Act 1

Text of Book

Act 1, page 1

Act 1, page 2

Act 1, page 3

Act 1, page 4

Act 1, page 5

Act 1, page 6

Act 1, page 7

Questions

1)	What is the main idea of Act 1?

2)	Banquo says to the witches, "…you should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so…." What does "interpret" mean in this passage?

3)	After hearing the witches tell him he will be Thane of Cawdor and king one day, Macbeth says, "But how of Cawdor? The Thane of Cawdor lives, / A prosperous gentleman; and to be King Stands not within the prospect of belief, / No more than to be Cawdor…." What does "prospect" mean in this passage?

4)	Banquo warns Macbeth about believing the witches when he says, "And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles, to betray us / In deepest consequence" What does "instruments" mean in this context?

5)	In the same passage (also copied below), what does "trifles" mean? "And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles, to betray us / In deepest consequence."

6)	What does "plague" mean in this quote from Macbeth? "But in these cases / We still have judgement here: that we but teach / Bloody instructions, which being taught return / To plague th'inventor: this even–handed justice / Commends th'ingredience of our poisoned chalice / To our own lips."

7)	How does Macbeth get the title Thane of Cawdor?

8)	In Act 1, scene 3, the first witch's story about the sailor's wife shows that the witches are:

9)	Select the three prophecies the three witches give to Banquo.

10)

After reading a letter from Macbeth telling her about the events of the battle and his meeting with the witches, Lady Macbeth says: "…yet do I fear they nature; It is too full o'th' milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way; thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it:" What do Lady Macbeth's statements about her husband reveal?

11)	Who tells Macbeth to "look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't."?

12)	What is Lady Macbeth asking for in the passage below? (Act 1, Scene 5, lines 41–45) "Come you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top–full / Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood; / Stop up th' access and passage to remorse,"

13)	Macbeth says, "…and I have bought / Golden opinions from all sorts of people, / Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, / Not cast aside so soon." What does "golden opinions" mean?

14)	In his long speech at the beginning of scene vii, Macbeth says he believes he should not kill King Duncan for all of the following reasons except:

15)	Who do Lady Macbeth and Macbeth plan to frame for the murder of the king?

16)	Were there any events that weren't clear to you?