Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad that you've decided to learn with me today.

We're in the unit, "Macbeth: Lady Macbeth, as a Machiavellian villain." We're gonna read the opening of act five today.

We're gonna relook at the character of Lady Macbeth, and we're gonna think how is Macbeth becoming increasingly isolated? I can't wait to hear all of your fantastic ideas.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we work through this lesson together.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, we're going to have read the opening five scenes of act five.

We're gonna show an understanding of what happens in those scenes, but we're also going to have a slightly closer focus on Lady Macbeth and see how she's presented at the opening of this act and then we're going to look at the character of Macbeth.

What is happening to him in the final act of this play? There are some keywords which are going to be useful to us throughout today's lesson, and they're going to be referenced throughout to help us unlock the learning.

They are guilt, symbol, isolated, camouflage, and tyrant.

Their definitions are gonna come up one at a time on the next slide.

If you'd like to spend some more time with our keywords and their definitions, pause the video at the end of the next slide.

Our lesson outline for today, we're gonna start off by focusing on Lady Macbeth's guilt.

Then we're going to move on to Macbeth's isolation.

And we're going to look at Macbeth again, the idea that he's a confident tyrant, is he or is he not? Let's start off with Lady Macbeth's guilt.

Here are all the appearances of Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth" so far.

We've got act one, scene five.

She asks spirits to remove her remorse.

In act one, scene seven, she tells Macbeth, "When you durst do it, the regicide, then you are a man." In act two, scene two, after the regicide, she tells an anxious Macbeth to "consider it not so deeply." In act two, scene three, she pretends to be shocked and angered by Duncan's death.

She says, "Woe, alas." In act three, scene one as queen, she prepares for "our great feast." In acts three, scene two, she asks Macbeth, "Why do you keep alone?" And without her, he arranges Banquo's murder.

In act three, scene four, she asks Macbeth, "Are you a man?" when he sees Banquo's ghost.

I'd like you to discuss, given all of these appearances of Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth" so far, what kind of character is Lady Macbeth? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Some beautiful discussions there, looking at a character as a whole and tracking her across the play.

Here are some ideas that you might have had.

Well, in act one, she seems pretty unafraid.

She's not afraid of the supernatural, she's not afraid of the idea of regicide.

She's very dominant, goading Macbeth into regicide and she's manipulative.

In act two, scene two, after the regicide, she seems unfeeling and unremorseful in direct contrast to Macbeth, who's very worried about the regicide, worried that he has lost his connection with God and he'll never be able to sleep again.

In act two, scene three, she appears duplicitous.

She's able to hide the fact that she committed the regicide with Macbeth and pretends to be shocked by Duncan's murder.

In act three, scene one, we see her as queen.

So she seems very powerful in this scene.

She is, after all, in charge of all of Scotland.

In act three, scene two, I had lots of people talk about the fact there's a little bit of a shift here because Macbeth seems to be ruling Scotland by himself, ruling it as he wishes, deciding to kill Banquo as he wishes.

And she directly asks him, "Why do you keep alone?" So she seems pretty isolated or perhaps seems increasingly isolated in act hree, scene two.

In act three, scene four during the feast when she asks, "Are you a man?" And she's trying to undermine Macbeth again, just as she did in act one.

And so she does seem quite uncaring and manipulative and dominant.

We see those characteristics we saw in act one come back through.

So a powerful character, a sometimes unfeeling character, a dominant character, a moment of isolation in act three, but mainly quite negative characteristics and an idea that she's prepared to go to any lengths to achieve her ambitions.

Well, we don't see Lady Macbeth in act four, and when she reappears in act five, scene one, she is consumed by guilt.

She sleepwalks and talks.

The doctor says, "You see, her eyes are open, but their sense is shut." She's obsessed with the idea of imaginary blood on her hands.

Lady Macbeth says, "What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" And a doctor looks on, but he is unable to help.

The doctor says, "This disease is beyond my practise." So act five, scene one, we've got Lady Macbeth, she's sleepwalking and talking, a doctor looking on very worried, and it seems that she's consumed by guilt.

I'd like you to discuss, are you surprised by her character development? Think about all her previous appearances and then this appearance in act five, scene one.

Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Some really lovely discussions there and a bit of a debate.

Some people saying, "Yes, I'm completely surprised by this character development.

