ACT I - Scene II Practice Quiz — Macbeth
by William Shakespeare — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: ACT I - Scene II
Where does Act I, Scene II take place?
A military camp near Forres, Scotland.
Who is the first person to deliver news of the battle to King Duncan?
A bleeding Sergeant (also called the Captain), who fought to prevent Malcolm’s capture.
Who is Macdonwald?
A rebel leader from the Western Isles who raised an army of Irish kerns and gallowglasses against King Duncan.
How does Macbeth kill Macdonwald?
He carves his way through the enemy, then unseams Macdonwald from the navel to the jaw and fixes his head upon the battlements.
What simile does the Sergeant use to describe the two exhausted armies?
He compares them to "two spent swimmers that do cling together / And choke their art."
What does the epithet "Valor’s minion" mean?
It means "the favorite or darling of Courage," used by the Sergeant to praise Macbeth’s bravery.
What happens immediately after Macbeth defeats Macdonwald?
The King of Norway launches a fresh assault with new supplies of men, beginning a second wave of battle.
How does the Sergeant describe Macbeth and Banquo’s response to the Norwegian attack?
He compares them to cannons "overcharged with double cracks," saying they "doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe" as if they meant to create another Golgotha.
What does "memorize another Golgotha" allude to?
Golgotha is the biblical site of Christ’s crucifixion; the Sergeant means Macbeth and Banquo created a scene of such slaughter it would be as memorable as that famous place of death.
Who is Ross, and what news does he bring?
Ross is the Thane of Ross. He reports that the Thane of Cawdor betrayed Scotland by siding with Norway, but Macbeth defeated the Norwegian forces and won the battle.
What does "Bellona’s bridegroom" mean?
Bellona is the Roman goddess of war. Calling Macbeth "Bellona’s bridegroom" means he is the husband of war itself—a supreme warrior.
What must King Sweno of Norway do before he can bury his dead soldiers?
He must pay ten thousand dollars to Scotland at Saint Colme’s Inch (Inchcolm island).
What two commands does Duncan give at the end of the scene?
He orders the execution of the traitorous Thane of Cawdor and commands Ross to greet Macbeth with the Cawdor title.
What is dramatically ironic about Duncan’s closing line, "What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won"?
The title Thane of Cawdor was stripped from a traitor and given to Macbeth, who will himself become a traitor to Duncan—repeating the very pattern of betrayal.
How does blood function as imagery in this scene?
Blood appears on the wounded Sergeant and on Macbeth’s sword. Here it symbolizes honor and sacrifice, but it foreshadows the guilt-stained blood imagery that pervades the rest of the play.
Why is Macbeth characterized entirely through other people’s reports in this scene?
Shakespeare builds Macbeth’s heroic reputation before the audience meets him, so that his later moral corruption carries maximum dramatic impact.
What does the personification of Fortune reveal about the scene’s worldview?
Fortune is described as smiling on Macdonwald "like a rebel’s whore," suggesting her favor is fickle and disreputable. Macbeth’s success comes from disdaining Fortune and relying on his own valor.
What role does the theme of loyalty versus treachery play in this scene?
The scene contrasts Macbeth’s extreme loyalty with the Thane of Cawdor’s treachery. Duncan rewards the loyal and punishes the traitor—but the transfer of the Cawdor title foreshadows that loyalty is not permanent.