Macbeth 5

Study Guide Questions for Act 3, Scenes 4-6

If you are looking for the beginning of the study for Shakespeare’s Macbeth then you can go HERE for a brief introduction. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. If you would like to see the growing list of book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Death and Resurrection, Fate, Despotism, Freedom vs. Bondage 

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What is taking place at the opening of this reading?

2. Who came to bring a message to Macbeth and what did that person report?

3. What did Macbeth see that deeply unsettled him?

4. What excuse did Lady Macbeth make for her husband’s behavior?

5. How did Lady Macbeth attempt to get her husband to calm down?

6. What shapes would Macbeth rather the ghost take than its present form?

7. Who had refused to come to the banquet though the king summoned him?

8. To whom did Macbeth say he would go to try to gain more information?

9. Whom did the Weird Sisters meet with and what was she upset about?

10. Where has Macduff gone and for what purpose?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. What did Macbeth mean by saying, “The worm that’s fled hath nature that in time will venom breed?”

2. Why is Macbeth seeing Banquo’s ghost?

3. Why does Lady Macbeth ask her husband, “Are you a man?”

4. What did Macbeth mean by saying, “Blood will have blood?”

5. What did Macbeth mean by saying, “For mine own good, all causes shall give way?”

6. To speak with sarcasm means to mockingly say one thing while meaning the opposite. Where might sarcasm be detected in Lennox’s soliloquy?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Offer a definition for the term “guilt.” How do we see Macbeth wrestling with his guilt in the story so far? How does one avoid having feelings of guilt? How do people attempt to rid themselves of feelings of guilt? Are all attempts to get rid of guilty feelings equally justified? What is the right way to deal with guilt?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Proverbs 17:15. What does this teach us about God's attitude towards those who are guilty of wrongdoing?

2. Read Romans 3:9-4:8. How does this passage of Scripture address the matter of guilt and how people ought to deal with their guilt?