She seems so dominant in act one, act two, even act three, despite the fact she might be becoming a little bit more isolated and Macbeth seems to be doing things without her, but this is a complete change." Someone who might say, "Will these hands ne'er be cleaned?" Where in act two, she said, "A little water clears us of this deed." And it was nice to hear people referring to really specific moments in act two.

But others saying, "No, this is not a surprising development as a woman in the play, one of the very few women in the play, she knows that she is meant to be a bit more vulnerable and that is why she asks for spirits to unsex her in act one and her ability to maintain that facade, which was brought on by the supernatural that was clearly going to diminish, particularly because of the crime, the nature of the crime, the regicide, which was such a terrible crime to commit." And a Jacobean audience, the play's first audience would certainly expect her to be punished.

So it's not surprising that act five opens with Lady Macbeth consumed by guilt.

A check for understanding.

I'd like you to match the acts to Lady Macbeth's characteristics.

We've got act one, two, three, four and five, and the main plot points relating to Lady Macbeth.

I'd like you to match the acts to Lady Macbeth's characteristics.

Pause the video and match them now.

Well done if you matched act one to hears about the prophecies and goads Macbeth into regicide.

Act two to seeming seemingly unaffected by the regicide and Duncan's blood, unlike Macbeth.

Act three, queen of Scotland, but increasingly isolated from her husband.

Act four, she doesn't appear.

And act five, she is consumed by guilt.

Well done for having a really good understanding of a character across all five acts of this play.

Now I'd like you to read act five, scene one, Lady Macbeth's guilt.

And as you read, discuss these three questions.

What does the Gentlewoman, Lady Macbeth's servant, say is an accustomed action of Lady Macbeth's, something she has seen her do for a quarter of an hour? What is Lady Macbeth worried is on her hands? What could this symbolise? The doctor says that "unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles.

More needs she the divine, God, than the physician, doctor." What does he mean? I'd like you to pause the video now, read act five, scene one, and after reading, discuss these three questions.

Pause the video now.

Beautiful reading of that scene and presenting a very different Lady Macbeth to what we've seen earlier in the play.

Let's have a look at some of these discussion questions and your answers.

So here are some ideas you might have had.

The Gentlewoman says that an accustomed action of Lady Macbeth, something she has seen her do for a quarter of an hour is rubbing her hands as if washing them over and over.

So Lady Macbeth believes there is blood on her hands and she's washing them to try and remove that blood.

Question two, what is Lady Macbeth worried is on her hands and what could this symbolise? Well, we talked about how she imagines blood on her hands.

She says, "Out, damned spot!" And "Will these hands ne'er be clean?" And this could serve as a symbol of her guilt.

So she feels she will never get the blood ofd her hands.

And that's really showing that she will always feel guilty for the act of regicide.

In question three, the doctor says that "unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles.

More need she the divine, God, than the physician, doctor." What does he mean? Well, he suspects that Lady Macbeth has something to do with the regicide as there have been foul whisperings, rumours, and her sleep is disrupted to symbolise that she's guilty.

And the doctor says it's not something that he can treat.

It's a sickness of the soul, not the body.

So her unhappiness here, her being consumed by guilt, her lack of sleep is all being attributed to the fact that she feels incredibly guilty.

Well done for such a careful reading of act five, scene one, and also showing off your knowledge of Lady Macbeth across the play.

We're gonna move on to our second learning cycle now.

We're going to look at Macbeth's isolation.

Now, I'd like you to discuss this question.

How is Macbeth viewed by other characters in act one? You might have some memory of this, but I've also got some quotations for you on the board.

We've got the sergeant who calls Macbeth brave and says, "Well he deserves that name." King Duncan calls Macbeth "Valiant cousin, worthy gentleman" and "noble Macbeth.

And Ross, another Scottish thane, says, "Everyone did their bear thy, your, praises in his, Duncan's, kingdom great defence." Pause the video.

Using your knowledge of act one and these quotations, discuss this question, how is Macbeth viewed by other characters in act one? Pause the video now.

Some beautiful discussions there about the character of Macbeth, a moment of glory for him before his fall when he commits the regicide in act two.

Here are some ideas you might have had.

Macbeth is viewed as brave, loyal, deserving of a good reputation.

He is praised by the king, as well as all of Scotland.

So these moments really showing that Macbeth has a fantastic reputation.

He's brave, he deserves that name, he's valiant, worthy, noble.

Everyone is praising him.

