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Macbeth Character Analysis Worksheet

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Macbeth Character Analysis Worksheet

Read the extracts and context carefully. Support your interpretations with precise words or phrases from the text. Where a question asks for your view, more than one interpretation may be valid if you explain it clearly.

The evidence: ambition, fear and guilt

Act 1, Scene 5: After reading Macbeth’s letter about the witches’ prophecy, Lady Macbeth worries that her husband is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness” to seize the crown. She calls on spirits to “unsex me here” and fill her with “direst cruelty”. When Macbeth arrives, she tells him to “look like th’ innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t”. Act 1, Scene 7: Macbeth considers killing King Duncan, but recognises that Duncan is his guest and a good ruler. He admits, “I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition.” Lady Macbeth challenges his courage and persuades him to continue with the plan. Act 2, Scene 1: Alone before the murder, Macbeth asks, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?” He wonders whether it is “a false creation” produced by his “heat-oppressed brain”. Act 2, Scene 2: After killing Duncan, Macbeth hears a voice cry, “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep.” Lady Macbeth tells him, “A little water clears us of this deed”, and takes the daggers back to the guards herself. Act 3: Macbeth arranges Banquo’s murder without telling Lady Macbeth. At the feast, he sees Banquo’s ghost, while the guests see nothing. Lady Macbeth tries to control the situation, but Macbeth’s behaviour exposes his fear.

Close reading

Explore how Shakespeare presents the characters through their language and choices.

1.In “too full o’ the milk of human kindness”, what does the image of “milk” suggest about the qualities Lady Macbeth thinks Macbeth possesses? Explain how her judgement reveals her own priorities.

2.Choose the strongest interpretation of Lady Macbeth’s request to be “unsexed”. Then explain how the quotation supports your choice.

She wants to change her physical appearance so she can disguise herself.
She wants to reject qualities she associates with femininity because she believes they could make her less cruel.
She wishes she had never met Macbeth.
She is asking the spirits to make Macbeth more gentle.

3.Explain the contrast in “look like th’ innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t”. What does the contrast suggest about Lady Macbeth’s plan?

4.Macbeth says he has “only / Vaulting ambition” as a reason to kill Duncan. Explain the image of “vaulting” and what it implies about Macbeth’s awareness of his motive.

Compare the characters

Use evidence from the supplied extracts and context. Consider how the characters’ relationship changes as Macbeth takes action independently.

5.At first, Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan. By Act 3, Macbeth arranges Banquo’s murder without telling her. What change in their relationship does this suggest?

6.Compare Lady Macbeth’s “A little water clears us of this deed” with Macbeth’s fear that he has heard “Macbeth does murder sleep”. What different attitudes to guilt do the lines reveal?

7.Macbeth questions whether the dagger is real or “a false creation” of his mind. How does this moment make the audience aware of his state of mind before Duncan’s murder?

8.By Act 3, Macbeth’s actions show that he is relying on Lady Macbeth more than he did before. Decide whether this statement is true or false, and support your answer with one detail from the context.

Build an interpretation

Develop a clear argument and select evidence that supports it.

9.Which character changes more dramatically between the decision to murder Duncan and the events of Act 3: Macbeth or Lady Macbeth? Give a clear judgement and support it with two pieces of evidence from the supplied context.

10.Write a short analytical paragraph answering: How does Shakespeare present ambition as both powerful and dangerous in Macbeth? Use at least two quotations from the supplied extracts and comment on the language in each.