ACT I - Scene II Quiz — Macbeth

by William Shakespeare

Comprehension Quiz: ACT I - Scene II

Where does Act I, Scene II take place?

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

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

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

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

  • Two hawks circling above the same prey
  • 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

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
  • 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

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

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

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
  • The King of Norway launches a fresh assault with new troops
  • The Thane of Cawdor surrenders his forces to Macbeth

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

  • They retreated strategically to higher ground before counterattacking
  • 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

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)
  • Bellona’s bridegroom (the husband of the goddess of war)
  • Fortune’s master (the commander of Destiny)

Why has the Thane of Cawdor been condemned?

  • He refused to send troops when Duncan called for reinforcements
  • 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

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

  • Swear a public oath of allegiance to King Duncan at Forres
  • 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

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
  • 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

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

  • The supernatural’s influence on human decisions and moral choices
  • 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

Comprehension Quiz

Question 1 of 0
Score: 0 / 0
Read Chapter
← Previous Next →