Macbeth Test Answers

Part 1

1. Macbeth won the respect of King Duncan by
A. slaying the traitor Macdonwald.

2. King Duncan rewarded Macbeth by dubbing him
B. the Thane of Cawdor him.

3. In addressing Banquo, the witches called him which of these?
"Lesser than Macbeth, and greater." (I)
"Not so happy as Macbeth, yet much happier." (II)
"A future father of kings." (III)
C. I, II, and III

4. When Macbeth said, "Two truths are told / As happy prologues" he was referring to
A. his titles of Glamis and Cawdor.

5. "Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it" is a reference to
A. the traitorous Thane of Cawdor.

6. Duncan's statement, "I have begun to plant thee and will labour / To make thee full of growing" is an example of
B. a metaphor.

7. Lady Macbeth characterizes her husband as being
B. "too full of the milk of human kindness."

8. When Macbeth agonizes over the possible killing of the king, which of these does he say?
"He is my house guest; I should protect him." (I)
"Duncan's virtues will "plead like angels" " (II)
"I am his kinsman and his subject" (III)
C. I, II, and III

9. Macbeth's statement to his wife, "Bring forth men-children only" signifies that he
C. has accepted the challenge to slay the king.

10. As part of the plan to kill the king, Lady Macbeth would
A. get the chamberlains drunk.

11. Macbeth begins full of honor and glory but starts to unravel after the coronation and by the end of the play he is completely dehumanized.

12. Macbeth's desire to be king causes him to disregard what is right and to obsess with being king, no matter what it takes.

13. The witches give "permission" to Macbeth to do whatever it takes to become king. He uses them to excuse his actions.

14. Macbeth quickly believes the witches without questioning them, while Banquo is very weary of them and decides to take what they say with a grain of salt.

15. At the beginning of the play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a good relationship and confide their dreams and ambitions to each other. After the coronation you see this begin to disintegrate. Lady Macbeth first taunts Macbeth to kill and go after what he wants but by the end of the play they have no relationship and Macbeth does not care that his wife is dead.

Part 2
1. "Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight?" is a reference to the
B. dagger.

2. Lady Macbeth confessed that she would have killed King Duncan herself except for the fact that
B. he looked like her father

3. Shakespeare introduced the Porter in order to
C. provide comic relief.

4. Malcolm and Donalbain flee after the murder
A. because they fear the daggers in men's smiles.

5. Macbeth arranges for Banquo's death by telling the hired killers that
A. Banquo had thwarted their careers.

6. Macbeth startles his dinner guests by
A. conversing with the Ghost of Banquo

7. The Witches threw into the cauldron
"Eye of bat and tongue of frog"(I)
"Wool of bat and tongue of dog" (II)
"Fang of snake and eagle's glare" (III)
A. I and II

8. The three apparitions which appeared to Macbeth were
An armed head. (I)
A child with a crown. (II)
A bloody child (III)
C. I, II, and III

9. In Act IV, Malcolm is at first lukewarm toward Macduff because he
B. suspects a trick.

10. Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane when
B. the camouflaged soldiers make their advance.

11. By the end of the play, foul and fair are indistinguishable to Macbeth because he no longer has human emotions and doesn't see evil as wrong.

12. On the surface, Macbeth may appear to be a morality play. Macbeth has a strong ambition that leads to his ultimate demise.