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GCSE · English Literature

GE.T-Macbeth-Char Literature: Macbeth - Character Study in Depth

AQA 8702 · Calculators not allowed · about 120 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Show all your working.

Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 1 (Macbeth's dagger soliloquy, alone on stage, immediately before he murders Duncan)

William Shakespeare, Macbeth (first performed c.1606). Public domain, pre-1928 text. Question material written for Revision Library (original, copyright-free); no past-paper text reproduced.

Is this a dagger which I see before me,

The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible

To feeling as to sight? or art thou but

A dagger of the mind, a false creation,

Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?

I see thee yet, in form as palpable

As this which now I draw.

Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going,

And such an instrument I was to use.

Mine eyes are made the fools o' th' other senses,

Or else worth all the rest. I see thee still,

And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,

Which was not so before. There's no such thing.

It is the bloody business which informs

Thus to mine eyes.

Below are six quotations from Macbeth. For each one, identify which character speaks it.

(a)Who speaks the line "Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires"?(1)

A) Macbeth
B) Banquo
C) Malcolm
D) Macduff

(b)Who speaks the line "Look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't"?(1)

A) The Three Witches
B) Lady Macbeth
C) Macbeth
D) Duncan

(c)Who speaks the line "A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, / And yet I would not sleep"?(1)

A) Macbeth
B) Duncan
C) Banquo
D) Macduff

(d)Who speaks the line "Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble"?(1)

A) Lady Macbeth
B) Hecate
C) The Three Witches
D) Macbeth

(e)Who speaks the line "He has no children"?(1)

A) Macduff
B) Malcolm
C) Ross
D) Macbeth

(f)Who speaks the line "There's no art / To find the mind's construction in the face"?(1)

A) Malcolm
B) Duncan
C) Banquo
D) Macbeth

(Total for Question 1 is 6 marks)

State three things established about Banquo's character in Act 1 and Act 2, before Macbeth arranges his murder.

(Total for Question 2 is 3 marks)

State two ways Shakespeare presents the Three Witches as unnatural or otherworldly when they first appear, in Act 1 Scene 1 and Act 1 Scene 3.

(Total for Question 3 is 2 marks)

State two things we learn about Duncan as a king from his own words and actions in Act 1.

(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)

State two things established about Macduff's character in Act 2, before the murder of his own family later in the play.

(Total for Question 5 is 2 marks)

Below are five quotations describing or spoken by Macbeth at different points in the play, labelled A to E (not given in the order they occur).

(a)Quotation A: "For mine own good, / All causes shall give way." Quotation B: "I 'gin to be aweary of the sun." Quotation C: "Two truths are told, / As happy prologues to the swelling act." Quotation D: "I have almost forgot the taste of fears." Quotation E: "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, / Without my stir." Write the letters in the order the quotations occur in the play, earliest first.(5)

(b)Using the order from part (a), explain how Macbeth's state of mind changes from his first temptation to his final despair.(5)

(Total for Question 6 is 10 marks)

Read the extract above (Macbeth's dagger soliloquy, Act 2 Scene 1). State four things this speech reveals about Macbeth's state of mind immediately before he murders Duncan.

(Total for Question 7 is 4 marks)

Look again at the extract. Identify and explain the effect of three techniques Shakespeare uses in the lines: "Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight? or art thou but / A dagger of the mind, a false creation, / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?"

(Total for Question 8 is 6 marks)

Consider the whole extract, from "Is this a dagger" to "Thus to mine eyes." Explain how Shakespeare presents the disintegration of Macbeth's rational, soldierly mind in this soliloquy.

(Total for Question 9 is 8 marks)

Look at Lady Macbeth's line: "Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty!" Identify and explain the effect of two techniques Shakespeare uses here to present Lady Macbeth's character.

(Total for Question 10 is 4 marks)

Compare how Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth's state of mind in Act 1 Scene 5 ("unsex me here") with her state of mind in Act 5 Scene 1, when she sleepwalks and says: "Out, damned spot! out, I say!" and "Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?"

