine and my poor country’s to command.
Line from Macbeth
ROSS: Your castle is surprised, your wife and babes
Savagely slaughtered. To relate the manner,
Were, on the quarry of these murdered deer
To add the death of you.
MACDUFF: My children too?
6. I take back all of the lies I said about myself because
none of those things are really _________________ about
my character. I have __________________ been with a
woman. I have never told a _____________, and I am not
greedy.
I would never betray anyone. This is the first time I have
told a ______________ in my life. I am a person who is
ready to serve you and my ______________________.
Meaning/Translation
Your castle has been attacked and your whole family has
been ___________________________.
My children too?
Yes, everyone.
ROSS: Wife, children, servants, all that could be found.
MACDUFF: And I must be from thence!
My wife killed too?
He has no children. All my pretty ones?
Did you say all? O hell-kite! All?
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?
MALCOLM: Dispute it like a man.
MACDUFF: I shall do so,
But I must also feel it as a man.
I cannot but remember such things were
That were most precious to me. Did heaven look on,
And would not take their part? Sinful Macduff,
They were all struck for thee! Naught that I am,
Not for their own demerits, but for mine,
Fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now.
Oh, I could play the woman with mine eyes
And braggart with my tongue! But, gentle heavens,
Cut short all intermission. Front to front
Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself.
Within my sword’s length set him; if he ’scape,
Heaven forgive him too.
Macbeth has _______ children, but he has killed all of
mine.
Fight it like a man and seek ____________________.
I will, but I must pause and ___________________ for a
moment. It is ________ fault that they are dead.
I am ready to go to war against Macbeth. I plan to kill him
with my own ___________________.
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act V, Scene 1
Read the following lines excerpted from Act V, Scene 1. Pay attention to what Lady Macbeth and her Gentlewoman
(servant/lady in waiting) reveal about Lady Macbeth’s current state of mind in this scene.
Line from Macbeth
GENTLEWOMAN:
Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her
rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her,
unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write
upon ’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return
to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.
She has light by her continually. 'Tis her command.
It is an accustomed action with her to seem thus
washing her hands. I have known her continue in
this a quarter of an hour.
LADY MACBETH:
Yet here’s a spot.
Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, ’tis
time to do ’t. Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier,
and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none
can call our power to account?—Yet who would have
thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?
The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is
she now? What, will these hands ne’er be clean? No
more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that You mar all with
this starting.
Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes
of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh,
Oh!
Meaning/Translation
1. List some of Lady Macbeth’s strange night-time habits:




2. What does Lady Macbeth think she sees on her hands?
What does this symbolize?
3. All of the __________________ in Arabia can’t take away the
smell of blood from my hands. I will never stop feeling
________________________.
Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. Look not
so pale.—I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he
cannot come out on ’s grave.
4. Who did Lady Macbeth once say these lines to and why?
To bed, to bed. There’s knocking at the gate. Come,
come, come, come. Give me your hand. What’s done
cannot be undone.—To bed, to bed, to bed!
5. Underline the key phrase in these lines, and then restate it in
your own words below.
DOCTOR:
Foul whisp'rings are abroad. Unnatural deeds
Do breed unnatural troubles. Infected minds
To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets.
More needs she the divine than the physician.
God, God forgive us all! Look after her,
Remove from her the means of all annoyance,
And still keep eyes upon her. So, good night.
My mind she has mated, and amazed my sight.
I think, but dare not speak.
6. Paraphrase the doctor’s evaluation of Lady Macbeth.
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act V, Scene 5
Line from Macbeth
MACBETH:
Hang out our banners on the outward walls.
The cry is still “They come!” Our castle’s strength
Will laugh a siege to scorn. Here let them lie
Till famine and the ague eat them up.
Were they not forced with those that should be
ours,
We might have met them dareful, beard to beard,
And beat them backward home.
SEYTON:
The queen, my lord, is dead.
MACBETH:
She should have died hereafter.
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
MESSENGER:
As I did stand my watch upon the hill,
I looked toward Birnam, and anon methought
The wood began to move.
MACBETH:
If thou speak’st false,
Upon the next tree shall thou hang alive
Till famine cling thee. If thy speech be sooth,
I care not if thou dost for me as much.
I pull in resolution and begin
To doubt th' equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth. “Fear not, till Birnam wood
Do come to Dunsinane”; and now a wood
Comes toward Dunsinane.—Arm, arm, and out!—
If this which he avouches does appear,
There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here.
I 'gin to be aweary of the sun,
And wish th' estate o' th' world were now undone.—
Ring the alarum-bell!—Blow, wind! Come, wrack!
At least we’ll die with harness on our back.
Meaning/Translation
1. The enemy keeps coming, but our castle is so
_______________________________. Let the enemy try to
seize us. They will be destroyed by
______________________________ as they attempt. We could
have kept fighting on the battlefield, but too many of our former
men have _________________ us to fight for the enemy.
2. Lady Macbeth is _______________________.
3. I wish Lady Macbeth would have died ____________________
so I actually would have time to _____________________ her.
Life is now _____________________ without her.
4. As I was standing watch, I saw __________________________
____________________________________________________
5. If you are _________________________, I will kill you.
I am beginning to fear that the witches have _______________to
me. If this is the case, I will leave my castle and ______________
the enemy.
Scene Analysis: Macbeth Act V, Scene 8
Line from Macbeth
MACBETH:
Why should I play the Roman fool and die
On mine own sword? Whiles I see lives, the gashes
Do better upon them.
MACDUFF:
Turn, hellhound, turn!
MACBETH:
Of all men else I have avoided thee.
But get thee back. My soul is too much charged
With blood of thine already.
MACDUFF:
I have no words.
My voice is in my sword. Thou bloodier villain
Than terms can give thee out!
MACBETH:
Thou losest labor.
As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air
With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed.
Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests;
I bear a charmèd life, which must not yield
To one of woman born.
MACDUFF:
Despair thy charm,
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb
Untimely ripped.
MACBETH:
Accursèd be that tongue that tells me so,
For it hath cowed my better part of man!
And be these juggling fiends no more believed,
That palter with us in a double sense,
That keep the word of promise to our ear,
And break it to our hope. I’ll not fight with thee.
MACDUFF:
Then yield thee, coward,
And live to be the show and gaze o' th' time.
We’ll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,
Painted on a pole, and underwrit,
“Here may you see the tyrant.”
MACBETH:
I will not yield,
To kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet,
And to be baited with the rabble’s curse.
Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane,
And thou opposed, being of no woman born,
Yet I will try the last. Before my body
I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff,
And damned be him that first cries, “Hold, enough!”
Meaning/Translation
I will keep fighting. I will not commit suicide.
Turn around!
1. You are the only man I have avoided. But you should
_____________________. I have already done enough harm to
you by _____________________ your family.
2. I have nothing to _____________ to you. My _____________
will do the talking for me. You are too evil for words.
3. You are ________________________ your time. Trying to kill
me is a useless effort because I cannot be killed by a man
________________ of __________________.
4. I was _____________________ from my mother’s womb so I
am not truly of a woman born!
5. Curse the truth! The evil witches have tricked me with words
that have _______________________ meanings. I will not
___________________ with you!
6. Then ________________ up, you coward! We can lock you up
like you are a in a zoo or freak show. We’ll put a sign up so
everyone knows you are a ________________________.
7. I will not __________________________ or bow down to
_________________________. Even though the
____________________ did move and you are ___________
born of woman, I will fight until the ____________. I am ready
to fight. Damn the first one of us who ________________up.