Literature: Macbeth
Macbeth is Shakespeare's tragedy of ambition, guilt and the corrupting effects of unchecked power, studied at GCSE Literature for his rise to the throne of Scotland through murder, and his psychological and moral downfall. Exam questions give a printed extract for close analysis, then ask for discussion of a theme or character across the whole play.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Read the printed extract closely, annotating imagery, verse form and key words before planning your answer.
- Identify two or three techniques with a clear, explainable effect, rather than simply listing quotations.
- Move outward from the extract to the whole play, choosing moments that develop or contrast with what the extract shows.
- Link analysis to Jacobean context, such as kingship, the Great Chain of Being, witchcraft and the Gunpowder Plot, where it genuinely deepens the point.
- Use precise subject terminology, such as soliloquy, blank verse, dramatic irony and hamartia, accurately rather than for decoration.
- Plan a clear structure, with an introduction stating your line of argument, points through the extract then the play, and a brief conclusion, before writing.
Worked example
Just before he murders Duncan, Macbeth says: '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.' Explain how this soliloquy presents Macbeth's state of mind.
- Identify the technique: the rhetorical question 'Is this a dagger...' shows Macbeth genuinely uncertain about what is real, signalling extreme psychological strain.
- Note the imperative 'Come, let me clutch thee': Macbeth tries and fails to physically grasp the vision, showing the gap between his mind and the world around him.
- Explain the paradox 'I have thee not, and yet I see thee still': holding two contradictory ideas together conveys his mind fracturing under guilt and ambition before he has even acted.
- Consider structure: the soliloquy occurs alone on stage immediately before the murder, so the audience witnesses his breakdown in real time, heightening tension.
- Final answer: The soliloquy presents Macbeth's mind as already disturbed and divided before the murder, using a rhetorical question, a failed imperative and a paradox to dramatise guilt and ambition overwhelming his grip on reality.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Who first tells Macbeth he will become king?Show answer
Answer: The three witches.
Q2Name Macbeth's title at the very start of the play, before he becomes Thane of Cawdor and King.Show answer
Answer: Thane of Glamis.
Q3Identify the technique in 'vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other.'Show answer
Answer: Extended metaphor of a rider vaulting onto a horse and overreaching, then falling.
Q4What does Lady Macbeth ask the spirits to do to her in Act 1 Scene 5?Show answer
Answer: 'Unsex' her and fill her with cruelty, removing feminine compassion, so she can help carry out the murder.
Q5True or false: Banquo's ghost appears to Lady Macbeth at the banquet.Show answer
Answer: False - the ghost appears only to Macbeth; Lady Macbeth cannot see it.
Q6Give one piece of evidence of Macbeth's guilt after Duncan's murder.Show answer
Answer: He hallucinates a voice saying he has 'murdered sleep', cannot say 'Amen', or stares obsessively at his bloodied hands.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a English exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
State four things Macbeth's language shows about his state of mind in the lines in the worked example above: 'Is this a dagger which I see before me... I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.'
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Explain how Shakespeare presents Macbeth's state of mind in the soliloquy in the worked example above: 'Is this a dagger which I see before me... I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.'
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'Macbeth is presented as a victim of the witches' prophecy more than as a man responsible for his own choices.' To what extent do you agree?
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See real English past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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