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GCSEs > English Macbeth > Flashcards

English Macbeth Flashcards

1
Q

Who was named prince of Cumberland and what was Macbeth’s reaction?

A

• Malcolm
• Macbeth begins to plot KD’s death out of envy and ambition

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2
Q

Who was executed for treason?

A

Macdonwald

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3
Q

When was Macbeth written?

A

1606

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4
Q

Chiasmus definition

A

Paradoxical language

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5
Q

Sleep is a symbol of

A

conscience and mental wellbeing

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6
Q

Children are symbols of

A

inheritance and succession

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7
Q

megalomaniac

A

a person with an obsessive desire for power

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8
Q

How is Macbeth still relevant today?

A

It’s themes relates to our modern day world

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9
Q

What did the Jacobean English perceive the Scottish as?

A

Brutish and barbaric

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10
Q

Regicide was known as

A

The worst sin

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11
Q

What did Macbeth’s murder of King Duncan represent in real life?

A

Guy Fawkes’ attempt to kill King James (Gunpowder plot)

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12
Q

What did King James I approve of in his book ‘Demonology’?

A

The practice of witch-hunting

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13
Q

How is a cyclical structure used in Macbeth?

A

• Previous Thane of Cawdor (MacDonwald) betrayed Scotland (by joining forces with Norway)
• Macbeth betrays King Duncan (by killing him)

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14
Q

Proto feminism

A

When women are presented differently to what they usually are

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15
Q

Soliloquy

A

When a character speaks alone about their thoughts

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16
Q

Aside

A

When a character speaks to the audience

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17
Q

What does the dagger symbolise in Macbeth’s hallucination?

A

His ambition to kill the king
and also guilt

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18
Q

Catharsis

A

Emotional release

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19
Q

Why do Donalbain (KD son) and Malcom flee Scotland?

A

They are worried about their safety after the king’s death

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20
Q

Equivocate meaning

A

Using unclear / ambiguous language

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21
Q

How is the porter presented in Macbeth?

A

He provides comic relief breaking tension in the play through his use of sexual innuendo and his relatability to audience

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22
Q

Pathetic fallacy in Macbeth (Act 2)

A

Lennox says ‘The night has been unruly’ (A2 S3)
• Denotes that a storm has occurred.
• Reflects how the natural order is chaos after the Divine right of kings has been broken.

23
Q

Who did King James believe he was a descendant of?

A

Banquo

24
Q

Omen meaning

A

An event taken as a sign of the future

25
Q

What is ‘the Great Chain of Being’ and how was it broken?

A

Hierarchal system from the peasants to God at top • Macbeth commits regicide to break it

26
Q

What becomes of Lady Macbeth at the end of the play?

A

She sleepwalks and eventually commits suicide. This demonstrates how guilt and remorse has consumed her

27
Q

Who leads the attack against Macbeth’s castle near the end of the play?

A

Malcom & Macduff

28
Q

Why do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ask for darkness throughout the play?

A

• To hide their motives and stop them from feeling guilt

(Macbeth - stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires - A1 S4)
(Lady Macbeth - Come, thick night - A1 S5)

29
Q

What are hands symbolic of in the play?

A

Blood, guilt and death.
(Lady Macbeth - all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand - A5 S1)

30
Q

What does Lady Macbeth have by her side as she sleepwalks and what is its significance?

A

Lady Macbeth has a candle light by her side which may suggest she’s speaking to God. This demonstrates she’s conscious of her immorality.

31
Q

What is Macbeth’s hamartia?

A

His ambition

32
Q

How is Duncan’s blood and skin described by Macbeth upon ‘discovery’ of the king’s body?

A

Macbeth describes Duncan as ‘his silver skin laced with his golden blood’

• This implicates Duncan’s divinity and appointment by God
• Also emphasises how Macbeth isn’t suitable for the throne

33
Q

Who does the Porter imagine is knocking on the castle gates (hell gates)?

A

The devil
(‘ Who’s there in the name of Beelzebub? ’ - A2 S3)

34
Q

Descriptions of Macbeth at the beginning of the play

A

• O valiant cousin! (by Duncan)
• Brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution
• As cannons overcharged with double cracks (A1 S2)

35
Q

Descriptions of Macbeth at the end of the play

A

• ‘hell-hound’
• ‘tyrant’ (by himself too)
• ‘dead butcher’ (dehumanised)
by Malcolm and Macduff (A5 S8)

36
Q

Why does Macbeth kill Macduff’s children?

