Macbeth: Character Analysis

To be completed whilst watching Mr Bruff’s YouTube

analysis video: https://youtu.be/NmMAO82R8Cg
Alternatively, on YouTube, search for: ‘Character
Analysis: Macbeth’.

QUESTIONS:

1) What is a tragic hero?

2) How is Macbeth described in Act 1 Scene 2?
3) What is Macbeth’s hamartia?
4) What does Banquo’s reaction to the witches highlight about the character of Macbeth?
5) Fill in the table:

QUOTATION SCENE WHO SAYS IT?

‘a hand accursed!’
‘Something wicked this way comes’

‘tyrant, whose sole name blisters our

tongues’

‘Devilish’

‘tyrant’

‘hell-hound’

‘dead butcher’

EXTENSION QUESTIONS:

a) How can Macbeth be described as a tragic hero?

b) How does Macbeth change as the play progresses?

EXAM QUESTION (based on the extract on the next page):

Starting with this moment, explore how Shakespeare presents ambition in ‘Macbeth’.

Write about:
• how Shakespeare presents ambition in this extract
• how Shakespeare presents ambition in the play as a whole.
Read the following extract from Act 1 Scene 7 of Macbeth and then answer the question on the
previous page.

At this point in the play, Macbeth is contemplating murdering King Duncan.

MACBETH
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly: if the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We'ld jump the life to come. But in these cases
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice
To our own lips. He's here in double trust;
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off;
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.

Enter LADY MACBETH

How now! what news?

LADY MACBETH
He has almost supp'd: why have you left the chamber?
 Lady Macbeth: Character Analysis

To be completed whilst watching Mr Bruff’s YouTube

analysis video: https://youtu.be/90iY1ku7flA
Alternatively, on YouTube, search for: ‘Character
Analysis: Lady Macbeth’.

QUESTIONS:
1) How were women treated in Jacobean times?
2) How is Lady Macbeth presented as powerful in Act 1 Scene 5?
3) In Act 1 Scene 7, how does Lady Macbeth persuade Macbeth to kill King Duncan?
4) What is meant by the term ‘proto-feminist’?
5) Fill in the table:

ACTION QUOTATION SCENE

Gets the servants drunk ‘wine and wassail’

Unlocks Duncan’s door ‘The doors are open’

Prepares the daggers ‘I laid their daggers ready’

Tells Macbeth to wash the blood ‘wash this filthy witness from
from his hands your hand’

Tells Macbeth to put his ‘get on your nightgown’

nightgown on

EXTENSION QUESTIONS:
a) Does Lady Macbeth subvert feminine stereotypes of the Jacobean era or conform to them?
b) How does Shakespeare create sympathy for the character of Lady Macbeth?

EXAM QUESTION (based on the extract on the next page):

Starting with this speech, explore how Shakespeare presents the relationship between Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth.

Write about:

• how Shakespeare presents the relationship in this extract

• how Shakespeare presents the relationship in the play as a whole.
Read the following extract from Act 1 Scene 7 of Macbeth and then answer the question.

At this point in the play Macbeth has told Lady Macbeth that he will not kill King Duncan.

LADY MACBETH
Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since?
And wakes it now, to look so green and pale
At what it did so freely? From this time
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valour
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would,'
Like the poor cat i' the adage?
MACBETH
Prithee, peace:
I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none.
LADY MACBETH
What beast was't, then,
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both:
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now
Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.
MACBETH
If we should fail?
LADY MACBETH
We fail!
 Character Analysis: The Witches in ‘Macbeth’

To be completed whilst watching Mr Bruff’s YouTube

analysis video: https://youtu.be/XXsAOqPPWIc

Alternatively, on YouTube, search for: ‘Character

Analysis: The Witches in Macbeth’.

QUESTIONS:
1) How does Shakespeare prompt the audience’s curiosity about the witches in Act 1 Scene 1?
2) How would a Jacobean audience respond to the presence of witchcraft in the opening
scene? Why?
3) What is trochaic meter?
4) Why does Shakespeare use trochaic meter for the witches’ dialogue?
5) How is the witches’ power presented as limited in Act 1 Scene 3?
6) What do the apparitions in Act 4 Scene 1 symbolise?

EXTENSION QUESTIONS:
a) How far are the witches responsible for the death of King Duncan?
b) How would a modern audience respond to the witches?

EXAM QUESTION (based on the extract on the next page):

Read the following extract from Act 1 Scene 1 of Macbeth and then answer the question that
follows.

Starting with this speech, explore how Shakespeare presents the witches as powerful in ‘Macbeth’.

