Macbeth: Study Questions

The class came up with this list of questions on Macbeth. Any question on Macbeth on the final exam will be based on these, although they may appear in different form on the test.

Study Questions

1. How does it happen that leadership turns to tyranny and bloody murder in the play? Which factors help to change Macbeth's character?

2. How did Lady Macbeth convince Macbeth to kill the king? He seemed devoted to the king and the country at the beginning, but after the prophecy his devotion was gone? Was it Lady Macbeth who convinced him to kill the king or was it his hunger for power?

3. My question is about the character of Macbeth. I'm wondering how much influence his wife has on him. Do you think that Macbeth would have killed Duncan even if Lady Macbeth had not persuaded him to do so by reminding him of his promise and calling him a coward? Or is the desire to kill Duncan and become king to inherent in him?

4. What happens to Fleance? Don't the witches say that he will become king? All of the other things the witches said came true.

5. How were battle scenes acted on the stage? When the army takes over the castle, it seems like it would be too large for a stage production.

6. Is the sleep walking of Lady Macbeth because of her guilt or because of madness. When she kills herself at the end, it seems to me to be a desperate act to get rid of the guilt, but I also think that suicide is an act of madness.

7. Was Macbeth a good man before he plotted to kill the king?

8. My question is about the role of the witches. It is obvious that they are of major importance in the play, for they symbolize the negative and Macbeth’s pact with the evil. However, I was wondering if Macbeth would not also have decided to kill the king only by the obviously strong influence of his wife? I mean: could the play not have developed the same way if Shakespeare had just left the witches out?

9. Why the enmity between Macbeth and Macduff?

10. I noticed that there was a lot of foreshadowing in Act 1. Does the foreshadowing remain an important element throughout the rest of the play? If so where?

Irony in King Lear

Look up a definition of "irony" to use for your discussion and begin by explaining it. Cite your source(s).

Then, after answering the previously posted questions on King Lear, read through what everyone has said in response to the questions on nature/unnaturalness and wisdom/foolishness.

Drawing on those responses and your own reading for illustrations, discuss Shakespeare's use of irony in King Lear. You can't cover it all here, so choose one ironic element in the play to develop thoroughly in your answer.

The Wise Man and the Fool in King Lear

From the time he enters the play in 1.4.93 until we last see him in 3.6, Lear's court jester or "fool" is the only character who can speak the truth to him and get away with it. Find one "jest" made by the fool, quote it (citing act/scene/line), and explain what you think it means. In it, is the fool trying to tell Lear something about himself or just making a joke? What do you think is his point?

Nature in King Lear

"Nature" is the word with the longest definition in the Oxford English Dictionary because it is used in so many ways. Several of these are woven into King Lear.

Find examples of Shakespeare's uses of words like "Nature," "nature," "natural," "naturalness," "unnaturalness," and related words or terms. Quote and cite them with Act, scene, and line numbers (e.g., 1.2.3-4). Give examples not yet provided by anyone else in the class, and explain what Nature, etc., means in the context of the passage in which it appears.

King Lear

Shakespeare's play King Lear opens with the retiring king asking his daughters to declare the extent of their love for him before he gives them their share of the kingdom. Goneril and Regan comply, but Cordelia says she will tell him "Nothing." As a result, King Lear disowns her.

Why did Cordelia refuse to answer his question? How did she try to defend herself? Do you think Cordelia was right to behave as she did? Should she have tried harder to please her father? Why or why not?

Read what your classmates have said and reply, especially if you think they might be missing something important.

Hamlet

Read through Hamlet looking for references to disease, decay, rot, weeds, and other signs of deterioration or pollution. Quote one of them that has not been noted by a classmate here, and cite act, scene, and line numbers. What does it mean in that particular context?

Considered for their cumulative effect, what do they accomplish in the play? What happens the kingdom when there is moral failure at its center?

Hamlet

What would you like to know about Hamlet? It's your turn to ask a question about anything about the play that you have always wondered about, that confused you as you read, or that just seems like an interesting question. After you send your question to the "Comments" section, read through what others have written and attempt to answer any of them you can. Look for an opportunity to engage in a discussion on a topic on which you think you can shed some light and do so.

Refer to specific passages in the text by citing Act, scene, and line numbers (e.g., 3.1. 22-23 for Act 3, scene 1, lines 22 and 23).