ISC Macbeth Questions and some answers.

 

Macbeth

- William Shakespear  

Act I : Scene 1

1.    “All :
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.”

i.                   Where do these lines occur?

Answer:- These lines are found in the drama ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare in Act 1 Scene: 1.

ii.                What do the play write wants to suggest here?

Answer:- What the speaker wants to suggest here is that the three witches consider every evil part of nature and good society is good for them and vice versa. This line reveals the very creed the guiding principle of these abnormal and obnoxious creatures. Actually, everything that is found is a source for them. The witches here with the first spoken words with the mood of foreboding and evil. The super natural element, it may be stated is here them of the play.

 

 

Act I : Scene 2

1.    “Like Valour’s minion carv’d out his passage
Till he faced the slave;”

i.                   What do the speaker want to mean by ‘Valour’s Minion’?

Answer:- The play write here uses the terms ‘Valour’s minion’ in order to describe the magnificent of the heroic did’s of Macbeth. Actually, while fighting with the rebabs appear to be the bravest general of the king and therefore, he proved himself to be the darling valour, i.e., actually here the captain comments exult Macbeth and prepare us for a heroic figure.

 

Act I : Scene 3

1.    “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.”

i.                   Explain this line.

2.    “How far is’t call’d to Forres? What are these
So wither’d, and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitant o’ the earth,
And yet are on’t? Live you? Or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each at once her choppy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips; you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.”

i.                   Who is Banquo?

ii.                Whom does Banquo say so and when?

iii.             Who are being described here?

iv.             Write in brief what happen then.

3.    “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.”

i.                   Where does this line occur?

ii.                Who to whom? When is this said?

iii.             What does the speaker want to mean here?

4.    “And, for an earnest of a greater honour,
He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor:
In which addition, hail, most worthy thane!
For it is thine.”

i.                   Who is Ross?

ii.                Who does Ross say so and when?

iii.             Who was given the title ‘Thane of Cawdor’ and how it is possible?

iv.             What was the mental state of Banquo as soon as they got the news?

5.    “The thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me.
In borrow’d robes?”

i.                   When did Macbeth say so?

ii.                Who had been Thane of Cawdor by then?

iii.             What did he do with the state?

6.    “[Aside]Glamis, and thane of Cawdor!
The greatest is behind. ˗˗ [To Ross and Angus]”

i.                   What does the speaker want to mean by ‘the greatest is behind’?

7.    “That, trusted home,
Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
Besides the thane of Cawdor. But ‘tis strange:
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.”

i.                   What does the speaker want to suggest here?

 

1.    “Two truths are told,
  As happy prologues to the swelling act”                    [line :- 135]

i.                   Where do these lines occur?

ii.                When does the speaker say so?

iii.             What are the two truth that are being referred to here?

iv.             What does the speaker want to mean here by ‘prologue to the swelling act’?

2.    “Present fears
  Are less than horrible imaginings:”                            [line :- 145]

i.                   Explain these lines after the text.

3.    “New honours come upon him,
Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould,
But with the aid of use.”                                    [line :- 154 – 156]

i.                   What are the new honours referred to here?

ii.                What does Banquo want to suggest here?

 

 

Act I : Scene 4

1.    “The service and the loyalty I owe,                
In doing it, pays itself. Your highness’ part
Is to receive our duties; and our duties
Are to your throne and state, children and servants;
Which do but what they should, by doing everything
safe toward your love and honour.”                      [Line : 25 – 30]

i.                   Who is Macbeth?

ii.                To whom does the speaker say so and when?

2.    “My plenteous joys,
Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves
In drops of sorrow. Sons, kinsmen, thanes,
And you whose places are the nearest, know,
We will establish our estate upon
Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter
The Prince of Cumberland: which honour must
Not unaccompanied invest him only,
But signs of nobleness, like stars shall shine
On all deservers. [To Macbeth] From hence to Inverness”
                                                                                   [line : 39 – 49]

i.                   Who is Duncan?

ii.                In which Act and Scene does the line occur?

iii.             Here Duncan is seemed to declare something about Malcom.
Briefly state its consequence.

3.    “Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires;
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.”       [line : 57 – 60]

i.                   Explain these lines.

 

 

Act I : Scene 5

1.    “ Shall sun that morrow see –

Your face, my thane, is as a book where men

May read strange matters. To beguile the time,

Look like the time — bear welcome in your eye,

Your hand, your tongue. Look like the innocent flower,

But be the serpent under't. He that's coming

Must be provided for, and you shall put

This night's great business into my dispatch,

Which shall to all our nights and days to come

Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.”

                       i.             Where do you find this line?

                    ii.            What does the speaker want to suggest with the reference of book here?

                 iii.            How does the  speaker takes the night here?

                  iv.            What does the speaker mean by “This night great business”?

2.    “Only look up clear;
To alter favour ever is to fear;
Leave all the rest to me.”

i.                   Who is Lady Macbeth?

ii.                When does Lady Macbeth said this and to whom?

iii.             What should be left on Lady Macbeth’s shoulder?

 

Act I : Scene 6

1.    “Where’s the Thane of Cawdor?
We coursed him at the heels and had a purpose
To be his purveyor; but he rides well
And his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp
             him
To his home before us. Fair and noble hostess,
We are your guest to-night.”

i.                   Whom does Dunkan say so?

ii.                When and how did she say the cotted words?

iii.             Whose guest he was and what was the consequences of being guest here? 

 

 

Act I : Scene 7

1.    “He’s here in double trust: ”                                            [line : 12]

i.                   When does Macbeth say so?

ii.                What do the speaker want to mean here by double trust?

iii.             What idea do you form here about Macbeth’s mental health here?

2.    “Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
And falls on the other.”                                            [line : 23 - 28]

i.                   Where do these lines occur?

ii.                What does the speaker mean when he says “I have no spue”?

3.    “We will proceed no further in this business:
He hath honour’d me of late; 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.”                                            [line : 33 - 37]

i.                   What business is meant here?

ii.                What do you mean by golden opinion and newest gloss?

4.    “                                              Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dress’d yourself? Hath it slept
           since?”                                                            [line : 38 - 39]

i.                   When and why does Lady Macbeth say so?