Write about:

• how Shakespeare presents the witches as powerful in this extract

• how Shakespeare presents the witches as powerful in the play as a whole.
Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches
First Witch
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch
When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
Third Witch
That will be ere the set of sun.
First Witch
Where the place?
Second Witch
Upon the heath.
Third Witch
There to meet with Macbeth.
First Witch
I come, Graymalkin!
Second Witch
Paddock calls.
Third Witch
Anon.
ALL
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.

Exeunt
 Character Analysis: Banquo

To be completed whilst watching Mr Bruff’s YouTube

analysis video: https://youtu.be/lub5BVJ6l3U
Alternatively, on YouTube, search for: ‘Character
Analysis: Banquo’.

QUESTIONS:

1) What is a foil?
2) How can Banquo be seen as a foil to Macbeth?
3) How is Banquo similar to Macbeth?
4) How is Shakespeare’s Banquo different to the historic Banquo found in Holinshed’s
Chronicles? Why is this?
5) Why does Banquo ask Fleance to take his sword in Act 2 Scene 1?
6) Why does Macbeth order the murder of Banquo?

EXTENSION QUESTIONS:

a) ‘Banquo is an unrealistically honourable character’. How far do you agree with this
statement?
b) What lessons should the audience learn from Shakespeare’s presentation of Banquo?

EXAM QUESTION (based on the extract on the next page):

Read the following extract from Act 2 Scene 1 of Macbeth and then answer the question that
follows.

At this point in the play, Banquo and Fleance are staying at Inverness.

Starting with this speech, explore how Shakespeare presents Banquo in ‘Macbeth’.

Write about:

• how Shakespeare presents Banquo in this extract

• how Shakespeare presents Banquo in the play as a whole.
BANQUO
How goes the night, boy?
FLEANCE
The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.
BANQUO
And she goes down at twelve.
FLEANCE
I take't, 'tis later, sir.
BANQUO
Hold, take my sword. There's husbandry in heaven;
Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose!

Enter MACBETH, and a Servant with a torch

Give me my sword.
Who's there?
MACBETH
A friend.
BANQUO
What, sir, not yet at rest? The king's a-bed:
He hath been in unusual pleasure, and
Sent forth great largess to your offices.
This diamond he greets your wife withal,
By the name of most kind hostess; and shut up
In measureless content.
MACBETH
Being unprepared,
Our will became the servant to defect;
Which else should free have wrought.
BANQUO
All's well.
I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters:
To you they have show'd some truth.
 Character Analysis: Macduff

To be completed whilst watching Mr Bruff’s YouTube

analysis video: https://youtu.be/1TUfPHH5v5U
Alternatively, on YouTube, search for: ‘Character
Analysis: Macduff’.

QUESTIONS:

1) When does Macduff first appear in the play? How is this significant?
2) What is a foil?
3) How can Macduff be seen as a foil to Macbeth?
4) How does Shakespeare present Macduff in Act 4 Scene 3?
5) What is suggested by the way in which Macduff calls on ‘gentle heavens’ in Act 4 Scene 3?

EXTENSION QUESTIONS:

a) How is Macduff similar to Macbeth?

b) What lessons should the audience learn from Shakespeare’s presentation of Macduff?

EXAM QUESTION (based on the extract on the next page):

Read the following extract from Act 4 Scene 3 of Macbeth and then answer the question.

At this point in the play, Macduff visits Malcolm in England to get his support to remove Macbeth
from the throne.

Starting with this speech, explore how Shakespeare presents Macduff as honourable in ‘Macbeth’.

Write about:

• how Shakespeare presents Macduff as honourable in this extract

• how Shakespeare presents Macduff as honourable in the play as a whole.
MALCOLM
But I have none: the king-becoming graces,
As justice, verity, temperance, stableness,
Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness,
Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude,
I have no relish of them, but abound
In the division of each several crime,
Acting it many ways. Nay, had I power, I should
Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell,
Uproar the universal peace, confound
All unity on earth.
MACDUFF
O Scotland, Scotland!
MALCOLM
If such a one be fit to govern, speak:
I am as I have spoken.
MACDUFF
Fit to govern!
No, not to live. O nation miserable,
With an untitled tyrant bloody-scepter'd,
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,
Since that the truest issue of thy throne
By his own interdiction stands accursed,
And does blaspheme his breed? Thy royal father
Was a most sainted king: the queen that bore thee,
Oftener upon her knees than on her feet,
Died every day she lived. Fare thee well!
These evils thou repeat'st upon thyself
Have banish'd me from Scotland. O my breast,
Thy hope ends here!