Macbeth
Name: Date:
Macbeth
Worksheet One
This worksheet accompanies slide 4 of Macbeth.ppt
Studying Shakespeare
Find three words or phrases in Act One, Scene Two that you do not understand, then
discuss them as a class to find out what they mean. Write the phrases and their definitions
below:
1. ______________________________________________________________________
Definition: _______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________________
Definition: _______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________________
Definition: _______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 1
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Two
This worksheet accompanies slide 6 of Macbeth.ppt
Plot summary exercise
Fill in the gaps in the passage below using the words given.
Macbeth and his friend ___________ have just won a battle for King
___________. On their way home, they come across three ___________. The
witches tell Macbeth that he will become Thane of ___________ and King of
___________. They tell Banquo that his ___________ will be kings of Scotland
in the future. Immediately, their first ___________ is fulfilled when Macbeth is
rewarded for his bravery in battle with a title.
When he returns home, his wife ___________ Macbeth convinces him that he
must murder King ___________. Macbeth ___________ Duncan to death.
Next, he hires some men to kill ___________, so that his sons cannot become
kings. Banquo’s ___________ comes back from the dead to haunt him. He goes
to visit the ___________ again, and they warn him against ___________, who
is the Thane of Fife.
They also tell him that he can only be killed by someone not of ___________
born, and when ___________ forest comes to Dunsinane. When Macbeth finds
out that Macduff has gone to England, he murders his ___________. Lady
Macbeth goes ___________ and believes her hands are covered in
___________. Malcolm and Macduff come to attack his castle, camouflaged by
___________ from the forest. Macduff tells Macbeth that he was cut from his
mother, and he kills him. ___________ is crowned king.
Cawdor blood Macduff Duncan children ghost mad stabs
Banquo witches sleep Macduff Banquo prophecy Lady
Birnam woman branches Malcolm Scotland witches Duncan family
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 2
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Three
This worksheet accompanies slide 10 of Macbeth.ppt
Themes wordsearch
A G Z S S E N D A M Y I G S
D I L L H N A F H T U K N V
A M S N O I T I B M A E F G
K A L I R B U N M I P E P L
G G F W M K R P X B J H M L
W E R M C D E K L I O J F A
J R E D V E N J G D E R T Y
J Y D B L I T C G D K P O A
C G R S I M L O M G O V B R
N Y U E V Q W D C K G O N T
R S M A E R D C B N K T L E
Q C H N K I Y R D A A G H B
List ten themes in Macbeth that you can see in the wordsearch above.
1. _________________________________ 6. __________________________________
2. _________________________________ 7. __________________________________
3. _________________________________ 8. __________________________________
4. _________________________________ 9. __________________________________
5. _________________________________ 10. _________________________________
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 3
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Four
This worksheet accompanies slide 15 of Macbeth.ppt
Is this a dagger?
Reread Macbeth’s ‘Is this a dagger?’ speech in Act Two, Scene One. Then have a look at
the excerpts below and write the modern-day equivalents next to each one.
Come, let me clutch thee: ____________________________________________________
There’s no such thing. / It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes: _____
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Or art thou but / A dagger of the mind: _________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
I have thee not and yet I see thee still! __________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
I see thee still; / And, on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood: _____________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Mine eyes are made the fools o’the other senses: _________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Nature seems dead: _________________________________________________________
Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going: ___________________________________
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 4
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Five
This worksheet accompanies slide 16 of Macbeth.ppt
Headline techniques
Think of at least one headline that contains an example of the following linguistic
techniques:
Emotive language: Alliteration:
Pun: Facts:
Question:
" ...F ir e b u r n
a n d c a u ld r o n
b u b b le ."
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 5
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Six
This worksheet accompanies slide 20 of Macbeth.ppt
In the hotseat
Fill in the table below from the points of view of each of the characters.
Lady King
Macbeth Macduff Banquo
Macbeth Duncan
How do you feel
at the end of the
play and why?
Which other
character do you
blame most of
all for the events
of the play?
What would you
have changed
about your
actions, and
why?
When in the
play were you
happiest?
When in the
play were you
most unhappy?
What would you
do differently
and why?
Why do you
think the
witches tricked
Macbeth?
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 6
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Macbeth – The Essay
Worksheet Seven
This worksheet accompanies slide 2 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Revision
Are these statements true or false? Circle either ‘T’ or ‘F’ in each case.
Macbeth pays someone else to kill Banquo. T F
Lady Macbeth outlives her husband. T F
Malcolm is Duncan’s son. T F
Donalbain flees to Ireland. T F
Macduff is Macbeth’s brother. T F
Duncan always suspects Macbeth of being disloyal. T F
Lady Macbeth supports Duncan’s murder. T F
The witches say that Banquo will be king. T F
Ross finds Duncan’s body. T F
Lady Macbeth takes the daggers back to the scene of
T F
the murder after Duncan has been killed.