Now, just like for Lady Macbeth, in act five, things for Macbeth have changed.

As Macbeth prepares for battle in act five, scene three, remember, the English army is coming led by Malcolm to try and take the throne from him.

So as he prepares for battle, Macbeth says to his servant, "That which should accompany old age as honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, curses, not loud, but deep, mouth honour, breath." Let's have a look at some of this language in a little bit more detail before we move on to a discussion.

So "Curses, not loud but deep." This is what Macbeth says he has, and this means there's deep felt hatred for Macbeth.

He knows people are cursing him and that comes from deep within them.

He says that he's been given mouth honour and breath.

So some pretend to respect me, but he knows they don't.

The honour that he gets from them comes from their mouths rather than from their heart.

So I'd like you to discuss this question now.

As Macbeth prepares for battle in act five, scene three, what does he know he does not have? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Some beautiful discussions there looking at these four lines from act five, scene three.

So Macbeth doesn't have anything a king might expect, like devoted subjects.

He doesn't have honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, he says.

He does not have a loyal army and he doesn't have any friends either.

So very, very isolated.

I'd like you to discuss how is his reputation now different to his reputation in act one, which we looked at a bit earlier in this learning cycle? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Some beautiful discussions there showing how a character can change over the course of a play, looking at Macbeth's development, just like you looked at Lady Macbeth's development in learning cycle one.

So his reputation, in act one, he was called noble, brave, and worthiest, and he was respected by other thanes and his king.

But now he's either killed those who respected him or they have fled Scotland and Macbeth is very aware of his reputation.

It's not that he thinks he has a powerful status and thinks everyone loves him as king, he knows that nobody does.

A check for understanding.

True or false? Like Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is consumed by guilt in act five.

Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected false.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it A, Macbeth has never engaged with ideas of guilt and doesn't feel it in act five.

Instead, he's focused on traitors in his kingdom.

Or B, Macbeth has changed from the loyal thane of act one, but he doesn't seem consumed by guilt.

Rather, he considers his isolation.

Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected B, Macbeth is focusing on his isolation, not on feelings of guilt.

Now, act five, scenes two to five are devoted to preparations for battle.

In act five, scene two, soldiers prepare to remove power from the tyrant Macbeth.

In act five, scene three, Macbeth hears that 10,000 soldiers are coming.

In act five, scene four, the English army use branches as camouflage so that they can approach Macbeth's castle.

And in act five, scene five, Macbeth hears Birnam Wood moves and comes to Dunsinane, Macbeth's castle and we hear that Lady Macbeth dies.

I'd like you to discuss this question.

Why might Macbeth feel increasingly isolated and worried as the act progresses? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Some beautiful discussions there about Macbeth's isolation, tying them to key plot points from act five, scenes two, three, four and five.

So we can see in act five, scene two that Macbeth has a terrible reputation.

We know that he knows this.

But Shakespeare emphasising again that Macbeth is isolated from loyalty and loyal followers.

In act five, scene three, 10,000 soldiers are coming to remove power from Macbeth.

And Macbeth's army is nowhere near as big and it is definitely not as loyal.

People are not serving Macbeth because they love him, but because they fear him.

We also know lots of Scottish thanes have fled Scotland because they don't wish to serve under Macbeth.

So Macbeth is feeling very, very isolated and this huge army coming to take what he feels is his kingship.

Now, in act five, scenes four and five, we might think about the witches again and their prophecy.

They said that Macbeth could not be harmed until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane and it seems now to be moving.

It's not actually moving.

The English army have cut down some branches and they're using it to hide their approach to the castle.

But this is going to worry Macbeth because he thought the prophecies were telling him that he is invincible and now he realises that he's not.

And finally, lots of people focused on the death of Lady Macbeth.

Now, even though their relationship seems to have deteriorated over the course of the play, she was once called his dearest partner of greatness and he has now lost his dearest partner of greatness because she has died.

So Macbeth is certainly going to be feeling very isolated at this point in the play, particularly because he has no loyal followers and Lady Macbeth was one of his biggest supporters, and now she is gone.

A check for understanding for the scenes that we've just looked at in act five.

So scene two, three, four and five.

I'd like you to match the scenes to their plot points.

Pause the video and match the scenes to their plot points now.

Well done if you matched act five, scene two to soldiers discuss the tyrant Macbeth and prepare to remove him from power.

Act five, scene three, Macbeth hears reports of 10,000 troops coming to his castle.