(Total for Question 11 is 10 marks)

Look at Banquo's soliloquy at the start of Act 3 Scene 1: "Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, / As the weird women promised, and, I fear, / Thou play'dst most foully for't." Explain what this soliloquy reveals about Banquo's character and his judgement of Macbeth at this point in the play.

(Total for Question 12 is 6 marks)

Explain Banquo's importance to the play, considering both the choices he makes while alive and his impact on Macbeth after his death.

(Total for Question 13 is 8 marks)

Explore how Shakespeare presents the Three Witches as ambiguous figures across the play, both apparently supernatural and possibly manipulative.

(Total for Question 14 is 10 marks)

Explain how Shakespeare presents Macduff as Macbeth's opposite and eventual downfall, focusing on his reaction to his family's murder and his role in the play's ending.

(Total for Question 15 is 8 marks)

Explain how Shakespeare uses Duncan at the start of the play and Malcolm at the end to present ideas about good kingship.

(Total for Question 16 is 8 marks)

Starting with this extract from Act 2 Scene 1, write about how other characters' words and actions shape our judgement of Macbeth across the play as a whole. Write about how Macbeth's own words in the extract already suggest his state of mind, and about how Banquo, Lady Macbeth and Macduff each reveal a different side of him elsewhere in the play.

(a)Write your essay on how other characters' words and actions shape our judgement of Macbeth, using the extract and the play as a whole.(30)

(b)The remaining marks for this question assess the accuracy of your spelling, punctuation and grammar, and your use of specialist literary terminology.(4)

(Total for Question 17 is 34 marks)

Mark scheme · GE.T-Macbeth-Char Literature: Macbeth - Character Study in Depth

Question 1

(a) B1 A (Macbeth), Act 1 Scene 4 cao
(a) Answer: A
(b) B1 B (Lady Macbeth), Act 1 Scene 5 cao
(b) Answer: B
(c) B1 C (Banquo), Act 2 Scene 1 cao
(c) Answer: C
(d) B1 C (the Three Witches), Act 4 Scene 1 cao
(d) Answer: C
(e) B1 A (Macduff), Act 4 Scene 3 cao
(e) Answer: A
(f) B1 B (Duncan), Act 1 Scene 4 cao
(f) Answer: B

Question 2

B1 he is a brave general/thane, praised alongside Macbeth for his part in the battle (oe)
B1 he hears the same prophecy from the Witches as Macbeth, but does not act on it (oe)
B1 he is wary/suspicious of the Witches' motives, aware that evil forces can tell partial truths to trap people (oe)
Answer: Any three of: brave general praised alongside Macbeth; hears the witches' prophecy but takes no action; suspicious/wary of the witches' motives.

Question 3

B1 they appear in thunder and lightning, on a bleak/desolate setting (oe)
B1 they speak in riddles or paradoxes, e.g. reversing normal values ("fair is foul, and foul is fair"), or vanish suddenly (oe)
Answer: Any two of: appear in thunder and lightning on a bleak heath; speak in riddles/paradoxes; vanish into thin air.

Question 4

B1 he rewards loyalty and bravery generously, e.g. naming Macbeth Thane of Cawdor (oe)
B1 he is trusting, admitting he placed "absolute trust" in the former Thane of Cawdor before his betrayal (oe)
Answer: Any two of: rewards brave/loyal subjects generously; trusting of those close to him, sometimes to a fault; values honour and gratitude.

Question 5

B1 he discovers Duncan's murdered body and reacts with horror, raising the alarm (oe)
B1 he is suspicious of Macbeth early on, e.g. he does not attend Macbeth's coronation at Scone (oe)
Answer: Any two of: discovers Duncan's body and raises the alarm in horror; refuses to attend Macbeth's coronation, suggesting early suspicion.