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 7
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Nine
This worksheet accompanies slide 4 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
The essay title
Write down the six scenes in which Lady Macbeth plays an important role and sum them
up in one or two sentences below.
1. Scene: ________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. Scene: ________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
3. Scene: ________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
4. Scene: ________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
5. Scene: ________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
6. Scene: ________________________________
Summary: ________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 8
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Nine
This worksheet accompanies slide 7 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Act One, Scene Five, lines 1–12
The actress playing Lady Macbeth needs to make a decision about how to read the letter.
Do you think she is excited? Amazed? Curious? Why? _____________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Judging by the contents of the letter, what kind of relationship do you think Macbeth and
his wife have? _____________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 9
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Imagine you are Lady Macbeth and you have to wait longer for your husband’s arrival.
Write your own letter to him describing your feelings about his news and thoughts on his
return.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 10
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Ten
This worksheet accompanies slide 15 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Act One, Scene Seven, lines 47–59
Fill in the gaps in the passage, written about Lady Macbeth’s speech in Act One, Scene
Seven, lines 47–59. Select the correct words to fill in from the list below.
Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeth's (1)______________________ a number of times in this
speech, accusing him of having (2)______________________ qualities that stop him from
having the (3)______________________ to kill Duncan. The feminine, tender image that
she describes of her breastfeeding a baby has the effect of conveying her
(4)______________________ 'masculinity' because of the horrific act that she describes
shortly after. She is trying to suggest that although she is (5)______________________ a
woman, her mind is (6)______________________ and therefore more masculine than her
husband's. In expressing this thought, she is hoping to (7)______________________ him
into agreeing to her plan.
1. thoughtlessness/masculinity/stupidity 5. hypothetically/mentally/biologically
2. feminine/childish/aggressive 6. stronger/larger/more loving
3. desire/courage/initiative 7. intimidate/shame/confuse
4. physical/identical/contradicting
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 11
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Eleven
This worksheet accompanies slide 17 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Act Two, Scene Two, lines 32–48
Find five qualities that Lady Macbeth exhibits in this scene in lines 32–47. Give
quotations to back up your points.
Quality Evidence
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 12
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Twelve
This worksheet accompanies slides 20 and 21 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Act Three, Scene Four, lines 49–58
Which qualities does Lady Macbeth exhibit in this scene? Compare them to the qualities
she exhibited in Act Two, Scene Two.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Act Three, Scene Four, lines 59–73
How many examples of Lady Macbeth’s mockery of her husband can you see in the
extract below? Underline them and annotate them.
Lady Macbeth: O proper stuff!
This is the very painting of your fear.
This is the air-drawn dagger which you said
Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts,
Impostors to true fear, would well become
A woman’s story at a winter’s fire,
Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!
Why do you make such faces? When all’s done
You look but on a stool.
Macbeth: Prithee, see there!
Behold! Look! Lo! – How say you? …
Lady Macbeth: What, quite unmanned in folly?
Macbeth:
If I stand here, I saw him.
Lady Macbeth: Fie, for shame!
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 13
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Thirteen
This worksheet accompanies slide 28 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Part One
Fill in the table below by writing lists of adjectives that describe Lady Macbeth, don’t
describe her or sometimes describe her.
Words that describe Lady Words that sometimes Words that don’t describe
Macbeth describe Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 14
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Fifteen
This worksheet accompanies slide 29 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Quotations
Write the numbers 1–6 next to the quotations below to show how Lady Macbeth changes
over the course of the play.
___ When you durst do it, then you were a man.
___ These deeds must not be thought
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.
___ Naught’s had, all’s spent,
Where our desire is got without content.
___ The Thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now? – What, will these hands ne’er be
clean?
___ Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus;
And hath been from his youth. Pray you keep seat.
___ Thy letters have transported me beyond
This ignorant present…
Part One – power
On a scale of -5–5, rate how much power either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth has in the
different acts of the play. A score of -5 means that Macbeth has by far the most power, 5
means that Lady Macbeth has by far the most power, and a score of 0 means that you are
unsure, or that they have equal power.
Act One ____ Act Four ____
Act Two ____ Act Five ____
Act Three ____
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 15
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Sixteen
This worksheet accompanies slides 32 and 34 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Part One
Use the brainstorm below to write out your ideas about what to include when answering
the first part of the essay question.
Part One
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 16
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Seventeen
This worksheet accompanies slides 35 and 36 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Part Two
Use the brainstorm below to write out your ideas about what to include when answering
the first part of the essay question.
Part Two
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 17
Macbeth
Name: Date:
Worksheet Eighteen
This worksheet accompanies slides 37 and 38 of Macbeth – The Essay.ppt
Part Three
Use the brainstorm below to write out your ideas about what to include when answering
the first part of the essay question.
Part Three
© Boardworks Ltd 2006 18
