Macbeth - Recap Acts 1, 2 and 3 - Quiz for in class

Macbeth - Recap Acts 1, 2 and 3

Check what you can remember about the play so far.

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There are summaries of key scenes AND ten quiz questions. There are also slides with discussion prompts (and you can discuss your ideas with a partner). ​

Act 1, Scene 1

At the beginning of Act 1, audiences meet the witches. Shakespeare draws upon the beliefs of the time and connects the witches to the weather. He also suggests that they have familiars (animals that do their bidding), that they can predict the future and that they thrive in chaos.

Multiple Choice

In this first scene, the witches plan to meet with...

• King Duncan

• Macbeth

• The Norwegian traitors

• Lady Macbeth

Act 1,

Scene 2

King Duncan and his loyal followers are battling against armies that are attempting to invade Scotland. In this scene, King Duncan learns the good news that his army has won. Macbeth and Banquo are two generals in King Duncan’s army that are described as having fought with great courage and bravery. In particular, Macbeth is praised for having killed a traitor in a very violent manner. 

Multiple Choice

Macbeth is rewarded for his bravery and loyalty in battle. King Duncan announces that he will reward Macbeth by...

• making him his heir

• making him the new Thane of Cawdor

• offering him his daughter as his bride

• finding some local witches who can predict his future for him

Act 1, Scene 3

Macbeth (and his good friend Banquo - who is also a general) appear to stumble upon the witches. The witches give them a prophecy about the future. Then, some messengers arrive with news from the King and the first part of the prophecy appears to come true! Macbeth will be the new Thane of Cawdor (as the previous Thane of Cawdor was a traitor).

Multiple Choice

In Act 1, Scene 3, Banquo gives Macbeth an important warning. He tells Macbeth that the witches might be telling them 'small truths' about the future so that they can '_?_' them later.

• use

• murder

• betray

• manipulate

Discuss Shakespeare's use of dramatic irony

Reflect upon Shakespeare's use of dramatic irony when Macbeth is awarded the title of a previous traitor.

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This irony is used again when Duncan states that the previous Thane of Cawdor had his 'absolute trust' (A1, S4) and again when Duncan praises Macbeth's castle as 'pleasant' (A1, S6).

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How is this an example of dramatic irony? Discuss this with the person next to you.

Act 1, Scene 5

In this scene, Lady Macbeth (Macbeth's wife) reads aloud a letter that she has received from Macbeth. Macbeth then arrives (he rides his horse very fast so that he can beat the King there) and the pair discuss the prophecy. Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to murder King Duncan so that he can become King himself as soon as possible.

Multiple Choice

Lady Macbeth is worried that Macbeth does not have enough wickedness and cruelty in him to become King as soon as possible, so she calls upon evil spirits to...

• take away her womanliness

• fill her with cruelty from head to toe

• cover the night sky with darkness so heaven cannot see her actions

• all of the above!

Act 1, Scene 7

In this scene, Macbeth is having doubts. He tells his wife that he no longer wants to kill the King. She emasculates him, telling him that he would be 'so much more the man' (A1, S7) if he were willing to kill Duncan.​

Her efforts are persuasive, and Macbeth agrees to kill the King.

Multiple Choice

When Macbeth eventually agrees to kill King Duncan, he tells his wife that she is so strong that she should...

• enter a weight-lifting competition

• come into battle with him next time he fights in a war

• kill King Duncan herself

• give birth to sons only

Act 2, Scene 1

In Act 1, Scene 2, Banquo and Macbeth unexpectedly meet outside. Banquo tells Macbeth that he had a dream about the witches. Macbeth lies and says that he never thinks about the witches or what they said. When Banquo leaves, Macbeth delivers a soliloquy (which reveals his more inner thoughts). In this soliloquy, the audience learns that Macbeth sees a strange vision before him.

Multiple Choice

Macbeth sees a vision of something floating in the air. What is it?

• A dagger

• A cup of wine

• A ghost

• A crown

Act 2, Scene 2

Lady Macbeth enters onto the stage and she remarks that Macbeth is killing King Duncan in that very moment. Duncan is not murdered on stage, but behind the scenes. Macbeth returns with the daggers that he used to kill the King. His hands (and the daggers) are covered in blood. Macbeth is distressed after he kills the King and Lady Macbeth is unimpressed with him. She returns the daggers to the murder scene.

Multiple Choice

Immediately after killing King Duncan, Macbeth is very distressed. He...

• worries that he will struggle to sleep (because of his guilt)

• remarks that he will never be able to wash his hands of this terrible deed

• is afraid to think about what he has done

• All of the above!

Discuss Macbeth's violent actions with a partner.

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They are celebrated in Act 1, Scene 2 and he is portrayed as brave when he kills traitors.

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Then, consider how worried he is to kill King Duncan and how fearful he is to look at Duncan's corpse after he has killed him. What is the difference? Isn't Macbeth accustomed to violence?

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(Hint: consider what you have learnt about 'The Great Chain of Being')

Act 2, Scene 3

In this scene, King Duncan is discovered dead. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth pretend to be surprised, and Macbeth murders the guards that the pair attempted to frame. Both of King Duncan's sons fear for their own lives and so they flee. Later on the fact that the two sons flee Scotland is wrongfully used as evidence that they must have been the ones to arrange King Duncan's murder.

Multiple Choice

In Act 2, Scene 3 Shakespeare uses another example of dramatic irony. Macduff comments that Lady Macbeth is a -?- lady and that the news of Duncan's murder will surely -?- her.

• ambitious,

  delight

• gentle,

  distress

• wise,

  intrigue

• suspicious,

  concern

Act 2, Scene 4

The conversation between Ross and the old man in this scene tells the audience about a number of unnatural occurrences in the weather and the behaviour of animals, which cast a menacing shadow over Macbeth’s ascension to the throne. In Shakespeare’s tragedies, terrible supernatural occurrences often accompany wicked behaviour; they are symbols of the connection between moral, natural, and political developments.

Act 3, Scene 1 and Scene 3

Macbeth worries that if the witches’ prophecies continue to come true, Banquo’s children will somehow take the throne. Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance. In Scene 3, there are actually three murderers. They kill Banquo.

Multiple Choice

Although the murderers successfully kill Banquo, not all goes to plan. What happens that will upset Macbeth when he finds out?

• Someone witnesses Banquo being murdered.

• One of the murderers begins to tell other people that it is Macbeth who hired them.

• Banquo's son, Fleance, escapes alive.

• Banquo fights back and kills one of the murderers before he dies.

Discuss the three murderers with a partner

Reflect upon how Macbeth originally hires two murderers but then a third appears to help kill Banquo. In Act 3, Scene 3 the two original murderers are surprised when a third arrives.

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Discuss how this reflects Macbeth's state of mind and reduced ability to trust others.

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Discuss how you think this might continue to develop as the play carries on. ​

Act 3, Scene 4

At a royal feast, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost and Macbeth becomes so frightened that Lady Macbeth clears everyone else from the room. Macbeth reveals that he feels he has committed so many terrible deeds now, that it is easier to just carry on doing so. He mentions that he is planning more terrible things. 

Multiple Choice

Macbeth uses a metaphor to describe his predicament. He tells Lady Macbeth,

'All causes shall give way. I am in -?-

Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,

Returning were as tedious as go o'er.' (A3, S4)

• mud

• blood

• turmoil

• water

Well done!

You have finished this quiz!