Question 6

(a) B1 C placed first (Act 1 Scene 3, Macbeth's aside immediately after two of the witches' prophecies come true)
(a) B1 E placed second (Act 1 Scene 3, later in the same aside, Macbeth considers letting fate act without his own "stir")
(a) B1 A placed third (Act 3 Scene 4, after Banquo's ghost appears at the banquet)
(a) B1 D placed fourth (Act 5 Scene 5, near the start of Macbeth's final soliloquy)
(a) B1 B placed fifth/last (Act 5 Scene 5, later in the same soliloquy, on hearing that Birnam Wood is moving) (oe if a candidate's reasoning shows correct relative chronology despite a minor transcription slip)
(a) Answer: C, E, A, D, B
(b) L1 (1-2): Simple, general comment that Macbeth changes, with little reference to the quotations.
(b) L2 (3-4): Clear explanation of at least two stages of change (e.g. eager temptation to numb despair), with some reference to the quotations.
(b) L3 (5): Exploratory explanation tracing a clear developmental arc across all three key stages (temptation/passivity, ruthless self-interest, numbed despair), precisely linked to the quotations and their context.

Question 7

B1 he is having a vivid hallucination (seeing a dagger that is not really there), showing extreme psychological strain (oe)
B1 he questions whether the vision is real ("a dagger of the mind"), showing some awareness that his own mind may be deceiving him (oe)
B1 he imagines blood appearing on the dagger, showing his mind is already anticipating the horror of the murder (oe)
B1 despite the vision, he still goes through with his plan, showing his ambition overrides his fear/doubts (oe)
Answer: Any four of: vivid hallucination of a dagger; doubts whether the vision is real, aware his mind may be deceiving him; imagines blood on the blade, anticipating the murder's horror; still proceeds despite his fear.

Question 8

B1 identifies a technique, e.g. the rhetorical questioning ("Art thou not... or art thou but...")
B1 explains its effect, e.g. shows Macbeth desperately trying to convince himself the vision isn't real, revealing his inner turmoil, ft from identified technique
B1 identifies a second, different technique, e.g. the metaphor "a dagger of the mind, a false creation"
B1 explains its effect, e.g. presents the dagger as a product of his own guilty imagination, suggesting his conscience is already at war with his ambition, ft from second identified technique
B1 identifies a third, different technique, e.g. the phrase "heat-oppressed brain"
B1 explains its effect, e.g. suggests his mind is under physical strain, as if fear or guilt is literally overheating his reason, ft from third identified technique
Answer: Three valid techniques (e.g. rhetorical question, the 'dagger of the mind' metaphor, the 'heat-oppressed brain' phrase) each with a linked explanation of effect.

Question 9

Level 1 (1-2): Simple, general comment that Macbeth is confused or frightened, with little reference to specific language or structure.
Level 2 (3-4): Clear explanation of how specific images (dagger, blood, brain) show Macbeth's confusion, with some relevant quotation.
Level 3 (5-6): Clear analysis of how Shakespeare's language and structure (repeated questioning, escalating imagery) present Macbeth's mind breaking down, supported by well-chosen quotation and subject terminology.
Level 4 (7-8): Exploratory, well-supported analysis of how the soliloquy's structure, moving from confident soldier's language ("come, let me clutch thee") to uncertain philosophical questioning to horrified acceptance of the "bloody business", charts the collapse of Macbeth's rational self-control, precisely linked to Shakespeare's dramatic purpose.
Indicative content:
- the soliloquy opens with Macbeth trying to physically grasp the dagger ("come, let me clutch thee"), suggesting he initially trusts his soldier's instincts and senses
- the shift into a string of unanswered questions ("art thou not... or art thou but...") shows his rational mind losing its grip on what is real
- the phrases "dagger of the mind" and "heat-oppressed brain" suggest Macbeth himself recognises the vision may be a product of his own guilty imagination, showing self-awareness even as he loses control
- the escalation to imagined blood on the blade ("gouts of blood, / Which was not so before") shows his imagination anticipating the murder's horror before it has even happened
- the final short, resigned line ("it is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes") marks the point where Macbeth stops questioning and accepts the hallucination, structurally closing the soliloquy on acceptance rather than resistance
- structurally, the soliloquy immediately precedes the murder, so its collapse from soldierly confidence to guilty imagination dramatises the psychological cost of the crime before it is even committed

