Welcome to our blog post ISC Macbeth Workbook Answers : Act 2, Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, “Macbeth.” As dedicated learners and educators, we recognize the importance of unraveling the nuances of Shakespearean literature, which is why we’ve curated this comprehensive guide specifically tailored to the ISC curriculum.
Within this blog, we’ll explore Act 2, Scene 2, utilizing the meticulously crafted workbook provided by Morning Star publishers. Our objective is to not only present multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and detailed answers but also to foster a deeper comprehension of the play’s themes, characters, and linguistic complexities.
While our responses are structured based on the workbook, we encourage students to use this resource as a springboard for their own exploration. Shakespeare’s works offer rich layers of interpretation, inviting individual analysis. Therefore, feel empowered to adapt and personalize our insights to suit your unique learning style and needs.
Whether you’re striving for academic excellence or simply eager to unravel the depths of “Macbeth,” join us on this enlightening journey through Act 2, Scene 2. Let’s embark on an adventure where Shakespeare’s words transcend time, captivating minds across generations.
Table of Contents
Workbook Summary :
This is a continuation of the previous scene. The feast being over, Duncan has retired to his bedchamber. Banquo and his son, Fleance, enter the stage with a torch as it is dark at midnight Just as Banquo is complaining to Fleance that he is troubled and unable to sleep due to unholy thoughts pervading his mind, they meet Macbeth crossing the courtyard with his servant Banquo tells Macbeth that he had dreamt about the three weird sisters, but Macbeth pretends that he has not thought about them and instead invites him to have a private talk at some suitable time, hinting that if Banquo falls in with his design, he will have honour and reward. Banquo lays down his conditions for doing so.
After Banquo’s departure, Macbeth sends his servant to go and inform Lady Macbeth to ring the bell once his drink is ready. While waiting for the bell to ring his heat-oppressed brain conjures up before his eyes a vision of an air-drawn dagger as if pointing him towards Duncan’s chamber with its bloody point. He tries to grab hold of its handle but is unable to do so.He feels staggered by the sight but concludes that this dagger is a product of his imagination, a hallucination and not real.
Then in a burst of poetry he says that since all evil takes place at night, the darkness and silence of the midnight will help him to proceed with the foul deed. He asks the earth not to resound his footsteps, lest the deed is prevented. Lady Macbeth is ready by now, she rings the bell as a signal for him that the stage is set for the deed and Macbeth proceeds to Duncan’s chamber to kill his sleeping kin and guest.
Workbook MCQs :
1. Where is Lady Macbeth now?
a. Waiting outside the chamber of Duncan in the castle.
b. In her bedchamber
c. In one of the rooms of the castle.
d. In the garden taking a walk.
Answer :- a. Waiting outside the chamber of Duncan in the castle.
2. Who is Lady Macbeth waiting for?
a. for the morning to break
b. for her husband, Macbeth
c. for Duncan to wake up
d. for the murder to be discovered
Answer :- b. for her husband, Macbeth
3. Where is Macbeth now and why?
a. In his bedchamber fast asleep
b. In his bedchamber waiting for Lady Macbeth
c. Inside Duncan’s chamber to murder the sleeping king.
d. Outside Duncan’s chamber about to enter inside.
Answer :- c. Inside Duncan’s chamber to murder the sleeping king.
4. Lady Macbeth claims that the wine has made her
a. Depressed
b. Nervous
c. iII-tempered (nasty)
d. Bold (courageous)
Answer :- d. Bold (courageous)
5. That which hath made them drunk…..
Who is the ‘them Lady Macbeth is referring to?
a. The two chamberlains(grooms)
b. The guards at the entrance of the castle
c. Malcolm and Donalbain
d. Banquo and his son
Answer :- a. The two chamberlains(grooms)
6. What is the owl referred to as?
a. An impediment for Macbeth
b. Th pet bird of Lady Macbeth
c. The fatal bellman
d. A good omen
Answer :- c. The fatal bellman
7. Define a bellman.
a. One who rings a hand bell outside a condemned convict’s cell.
b. Who sells hand bells to condemned convicts about to be hanged.
c. Who likes to ring bells on and of
d. Who rings a bell when the day’s work is over.
Answer :- a. One who rings a hand bell outside a condemned convict’s cell.
8. Why does the owl give the sternest good night?
a. The owl is of a very strict nature and must perform its duty.
b. The owl bids good night to Duncan for the last time as Duncan is about to be murdered.
c. Due to Lady Macbeth’s orders to it.
d. The owl is bidding Duncan good night in a stern manner.
Answer :- b. The owl bids good night to Duncan for the last time as Duncan is about to be murdered.
9. Referring to the two grooms, what does Lady Macbeth mean by ‘do mock their duties’?
a. The chamberlains are enjoying their drinks.
b. They are not taking good care of King Duncan.
c. The grooms are neglecting their duties as they are in a drunken sleep.
d. They have forgotten to perform some duty.
Answer :- c. The grooms are neglecting their duties as they are in a drunken sleep.
10. Lady Macbeth fears that an unsuccessful attempt to kill Duncan will
a. put the blame on others
b. make them more determined to adopt foul means
c. spell ruin for them
d. go unnoticed.
Answer :- c. spell ruin for them
11. When Macbeth asks his wife if she had heard a noise, she said that she heard:
a. a vulture scream and a martlet chirp
b. an owl scream and crickets chirping
c. the two grooms snoring
d. Duncan cry out
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
12. According to Macbeth, what is the ‘sorry sight’ he refers to?
a. The bloody corpse of Duncan
b. The blood-stained daggers
c. His blood soaked hands
d. His clothes which are covered with blood.
