Macbeth

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Act I

Reading Check

1. After the battle, what title does the king give to Macbeth?

2. Whom does Duncan name as his successor for king?

3. What does Lady Macbeth tell Macbeth to do?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What do the three witches predict for Banquo? What do the three witches predict for Macbeth? How might their predictions and demeanor be described?

2. How does Lady Macbeth react when she reads Macbeth’s letter?

Paired Resource

Witchcraft in Elizabethan England

• This BBC article discusses magic in Shakespeare’s time.
• The article connects to the theme of Masculinity and Femininity.
• What role do the three witches play in Macbeth? What is Macbeth’s initial reaction to the sight of the witches? What is his reaction to their words? With regard to the information in this article, why might Shakespeare have included the witches in the plot of Macbeth?

Opening Scenes of Macbeth  

• This 5.5-minute video presents three different versions of the play’s opening scene. (Content Warning: The third opening scene includes wounds, gore, and murder.)
• The scenes connect to the theme of Violence Begets Violence.
• How do the three versions compare? Consider pacing, cinematography, costumes, and vocal interpretations as well as characterization.

Act II

Reading Check

1. What does Macbeth see in a vision?

2. Who murders Duncan?

3. Who murders Duncan’s guards?

4. What reason does the murderer of Duncan’s guards give for killing them?

5. What is the real reason the person murdered the guards?

6. Who becomes king?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What actions does Lady Macbeth take when Macbeth reappears after murdering Duncan?

2. Why do people suspect Malcolm and Donalbain of murdering Duncan?

Paired Resource

Shakespeare's "Sonnet 94"

• The sonnet connects to the theme of Ambition and Corruption.
• Where in the play do we see “sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds”? What other lines have a connection to the play at this point, in terms of tone or imagery?

Act III

Reading Check

1. Who starts to suspect Macbeth, as revealed in a brief soliloquy before Macbeth enters?

2. What does Macbeth plan to do to Banquo and Fleance?

3. Whom do the murderers murder?

4. At the banquet, what upsets Macbeth?

5. What does Lennox think would have happened to Malcolm and Donalbain if they were in Macbeth’s reach?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What motivates Macbeth to commit additional murders?

2. How does Macbeth act suspiciously at the banquet?

3. How does Lady Macbeth try to cover up for Macbeth’s actions?

Act IV

Reading Check

1. Whom does Macbeth visit?

2. When Macduff leaves for England, whom does Macbeth target?

3. Who visits Lady Macduff and stands up for Macduff?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What three new predictions do the witches make? What scene do they reveal to Macbeth?

2. How does Malcolm test Macduff’s loyalty?

Paired Resource

“Why Power Corrupts”

• This Smithsonian article discusses an experiment about how power affects people.
• The article connects to the theme of Ambition and Corruption.
• How is power changing Macbeth? Would you say the change goes against his will, or conspires with it? Find and cite 2-3 lines by Macbeth that connect to specific ideas in this article (for example, the concept of moral identity).

Act V

Reading Check

1. What does Lady Macbeth see on her hands as she sleepwalks?

2. Who hears Lady Macbeth’s confession?

3. Where is the army that is trying to defeat Macbeth?

4. Where is Lady Macbeth by the time Macbeth and Macduff fight?

5. Who will become king of Scotland?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does the army walking toward Macbeth hide how large their numbers are?

2. What does Macduff reveal about how he was born?

3. What happens to Macbeth when he and Macduff fight?

Recommended Next Reads 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

• A man becomes obsessed with uncovering the meaning of life, creates a creature, and becomes horrified with what he has done.
• Shared themes include Ambition and Corruption and Violence Begets Violence.
• Frankenstein on SuperSummary

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

• This award-winning nonfiction book traces the lives of three generations of the Sackler family, from their early work with Valium to their focus on money at all costs as they fuel the opioid epidemic.
• Shared themes include Ambition and Corruption and Violence Begets Violence.
• Empire of Pain on SuperSummary