Name: ____________________
English 10
Macbeth: Homework Questions
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All questions must be answered completely in full sentences.
There must be one direct quote per assignment.
All claims must be supported with specific details and evidence from
the text.
Each Homework Assignment will be worth 10 points.
Act I (Choose 5 questions to answer)
DUE DATE: _________________
1. Identify the mood or atmosphere set in Act 1, scene 1. Cite specific quotes that
help establish the mood.
2. List specific information this scene hints of regarding: setting, potential conflicts,
development of themes, and characterization.
3. Explain what the weird sister means by, “Fair is foul and foul is fair.”
4. Characterize Macbeth’s relationship with King Duncan and Banquo.
5. What do the witches predict for Macbeth? Banquo?
6. Banquo, is surprised, but leery of the witch’s predictions. What does he say
about the motives of the “instruments of darkness?”
7. After Lady Macbeth reads the letter, how does she react to the prophecies?
8. What is Lady Macbeth’s “prayer” to the spirits after she learns Duncan is coming?
9. Describe, in detail, Lady Macbeth’s plan to murder the king.
10. List at least three reason for Macbeth’s reluctance to kill Duncan.
11. What is Lady Macbeth’s response to Macbeth?
Act II (Choose 5 questions to answer) DUE DATE: _________________
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What is Macbeth’s lie to Banquo? Why does he lie to him?
What excuse does Lady Macbeth give for not killing Duncan herself?
Describe Macbeth’s hallucination.
After Macbeth kills Duncan, he tells Lady Macbeth that he heard a voice saying,
“Macbeth does murder sleep.” What does Lady Macbeth tell him to do?
Why won’t Macbeth take the bloody daggers back to the Duncan’s bed chamber?
Summarize the scene with the porter. What was William Shakespeare real
purpose for including this scene?
Summarize Lennox’s description of the unusual occurrences the night Duncan is
murdered. How does this relate to the Elizabethan concept of world order?
Discuss the irony in MacDuff’s statement to Lady Macbeth, “Oh, gentle lady, Tis
not for you to hear what I can speak. The repetition, in a woman’s ear, Would
murder as it fell.”
What excuse/reason does Macbeth give for killing Duncan’s guards
(groomsmen)? What is his real reason for their murder?
ACT III (Answer all 5 questions)
DUE DATE: _________________
1. Summarize Banquo’s fear(s) at the beginning of Act 2.
2. Analyze the following quote: “The worm that’s fled Hath nature that in time will
breed, No teeth for present.” Who is Macbeth talking about? What does he mean
by this statement?
3. How does Lady Macbeth cover for Macbeth at the banquet? What excuses does
she give for his wild talk? What do her actions and speech reveal about her
character?
4. Analyze the following quote: “I am in blood Steeped in so far that I should wade
no more, Returning were as tedious as go’or.” What does he mean by this
statement?
5. In scene six – write the lines and line numbers that show where Macduff has
gone and why. Explain.
ACT IV (Answer all 4 questions)
DUE DATE: _________________
1. Analyze the following quote. Identify the speaker and who is being referenced.
“By the pricking of my thumb, Something wicked this way comes.”
2. Explain Macbeth’s motivation for murdering Macduff’s family. How does this
differ from his decision to murder Duncan and Banquo?
3. Interpret the following quote and discuss the biblical allusion. Malcolm says,
“Angels are bright still, thought the brightest fell. Through all things foul were
the brows of grace, Yet grace still look so.”
4. Summarize the conversation between Malcolm and Macduff. What is Malcolm’s
motivation? What is the outcome of their conversation?
ACT V (Answer all 5 questions)
DUE DATE: _________________
1. Describe Lady Macbeth’s actions that the doctor and her gentle woman see.
Analyze what Lady Macbeth says. Who does what she says connect to events in
the play?
2. Explain the irony in Lady Macbeth’s “handwashing.”
3. Fully analyze Macbeth’s reaction to Lady Macbeth’s death. What does this reveal
about his present state of mind?
4. Explain, in detail, how the prophecies are fulfilled.
5. Analyze the following quote. Identify the speaker and who is being referenced.
“Get thee back, my soul is too charged With blood of thine already.”