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Read the original extract below, then answer the questions using precise evidence from the words and stage directions. For questions asking for an interpretation, more than one answer may be valid if you support it with evidence.
The night before the murder
This original study extract is set in Macbeth’s castle. King Duncan is asleep inside. Macbeth has been persuaded by Lady Macbeth to kill him, but is wavering. The extract is newly written for this worksheet, not Shakespeare’s wording.
[A dark corridor. MACBETH enters alone, carrying a lamp. He stops and stares ahead.]
MACBETH: The castle sleeps, yet every board seems wide awake. My hand is steady. Why, then, does my heart run from the work?
[He reaches towards something unseen, then draws back.]
MACBETH: A blade hangs there—bright as a thought I cannot silence. It points the way, though no hand holds it. Is it a sign, or only fear dressed as steel?
[He looks towards the king’s chamber.]
MACBETH: Duncan trusts me. He has honoured me, and tonight he rests beneath my roof. If I strike, I murder more than a man: I tear the bond between guest and host, and turn my home against itself.
[Lady Macbeth enters quietly.]
LADY MACBETH: You are still here. The moment will not wait for a braver version of you.
MACBETH: I have chosen, but choice does not make the deed clean.
LADY MACBETH: Then let your hands do what your doubts cannot. Once the crown is ours, no one will ask what it cost.
MACBETH: You speak as though the future has already forgiven us.
LADY MACBETH: The future belongs to those who take it.
[She exits. Macbeth remains alone. He looks at his hands.]
MACBETH: They are empty now. I wonder what they will remember.
[He extinguishes the lamp and follows her.]
Part A: Read closely
Answer in complete sentences where appropriate. Quote a short phrase from the extract to support your ideas.
1.At the start, Macbeth says, “The castle sleeps, yet every board seems wide awake.” What does this contrast suggest about his state of mind?
2.Macbeth describes the blade as “bright as a thought I cannot silence”. What does this comparison imply about the blade and Macbeth’s thoughts?
3.Which reason against killing Duncan does Macbeth state most clearly?
Duncan has threatened to take Macbeth’s home.
Duncan trusts Macbeth, and Macbeth has duties as his host.
Macbeth is certain that the crown will be cursed.
Lady Macbeth has already confessed to the guards.
4.Macbeth says the murder would “turn my home against itself”. Explain what this image suggests about the crime’s effect on the castle and on Macbeth.
Part B: Compare the characters
Consider what each character says, what they avoid saying, and how they respond to the other.
5.In “The moment will not wait for a braver version of you”, how does Lady Macbeth try to influence Macbeth?
6.Compare Macbeth’s attitude to the murder with Lady Macbeth’s attitude. Give one piece of evidence for each character.
7.Lady Macbeth claims, “Once the crown is ours, no one will ask what it cost.” What does this reveal about what she values, and what does Macbeth’s reply reveal about him?
8.At the end, Macbeth looks at his empty hands and wonders what they will “remember”. What might the hands symbolise?
Part C: Build an interpretation
Use details from the extract to develop an interpretation rather than simply retelling events.
9.The stage directions show Macbeth looking at an unseen blade, watching the king’s chamber, and finally looking at his hands. How do these actions help the audience follow his changing thoughts?
10.Who seems more responsible for the decision to proceed at the end: Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, or both? Write a short paragraph with evidence from the extract. A thoughtful answer may argue either side.
