Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad that you have decided to complete this lesson with me today.

I'm looking forward to looking at the character of Lady Macbeth and delving into some key scenes and hearing all of your fantastic ideas about her.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we go through today's lesson.

Let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to explain how Shakespeare uses language to present Lady Macbeth's ambition.

We're gonna look really carefully at some of the things she says in Act 1, Scene 5, and Act 1, Scene 7, and say, well, how Shakespeare's showing us that this character is very, very ambitious? There are some key words that are gonna support us as we go through our lesson today and gonna be referenced throughout.

They are ambitious, deception, chaste, unwavering, plotting.

Their definitions are gonna come up on the next slide, and they're gonna come up one by one.

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

Let's look at our lesson outline for today.

First of all, we're gonna look at expectations of married women in Jacobean England.

And secondly, we're gonna look at Lady Macbeth's ambition.

Let's start off with expectations of married women in Jacobean England.

In Jacobean England, there was an understanding of what it meant to be a good wife and mother, which was often found in church sermons and advice manuals.

In 1983, academic Suzanne W.

Hull compiled a book which gathered many of these sermons and advice manuals together.

She entitled the book with what she believes is an accurate summary of the advice given to Jacobean women.

The book is called "Chaste, Silent and Obedient." I'd like you to pause the video and discuss what kind of advice were Jacobean women receiving? What can you infer from the title of this book? Really, really nice inferences there.

Lots of people were starting on that last word, obedient, and thinking it means they have to do what they're told and questioning obedient to who? Some really nice discussions about this word, silent.

So thinking about the idea that women's voices weren't really meant to be heard.

And finally, moving on to this last word, or the first word of the title of the book, chaste, and sort of questioning what does that mean to not have any sexual desire or intent? So some really nice inferences, but also some good questions about the title of this book.

So let's have a look at some common expectations of married women.

They were meant to oversee the physical and spiritual nourishment of their husbands and children.

They were meant to maintain their homes in a godly manner.

They were expected to be chaste, yet have children, as they were a reward from God, and they must obey their husbands and accept their inferiority to them.

So these were some common expectations of married women in Jacobean England.

Now, Jacobeans believed that if women kept their role within a family, the family would be strong, therefore, the community would be strong and ultimately, England would be strong.

Even though "Macbeth" is set in 11th century Scotland, remember, its first audiences were Jacobean.

So I'd like you to discuss, imagine a Jacobean audience seeing a play in which a female character deviates from their common expectations.

What kinds of reactions might there be to this character? Pause the video and have a discussion.

Some really interesting discussions there, trying to think about what a Jacobean audience response might be to seeing a female character deviates from their common expectations.

Some people saying, well, they'd probably just be quite shocked.

They expect something from someone.

And then if they don't see it, they would think, wow, this is quite subversive.

But other people saying, well, this shock might actually be a bit more of a thrill.

It might be exciting to see a character who so firmly deviates from things that they commonly expect.

So a quick check for understanding, which of the following were expected of women in the Jacobean era? Select all that apply.

Is it A, to enjoy equality rather than overbear their husband, B, to trust their own values, instructions and ideas, C, to maintain a good household, D, to be chaste, yet have children as God instructed.

Pause the video and select your responses.

Well done if you selected C and D.

So let's look at Act 1, Scene 5, where we meet Lady Macbeth for the first time.

We meet her when she's reading a letter in which Macbeth tells her about the prophecies.

In the letter, Macbeth calls her "his dearest partner of greatness." I'd like you to discuss why might this epithet "partner" surprise a Jacobean audience? Pause the video and have a quick discussion.

Lovely to look at this short quotation and be able to explore it in such great depth.

Lots of people saying, yeah, this word partner is slightly odd.

Macbeth seems to treat her as an equal, not an inferior who owes her obedience to him.

What else does she say? She says she's awaiting Macbeth.

She wants him to return so she can "pour my spirits into thine, his, ear." I want you to discuss how does she subvert expectations of silence and obedience? Pause the video and have a discussion.

