AQA style exam question: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

This helpful resource is designed for students who are studying the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare for AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 1, Section A. To support students’ understanding of character, plot and theme, the resource includes an exam-style question and related extract from Act 3, Scene 4.

Students are encouraged to complete a close analysis of the extract, zooming in on the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, before zooming out to consider relevant scenes, extracts and characters from the rest of the play.

The question asks students to explore the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in the extract and then broaden out to think about how their relationship develops.

Students could also reflect on key themes that are relative to the extract, such as valour, vaulting ambition and the crime of regicide.

They may also want to make links to the witches’ prophecies at the beginning of the play, and how the audience views the zenith of the milk of human kindness transform into the nadir of direst cruelty as Macbeth carries out the terrible murder of Duncan, King of Scotland.

Browse additional resources on the play Macbeth and other Shakespeare plays in the GCSE Shakespeare section.