Question 10

B1 identifies a technique, e.g. the imperative/invocation form directly addressing supernatural spirits ("Come, you spirits")
B1 explains its effect, e.g. presents Lady Macbeth as actively seeking supernatural/unnatural power, showing her ruthless determination from her first appearance, ft
B1 identifies a second technique, e.g. the verb "unsex me" or the metaphor "fill me... top-full / Of direst cruelty"
B1 explains its effect, e.g. suggests she sees her own femininity as an obstacle to the cruelty needed for murder, presenting gender as something she wishes to reject or override, ft
Answer: Two valid techniques (e.g. supernatural invocation, the 'unsex me' verb choice, the 'top-full of direst cruelty' metaphor) each with a linked explanation of effect on how Lady Macbeth is characterised.

Question 11

Level 1 (1-3): Simple, general comparison, with limited textual reference.
Level 2 (4-6): Clear comparison of Lady Macbeth's confidence at the start with her guilt at the end, with some relevant quotation.
Level 3 (7-8): Detailed comparison exploring how Shakespeare's language shifts from commanding, deliberate speech to fragmented, guilt-ridden speech, supported by well-chosen quotation and subject terminology.
Level 4 (9-10): Sophisticated, exploratory comparison showing a nuanced personal response to Lady Macbeth's psychological journey from a woman who invites cruelty into herself to one destroyed by the guilt that cruelty caused, with sustained and precise textual support.
Indicative content:
- in Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth speaks in controlled, powerful imperatives, actively inviting cruelty and blocking out conscience ("unsex me here"), presenting her as deliberate and in command of herself
- by Act 5 Scene 1, her speech has become fragmented, with short exclamations and broken clauses ("Out, damned spot! out, I say!"), showing a mind that has lost control rather than one commanding it
- the imagery of blood recurs in both scenes but changes meaning: in Act 1 it is something she is prepared to face and cause; by Act 5 it is an inescapable stain she cannot wash away, suggesting guilt has overwhelmed her
- her question "who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him" shows she is reliving the murder involuntarily, in contrast to her earlier calculated planning of it
- structurally, Shakespeare gives her powerful verse and command of the scene in Act 1, but by Act 5 she speaks the sleepwalking scene largely in prose, a form often associated with disordered or lower-status speech, reinforcing her mental collapse
- the journey from Act 1 to Act 5 suggests Shakespeare presents unnatural ambition and cruelty as ultimately self-destructive, with Lady Macbeth's earlier strength directly causing her later breakdown

Question 12

Level 1 (1-2): Simple, general comment that Banquo suspects Macbeth, with little textual reference.
Level 2 (3-4): Clear explanation that Banquo believes Macbeth committed a crime to become king, with some relevant quotation.
Level 3 (5-6): Clear, well-supported explanation of how the soliloquy shows Banquo's moral honesty and shrewd judgement, contrasted with his continuing loyalty and silence, supported by precise quotation and terminology.
Indicative content:
- the phrase "play'dst most foully for't" shows Banquo has correctly worked out that Macbeth committed a crime (regicide) to gain the crown, revealing his intelligence and moral clarity
- despite his suspicion, Banquo does not accuse Macbeth publicly, showing his caution and continued, if uneasy, loyalty as a subject
- the soliloquy form gives the audience privileged insight into Banquo's honest judgement, contrasting with the more deferential way he speaks to Macbeth's face
- Banquo's suspicion, voiced here, is dramatically significant because it directly motivates Macbeth's fear and his decision to have Banquo murdered shortly afterwards

