Macbeth Test Answers Review

*Adopted with gratitude from http://www.apclarke.freeserve.co.uk/mbtest.htm
**Please include Act/Scene so we can refer easily tomorrow.

1. Macbeth won the respect of King Duncan by
A. slaying the traitor Macdonwald.
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.
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
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.


5. "Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it" is a reference to
A. the traitorous Thane of Cawdor.
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.
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."
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

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.

10. As part of the plan to kill the king, Lady Macbeth would
A. get the chamberlains drunk.
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.

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

13. What influence do the witches have on Macbeth?

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

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

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.
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
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.

4. Malcolm and Donalbain flee after the murder
A. because they fear the daggers in men's smiles.
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.
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
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

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
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.
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.
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)?

12. How does Macbeth function as a morality play?

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

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

PART 1

1: A. slaying the traitor Macdonwald.
-Act I, Scene 2.  In that scene, we see Duncan talking about Macbeth.  He calls Macbeth "valiant" and "worthy."
The reason that Duncan says these things is because of Macbeth's performance in battle.  Duncan has just been told that Macbeth has performed very bravely in a battle against people who would have overthrown Duncan.  Specifically, Duncan has just heard about how Macbeth killed Macdonwald.
2: B. the Thane of Cawdor him.
-Act 1, scene 2Duncan decrees that the thane of Cawdor be put to death and that Macbeth, the hero of the victorious army, be given Cawdor’s title. Ross leaves to deliver the news to Macbeth.
3: A. I and II
Act 1, scene 3
-Then they tell him that he will never be king but that his children will sit upon the throne (1.3.63–65).
4:C. the predictions made to Banquo and to himself.
Act 1, scene 3-Macbeth ignores his companions and speaks to himself, ruminating upon the possibility that he might one day be king. He wonders whether the reign will simply fall to him or whether he will have to perform a dark deed in order to gain the crown. At last he shakes himself from his reverie and the group departs for Forres.
5:A. the traitorous Thane of Cawdor.
-Act 1, scene 4
6.B. a metaphor.
7.B. "too full of the milk of human kindness."
-Act 1, scene 5 What thou art promised; yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o'the milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way.
9: C. has accepted the challenge to slay the king.
10:A. get the chamberlains drunk.
11.he is one of King Duncan's generals, noted for his fierce courage. In his battle against Duncan's enemies, he fights so furiously and valiantly that Duncan rewards him by making him the Thane of Cawdor. He then becomes a bloodthirsty tyrant as he sets out to gain the throne of Scotland. In the plays conclusion, the last view of Macbeth is one of courage in battle, a glimpse of his former self.
12.Macbeths ambition is aroused by the witches' prophecies, and once he becomes Thane of Cawdor, he sets out to gain the throne of Scotland.
13.Macbeth gained his power with help from the Witches and it destroyed him. They present things to Macbeth, planting the seed of ambition which is watered by his wife. He brings about his own demise, the witches were only the tools who acted as a catalyst.
14.Macbeth lets ambition corrupt him immediately upon learning that he has become the new Thane of Cawdor. The fact that one of the witches' prophecies comes true makes him hungry for the rest. Banquo, however, is very distrusting of the witches' because they are evil beings. He won't put much stock into what they have said just yet because he's concerned about the reprecussions.
15. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are very interesting in so far as they are quite ambivalent. Lady Macbeth admires her husband but also triggers his downfall. Lady Macbeth encourages her husband to slay Duncan. 
This event is pivotal and needs to be stressed if we really want to understand the whole concatenation of this wonderful yet mysterious play. Lady Macbeth symbolizes evil, Macbeth symbolizes gullibility. In short the relationships between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth can be construed as a mixture of cruelty, anger and admiration. 

PART 2

Part I.

1. Macbeth won the respect of King Duncan by
A. Slaying the traitor Macdonwald.

2. King Duncan rewarded Macbeth by dubbing him
B. The Thane of Cawdor him.

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 only

4. When Macbeth said, "Two truths are told / As happy prologues" he was referring to
A. His titles of Glamis and Cawdor.

5. "Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it" is a reference to
A. The traitorous Thane of Cawdor.

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

7. Lady Macbeth characterizes her husband as being
B. "too full of the milk of human kindness."

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)
B. II and III

9. Macbeth's statement to his wife, "Bring forth men-children only" signifies that he
C. has accepted the challenge to slay the king.


Part 2

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

2. Lady Macbeth confessed that she would have killed King Duncan herself except for the fact that
B. he looked like her father

3. Shakespeare introduced the Porter in order to
B. remind the audience of the Witches' prophecies.

4. Malcolm and Donalbain flee after the murder
A. because they fear the daggers in men's smiles.


5. Macbeth arranges for Banquo's death by telling the hired killers that
C. he will eradicate all records of their previous crimes.

6. Macbeth startles his dinner guests by
A. conversing with the Ghost of Banquo


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

8. The three apparitions which appeared to Macbeth were
An armed head. (I)
A child with a crown. (II)
A bloody child (III)
C. I, II, and III


9. In Act IV, Malcolm is at first lukewarm toward Macduff because he
B. suspects a trick.

10. Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane when
B. the camouflaged soldiers make their advance.