| exposition | A narrative device; The introductory material which gives the setting, creates the tone, presents the characters, and presents other facts necessary to understanding the story. |
| inciting incident | Interrupts the peace and balance of the situation and one or more of the characters comes into conflict with an outside force, himself, or another character |
| rising action | A series of events that builds from the conflict. It begins with the inciting force and ends with the climax. |
| climax | Most exciting moment of the story; turning point |
| falling action | Events after the climax, leading to the resolution |
| resolution | problems are solved |
| denouement | remaining questions are answered |
| exposition and inciting incident in macbeth | the witches in act 1 scene 1 in macbeth |
| three types of Shakespearean plays | tragedy, comedy, history |
| what is macbeth labeled as | tragedy: a tragic flaw is present and macbeth ends up in a worse situation than the one he started in |
| number of lines in a Shakespearean sonnet | 14 |
| rhyme scheme in a Shakespearean sonnet | abab, cdcd, efef, gg |
| four different parts of a Shakespearean sonnet | three quadrants (4 lines each) and a couplet (2 lines) |
| iambic parameter | a rhyme scheme in which each sonnet line consists of ten syllables |
| macbeth | tragic hero, kills King Duncan, commits the tragic flaw |
| lady macbeth | macbeth’s wife, very evil, comes up with the idea of killing Duncan |
| three witches | indirectly force macbeth to do most of his deeds, predict his future |
| banquo | nobleman, considers the witches predicts but does not translate them into actions |
| king duncan | king of scotland, great king, fair to the people, killed by macbeth |
| Witches | All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter! |
| Macbeth | Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going; And such an instrument I was to use |
| Banquo | My noble partner You greet with present grace and great prediction Of noble having and of royal hope, That he seems rapt withal. To me you speak not. If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not, Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear Your favors nor your hate |
| Lady Macbeth | Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it: |
| Ross | ‘Gainst nature still! Thriftless ambition, that wilt ravin up Thine own life’s means! Then ’tis most like The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth |
| Lady Macbeth | 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 the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between The effect and it! |
| he claims he has not thought about it | what is macbeth’s lie to banquo about the witches’ predictions |
| she says he looks just like her father while he is sleeping | what is lady macbeth’s excuse for not killing Duncan by herself |
| go clean up as water will wash off your guilt | what is is lady macbeth’s advice to macbeth after she realizes he is rattled |
| macduff and lennox | who was knocking |
| duncan’s murder | what does macduff discover |
| they fear that the person who murdered their father will attempt to murder them as well | why do malcolm and donalbain flee |
| macbeth | who is the king of scotland after duncan’s death |
| banquo | who is the only person macbeth fears as this person is the only person aware of the witches’ prophecies |
| three | how many murderers does macbeth hire to kill banquo |
| the witches predicted that one of macbeth’s heirs would take the throne | why does macbeth want fleance dead |
| no banquo dies but fleance lives | are both banquo and fleance killed |
| the goddess of witchcraft | who is hecate |
| macduff | who else flees to england along with malcolm |
| three | how many apparitions were there |
| an armed head, bloody child, child wearing a crown and holding a tree | what were the three apparitions |
| it warns cacbeth that macduff is coming back to scotland to ruin him | what does the armed head mean |
| it tells Macbeth that no man born of a woman can do him harm | what does the bloody child mean |
| Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be untilGreat Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hillShall come against himThis makes Macbeth think this is a false prophecy as he think a forest coming to him is impossible | what does the child wearing a crown and holding a tree mean |
| She should have died hereafter.There would have been a time for such a word.Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrowCreeps in this petty pace from day to dayTo the last syllable of recorded time.And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stage,And then is heard no more. It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing. | macbeth, explains how lady macbeth was going to die someday whether it was today or in ten years. It also shows how Macbeth has bestowed complete trust in the witches’ prophecies meaning that he believes that everything that happens has a purpose. |
| Out, damned spot; out, I say. One, two,—why, then ’tis time to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? | lady macbeth says this while she is sleepwalking around the castle. In the beginning of the play lady macbeth was the driving force among herself and macbeth and believed that killing for power is the right thing to do. However as in this scene it is evident that the endless murders have affected her more than it seemed. |
| “I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcom’s feet and to be baited with the rabble’s curse. Though Birnam Woods be come to Dunsinane and thou opposed, being of no woman born, yet I will try to last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield Lay on, Macduff, and damned be him that first cries ‘Hold! Enough!'” | This statement ends up to be macbeth’s last words and he is saying how even thou the witches’ prophecy of how his death will occur came true he will not surrender and will fight to the death against macduff. |
Macbeth Study Guide
September 11, 2019