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Macbeth Character Analysis

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Macbeth Character Analysis

Read the self-contained scene summary and quotation bank. Then analyse how Shakespeare presents Macbeth and Lady Macbeth after Duncan’s murder. Use evidence from the bank; quotations retain Shakespeare’s original spelling.

The night Duncan is murdered

Macbeth has killed King Duncan while he sleeps in Macbeth’s castle. He returns to Lady Macbeth carrying the bloody daggers he was meant to leave with Duncan’s attendants. Macbeth says he heard a voice cry, “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep.” He is shaken by the blood on his hands and cannot return to the scene. Lady Macbeth calls him afraid and takes the daggers back herself, smearing the attendants with blood. Knocking sounds at the castle gate. In the next scene, the porter jokes as he answers the door; Macduff discovers Duncan’s body, and Macbeth kills the attendants, claiming he acted in furious grief. Lady Macbeth faints, though the other characters cannot know whether this is genuine.

Quotation bank

A. Macbeth: “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’” (Act 2, Scene 2). B. Macbeth: “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” (Act 2, Scene 2). C. Lady Macbeth: “A little water clears us of this deed” (Act 2, Scene 2). D. Lady Macbeth: “My hands are of your colour; but I shame / To wear a heart so white” (Act 2, Scene 2). E. Macbeth: “Had I but died an hour before this chance, / I had lived a blessed time” (Act 2, Scene 3). F. Macbeth: “Who can be wise, amazed, temp’rate and furious, / Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man” (Act 2, Scene 3).

A. Character under pressure

Choose the strongest answer for each question. For the short responses, support your interpretation with a quotation or precise detail.

1.Which interpretation best explains Macbeth’s reaction to the blood on his hands in quotation B?

He treats the blood as a practical problem he can solve with water.
He imagines his guilt as so vast that even an ocean cannot remove it.
He is mainly worried that the servants will see his hands.
He believes the blood proves he is a successful king.

2.In quotation D, what does the contrast between “colour” and “heart so white” suggest about Lady Macbeth’s judgement of Macbeth? Explain the implication of “white”.

3.Match each quotation to the most relevant dramatic or language feature. Use each feature once.

A. “Macbeth does murder sleep”
B. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood…”
C. “A little water clears us of this deed”
D. “heart so white”

Understatement / dramatic irony
Personification
Colour symbolism
Hyperbole and imagery

4.Why is “Sleep no more!” (quotation A) more than a comment about being tired? Give one possible symbolic meaning of sleep in the play.

B. Public performance and private guilt

Think about what the audience can infer, even when other characters may be deceived. More than one interpretation can be valid if it is supported by evidence.

5.Which detail most clearly shows Lady Macbeth taking practical control immediately after the murder?

She says the blood will never leave their hands.
She takes the daggers back to Duncan’s chamber and marks the attendants with blood.
She tells Macbeth that sleep has been murdered.
She answers Macduff’s questions about Duncan.

6.Quotation C sounds reassuring. Explain how the audience’s knowledge of the murder makes the line dramatically ironic, and what it reveals about Lady Macbeth at this point.

7.In quotation E, Macbeth pretends he wishes he had died before Duncan’s murder was discovered. What impression is he trying to create for the other characters?

8.The knocking at the gate interrupts the private aftermath of the murder. Give two effects this sound can create for the audience.

9.Macbeth kills Duncan’s attendants and claims he acted in furious grief. Give one reason this action may look convincing to the other characters, and one reason the audience may doubt his explanation.

C. Build an interpretation

Plan a concise analytical paragraph. Use a clear claim, precise evidence and explanation of Shakespeare’s choices.

10.Complete the claim: In Act 2, Scene 2, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as ; support your interpretation with a quotation from the bank.

11.Complete the claim: In Act 2, Scene 2, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as ; support your interpretation with a quotation from the bank.

12.Write an analytical paragraph (about 100–130 words) explaining how Shakespeare uses the contrast between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth after Duncan’s murder to explore guilt and power. Include at least two quotations from the bank and comment on a language or dramatic technique.