Act V questions

Act V Comprehension Questions: Answer the following questions and be sure to include a page/line number in your answers.

5.1

1. Why is the Gentlewoman reluctant to repeat what she has heard the sleep-walking Lady Macbeth say?

2. What is ironic about Lady Macbeth’s state of mind?

5.2

3. How does the news discussed in this scene serve to further explain the reasons behind Macbeth’s downfall?

5.3

4. What is the tone of Macbeth’s first lines in this scene? At what point and in what way does this tone shift?

5. What request does Macbeth make to the doctor regarding Lady Macbeth? How does he use medical imagery to suggest a parallel between her condition and his own?

5.4

6. Why is it significant that Malcolm orders the English troops to cut down trees to use for disguise?

5.5

7. What is Macbeth’s reaction to his wife’s suicide? How does Shakespeare employ a theatrical metaphor to convey Macbeth’s view of life following this event?

8. What news quickly changes Macbeth’s emotions? What mood does this scene end with?

5.6/5.7

None

5.8

9. How does Macbeth’s attitude change when he learns of Macduff’s “unnatural” birth? What is the significance of this cause and effect?

10. In what ways does Malcolm’s speech exhibit “kingly” qualities?