Macbeth, ACT I - Scene II quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Where does Act I, Scene II take place?

   • The royal palace at Dunsinane
   • Correct answer: A camp near Forres
   • A heath near the battlefield
   • The castle at Inverness

   The stage directions specify "A camp near Forres," where Duncan awaits news from the ongoing battle.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Who identifies the bleeding Sergeant as the soldier who prevented his capture?

   • Duncan, expressing gratitude for past service
   • Correct answer: Malcolm, recognizing the man who saved him
   • Lennox, recalling a previous encounter at court
   • Ross, arriving with additional news from Fife

   Malcolm says, "This is the sergeant / Who like a good and hardy soldier fought / ’Gainst my captivity."

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3. 3

   Question 3. What simile does the Sergeant use to describe the evenly matched armies?

   • Two hawks circling above the same prey
   • Correct answer: Two spent swimmers that cling together and choke their art
   • Two rivers meeting and flooding the land between them
   • Two wounded lions fighting over the same territory

   The Sergeant says the battle "Doubtful it stood, / As two spent swimmers that do cling together / And choke their art," conveying exhausted stalemate.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Macbeth do to the rebel Macdonwald?

   • He captures him alive and brings him before Duncan for judgment
   • He defeats him in a duel and accepts his formal surrender
   • Correct answer: He unseams him from the navel to the jaw and fixes his head on the battlements
   • He surrounds his forces and starves them into submission

   The Sergeant reports that Macbeth "unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps, / And fix’d his head upon our battlements.”

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5. 5

   Question 5. What epithet does the Sergeant use to praise Macbeth’s courage?

   • Fortune’s champion (the favorite of Luck)
   • Correct answer: Valor’s minion (the darling of Courage)
   • Honor’s servant (the vassal of Reputation)
   • Victory’s herald (the messenger of Triumph)

   The Sergeant describes Macbeth as "Valor’s minion," meaning the favorite or darling of Courage, emphasizing his extraordinary bravery.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What event follows immediately after Macbeth defeats Macdonwald?

   • Duncan arrives at the battlefield to congratulate his captains personally
   • Banquo is wounded and must be carried from the field
   • Correct answer: The King of Norway launches a fresh assault with new troops
   • The Thane of Cawdor surrenders his forces to Macbeth

   The Sergeant reports that "the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, / With furbish’d arms and new supplies of men, / Began a fresh assault."

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7. 7

   Question 7. How does the Sergeant describe Macbeth and Banquo’s response to the Norwegian attack?

   • They retreated strategically to higher ground before counterattacking
   • Correct answer: They fought like cannons overcharged with double cracks, as if to create another Golgotha
   • They rallied the demoralized troops with stirring speeches before charging
   • They divided their forces to encircle the Norwegian army from both flanks

   The Sergeant compares them to "cannons overcharged with double cracks" who "doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe" as if they meant to "memorize another Golgotha."

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8. 8

   Question 8. What title does Ross use for Macbeth when describing his confrontation with Norway?

   • Valor’s minion (the favorite of Courage)
   • Scotland’s champion (the defender of the nation)
   • Correct answer: Bellona’s bridegroom (the husband of the goddess of war)
   • Fortune’s master (the commander of Destiny)

   Ross calls Macbeth "Bellona’s bridegroom, lapp’d in proof," comparing him to the husband of the Roman goddess of war, wrapped in tested armor.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Why has the Thane of Cawdor been condemned?

   • He refused to send troops when Duncan called for reinforcements
   • Correct answer: He assisted the Norwegian invasion as a disloyal traitor to Scotland
   • He plotted to assassinate Duncan and seize the Scottish throne
   • He fled the battlefield in cowardice during the fight with Macdonwald

   Ross reports that "that most disloyal traitor / The Thane of Cawdor" assisted Norway’s invasion, leading Duncan to sentence him to death.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What must King Sweno of Norway do before he can bury his dead?

    • Swear a public oath of allegiance to King Duncan at Forres
    • Correct answer: Pay ten thousand dollars at Saint Colme’s Inch to Scotland
    • Return all Scottish prisoners captured during the invasion
    • Surrender his crown and fleet to Scottish custody for one year

    Ross reports that Sweno "craves composition" and cannot bury his men until he "disbursed, at Saint Colme’s Inch, / Ten thousand dollars to our general use."

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11. 11

    Question 11. What is the dramatic irony in Duncan’s closing couplet, "What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won"?

    • Duncan does not realize that Macbeth already knows about the Cawdor title from the witches
    • Correct answer: The title stripped from one traitor is given to Macbeth, who will himself betray Duncan
    • Macbeth has actually lost more soldiers than he gained territory in the battle
    • Duncan is unaware that Banquo deserves equal credit for the military victory

    The title Thane of Cawdor passes from a traitor to Macbeth, who will repeat the same pattern of treachery by murdering Duncan—the very king who rewarded him.

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12. 12

    Question 12. Which theme is most strongly established in Act I, Scene II?

    • The supernatural’s influence on human decisions and moral choices
    • Correct answer: The tension between appearance and reality, as loyalty masks future betrayal
    • The destructive power of unchecked feminine ambition in a patriarchal society
    • The impossibility of washing away guilt once innocent blood is shed

    The scene’s central irony—a traitor’s title transferred to a future traitor—establishes the theme that outward appearances of loyalty can conceal the reality of ambition and betrayal.

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