Question 13

Level 1 (1-2): Simple, general points about Banquo, with limited textual reference.
Level 2 (3-4): Clear reference to at least one aspect of Banquo's importance (his choices or his ghost), with some relevant quotation.
Level 3 (5-6): Clear, well-supported explanation of Banquo's importance both alive and as a ghost, using well-chosen quotation and subject terminology.
Level 4 (7-8): Exploratory, sophisticated analysis of how Banquo functions across the whole play, both as a moral contrast to Macbeth while alive and as a symbol of guilt and consequence after death, precisely linked to Shakespeare's dramatic purpose.
Indicative content:
- while alive, Banquo hears the same prophecy as Macbeth but chooses not to act on it, presenting an alternative, more honourable response to temptation
- his continued loyalty and caution, despite private suspicion (seen in his Act 3 Scene 1 soliloquy), make him a moral contrast that highlights Macbeth's choice to murder
- Macbeth has Banquo murdered specifically because of the witches' prophecy that Banquo's descendants will be kings, showing how far paranoia and ambition have corrupted Macbeth since Act 1
- Banquo's ghost appears silently at the banquet in Act 3 Scene 4, visible only to Macbeth, externalising Macbeth's guilt on stage in front of the other lords
- the ghost's appearance causes Macbeth to lose control publicly for the first time, marking a turning point where his guilt begins to threaten his authority as king
- even after death, Banquo's presence, through the ghost and the prophecy about his heirs, continues to shape the plot, showing Shakespeare using him as a lasting symbol of the consequences of Macbeth's actions

Question 14

Level 1 (1-3): Simple, general statements about the Witches, with limited textual reference.
Level 2 (4-6): Clear reference to the Witches' supernatural presentation and/or their possible manipulation, with some relevant quotation.
Level 3 (7-8): Detailed, well-supported explanation of the Witches' ambiguity, using precise quotation and subject terminology.
Level 4 (9-10): Sophisticated, critical exploration of the Witches as deliberately ambiguous figures, with a nuanced personal response to whether they control Macbeth's fate or simply expose desires he already has, sustained across the whole play.
Indicative content:
- the Witches' opening paradox, "fair is foul, and foul is fair", establishes them as figures who deliberately confuse moral categories, unsettling the audience from the outset
- their prophecies are always technically true but dangerously incomplete or misleading, for example later telling Macbeth to beware Macduff but also that "none of woman born" shall harm him, suggesting they manipulate through half-truths rather than outright lies
- Banquo's warning that "instruments of darkness" tell partial truths to trap people frames the Witches, through another character's judgement, as dangerous rather than simply prophetic
- the Witches never physically force Macbeth to act; he chooses to murder Duncan himself, which raises the question of whether they merely reveal and encourage an ambition Macbeth already possesses
- their ritualistic language and actions ("double, double toil and trouble") present them as genuinely otherworldly, tapping into Jacobean beliefs about real witchcraft, rather than purely symbolic figures
- candidates may argue the Witches represent external fate/evil acting on Macbeth, or that they are a dramatic device externalising his own hidden ambition; either view is creditable if well supported by the text

Question 15

Level 1 (1-2): Simple, general points about Macduff, with limited textual reference.
Level 2 (3-4): Clear reference to Macduff's reaction to his family's murder and/or his role in Macbeth's death, with some relevant quotation.
Level 3 (5-6): Clear, well-supported explanation of Macduff's function as Macbeth's opposite, using well-chosen quotation and subject terminology.
Level 4 (7-8): Exploratory, sophisticated analysis of how Macduff's grief and resolve are used to drive the play towards a restoration of order, precisely linked to Shakespeare's dramatic purpose.
Indicative content:
- on hearing that his wife and children have been murdered, Macduff's restrained, understated response, "he has no children", suggests grief too deep for the conventional language of revenge, contrasting with Macbeth's increasingly reckless violence
- Malcolm urges Macduff to "dispute it like a man"; Macduff's insistence that he must also "feel it as a man" shows Shakespeare presenting genuine, controlled grief as compatible with, rather than opposed to, masculine resolve
- Macduff channels his grief into determined, focused action, unlike Macbeth, whose violence becomes increasingly disordered and paranoid
- in the final duel, Macduff reveals he was "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd", fulfilling the Witches' prophecy that Macbeth could not be harmed by one "of woman born", showing Macduff as the specific instrument of the prophecy's fulfilment
- by killing Macbeth and presenting his head, Macduff enables the restoration of rightful order under Malcolm, completing his function as the avenging figure who ends the tyranny
- Macduff's suspicion of Macbeth from early in the play (refusing to attend his coronation) and his growing role as an active opponent chart a clear arc from wary bystander to decisive avenger

