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"For the poor wren, the most diminutive of birds, will fight..."

Macbeth - Dialogue

Study how Shakespeare’s dialogue in Macbeth reveals character, builds tension and explores guilt, ambition and power in this focused GCSE English Literature revision quiz.

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Fascinating Fact:

Macbeth’s questions after the murder, like “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”, reveal panic and guilt through vivid imagery.

In GCSE English Literature, dialogue in Macbeth is vital evidence. Short questions, interruptions and vivid images in speech help you analyse power shifts, fear, ambition and the breakdown of trust on stage.

Key Terms

Dialogue: Spoken exchanges between characters in a play, which reveal relationships, conflict, mood and key themes.
Soliloquy: A speech delivered alone on stage, allowing a character to share private thoughts directly with the audience.
Imagery: Descriptive language that creates strong pictures or sensory impressions, often used in dialogue to heighten emotion.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

How does Shakespeare use dialogue in Macbeth for GCSE English?

Shakespeare uses dialogue in Macbeth to show changing power, tension and fear. Fast exchanges, commands and vivid images help reveal relationships and turning points in key scenes.

What is the difference between dialogue and soliloquy in Macbeth?

Dialogue is conversation between characters, while a soliloquy is a character speaking alone. Soliloquies reveal inner thoughts, whereas dialogue highlights conflict and interaction on stage.

How can I revise Macbeth’s dialogue for the GCSE exam?

Choose a few important scenes, learn short key quotations from the dialogue and practise explaining how tone, punctuation and imagery support your ideas about characters and themes.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair, / Hover through the fog and filthy air"

Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

Gray-Malkin

The Witches

The witches conclude their meeting in Act One, Scene One, with these paradoxical lines

2 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"Welcome hither. / I have begun to plant thee, and will labour / To make thee full of growing"

Lady Macbeth

Hecate

The King

Lennox

Naming his eldest son as heir to his throne following the successful battle against Sweno, King of Norway, Duncan first honours Macbeth and promises that he will help him to flourish in future

3 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well / It were done quickly"

Duncan

Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

Banquo

Macbeth's statement refers to the murder of the King both as certain and as something which might not come to pass; he imagines looking back from a time when the deed has been done already

4 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"I must report they were / as cannons over-charged with double cracks, / So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe"

The King

Macbeth

Banquo

The Captain

In Act One, Scene Two, the Captain returns from the battlefield and informs Duncan, the King, of Macbeth's and Banquo's military success

5 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"The gracious Duncan / Was pitied of Macbeth; marry, he was dead. / And the right-valiant Banquo walked too late, / Whom you may say, if't please you, Fleance killed, / For Fleance fled: men must not walk too late"

Ross

Lennox

First Witch

Macduff

By using these veiled references, Lennox makes it clear that he suspects Macbeth of murder; he continues to serve the new king despite this knowledge

6 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"Duncan is in his grave, / After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well; / Treason has done his worst"

Banquo

Lady Macbeth

Macbeth

The Murderers

Macbeth portrays Duncan's grave as a peaceful place where he is beyond harm, almost as if he is to be envied by those still living and prey to the tortures of the mind

7 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"If you can look into the seeds of time, / And say which grain will grow, and which will not, / Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear / Your favours, nor your hate"

Banquo

Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

Malcolm

Banquo asks his fortune of the witches, who promise that his descendants will be kings, although he himself will not be king

8 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"Out, damned spot: out, I say. One; two. Why then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeared? What need we fear? Who knows it when none can call our power to account?"

1st Murderer

Lady Macbeth

Macbeth

Lennox

Lady Macbeth's guilty conscience prompts her sleep-walking confession. Yet she also defies judgement in this speech, asking who can call her and her husband to account for their deeds

9 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"For the poor wren, / The most diminutive of birds, will fight , / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl"

Lady Macbeth

Macduff's wife

Fleance

Donalbain

Abandoned by her husband in his hurry to flee Macbeth, Macduff's wife compares herself to the tiny wren, who will protect her young from the more powerful owl, knowing that she has no hope of success

10 .

Match the dialogue to the correct speaker.

"Thou wast born of woman, / But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, / Brandished by man that's of a woman born"

Macbeth

Banquo

Macduff

Siward

Macbeth believes himself invincible, according to the witches' prophecy that he cannot be defeated by anyone 'of woman born'. Macduff, of course, was not born, but 'from his mother's womb untimely ripped' (i.e. delivered by caesarean)

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Macbeth

Author: Sheri Smith (PhD English Literature, English Teacher & Quiz Writer)