Lesson video

Hello, I'm Miss.

Chu.

And in today's lesson we are going to be understanding the themes, characters, and plot in Shakespeare's "Macbeth." We are going to be tackling some quite complex themes such as betrayal, fate, guilt, ambition.

But I think that by the end of this lesson, you are all going to be experts in knowing what those themes mean.

So when you're ready, shall we get started? The lesson outcome is I can explain how Shakespeare demonstrates key themes through character and plot action.

The key words are here, get ready to say them.

My turn, theme, your turn.

Play.

General.

And monarch.

Well done.

A theme is a central idea that the writer intends the audience to engage deeply with.

A play is dramatic work originally intended for the stage.

A general is a high ranking military officer responsible for commanding a large body of troops.

And a monarch is a ruler who holds supreme and hereditary power over a state or territory, often referred to as a king or queen.

The lesson outline is in two parts, understanding themes and characters and then understanding the plot.

So let's start with themes and characters.

Themes are recurring ideas or concepts that are explored throughout a place.

So that means it comes up again and again and again.

These themes are fundamental.

They're so important.

They're fundamental elements that convey the deeper meanings about society or the world.

So we can relate to these themes.

Themes in Shakespeare's works often encompass aspects such as love, ambition, power, betrayal, fate, and the complexities of good versus evil.

A betrayal is when someone you trust does something that hurts your feelings or makes you feel sad.

Fate is a little bit like a surprise and a story.

It's the idea that certain things might happen to us and we can't always predict or control them.

True or false? A theme is a minor, small, insignificant element of Shakespeare's plays.

Pause the video and think about whether this is true or false.

Okay, so get ready to point to the right answer.

It is false.

Yeah.

Themes are recurring ideas or concepts that are explored throughout the play.

Keeps coming up and up.

Or themes are minor ideas or concepts that are vaguely, they barely explore them in the play.

Well, the answer is A.

They are recurring ideas and concepts that keep coming up throughout the play, and they're the main things that Shakespeare wants the reader to learn from his play.

Now let's look at the first theme, ambition and power.

Can you say ambition, power.

Great job.

So what is ambition? Ambition is like having a really big dream or goal that you want to achieve.

The play examines the corrupting influence of ambition and the word corrupting or corruption means that there's something you're not supposed to do, but you do it because it's for your own benefit and it usually involves being unfair or dishonest.

So in "Macbeth," Macbeth the character has an overwhelming desire for this power and he becomes overly ambitious and this leads him to commit heinous acts.

And what does heinous mean? Heinous.

Can you say heinous? Heinous refers to something shockingly evil, awful.

It describes actions or behaviours that are extremely wicked and morally offensive.

So it is this that results in his downfall.

Macbeth's character could be described as being which two adjectives? Ambitious, innocent, or impulsive? Impulsive is when you do something without really thinking about it first.

Okay, pause the video and have a think.

Okay, so what did you think? So the first one is ambitious.

That's right.

It's when Macbeth has a really, really big dream or goal and he wants to achieve it.

The next one is impulsive, that's right, because he acts upon something without thinking about it first.

The next theme is guilt and conscience.

Your turn to say it.

Guilt.

Conscience.

Well done.

So guilt is that feeling when you get when you think you've done something wrong or not nice, it's like a little voice inside you that says, "Oops, I shouldn't have done that." And conscience we'll go into in a minute.

So guilt is the dominant theme, especially for Macbeth, the character and Lady Macbeth, his wife.

Their crimes haunt their conscience leading to anguish and their downfall.

So conscience refers to that inner sense.

So you have this sense inside you of what is right and what is wrong in the way you should behave.

It's like an inner voice that guides your actions leading to whether you feel guilty about something or whether you feel good about something.

What is conscience? Is it an inner voice? Is it spoken words, words that you say, or is it the character's name? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, so the answer is, yes, it's your inner voice telling you whether something that you do, the way you act is good or not good.

The next theme is fate and evil.

So fate I'd said previously is a little bit like a surprise in a story but for life.

It's an idea that certain things might or could happen to us and we can't always predict that they're going to happen and we don't really have much control over them.

So Shakespeare really delves into the nature of evil.

So these three witches symbolise evil and fate.

The witches and their prophecies highlight the play's exploration of evil.

So what is a prophecy? So prophecies are predictions about the future or revelations.

So things that you can, maybe they could see about the future.

And it's often believed to come from a supernatural source.

So like a witch or an oracle.

The characters' decisions shape Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's destinies.

What is a name of the witch's predictions? Is it prophecies, decisions, or conscience? Pause the video and have a think.

And the answer is prophecies.

Well done.

The next theme is loyalty and betrayal.

