Quiz RL.3: Macbeth
Name:_____________________________________________ Date:________________
Macbeth
In the below passage from “Macbeth”, the Scottish Lord, Macbeth, decides not to kill King Duncan. Read the passage and answer the questions to the right.
Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Shakespeare's "Macbeth"
MACBETH
We will
proceed no further in this business:
He hath honour'd me of late;
and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which
would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.
LADY MACBETH
Was the hope
drunk
Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since?
And
wakes it now, to look so green and pale
At what it did so freely?
From this time
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard
To be
the same in thine own act and valour
As thou art in desire?
Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of
life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting 'I dare
not' wait upon 'I would,'
Like the poor cat i' the adage?
MACBETH
Prithee,
peace:
I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more
is none.
LADY MACBETH
What beast
was't, then,
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When
you durst do it, then you were a man;
And, to be more than what
you were, you would
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor
place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both:
They have
made themselves, and that their fitness now
Does unmake you. I
have given suck, and know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that
milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have
pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dash'd the brains
out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.
1. What has made Macbeth change his mind about killing the king?
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2. Does Lady Macbeth respect Macbeth's decision?
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3. How does Lady Macbeth try to change Macbeth's mind in lines 6-16?
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4. Is she successful? Does Macbeth respond directly to her questions?
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5. How does she try to change his mind in lines 20-32? Do you think she will be successful?
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