Macbeth
Study Questions

1. Macbeth's first words are "So foul and fair a day I have not seen" (1.3.38). What do you make of the fact that his words echo the witches' famous incantation, "Fair is foul and foul is fair"? Do you notice anything about the rest of his opening sentence?

2. What are some attributes of the three witches? On a scale of real or fantastic, where would you locate them? Why?

3. How does the play define terms of masculinity? of femininity?

4. What if you found yourself in a condition where you were able or compelled to act out your fantasies, without thinking (and you were beyond judgment)? What might that feel like? empowering? insane? something else?
How does this question pertain to Macbeth?

5. Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo. In Act Three, Scene Three, a third murderer joins the plot. How might you explain this difference?

6. (Bb Discussion Group Topic). How would you stage the Banquet Scene (3.4) -- specifically the appearance of Banquo's ghost (3.4.41)? Would you have the bloodied actor occupy Macbeth's chair, or would you show an empty chair? Or might you do it another way? What different messages does your choice convey to an audience? (In your imagined staging, consider that you have all possible technologies available.)

7. In Act Four, Scene Three, Malcolm "tests" Macduff by reciting a list of his own villainies that make him appear to be even worse than Macbeth. Why do you think Shakespeare wrote this scene, or made it so prolonged? (It is often cut in performance.)

8. Is Macbeth a hero, villain, or some other category of character?

9. Assuming that Lady Macbeth commits suicide at the end, why do you think she does so? (And why must this be an assumption?)

10. One of Macbeth's last speeches is one of the most famous passages in Shakespeare: "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" (5.5.16-27). Click here to read it.
As you read the speech, try to imagine Macbeth's thought processes as he speaks: in other words, be the actor who presents the character of Macbeth at this moment. Move slowly; think and feel your way through the lines. You will of course have to read them aloud.
What have you learned from this exercise?