Active Reading Notes Act 5

·         Lady Macbeth alarms people by moving in her sleepwalking trance like state, complains of blood on her hands

·         Macbeth wildly making military preparations

·         Macbeth confident in his army over the approaching Englishmen, worried about Lady Macbeth

·         Macbeth is informed about Death of queen and approaching “forest” which is actually army in disguise

·         Alarms Macbeth because the “forest army” is fulfilling the first part of the witches death prophecy for Macbeth

·         Claims he will at least die fighting

·         Macbeth and Macduff fight on the battle field, Macduff wins and returns with Macbeth’s head to castle

Active Reading Notes Act 4

·         Macbeth goes to witches asking for them to tell him more prophecies

·         Witches tell him: 1. To be careful of Macduff – floating head appears

                                2. “None of woman born shall harm Macbeth”- bloody baby appears

                                3. He will die when Birnam Wood Moves

·         Lady Macbeth upset Macbeth has left her and she doesn’t know why

·         Murderers show up to the castle, stab Macduff’s son and chase after Lady Macbeth

·         Malcom speaks with Macduff and deems him a worthy ally

·         Ross appears and tells the pair of the turmoil that his befallen Scotland because of Macbeth

·         Macduff vows to get revenge after he hears that Macbeth has killed his family

Macbeth Essay Questions

1. How and why is the contrast between appearance and reality so important in the

play? Include the role the witches play in affecting the play’s events.

2. What is Shakespeare saying about the nature of prophecy and fate? Just because

the witches predict things doesn’t mean they’re able to see the future…right?

3. What is Shakespeare saying about what it means to be a man? Which

character(s) do you think Shakespeare believes is the best example of a man?

4. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth change dramatically over the course of the play,

and their marriage changes, too. What are these changes, what causes them, and

how and why is their relationship in the end so different from their relationship in

the beginning?

5. At the end of the play, is Macbeth’s death a good or bad thing, i.e., are we

satisfied to see Macbeth defeated or upset to see a potentially great man fall?

Finally, is Macbeth a tragic hero?