Again, really nice to see that close text and analysis, and lots of people saying she doesn't intend to be silent or obedient at all.

Indeed, Lady Macbeth wants to be talkative.

She wants to be influential, pouring her spirits into his ear, influencing him.

Finally, she asked spirits to unsex her and take her milk for gall in her soliloquy.

I'd like you to discuss how does she subvert expectations of chastity and maintaining a godly household? Pause the video and have a look at this quotation.

Great to see people tying context again to this really important quotation, really rich quotation that lots of people choose to write about in their extended writing.

So a good one to know, a good one to talk about.

And absolutely, she seems to reject the idea that she should nourish her household spiritually or physically, so a shocking moment there.

So using three given sentence starters, answer this question.

How does Lady Macbeth subvert common expectations of Jacobean married women? Here are your sentence starters.

Jacobeans had shared beliefs about the roles and expectations of married women.

For example.

Potentially unusually, Lady Macbeth does not meet these expectations.

More precisely, after receiving Macbeth's letter.

And finally, indeed, she further subverts common expectations when she asks spirits to.

Pause the video.

Use these sentence starters to answer the question.

Fantastic to see people tying together their contextual knowledge and their textual knowledge and writing really carefully in answer to this question.

Here are some ideas that you might have had.

Jacobeans had shared beliefs about the roles and expectations of married women.

For example, Jacobeans believed women should obey their husbands, have children and look after them and their household in a godly manner.

Potentially unusually, Lady Macbeth does not meet these expectations.

More precisely, after receiving Macbeth's letter, she wants Macbeth to return home quickly so she can influence him by pouring spirits into his ear.

This suggests she has the control, not him.

She also seems to reject motherhood, a woman's God-given duty, by asking for her breast milk to be turned into poison.

Indeed, she further subverts common expectations when she asks spirits to unsex her.

The reference to any kind of sexuality would have been unexpected to the play's first Jacobean audiences, and the idea that she doesn't embrace her place in the hierarchy, but rather rejects it, would have been even more unexpected and seen as a direct challenge to God's natural order.

Well done for writing so carefully and precisely in answer to this question, tying together context and textual knowledge.

So let's move on to our second learning cycle.

We're gonna look at Lady Macbeth's ambition.

Lady Macbeth's reaction to the letter from her husband reveals that she subverts common expectations of married Jacobean women.

Act 1, Scene 5 further develops this by presenting her as an ambitious character.

She wants the golden round, the crown, for Macbeth.

I want you to have a discussion.

Is ambition a positive or negative attribute? Pause the video and discuss.

Some really interesting discussions there and lots of different ideas.

Some people saying, yeah, it is a positive attribute.

You should be aspirational.

It is something that drives you forward.

Some people saying, well, it is good to be ambitious, but there have to be limits to what you are willing to do to achieve that ambition.

Now let's think about this question in relation to Macbeth.

How might a Jacobean audience respond to Lady Macbeth's ambition? Consider attitudes towards the monarch's supremacy and God-given status, attitudes towards women.

Pause the video and discuss this question.

Some really interesting discussions there.

Lots of people saying, look, Jacobeans would've responded pretty negatively to Lady Macbeth's ambition and would've challenged their common expectations of what a woman should be like.

And it would've challenged the the natural order as well.

It would've been quite destabilising.

But others saying, well, she's ambitious for Macbeth, so maybe she is supporting her husband in some way.

And finally, the one camp of people saying, look, this will be quite thrilling.

Yes, she's subverting common expectations of Jacobean women, but maybe that would've been an exciting thing to see on the stage.

So lots of really interesting and a range of ideas about how a Jacobean audience might have responded to Lady Macbeth's ambition.

Shakespeare's language reveals the immediacy of Lady Macbeth's ambition.

This is her first piece of dialogue after reading Macbeth's letter about the prophecies.

Lady Macbeth says, "Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promised." I'd like you to discuss how does Shakespeare convey Lady Macbeth's ambition? Just look at this bit of text.

