Renaissance: Macbeth (by William Shakespeare)
Act Five Summary: As Act Five opens, Lady Macbeth walks and talks in her sleep. As Macbeth, sure of
victory, waits in his fortified castle, Malcolm’s men, disguised with branches from Birnam Wood, march to
Dunsinane. Just before the battle begins, Macbeth learns that Lady Macbeth has died. On the battlefield,
Macbeth kills Siward’s son. He then meets Macduff and learns that Macduff was not “born of woman.” They
fight; Macduff kills Macbeth and displays the tyrant’s head to the people. The play concludes with Malcolm’s
promise to restore order and dignity to Scotland.
1. Reread lines 28–32 (Act 5, scene 1), in which Lady Macbeth relives how she persuaded her husband to
murder Duncan. What appears to have happened to Lady Macbeth as a result of their plot?
Answer:
2. Reread lines 54–55 (Act 5, scene 1); then review line 12 in Act Three, Scene 2. How does the difference in
these comments reflect a change in Lady Macbeth?
Answer:
3. Reread Act 5, scene 1, lines 28–55. Compare this scene, revealing Lady Macbeth’s madness, with Scene 4 in
Act Three, in which Macbeth believes he sees Banquo’s ghost. What is ironic about Lady Macbeth’s behavior
in these scenes? (Recall that situational irony is a contrast between what is expected and what actually occurs.)
Answer:
4. How do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem to have switched roles?
Answer:
5. In lines 25–29 (Act 5, scene 2), what is the ambition of the Scottish rebels, and how do they intend to
achieve it? What does their ambition reveal about them (reveals they are foil characters to Macbeth and his
wife)?
Answer:
6. What is the meaning of the simile in lines 20- 21?
“Now does he feel his title / Hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe / Upon a dwarfish thief.”
Answer:
7. In lines 11-29 (Act 5, scene 3) find evidence of the theme of appearance versus reality.
Answer:
8. In lines 39–45 (Act 5, scene 3), Macbeth asks the doctor to remove the sorrow from Lady Macbeth’s
memory and relieve her overburdened heart. Why are these lines so moving?
Answer:
9. Why is it ironic for Macbeth to ask the doctor whether he can cure Scotland (lines 50–54)?
Answer:
10. In lines 39, 40, 43, and 52 (Act 5, scene 3), find references to remedies.
Answer:
11. How would you characterize Macbeth’s ambition in lines 58–62 (Act 5, scene 3), as Scene 3 concludes?
Answer:
12. In lines 4–7 (Act 5, scene 4), Malcolm orders his men to cut down tree branches to camouflage themselves
and confuse Macbeth’s scouts. How will this affect the prophecy about Birnam Wood?
Answer:
13. Explain the difference between Macbeth’s confidence and Malcolm’s confidence.
Answer:
14. Reread lines 24–28 (Act 5, scene 5), in which Macbeth compares life to an actor with a small part to play.
How does he probably view his ambitions now?
Answer:
15. Reread lines 47–52 (Act 5, scene 5). Note that Macbeth vows to take action, which will probably lead to the
drama’s catastrophe, or tragic resolution. What is the likely outcome of his action?
Answer:
16. Which line(s) from Act 5, scene 7 reveals Macbeth’s feelings of being trapped—perhaps by the witches and
their prophecies, or perhaps by the actions of Malcolm, Macduff, and his other opponents—into fighting?
Answer:
17. What do Macbeth’s taunts in lines 5 and 9 (Act 5, scene 7) reveal about Macbeth’s state of mind?
Answer:
.
18. Be aware that in lines 11–13 (Act 5, scene 7), Macbeth recalls the third prophecy. What conclusion might
Macbeth draw from killing young Siward?
Answer:
19. In Scene 7, lines 24–29, who seems to have lost ambition? What does this change in attitude indicate about
Macbeth’s status?
Answer:
20. A tragic hero typically realizes how he has contributed to his own downfall and faces his end with dignity.
Notice that in lines 27–34 (Act 5, scene 8), Macbeth realizes that he is doomed. To what extent is he redeemed
by his determination to fight to the death?
Answer:
21. Malcolm and Macduff differ somewhat in their ambition. In lines 55–76 (Act 5, scene 8), as the play closes,
how have their ambitions been fulfilled? Be specific.
Answer:
22. Enumerate (list) all that Macbeth lost as a result of giving free rein to his ambition.
Answers:
23. Identify the characteristics of tragedy in Macbeth.
Tragic hero:
Tragic flaw:
tragedy
Antagonists:
Catastrophe: