Macbeth By William Shakespeare
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is famous tragedy. It was first performed in 1605-06 and printed in 1623. It is a tragedy based on murders of royal members, hence it is a based on regicide theme.
➤ Written and Performed – 1605-06
➤ Literary Genre of the Play – Tragedy
➤ Setting of The Play – Inverness, Scotland and England
➤ Source of the Play – Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles
➤ Main Character – Macbeth
Characters of Macbeth
➤ Duncan, King of Scotland – He is murdered by Macbeth in his sleep.
➤ Malcolm – Duncan’s elder son
➤ Donalbain – Duncan’s younger son
➤ Macbeth – A general in the army of king Duncan
➤ Lady Macbeth – Wife of Macbeth and later queen of Scotland
➤ Banquo – Scotish General and Companion of Macbeth
➤ Cowder – Thane of Cowder, This title bestowed to Macbeth by King Duncan
➤ Fleance – Banquo’s Son
➤ Macduff – Thane of Fife
➤ Lady Macduff – Macduff’s wife
➤ Siward – General of English Forces
➤ Seyton – Macbeth’s Armourer
➤ Hecate – Queen of the witches
Quotes and Lines from Macbeth
“More is thy due than all can pay.”
“I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people.”
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
“Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.”
“There are daggers in men’s smiles.”
“There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.”
“Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”
“Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble”
“Screw your courage to the sticking place.”
“All the perfumes of Arabia will sweeten this little hand.”
“What’s done cannot be undone.”
“Fair is foul and foul is fair”
“Come what come may time and the hour runs through the roughest day”
“To know my deed, ’twere best not know myself”
“It will have blood they say” blood must have blood”
“Macduff was from his mother’s womb, untimely ripped.”
“If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will and which which will not.”
“A deed without a name.”
“When our actions do not, Our fears do make us traitors.”
“Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death.”
“False face must hide what the false heart doth know.”
“To-morrow, to-morrow”
“Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.”
“Life is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”
“Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.”
“False face must hide what the false heart doth know.”
“Things without all remedy should be without regard: what’s is done is done.”
“Angles are bright still, though the bright fell.
Thought all things foul would wear the brows of grace,
Yet Grace must still look so”
“Let every man be master of his time.”
“So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;”
“Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold.”
“I have no words. My voice is in my sword”
Macbeth Questions and Answers
1 . What was the tragic flaw in the character of Macbeth?
(a) Over thinking
(b) Insanity
(c) Inaction
(d) Over ambition
Ans. d
2. When is the title of ‘The Thane of Cowder’ bestowed on Macbeth and by whom?
(a) On the barren heath by Banquo
(b) In inverness by Lady Macbeth
(c) Following the defeat of Norway by Duncan
(d) During the battle by the King’s emissary,
Ans. c
3. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand.” Who says this and when?
(a) Lady Macbeth in her sleep walking
(b) Macbeth after murdering Duncan
(c) Banquo’s ghost at the banquet
(d) Macduff’s wife’s murderers
Ans. b
4. According to Macbeth “the chief nourisher in life’s feast” is
(a) rich diet
(b) sleep
(c) love
(d) solace offered by friends
Ans. b
5. “Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell”. (Macbeth) Who is the brightest referred by Shakespeare in this quote?
(a) Macduff
(b) Macbeth
(c) Lucifer
(d) Malcolm
Ans. c
6. Who is Macbeth at the beginning of the play?
(a) Thane of Glamis (b) Thane of Fife
(c) Thane of Cawdor (d) Thane of Venice
Ans. a
7. The words “If it were done when tis done, then ’twere well/ It were done quickly…” are uttered by
(a) Hamlet
(b) Lear
(c) Othello
(d) Macbeth
Ans. d
8. The guilty conscience of Macbeth is revealed in :
(a) The Porter Scene
(b) The Banquet Scene
(c) The Sleepwalking Scene
(d) The second meeting with the witches
Ans. b
9. Why was Macduff able to kill Macbeth despite the Witches’ prophecy in “Macbeth”?
(a) he killed the Witches first
(b) he received a charm from Grinswindle
(c) he was a very powerful warrior
(d) he was born by ceasarean section
Ans. d
10. Macbeth utters his soliloque “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” when?
(a) he comes to know the truth about Macduff
(b) he receives the news of Lady Macbeth’s death
(c) Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane
(d) Malcolm and Siward enter the castle
Ans. b
11. ‘Macbeth’ is a play by William Shakespeare about a
(a) homicide
(b) suicide
(c) black mailing
(d) regicide
Ans. d
12. The Porter scene provides
(a) a clue to the play
(b) time for the army to come
(c) comic relief
(d) time for Banquo to escape
Ans. c
13. Who plans to kill Banquo and his son?
(a) Macbeth
(b) Macduff
(c) Malcolm
(d) Ross
Ans. a
14. Macbeth sees the ghost of:
(a) Banquo
(c) lago
(b) Duncan
(d) Hamlet
Ans. a
15. The dominating passion of Macbeth is –
(a) Jealousy
(b) greed
(c) revenge
(d) ambition
Ans. d
16. Who wrote the essay entitled “On the knocking at the Gate in Macbeth”?
(b) Dr. Johnson
(a) Shakespeare
(c) T.S. Eliot
(d) Thomas De Quincey
Ans. d
17. Mine eternal jewel, Given to the common enemy of man.
Who is the speaker?
(a) Macbeth
(b) Lady Macbeth
(c) Hamlet
(d) Banquo
Ans. a
18. “And you all know, security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.”
Who is the speaker?
a. Hecate
b. Three Witches
c. Banquo
d. None of these
Ans. a
19. “The night is long that never finds the day.” This is uttered by:
(a) Malcolm
(b) Macduff
(c) Ross
(d) None of these
Ans. a
20. “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” Who uttered?
(a) Lady Macbeth
(b) Macduff
(c) Ross
(d) None of these
Ans. a
21. “Here is the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” Who said?
(a) Macbeth
(b) Lady Macduff
(c) Lady Macbeth
(d) None of these
