Act One: Quiz

1. How does the play begin? (1)

(a) Banquo and Macbeth meet on the heath
(b) The Thane of Cawdor is killed for being a traitor
(c) The three witches meet on the heath
(d) Banquo and Macbeth meet the three witches

2. What is Macbeth’s initial reaction to the witches’ prediction? (1)

(a) He is amused and doesn’t believe them
(b) He is scared, but curious
(c) He is excited and enthusiastic
(d) He is flattered, but confused

3. What does Macbeth mean when he says (about the King’s son and heir): (1)

‘That is a step/ On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap’

(a) I should just give up with my plan of being King

(b) I will step over the King’s son so I can be King
(c) I will either have to step over this obstacle, or give up
(d) If I step over the King’s son, I’ll have to give up with my plan of being King

4. How does Lady Macbeth persuade Macbeth to kill the King? (1)
(a) By reminding him of the witches’ prediction
(b) By questioning his masculinity
(c) By threatening to go ahead and do it herself
(d) By reminding him of their marriage vows

5. How does Banquo describe the witches’ appearance? (1)

6. What is dramatic irony? Can you give an example of it from Act 1? (2)

7. What happens in Act 1 Scene 6, and why is it an important scene? (2)

8. How does Shakespeare subtly show the witches’ power over characters’ thoughts and
actions? (1)

9. What does Duncan mean when he states ‘There’s no art/To find the mind’s construction in
the face’? (1)

10. What does Lady Macbeth mean when she commands ‘take my milk for gall’? (1)

11. How does Macbeth demonstrate his potential ruthlessness in Act 1? (1)

12. What does Macbeth mean when he says he has ‘no spur’ and only ‘vaulting ambition’? (1)

13. In his Act 1 soliloquy, what 2 things does Macbeth express he is worried about in terms of
killing the King? (2)

14.What are 3 things that an Elizabethan audience would have found shocking to watch in Act
1? (3)

15.What is Banquo’s role in Act 1? (1)

Answers (total 20 marks)

1. (c) The three witches meet on the heath (1)

2. (b) He is scared, but curious (1)
3. (c) I will either have to step over this obstacle, or give up (1)
4. (b) By questioning his masculinity (1)
5. ‘So withered and so wild in their attire,/That look not like th' inhabitants o' th' Earth’
‘You should be women,/And yet your beards forbid me to interpret/That you are so.’ (1)
6. Dramatic irony is a device by which the audience knows more than the character on stage.
An example: in Act 1 Scene 4, the witches hail Macbeth, “thane of Cawdor!” At this point,
Macbeth is unaware that the king has conferred this honour upon him but the audience
already know. (2)
7. In Act 1 Scene 6 Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle in Inverness. His speech on his arrival
is heavy with dramatic irony because he thinks the location is pleasant and the air sweet.
Duncan is greeted by Lady Macbeth who already plans to murder him, but acts sweetly so
that Duncan is completely unaware of her treachery. (2)
8. The witches utter the phrase ‘fair is foul’ and straight after, Macbeth utters exactly the
same words without ever having spoken to them. (1)
9. Duncan means that nobody can tell what a person is really like by just looking at, or
studying their face. (1)
10. Lady Macbeth wants the spirits to replace her breast milk with poison. She does not want
to be a nurturing woman, but a murderer. (1)
11. Macbeth, is very violent in battle: ‘with his brandished steel,/Which smoked with bloody
execution,/Like valor’s minion carved out his passage/Till he faced the slave;/Which ne'er
shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,/Till he unseamed him from the nave to th'
chops,/And fixed his head upon our battlements. (1)
12. Macbeth does not have an incentive to ‘spur’ him into action; the only thing motivating him
is ambition which makes one ‘vault’ further than one would normally without a vault, and
this makes them rush ahead of themselves towards disaster. (1)
13. Macbeth is worried about being found out and punished in this world. He is also worried
that that Duncan’s virtues will speak for him when he dies, against the injustice of his
murder. (2)
14. Witches; the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth which was surprisingly
equal for the times; the idea of regicide. (3)
15. Banquo’s role is to act as a contrast with Macbeth after the meeting with the witches,
which highlights how Macbeth’s character is likely to become corrupt. (1)