Macbeth, Act III
Name ________________________
Challenge yourself with this assignment. Correctly answer any 5 questions for a C.
Answer any 7 for a B. Answer all 10 for an A! You may email Mrs. Shafer if you would
like to discuss or get help with any ONE question, or, come to Student Support Center,
Room 1302 during Period 6 to discuss with me. Due: Friday, December 3
1. Thou has it now – King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, / As the Weird Women promised,
and I fear/ Thou played’st most foully for ‘t.
Who says these lines, to whom, and what do they reveal about the speaker’s state
of mind?
2. In Scene i, Macbeth asks Banquo at least four times about his plans for the day.
Knowing what you do about Banquo’s fate, why do you think Macbeth is doing
this?
3. Find the best line in Act III Scene 1 that indicates Macbeth is afraid of Banquo.
Explain your choice.
4. “If’t be so,/ For Banquo’s issue have I filed [defiled] my mind;/ For them the
gracious Duncan have I murder’d…”
A. Who is the “them” Macbeth refers to in this line? (Scene 1, see lines 60-63)
B. What adjective would you use to describe Macbeth, based on these lines?
Explain your choice.
5. How does Macbeth insult the murderers’ manhood by comparing them to dogs?
(see his long speech to “First Murderer”)
6. Challenge question: In Act III Scene 2 we see that Macbeth is determined to keep
killing while Lady Macbeth may be having a change of heart. Find one line for
each character to support this observation. Copy the two lines down and then
‘translate’ into your own words.
7. What happens to Fleance in Scene 3? Why might “Fleance” be an appropriate
name for Banquo’s son?
8. Scene 4 is the famous banquet scene, where Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost. Please
find two lines to show how Macbeth is tortured by this apparition. Also find two
lines to show how Lady Macbeth does her best to cover up her husband’s “fit.”
9. In Scene 5, why is Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, angry??
10. Ask and answer a genuine question you have about Act III.