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
13. When Macbeth was inside Duncan’s chamber, he heard the voices of:
a. Banquo and his son
b. Malcolm and Donalbain
c. Duncan and one of the grooms
d. Duncan and Donalbain
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
14. Sleep according to Macbeth is
a. an end to our activities
b. Like an opium
c. Good for the criminals
d. A balm to our troubled souls
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
15. The voice which said ‘sleep no more’ to Macbeth was the voice of:
a. his own troubled conscience
b. King Duncan
c. Lady Macbeth
d. The two chamberlains
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
16. What two instructions does Lady Macbeth give her husband to carry out when he is raving and ranting about sleep?
1. Go get some water, and wash this filthy witness from your hand.
2. Do not brood over the matter
3. They must lie there:go carry them; and smear the sleep goons with blood
4. What do you mean?
a. 1 and 2
b. 2 and 3
c. 3 and 4
d. 1 and 3
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
17. I’ll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done.’
Which qualities of Macbeth are emphasized when he refuses to go back to Duncan’s chamber?
a. His cool confidence and positiveness
b. Absence of any guilt and conscience
c. His fear and guilt
d. His disobedience and insult to his wife
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
18. Which of these best describes Lady Macbeth’s character in this scene?
a. Her iron will, ruthless determination and practical nature
b. Her impractical and childish nature
c. Ambitious for herself
d. Heroic and brave
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
19. An example of the literary device hyperbole (an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally) is when Macbeth exclaims:
a. Whence is that knocking?
b. The multitudinous seas in incarnadine,/Making the green one red
c. What hands are these?
d. Wake Duncan with thy knocking!
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
20. Wake Duncan with thy knocking!
I would thou couldst!
What does this cry of Macbeth reveal?
a. Agony and the wish that the deed could be undone.
b. Fear that he has murdered his king.
c. To forget about the foul deed
d. A prayer to God to save Duncan.
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
Workbook Questions :
(I) Death and Nature are arguing over the two grooms because they are fast asleep due to intoxication while death is hovering over their heads.
(II) Lady Macbeth has drugged the two grooms with alcohol because she wants that they should not be an obstacle in any way, in Macbeth’s planned deed.
(III) Looking at his hands Macbeth says, This is a sorry sight because the sad spectacle reminds him of his cruel, unethical deed of murder.
(IV) Macbeth says that he heard a voice saying that he would ‘Sleep no more’ because his guilt consciousness says to him that he will never sleep peacefully in life.
(V) Sleep is a blessing to mankind because it smoothes the tangled thread of worries, and offers the comfort of balm over hurt hands.
(VI) Macbeth refuses to go back to replace the daggers because Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
(VII) Lady Macbeth says that they should not fear the sleeping and the dead because Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
(VIII) Macbeth fears that his bloody hands would turn all the green seas into red because Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
(IX) It is ironical when Lady Macbeth says that a little water will cleanse their hands of the deed because Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
(X) Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to get into his nightclothes because Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
Question Answers :
(I) Give an account of Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy till the time Macbeth enters the stage after committing the murder. Write your answer in a short paragraph of about 100-150-words.
Answers: Lady Macbeth standing outside Duncan’s bedchamber is anxiously waiting for Macbeth to come out after doing the deed of murder of Duncan. Here she makes a soliloquy. In this she remarks that she has made the two chamberlains drunk and senseless. Now, they would not come in Macbeth’s way. She adds that she too has taken some wine to embolden herself. She hears a midnight owl’s shriek and snoring of two chamberlains. Then she hears a cry from within Duncan’s room. She is terrified. Perhaps the chamberlains have got up. Macbeth’s attempt would have failed. This feeling disturbs her so much that she fears that they are ruined. But Macbeth comes and tells her the deed is done.
(II) How is Lady Macbeth the more practical of the two in this scene? Write your answer in about 100- 150 words.
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
(III) a. How has Act II Scene II marked the crisis of this drama? Write your answer in about 200-250 words.
Answer :- Act II, Scene II marks the turning point of Macbeth, where the play’s crisis erupts through psychological tension and irreversible consequences. The scene unfolds in an atmosphere of darkness, with owl shrieks and whispers heightening the sense of dread. Macbeth’s Breakdown: After murdering Duncan, Macbeth is consumed by guilt and paranoia. He hears voices crying “Macbeth shall sleep no more”—a punishment worse than death. His agitated state (“I am afraid to think what I have done”) contrasts with Lady Macbeth’s cold control. Lady Macbeth’s Ruthlessness: She takes charge, smearing the drugged guards with blood and mocking Macbeth’s fear: “A little water clears us of this deed.” Her practical cruelty (ordering him to “wear thy nightgown” to appear innocent) highlights her dominance. Shakespeare’s Focus: The playwright ignores Duncan’s death to spotlight the murderers’ psyches. Macbeth’s guilt-ridden hallucinations (“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”) and Lady Macbeth’s false calm create a study in moral decay. This scene seals their fates—Macbeth’s descent into tyranny and Lady Macbeth’s eventual madness begin here. The real crisis isn’t the murder itself but the shattering of their humanity.
b. What is Macbeth’s reaction to sleep and his blood-stained hands? Write your answer in about 200-250 words.
Answer :- For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
Essay Question :
Q. Describe the scene of the murder of King Duncan and comment on its dramatic effectiveness.
Answer :- Though the scene of the murder of Duncan is transacted off the stage, Shakespeare gives the full effect of the scene through the speeches of the murderer and his wife. Lady Macbeth having se things ready waits outside the chamber of the King for the return of her husband from the deed The chamberlains whom she drugged are snoring, thus mocking their sacred charge. For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View