Act five, scene four, soldiers use branches from Birnam Wood as camouflage.

And act five, scene five, Birnam Wood begins to move towards Macbeth's castle and Lady Macbeth dies.

Well done for showing fantastic understanding of those scenes from act five.

Now we're going to read act five, scene two where the soldiers prepare for their battle.

And as you read, I'd like you to discuss these two questions.

Angus says that Macbeth's soldiers "move only in command, nothing in love." What does he mean? And Caithness describes Malcolm as a medicine for Scotland.

What does this metaphor suggest about Macbeth's reign? Pause the video, read act five, scene two.

And after your reading, discuss these two questions.

Pause the video now.

Beautiful reading of that short scene.

Let's look at some of the ideas you might have had for these discussion questions.

So Angus says that Macbeth's soldiers "move only in command, nothing in love." What does he mean? Well, he means that Macbeth's soldiers don't love or respect him.

They just fear not following his commands.

They're not loyal like Macbeth once was for Duncan.

And Caithness describes Malcolm as medicine.

What does this metaphor suggest? Well, if Malcolm is medicine, it suggests that Macbeth's reign was a sickness that infected Scotland.

So a nice short quote there, but really characterising Macbeth's reign and the need for Malcolm to come and restore the status quo.

We're now gonna read act five, scene three, where Macbeth hears reports of the English army and how large it is, and as you read, I'd like you to discuss these two questions.

How does Macbeth respond to Seyton's reports that there are 10,000 troops approaching the castle? Macbeth puts on his armour, repeats the witches' prophecies, orders those who talk of fear to be killed and tells the doctor to cure Lady Macbeth.

How do you interpret Macbeth's confidence in this scene? Pause the video, read act five, scene three, and discuss these questions after your reading.

Pause the video now.

Beautiful reading of act five, scene three.

Let's have a look at these discussion questions and some of the ideas you might have had.

So how does Macbeth respond to Seyton's reports? Well, he's really angry with Seyton, telling him, "Bring me no more reports." And he repeats the witches' prophecies to show that he is not scared.

He doesn't care how many soldiers are coming, the witches have said that he's invincible, so he is not scared.

Now, Macbeth, there're a series of actions that he goes through.

He puts on his armour, repeats the witches' prophecies, orders some people to be killed, tells the doctor to cure Lady Macbeth.

How might you interpret Macbeth's confidence in this scene? Well, he might feel the witches' prophecies will protect him but this could just be a show of confidence.

Macbeth knows he has nowhere to turn and no one to rely on and therefore, pretends more confidence than he feels.

You could interpret this moment from act five, scene three as a lack of confidence, though the witches' prophecy still are there, which he seems to be relying on as a foundation for the idea of his invincibility.

Let's look at act five, scene four where the soldiers use branches as camouflage.

As you read, I'd like you to discuss these two questions.

How does Siward refer to Macbeth? And how does Malcolm describe those who serve with Macbeth? Pause the video, read act five, scene four, and discuss these two questions.

Pause the video now.

Beautiful reading of act five, scene four.

Let's have a look at some of the discussions you might have had in response to these questions.

So how does Siward refer to Macbeth? Siward refers to Macbeth as the confident tyrant.

And how does Malcolm describe those who serve with him, with Macbeth? Malcolm calls those who serve Macbeth constrained things, suggesting they have to fight for Macbeth even though they don't want to.

He says their hearts are absent, showing they have no genuine loyalty to Macbeth.

So the play began with a battle where lots of Scottish thanes showed their devotion to their king, King Duncan.

We are ending with a battle with the complete opposite, with no devotion to the current king of Scotland, King Macbeth.

Let's read act five, scene five, our final scene for today where Birnam Wood moves or seems to move.

As you read, I'd like you to discuss these three questions.

What happens to Lady Macbeth? What does the messenger see that alarms Macbeth? How does Macbeth feel as he approaches the battle with Malcolm? Pause the video read act five, scene five.

And once you've finished reading, discuss these three questions.

Pause the video now.

Some beautiful discussions of the final scene that we're going to read for today.

Let's have a look at some of the answers you might have had to our questions.

So what happens to Lady Macbeth? She dies.

It is implied that she chooses to take her own life.

What does the messenger see that alarms Macbeth? The messenger thinks he sees Birnam Wood begin to move.