Question 16

Level 1 (1-2): Simple, general points about Duncan and/or Malcolm as kings, with limited textual reference.
Level 2 (3-4): Clear reference to at least one quality of good kingship shown by Duncan or Malcolm, with some relevant quotation or context.
Level 3 (5-6): Clear, well-supported explanation of how both Duncan and Malcolm present ideas about good kingship, using relevant quotation and some historical context.
Level 4 (7-8): Exploratory, sophisticated analysis of how Duncan and Malcolm frame Macbeth's tyranny as an aberration between two examples of rightful, godly kingship, precisely linking text and context.
Indicative content:
- Duncan is presented as generous and trusting, rewarding brave subjects (naming Macbeth Thane of Cawdor) and praising loyalty, establishing an ideal of kingship based on gratitude and honour
- Duncan's own words, "there's no art / to find the mind's construction in the face", show a king let down by misplaced trust, making his murder by another trusted subject even more shocking
- in Act 4 Scene 3, Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty by falsely claiming he would be a worse tyrant than Macbeth, showing Malcolm's caution and political shrewdness, qualities Duncan perhaps lacked
- Malcolm's revelation that he was only testing Macduff presents him as someone who has learned from Duncan's mistake of trusting too easily
- by the end of the play, Malcolm restores order and promises to reward his thanes as he undertakes his coronation, echoing Duncan's generous, godly style of kingship
- Jacobean audiences, believing in the Divine Right of Kings, would read the return to legitimate, virtuous kingship under Malcolm as confirmation that Macbeth's tyranny was always an unnatural, temporary disruption of the proper order

Question 17

(a) L1 (1-6): Simple awareness that other characters have opinions about Macbeth, with limited reference to the extract or wider play and little or no relevant context.
(a) L2 (7-12): Some understanding of how at least one other character's words or actions reveal something about Macbeth, with a few relevant references and straightforward comments.
(a) L3 (13-18): Clear understanding of how several characters (e.g. Banquo, Lady Macbeth, Macduff) each expose a different side of Macbeth, supported by relevant quotation from the extract and the wider play, with clear comment on Shakespeare's methods and relevant context.
(a) L4 (19-24): Detailed, well-structured exploration of how other characters function as lenses onto Macbeth's changing character, analysing language, structure and form with well-integrated, relevant context.
(a) L5 (25-30): Sophisticated, critical, sustained exploration of how Shakespeare uses other characters to reveal Macbeth's psychological and moral journey across the whole play, with a convincing personal response, precise analysis of Shakespeare's methods and skilfully integrated context.
(b) SPaG high (4) consistently high level of accuracy in spelling and punctuation; wide range of sentence structures used effectively; wide range of specialist terminology used accurately (e.g. soliloquy, foil, dramatic irony, hamartia)
(b) SPaG mid (2-3) considerable accuracy in spelling and punctuation; some variety of sentence structures; a good range of specialist terminology used, mostly accurately
(b) SPaG threshold (1) reasonable accuracy in spelling and punctuation; simple sentence structures used with some success; some specialist terminology used
(b) Answer: Marked using the AQA-style SPaG band descriptors above; 0 marks if too little is written to assess accuracy.

Literature: Macbeth - Character Study in Depth - Worksheets, Questions and Revision