A

Macbeth commits infanticide to try intimidate Macduff

37
Q

How do the witches use equivocation in Macbeth?

A

‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ A1 S1.
• Introduces the theme of duplicity
• Equivocate suggests the witches are characters that can’t be trusted
• Audience questions the witches intent

38
Q

Who is Hecate?

A

The goddess of witches who views Macbeth as a ‘wayward son’

39
Q

How did Lady Macbeth contribute to the death of King Duncan?

A

She drugged the guards and smears blood on their faces to frame them

40
Q

What was Macbeth’s reason for killing the king’s guards?

A

He says his anger was to blame • Also feigns loyalty to the king when he lies ‘the expedition my violent love outran the pauser’

41
Q

Quotes that demonstrate guilt in the play Macbeth

A

Macbeth - ‘a dagger of the mind, a false creation’ (hallucinates before the murder) (A2 S1)
- ‘I could not say Amen’ (A2 S2)
- ‘sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep’ (after killing the king) (A2 S2)

Lady Macbeth - ‘all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand’ (A5 S1)
- ‘Out, damned spot!’ (sleepwalking) (A5 S1)

42
Q

Quotes that demonstrate ambition in the play Macbeth

A

Macbeth

  • ‘stars hide your fires let not night see my black and deep desires’ (A1 S4) (soliloquy of guilt)
  • ‘Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown’ (A3 S1) (dissatisfaction)
  • ‘We have scorched the snake not killed it’ (A3 S2) (megalomaniacal & paranoia)

Lady Macbeth

  • ‘Too full of the milk of human kindness’ (A1 S5) (emasculate)
  • ‘Look like the innocent flower, but the serpent under it’ (A1 S5) (duplicity)
43
Q

Quotes that demonstrate the supernatural in the play Macbeth

A

Witches - ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’

Banquo - ‘The instruments of darkness tell us truth’

44
Q

Purpose of the supernatural in Macbeth

A

• Challenges characters’ moral compasses

• Majority of Jacobean England were Christian therefore the supernatural would’ve been viewed as evil

• Engages the audience

45
Q

How is Banquo presented?

A

• Moral compass of the play • skeptical of the evil witches (’Can the devil speak true?’ A1 S3) • perceptive (understands that Macbeth is rapt from prophecies) • Political propaganda - King James believes he’s a descendant of Banquo

46
Q

Quotes that present anagnorisis

A

Macbeth: ‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow’
Refers to life as: ‘a walking shadow’ and ‘a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing’
(Futility of life)

47
Q

What bird ‘croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan’ under Lady Macbeth’s ‘battlements’?

A

A raven

48
Q

How is Macduff presented?

A

• Macbeth’s foil • Symbolises justice, loyalty and patriotism to Scotland • Restores the Great Chain of Being by killing Macbeth • Thane of Fife

49
Q

Macbeth’s title before becoming thane of Cawdor

A

Thane of Glamis

50
Q

First round of prophecies given by the witches

A

• Macbeth will be thane of Cawdor
• Macbeth will be king
• Banquos sons will be king

51
Q

Second round of prophecies given by the witches

A

• Beware Macduff
• No man of woman born shall hurt Macbeth
• Macbeth will be vanquished when great Birman Wood moved to Dunsinane Hill

52
Q

How does Macduff prove the prophecies true?

A

He beheads Macbeth and was able to kill him because he was untimely ripped from mother’s womb

53
Q

Key message in Macbeth

A

• Regicide will result in your downfall
• Obsessive, uncontrolled desires can destroy sense of moral compass

54
Q

Context surrounding Macbeth and Lady Macbeth asking for darkness

A

• LM ‘Come, thick night’
• M ‘Stars hide your fires’ (A1 S4)

• Both on the stage alone giving a soliloquy
• Both characters are aware of the immorality of their decisions
• Macbeth echoes LM’s words to suggest the close relationship
• Could also signify how Macbeth is currently controlled by LM’s thinking

GCSEs (17 decks)

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