Consider her expectations for the future and her certainty.

Pause the video and discuss this question.

Lovely to see people looking at a tiny bit of text and able to really have some rich discussions.

Here's some ideas that I heard.

So Shakespeare's verb choice really emphasises Lady Macbeth's certainty that her ambition will be achieved.

She says he shall be, he will be.

She doesn't use the word might be, for example.

And then looking at the second verb, promised, this verb reveals that Lady Macbeth thinks of the witches as trustworthy.

She thinks of their words as a promise rather than a prophecy.

And perhaps she wants to believe that it is a certainty.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

Shakespeare combines multiple subversive qualities in the character of Lady Macbeth.

Is it true or false? Pause the video and select your response.

Well done if you selected true.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it A or B? Pause the video, read the justifications and select your response.

Well done if you selected A.

Shakespeare's character rejects her status as a woman, but also drives the regicide and asks supernatural agents to help her do it.

So we're gonna reread Act 1, Scene 5.

While you're reading, I'd like you to use the table to focus on two aspects of Lady Macbeth's characterization using the model to guide your notes.

Let's have a look at this model.

So here's the first aspect I'd like you to focus on, her desire for power.

Here's an example.

The line that we just looked at together, "Shalt be what thou art promised," shows her certainty in the future, no hesitation after reading the letter.

From now on, she is unwavering in her plotting.

The second thing I'd like you to focus on is her ability to strategize.

So here's an example.

She says of Macbeth, "Yet do I fear thy nature? It is too full of the milk of human kindness." It shows her knowledge of Macbeth's flaws, and she's gonna have to think about how to overcome them.

Pause the video, reread Act 1, Scene 5, and using the table to guide you, focus on these two aspects of Lady Macbeth's characterization.

Lovely to hear people reading that scene with such fantastic intonation and then making some really precise notes.

Under these two subheadings.

Let's share and collect some ideas.

So we'll start off with her desire for power.

So some people selected this quotation.

"Thy letters have transported me.

I feel now the future in the instant." So she feels changed by the news of the witches' prophecies.

They had an immediate effect, and she already feels as if she and Macbeth are monarchs.

She says to Macbeth, "Great Glams! Worthy Cawdor! Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter!" She's speaking as if Macbeth is king already, and therefore she is queen.

She says to Macbeth, "Which shall to all our nights and days to come give solely sovereign sway and masterdom." She's thinking ahead to being a monarch.

She's captivated by the idea of power, sovereignty and mastery, so her language really revealing her desire for power there.

Let's look at her ability to strategize.

She says, "Come you spirits, unsex me here," and she feels that being a woman is a hindrance to achieving the throne.

She needs different, less feminine qualities to get what she wants.

So this is a strategy, part of her strategy.

She tells Macbeth, "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it." She's encouraging Macbeth to be deceptive, something she knows he's not very good at.

So she's planning for future obstacles or future things in their plan which might undermine it and giving Macbeth some advice.

And she tells Macbeth, "You shall put tonight's great business into my dispatch." She takes control of the plot to kill Duncan and directs her husband and that this is potentially unusual, given Jacobean expectations of married women.

And finally, she says, "Leave all the rest to me." That's how the scene ends, and it ends with Lady Macbeth in control of the plot, ignoring Macbeth's "We will speak further." He hasn't actually confirmed that he wants to go through with the regicide.

Some really beautiful reading of a full scene, Act 1, Scene 5 of "Macbeth," and some very precise notes to help you understand Lady Macbeth ambition.

Well done.

In summary, Lady Macbeth's behaviour subverts expectations of Jacobean women.

Lady Macbeth summons demonic spirits to unsex her and allow her to become powerful.

Lady Macbeth doubts Macbeth's abilities.

Lady Macbeth is willing to go to extremes for what she wants.

And Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to be deceptive in his quest to become king.

Thank you so much for joining me for this video.

Really lovely to hear all of your fantastic discussions, and really nice to read a full scene of the play.

I look forward to seeing you next time.