Get ready to say it.

Loyalty, betrayal.

Well done.

So loyalty is like having a really good friend who sticks by your side no matter what.

And betrayal is when you, when someone you really trust hurts your feelings or makes you feel really sad.

So betrayal is a recurring motive or theme that comes up in the play.

The characters, the main character, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth betray the trust and loyalties in pursuit of personal gain.

That means that they do things or take actions that benefit themselves only.

So betrayal refers to the act of breaking the trust that has been placed in someone.

And loyalty refers to a strong sense of devotion towards a person, a strong sense of sticking by that person no matter what.

What is the meaning of betrayal? Is it A, becoming distracted by something? B, disturbing someone's sleep, or C, breaking someone's trust? Pause the video and have a think about what the answer is.

Okay, so the answer is breaking someone's trust.

Well done.

The next theme is manipulation and ruthlessness.

Get ready to say it.

Manipulation.

Ruthlessness.

Okay.

Lady Macbeth is portrayed as manipulative and ruthless.

There she is.

She's willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve her desires.

Manipulation refers to the act of skillfully influencing someone to achieve a desired outcome.

Often by using tactics that may be deceptive or deceiving.

She becomes a tragic figure haunted by guilt.

So she plays a key role in this plot.

Lady Macbeth could be described as being which two adjectives? Ruthless, manipulative, or compassionate? That means kind.

Pause the video and have a think.

So the two adjectives are ruthless and manipulative.

Well done.

Now I'm going to have a little think about Macbeth as a character and I'm going to think about his traits and the characteristics of him using adjectives.

I'm gonna have a go and then you're gonna have a go after me.

So I think with Macbeth, we know that he's ambitious, but he's also tormented.

So tormented is when something is really bothering you a lot, you can't stop thinking about it.

It's almost like having a storm of really unhappy thoughts or feelings swirling around inside you all the time.

You can see in that picture he's looking at his hands because he knows that he's done something really awful.

I would say that he's tragic as well, but the meaning of tragic is when something really, really sad happened and it makes you, sad happens.

It makes you feel like a big wave of sadness or heartache.

It's not just feeling sad, but it's that really overwhelming feeling of sadness.

And we said previously that he is impulsive as well because he acts upon something without really thinking about it first.

I would say that he's also remorseful.

So being remorseful is when you feel really sorry and sad about something you did and that you probably feel like you don't wanna, you wish you hadn't done it.

And obviously linked to remorseful is guilt-ridden.

So that feeling, so guilty is that feeling when you know you've done something wrong or not nice.

And fearful.

He's also scared perhaps about being caught out.

Now it's your turn.

I'd like you to turn and talk to the person next to you and I want you to think about the traits and characteristics of Lady Macbeth using adjectives.

We know a little bit about Lady Macbeth.

We know that she's manipulative and ruthless.

So those are two adjectives that you could use and maybe you could talk to the person next to you and come up with, between you and that person, come up with some other adjectives to describe Lady Macbeth.

Pause the video and have a go at this task now.

Okay, so here are a few adjectives that I came up with.

Well, I said that she was ambitious and determined to get what she wanted.

Also ruthless.

Ruthless is like when someone doesn't think about other people's feelings and they just do whatever it takes to get what they want, even if it might hurt others.

She's manipulative.

So when someone is manipulative, they try and make other people do things by tricking them or persuading them in a bit of a sneaky way.

She's also calculating.

So being calculating is like being really good at planning and thinking ahead to get what you want.

And she's also, you will see later on in the play, she's also guilt-ridden, similarly to Macbeth.

In this task, I would like you to choose to draw either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth.

Start off by writing a title of the character.

If you've chosen Macbeth, then you have Macbeth, and then underline that with a ruler, or if you've chosen Lady Macbeth, you write her name and underline that with a ruler.

Then draw your own portrayal of Macbeth or Lady Macbeth.

It doesn't need to be exactly like the images that you've seen, but just your own interpretation of what they might look like.

Then I would like you to annotate the character using the ambitious adjectives that we've just spoken about.

So if you've chosen Lady Macbeth, you might want to say that she's calculating, she is guilt-ridden, she's determined, she's ambitious.

I'm trying to think what the other adjectives are.

But if you've chosen to annotate to Macbeth, you might also say that he's ambitious, he's fearful, he's remorseful, he's guilt ridden.

Pause the video and have a go at this task.

Okay, well done.

I can see that some of you have chosen Macbeth.

You've written the name of the character Macbeth, underlined it, and then you've annotated around the character with adjectives such as guilt-ridden, regretful, weak, remorseful, fearful, and ambitious.

Well done.

We are now onto the second part of our lesson, understanding the plot.

