The Tragedy of Macbeth, ACT III

by William Shakespeare

Complete the following questions/prompts as you read Act III. Cite explicit text evidence to support your responses. 1. Sc. 1, Lines 1–10: What specific dialogue supports the idea that Banquo is hopeful about the

prediction of the Weird Women?

2. Sc. 1, Line 3: Consider what you have learned about Banquo’s suspicions about Macbeth. Identify and explain Banquo’s tone as he addresses Macbeth.

3. Sc. 1, Lines 15–18: Explain what double meaning might be intended by Banquo’s statement that his “duties/ Are with a most indissoluble tie/ Forever knit.”

4. Sc. 1, Lines 29–71: What is an example of irony in Macbeth’s dialogue in lines 29–35?

5. Sc. 1, Lines 29–71: What evidence in Macbeth’s soliloquy (lines 47–71) explains Macbeth’s assessment of Banquo? *What is revealed about Macbeth’s character?

6. Sc. 1, Lines 65–71: What theme is developed in these lines?

7. Sc. 1, Lines 71–104: Explain how the state directions and dialogue further the action of the plot. *Compare the nature of the First Murderer’s dialogue to Macbeth’s.

8. Sc. 1, Lines 104–123: Scan the meter in lines 115–122 and identify the meter. Then change the sentence structure of the following line: “And though I could/ With barefaced power sweep him from my sight.” Restructure the sentence so that it sounds more like usual speech. Then scan the restructured lines. *How does Shakespeare’s use of inverted sentence structure affect iambic pentameter?

9. Sc. 1, Lines 114–139: How does the planning of this murder differ from the planning of Duncan’s murder? *How does the change signal a change in Macbeth’s character, a deepening of his tragic flaw?

10. Sc. 1, Lines 133–136: Examine Macbeth’s dialogue and explain the reason Macbeth gives for ordering Fleance killed in these lines. *Explain the real reason Macbeth wants Fleance dead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

11. Sc. 2, Lines 11–27: What animal imagery does Macbeth use? What does he mean by “scorched the snake, not killed it”? *In what way is the image of the snake ironic, coming from Macbeth?

12. Sc. 2, Lines 29–34: What instruction does Macbeth give to Lady Macbeth with regard to speaking about Banquo? *Which phrase suggests they should hide their true feelings? *What does Lady’s Macbeth’s comment in line 34 tell the reader about the difference between Macbeth’s words and the way he might be acting?

13. Sc. 2, Lines 51–52: Explain how Macbeth describes the ending of day. *Which words describe the images of predators and prey? *What might “black agents” refer to? *How does this imagery contribute to the overall mood of Scene 2? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

14. Sc. 3: How does the escape of Fleance relate to the original predictions made by the witches in Act I? *How might this affect the outcome of the play? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

15. Sc. 4, Lines 9–23: What evidence in Macbeth’s conversation with the Murderer in these lines reveals Macbeth’s abrupt change in tone and attitude regarding the events surrounding Banquo’s murder?

16. Sc. 4, Lines 21–25: Which sentences are spoken by Macbeth as an aside? *How can you tell where the aside begins and ends?

17. Sc. 4, Lines 21–25: Point out and analyze the words Macbeth uses to indicate his feelings about the news of Fleance.

18. Sc. 4, Line 26: What does Macbeth mean when he uses the word safe to describe the plan?

19. Sc. 4, Lines 53–68: Describe what Lady Macbeth tells her guests about Macbeth’s outburst. *What evidence supports the dramatic irony that Lady Macbeth believes Macbeth’s fears are still about Duncan?

20. Sc. 4, Lines 74–96: Contrast the way the guests at the table would interpret Macbeth’s lines to the way the audience would interpret them.

21. Sc. 4, Lines 136–138: Which words indicate that Macbeth has gone too far in his quest for power? *Which theme is being developed in this scene?

22. Sc. 5, Lines 136–138: What is the setting? *What words does Hecate use that establish a particular mood? *What are examples of Hecate’s use of rhyme? *What is the rhyme scheme? *How does this rhyme scheme, a departure from the usual iambic pentameter, affect the mood of the passage? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

23. Sc. 6, Lines 1–39: Paraphrase Lennox’s speech. Describe Lennox’s attitude toward Macbeth.

24. Sc. 6, Lines 5–7: What is the specific, literal meaning of the lines “Banquo walked too late” and “men must not walk too late”? *Also explain the figurative meaning.

25. Sc. 6, Lines 29–34: What has life in Scotland under Macbeth been like? *How do some noblemen plan to put an end to Macbeth’s rule?