Macbeth Q&A Test.

1. Macbeth won the respect of King Duncan by

A. slaying the traitor Macdonwald. (Act I, Scene ii)

B. serving as a gracious host for his king.

C. not pleading for advancement.

2. King Duncan rewarded Macbeth by dubbing him

A. the Earl of Sinel.

B. the Thane of Cawdor him. (Act I, Scene ii)

C. Bellona's bridegroom.

3. In addressing Banquo, the witches called him which of these?

"Lesser than Macbeth, and greater." (I)

"Not so happy as Macbeth, yet much happier." (II)

"A future father of kings." (III)

A. I and II (Act I, Scene iii)

B. I and III

C. I, II, and III

4. When Macbeth said, "Two truths are told / As happy prologues" he was referring to

A. his titles of Glamis and Cawdor.

B. the victories against the kerns and gallowglasses.

C. the predictions made to Banquo and to himself. (Act I, Scene iii)

5. "Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it" is a reference to

A. the traitorous Thane of Cawdor. (Act I, Scene iv)

B. Banquo's son, Fleance.

C. Duncan's son, Donalbain.

6. Duncan's statement, "I have begun to plant thee and will labour / To make thee full of growing" is an example of

A. a simile.

B. a metaphor. (Act I, Scene iv)

C. personification.

7. Lady Macbeth characterizes her husband as being

A. "the glass of fashion and the mould of form."

B. "too full of the milk of human kindness. (Act I, Scene v)

C. "a cannon overcharg'd with a double crack."

8. When Macbeth agonizes over the possible killing of the king, which of these does he say?

"He is my house guest; I should protect him." (I)

"Duncan's virtues will "plead like angels" " (II)

"I am his kinsman and his subject" (III)

A. I and III

B. II and III

C. I, II, and III (Act I, Scene vii)

9. Macbeth's statement to his wife, "Bring forth men-children only" signifies that he

A. is proud of his wife's transformation.

B. is concerned over the succession to the throne.

C. has accepted the challenge to slay the king. (Act I, Scene vii)

10. As part of the plan to kill the king, Lady Macbeth would

A. get the chamberlains drunk. (Act I, scene vii)

B. smear Duncan's face with blood.

C. arrange an alibi for Macbeth.

11. Trace Macbeth's transformation from a good man to an evil man.

At the beginning of the play, we see Macbeth as a man who is a strong leader for his country. He knows what he is doing and has a level head upon his shoulders. When the witches tell him his prophecy, it drives him mad with the idea of power. With the additional influence of his wife, he does whatever it takes to reach the high rank he believes he deserves. The power makes him lose his conscience and he becomes obsessed with keeping his crown.

12. What motivates Macbeth to take the evil path he chooses?

Lady Macbeth is the main source of his motivation. She drives him to do crazy things in order to keep his status. Power also motivates him into the evil man he later becomes over time.

13. What influence do the witches have on Macbeth?

The witches basically influence his whole mindset after they let him know about the prediction they hold for him. They strike up a sense of ambition that twists into greed for a high power. They also mix him up and confuse him by telling him false hints to keeping his title.

14. Contrast Macbeth's response to the witches' predictions with Banquo's.

Macbeth depends on what the prediction holds. He listens to the broad version of the prophecy he is told. Banquo, on the other hand, takes it and interprets it beyond the words. He wants to know the meaning behind his prediction rather than just the content.

15. Describe the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Trace how it changes over the course of the play.

At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is one of the main influences of Macbeth's newfound ambition. She drives him to become mad with power and basically is in charge of the relationship. She demonstrates the masculinity between the two of them. As the story goes on, her role begins to fade while Macbeth starts to embody what she once was. He starts to take over and ultimately, wears the pants in the relationship as the man typically does for that day and age.

PART 2

1. "Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight?" is a reference to the

A. ghost of Banquo.

B. dagger. (Act II, Scene i)

C. bubbling cauldron.

2. Lady Macbeth confessed that she would have killed King Duncan herself except for the fact that

A. she couldn't gain easy access to his bedchamber

B. he looked like her father (Act II, Scene ii)

C. one of Duncan's guards spied her on the to stairway

3. Shakespeare introduced the Porter in order to

A. allow Macduff to gain admission to the castle.

B. remind the audience of the Witches' prophecies.

C. provide comic relief. (Act II, Scene iii)

4. Malcolm and Donalbain flee after the murder

A. because they fear the daggers in men's smiles. (Act II, Scene iii

B. in order to join Macduff in England.

C. lest they be blamed for it.

5. Macbeth arranges for Banquo's death by telling the hired killers that

A. Banquo had thwarted their careers. (Act III, Scene i)

B. if they fail, they will pay with their own lives.

C. he will eradicate all records of their previous crimes.

6. Macbeth startles his dinner guests by

A. conversing with the Ghost of Banquo (Act III, Scene iv)

B. attempting to wash the blood from his hands

C. saying to Lady Macbeth that, "Murder will out."

7. The Witches threw into the cauldron

"Eye of bat and tongue of frog"(I)

"Wool of bat and tongue of dog" (II)

"Fang of snake and eagle's glare" (III)

A. I and II

B. I and III

C. II and III? (Act IV, Scene i)

8. The three apparitions which appeared to Macbeth were

An armed head. (I)

A child with a crown. (II)

A bloody child (III)

A. I and II? (Act IV, Scene i)

B. II and III

C. I, II, and III

9. In Act IV, Malcolm is at first lukewarm toward Macduff because he

A. wasn't prepared to overthrow Macbeth.

B. suspects a trick. (Act IV, Scene iii)

C. wasn't worthy of becoming king, in his opinion.

10. Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane when

A. the witches rendezvous with Macbeth.

B. the camouflaged soldiers make their advance. (Act V, Scene iii)

C. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to stand and fight.

11. What is the significance of the line "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (I, i, 10)?

There are many interpretations of this line because it is so significant in the play. On one hand, it could basically state that things aren't always what they seem. Irony plays a huge role in the outcome of life and foul things being fair or vice versa doesn't seem to hold true despite the reality of most consequences. It could also relate to the fact that the world of Macbeth is skewed and confused. There are so many characters that don't hold up to the name they are supposed to. For example, Lady Macbeth being the "man" of the relationship compared to Macbeth's role in their marriage. 

12. How does Macbeth function as a morality play?

Macbeth, the character, is the definition of the strength of morality. Even though he was a smart man to begin with, he let power get to his head. He lost his moral path when his greedy ambition caught up with him.

13. How does Shakespeare use the technique of dramatic irony in Macbeth?

Shakespeare uses dramatic irony as a source of comparison and contradictions. He takes the irony into a situation and makes it completely different than expected in reality. For example, when Duncan is being invited over to dinner as a cordial event but in return, is killed.

14. How does Lady Macbeth overcome her husband's resistance to the idea of killing King Duncan?

She pretty much just makes him feel bad about not doing it with verbal abuse. She ends up just convincing him straight out by making him ponder on about what would really happen if he did kill Duncan.

15. Contrast Macduff's response to the news of his wife's and children's deaths with Macbeth's response to being told Lady Macbeth is dead.

Macduff deeply cares about his family and becomes devastated at the news. He wants to cause harm to whoever set it up or committed such a horrible act of violence. Macbeth, on the other hand, is only upset to a point. He resumes to his old violent ways without really grasping the emotional effects of his wife's passing.