And how does Macbeth feel as he approaches the battle with Malcolm? He seems to accept that the witches tricked him and he seems almost excited to die in battle.

He says, "At least we'll die with harness, armour, on our back." So the brave thane, the brave soldier that Macbeth was presented to be in act one seems to come back here, but in a very different situation.

Rather than showing his loyalty to his king, he is now a soldier, a soldier king who doesn't deserve any loyalty.

We're gonna move on to our final learning cycle for today.

We're gonna consider the character of Macbeth in act five.

Is he, as Siward calls him, the confident tyrant? Now, in act five, scene four, Siward calls Macbeth the confident tyrant.

Here's what Izzy said about this description.

"I agree with Siward's description.

Macbeth faces the English army with confidence.

More specifically, he keeps repeating the witches' prophecies and ignores anyone who tells him anything that might undermine his belief that he will defeat Malcolm.

Indeed, he actually wants to kill those who talk of fear.

Ultimately, Shakespeare emphasises both his tyrannical power but also a confidence bordering on arrogance." I'd like you to discuss how far do you agree with Izzy? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Some really interesting discussions there.

Lots of you saying yes, I agree with Izzy's interpretation of this character.

She's got some very compelling evidence from the text where he's repeating the witches' prophecies, ignoring anything that might undermine his confidence.

And he certainly, in the opening of act five, seems very confident.

He's also referring back to lots of aspects of his tyranny.

So we see him as a very violent person because he wants to hang those that talk of fear.

And this is pretty characteristic of his reign over Scotland, where he's killed Macduff's family, Banquo and of course, killed King Duncan in order to gain the throne.

But some people disagreeing in saying all of his show of confidence is nothing compared to the fact that he knows he has got no loyalty from his soldiers.

And thinking about the section of text we looked at in learning cycle two where he says he cannot hope to have devotion or troops of friends or any loyalty.

So actually, he's not feeling confident at all, but he's losing his confidence dramatically.

And he's less able to be a tyrant at this point in the play because he just has to prepare for war.

He cannot be a tyrannical king because he is facing losing that kingship and that is his sole focus.

So you could agree with Izzy.

You could also disagree with Izzy.

A check for understanding.

Why does Siward call Macbeth the confident tyrant? I'd like you to select two that apply.

Pause the video, read through the responses, and select the two that you think are correct.

Pause the video now.

Well done if you selected A, Macbeth doesn't surrender to the English army, despite their superior power and D, Siward views Macbeth's reign over Scotland as unnatural and unjust.

Now, Siward calls Macbeth the confident tyrant.

And I'd like you to use the sentence starters below to formalise your thoughts about this description, just like Izzy did.

So I agree or disagree with this description is how you will begin, more specifically so that you focus on specific aspects of the text and ultimately, to finalise your argument.

Pause the video and use the sentence starters to formalise your thoughts about Siward's description.

Pause the video now.

Some beautiful and well-structured arguments in relation to the statement is Macbeth a confident tyrant? Before we celebrate some of your work, I'd like to show you two more student responses and I'd like you to compare them to your own discussions.

So Andeep says, "I disagree with this description.

More specifically, Shakespeare shows how aware Macbeth is that he has no one and nothing to rely on at this point in the play, honour, love, obedience, troops of friends.

Ultimately, Shakespeare presents a man preparing for battle who knows that he has nothing left to lose, nothing to fight for and that the witches have tricked him." Sofia says, "I agree with this description.

More specifically, the fact that Macbeth's troops are described as constrained things shows just how tyrannical he has been.

He hasn't inspired love or respect because he has focused on his legacy and power rather than nurturing Scotland.

Ultimately, Shakespeare shows what it means to be a terrible king through the character of Macbeth." I'd like you to pause the video, make sure that your argument is as well structured as these two students', and that you've got relevant textual evidence to support whether you agree or disagree with this description.

Pause the video and review your response now.

Lovely to see people returning to their own arguments and just refining them, making sure that they're well structured and have clear textual evidence to support ideas.

In summary, in act five, scene one, Lady Macbeth is presented as consumed by guilt.

Her inability to sleep could symbolise her feelings of guilt.

Her desire to continually wash her hands could symbolise her guilt.

Macbeth prepares for battle but is very isolated.

The English army used branches from Birnam Wood as camouflage so they can approach Macbeth's castle.

It has been such a pleasure to read the opening of act five with you.

I look forward to seeing you next time.