In 1603, at about the middle of Shakespeare's career as a playwright, a new monarch ascended the throne of England.

I wonder if you know who this king is? Yes, exactly.

He was James the VI of Scotland, who then also became James I of England.

It was likely, we believe, or people believe, that within this sort of context of James VI of Scotland, who then became James I of England, we think that Shakespeare turned his interest to the history of Scotland for the content or the material for the tragedy that he wrote, which is "Macbeth." "Macbeth" is set in Scotland during the mediaeval period.

So can you have a look, point on the map where Scotland is, well done.

The story spans different locations within Scotland.

So in the plot you will see that some events take place in Macbeth's castle, in the royal palace and also in the battlefields.

So where is the play "Macbeth" set? Is it set in England, Scotland, Wales, or Sweden? Pause the video and have a think about the answer.

Okay, so the answer is of course, Scotland.

"Macbeth" is a tragedy that follows a story of a Scottish general called Macbeth who receives a prophecy.

Do you remember we said that a prophecy is like a prediction about the future normally given to you by a supernatural being.

From these three witches, the prophecy is that he will become the king of Scotland.

So encouraged by his ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth then becomes obsessed or consumed by the idea of power and having this goal that he needs to achieve.

He begins, unfortunately, a murderous quest to seize the throne.

So he kills a few people along the way.

Now the plot actually unfolds in a series of key events.

Let's look at the first part, part one, which is prophecy and ambition.

So after encountering the witches who hail Macbeth as the future king and also prophesy that Banquo's descendants will inherit the throne, Macbeth becomes fixated on the idea of becoming king.

Prompted by his ambition and manipulated by his wife, he murders King Duncan while he's a guest in Macbeth's castle.

What I would like you to do is I'd like you to discuss the key parts or the key ideas, sorry, in part one of the play, which is prophecy and ambition by answering the following questions.

Who does Macbeth meet at the beginning of the play? What do the witches tell him? What does Lady Macbeth tell Macbeth to do, and what happens to King Duncan? Pause the video and tell the person next to you.

Some really excellent discussions I could hear there.

I heard people saying that Macbeth meets the witches on the heath and it is there that they tell him that he's going to be the future king of Scotland.

And Lady Macbeth plays a really pivotal part, really important part in what happens later on in the play because she manipulates him or she causes him actually to commit the act of killing King Duncan.

So what happens to Duncan? He's killed by Macbeth when he comes to stay in Macbeth's castle.

The second key key event in the play is guilt and paranoia.

Can you say guilt? Paranoia.

Well done.

So paranoia is like having a really big exaggerated worry that makes you think everyone or everything is against you, even when it's not true.

So that's what happens to Macbeth.

Macbeth is crowned king after he kills King Duncan, but he is haunted by guilt and paranoia.

He becomes increasingly tyrannical.

So tyrannical is when someone uses a lot of power to control everything and everyone around them without being fair or kind.

And he orders the murder of Banquo and attempts to eliminate any threats to his reign as king.

I'd like you to discuss the key ideas in part two of the play by answering the following questions.

What happens to Macbeth after Duncan's death? How does Macbeth feel now in this part of the play? How do Macbeth's emotions affect him? And what does paranoia cause Macbeth to do? Pause the video and tell the person next to you.

Okay, so what happens to Macbeth after Duncan's death? He becomes increasingly paranoid.

So he thinks that everyone knows that he's done something really awful, even though they, at that point don't know that he's killed King Duncan.

And he also becomes quite tyrannical.

Do you remember that word, tyrannical? That means when you use your power.

So because he is king, he then starts to control everyone and everything around him by doing things or making other people do things that aren't right.

So how does Macbeth feel now? So he feels guilty.

He feels that he's done something really awful and he shouldn't have done it.

And he feels paranoid.

How do Macbeth's emotions affect him? So because of his guilt and paranoia, it causes him then to do something even worse.

So what does the paranoia cause Macbeth to do? Well, it causes him to order for Banquo, order someone to kill Banquo.

The other key event in the play is part three, Lady Macbeth's decline.

So her downfall.

Lady Macbeth initially is very ambitious and determined, but she begins to suffer from guilt-induced madness.

So over time her guilt causes her to kind of become a little bit also, I guess, paranoid.

She starts hearing voices and she's haunted by the guilt of Duncan's murder.

Her mental state, so her mental wellbeing isn't very good.

It deteriorates, gets worse as she starts sleepwalking and she starts to talk to herself and reveals her kind of inner most thoughts and voices that she hears in her head.

Now I would like you to discuss the key ideas in part three of the play by answering the following questions.

