MActrivia

BY EMMA SCHULZ

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Mactrivia!

Macquestion One

Macbeth was a loyal servant before the witches proposed prophecies to both him and Banquo. His change in

attributes go from valiant and honourable, to:

Overwhelmed and nervous

Excited and cheerful

Scheming and greedy

Confused and upset

Try again!

Correct!Macbeth, at the beginning of the

play, was a loyal servant to the King of Scotland. He was also valiant

and honourable, although

ambitious too. Before hearing the witches prophecies, Macbeth

controlled his ambition – it actually

helped him become the good man he was. After the prophecies were announced to him, however, Macbeth became so consumed in what could have happened if he

became king. His desire and push for King became so

uncontrollable that it destroyed him.

Are you ready for the next question?OK!

Macquestion Two

What was Macbeth’s first response to the witches’ prophecies?

Macbeth was doubtful of the prophecies being true

Macbeth believed in the prophecies, but Lady Macbeth did not

Macbeth became overwhelmed with the thoughts of what he

could be – King, wealthy, powerful.

Macbeth hated the thought that he could become King as he was happy with who he was

Whoops!

That’s right! Although Macbeth became

a conspiring, overly ambitious man, this is not what happened as soon as they heard the news. Macbeth’s first

response intended that he didn’t believe in the

prophecies. That was, until the first prophecy

came true – Macbeth was announced as the Thane

of Cawdor. He then started seeing himself

wearing the crown as he realised that the witches may have been telling

the truth.

We know that his response grew into greed and excessive ambition

because of extracts from the play such as:

“I have no spur to prick the sides of my

intent, but only vaulting ambition,

which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other” 1.7.1

Are you ready for

the next question?OK!

Macquestion Three

What would Lady Macbeth do when Macbeth was unsure about killing Banquo?

She would poison his wine

She would threaten to leave him

She would question his courage

She turned him in of stealing

Sorry!

Yes! Lady Macbeth was a lot more

forceful about the prophecies coming true in the early days than Macbeth. She believed that a true

man takes what he wants. Whenever Macbeth would try to pull out of Lady Macbeth’s plans for him to become king, she would question

his courage. An example from the text of Macbeth which shows how

Lady Macbeth wanted her husband to become king so badly is found in Act 1, Scene 5, lines 39 – 42, and is

shown on the left.

Are you ready for the next question?

“Come, you spirits that tend on mortal

thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the toe – top – full of the direst cruelty.

Make thick my blood.”

OK!

Macquestion FourWhat is the following quote, spoken by Lady Macbeth, about?

“Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the toe – top – full of the direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.”

Lust, love and desire for Macbeth

Caring for Lady Macbeth’s family

Her hate of Macbeth

Lady Macbeth wanting to become more man – like and cruel

Incorrect!

True! Studying Lady Macbeth’s quote, shows that she

wanted to change her womanly ways so she

did not have emotions to hold her back. She wanted to be more like a man so it was easier

for her to kill Duncan even on her own if she had to. She hoped that, being a woman, her thoughts would not affect her actions.

She assumed that as soon as Macbeth became King of Scotland, she could forget about the horrible things she and her husband did. This actually

resulted in being the opposite of her predictions,

and Lady Macbeth realises that her guilt isn’t so easily avoided. The guilt overwhelms her so much that she kills herself in order to escape it.

This is also evidential in the quote, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” 5.1.34. This is where

the guilt catches up with Lady Macbeth, and she

becomes ‘mad’, trying to scrub off the blood of

a murder on her hands, yet it seems to not disappear.

Are you ready for the next question?

OK!

Macquestion Five

Is Banquo ambitious?

Yes

No

Yeah!

Banquo is Macbeth’s friend, who is also a Scottish Nobleman. The weird sisters tell Banquo that along with Macbeth, his descendants will sit on the throne.

Like Macbeth, he is an ambitious man, but does not let his ambition overthrow his morals, especially being honourable to his country, Scotland.

This is shown in 1.3.125, where Banquo says, “And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence.” Here, he expresses that even when bad people say something that ends up being half truthful, they do it to bring them to a ruin. So, people who are good, like him, have to stay true to themselves and not be selfish and let ideas control them (like Macbeth did).

Guess what. . .

Oh no!

You passed the Mactrivia quiz!