How do Lady Macbeth's feelings change after Duncan's death? How do Lady Macbeth's emotions affect her? And what happens to Lady Macbeth? Pause the video and have a go at telling your partner.

So initially, Lady Macbeth is really determined, ruthless, ambitious, but she does start to feel guilt-ridden.

She does feel a sense, a little bit of remorse after killing Duncan.

Well, she didn't physically kill him, but after plotting to kill him.

And how does this affect her? So actually she starts to sleepwalk, and she keeps reliving that night of Duncan's murder and she tries to wash imaginary blood stains from her hands.

And her mind, her wellbeing becomes tormented or affected by her guilt and their actions.

She begins to see things that aren't there.

She begins to talk about the crimes or the crime that she's committed, ultimately revealing their sort of dark secret.

And what happens to Lady Macbeth? You don't see this on stage, but off stage.

Her death is reported later in the play.

The next key event is Macbeth's downfall.

So Macbeth becomes more isolated.

That means that he's by himself more and consumed by his own insecurities and paranoia.

And he's warned again by the witches of Macduff's threat to his rule.

Now, who is Macduff? Well, Macduff plays a very important role in this play, doesn't he? He's one of the Scottish nobles who becomes suspicious of Macbeth's rise to power after the murder of King Duncan.

So he's someone that Macbeth should look out for.

Macbeth, relying on the prophecies from the witches becomes overconfident and faces Macduff in a battle.

However, he's ultimately killed by Macduff, fulfilling the witches' prophecy.

Discuss the key ideas in part four of the play by answering the following questions.

How does Macbeth continue to feel? What do the witches next prophesy to Macbeth? What does Macbeth respond to the witches', oh, sorry, how does Macbeth respond to the witches' prophecy and what happens to Macbeth at the end of the play? Pause the video and tell the person next to you.

So how does Macbeth continue to feel? Well, we know he continues to feel increasingly isolated and more insecure and paranoid that other people will want to overthrow him as a king.

And what do the witches next prophesy to Macbeth? Well, the witches warn Macbeth to beware Macduff, indicating that Macduff poses a threat to Macbeth's reign.

And how does Macbeth respond to the witches' prophecy? Well, Macbeth's interpretation of the witches' prophecy becomes sort of warped.

It becomes twisted, leading to his downfall as he becomes more and more desperate to maintain power.

What happens to Macbeth at the end of the play? Well, at the end of the play, Macbeth, as you know, comes face to face with Macduff, but he faces defeat and death, unfortunately.

And the play concludes with Malcolm Macduff restored as the rightful king of Scotland bringing order and stability back to the country after Macbeth's tyrannical rule.

In this task, I would like you to order the key themes in chronological order.

So the order at which these things happen in the play.

Part one, do you remember what happens in part one of the play? Is that guilt and paranoia, prophecy and ambition, Macbeth's downfall, or Lady Macbeth's downfall or decline? I want you to think about each of those parts in chronological order.

Pause the video and give this a go.

Okay, so the first part is prophecy and ambition.

The second part of the play looks at guilt and paranoia.

The third part of the play is Lady Macbeth's downfall or decline.

And finally, Macbeth's downfall is the last key theme of the play.

The second part of task B is I would like you to match the key events to their brief descriptions.

The first part of the play is prophecy and ambition.

Which description here matches that? Lady Macbeth begins to suffer from guilt-induced madness.

Is it Macbeth is ultimately killed by Macduff, fulfilling the witch's prophecy? Or is it, after encountering the witches, Macbeth becomes fixated on becoming king, or Macbeth orders the murder of Banquo in attempt to eliminate any threats? Then the second part of the play is guilt and paranoia.

So which one of these links to guilt and paranoia? The third part is Lady Macbeth's decline.

And the final part is Macbeth's downfall.

I want you to read the descriptions again carefully to yourself before matching the key events.

Pause the video and give this a go.

Okay, so how did you get on? Prophecy and ambition Which one matches that key theme? Yes, it's that one.

After encountering the witches, Macbeth becomes fixated on becoming king.

Guilt and paranoia is Macbeth orders the murder of Banquo in an attempt to eliminate any threats.

And Lady Macbeth's decline is when Lady Macbeth begins to suffer from guilt-induced madness.

And finally, Macbeth's downfall is when Macbeth is ultimately killed by Macduff fulfilling the witches' prophecy.

To summarise, the play "Macbeth" is a tragedy set in Scotland in the mediaeval period.

A theme is a central idea that the writer intends the audience to engage deeply with.

The key themes in "Macbeth" are ambition, power, manipulation, betrayal, and guilt.

The plot tells of Macbeth, a Scottish general and his determination to kill others in order to become the king of Scotland.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson.

Goodbye.