Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

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

We're gonna be looking at Macbeth today, and we're gonna construct an argument about the character of Lady Macbeth.

I'm really looking forward to hearing all your fantastic ideas and interpretations of this character.

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, you are going to have crafted an argument about Lady Macbeth.

You're gonna think about her character as a whole, how you think Shakespeare presents her, and you're going to work towards an extended bit of writing about this character.

We are going to rely on some key words today to support us achieve our objective.

They are dutiful, conventional, unconventional, outsider, and status quo.

The definitions of these words are gonna come up on the next slide, one at a time.

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.

So our lesson outline for today.

We're gonna start by looking at unconventional characters in Macbeth, and then we're gonna consider this question, how conventional is the Macbeths' relationship? Let's start off with unconventional characters in Macbeth.

Here are all the appearances from the female characters in Act one of Macbeth.

In Act one, scene one, the witches meet on the heath.

In Act one, scene three, the witches give the first prophecies.

In Act one, scene five, Lady Macbeth asks spirits to unsex her.

In Act one, scene six, Lady Macbeth to pretends to be a dutiful subject, as she welcomes Duncan to her castle.

In Act one, scene seven, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan.

I'd like you to discuss in what ways do these appearances emphasise their power, the power of the female characters in Macbeth? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Really lovely to hear people looking at a whole act and really considering this question.

Well, how are these characters, how are they presented as powerful? Here are some ideas that you might have had.

The witches meet on the heath.

They start the hero, not the play.

The witches give the first prophecies.

We question their power over Macbeth's fate.

Lady Macbeth asks spirits to unsex her.

She has a more powerful and active response to the prophecies than Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth pretends to be a dutiful subject as she welcomes Duncan to her castle.

She's honoured by powerful monarch at the same time she's plotting his death.

And finally, in Act one, scene seven, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan.

She's able to control her husband, and it was nice that lots of you spoke about the fact that Macbeth is a powerful warrior in a patriarchal society.

So this really emphasises Lady Macbeth's power, given she's able to goad him into regicide.

I'd like you to consider the exact same moments again and have a slightly different focus.

Discuss this time, how might these moments emphasise the powerlessness of these characters? So same moments, but instead of thinking about their power, how might it emphasise their powerlessness? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Great to see people's evaluative skills coming through with a completely different focus this time, powerlessness.

Here are some ideas that you might have had.

The witches meet on the heath, they are outsiders.

I heard a lot of people using that key word, so well done.

And outsiders, it means they have no place in society.

So in many ways, that makes them powerless.

The witches give the first prophecies.

They are women, easier pray for the devil's supernatural work.

So it's not about the fact that they're giving the prophecies, it's the fact that women are presented as witches.

And in the Jacobean era, people believed, or the common beliefs were that women were easier prey for the devil's supernatural work, it was more likely that a witch would be a woman.

Lady Macbeth asks spirits to unsex her.

Well, some of you said, "Well, the fact that she asks this shows she knows her powerlessness unless she rejects her femininity." Act one, scene six, Lady Macbeth pretends to be a dutiful subject as she welcomes Duncan to her castle.

She has to adhere to social norms or she'll be rejected by society.

So a difficult moment there to think about powerlessness.

But actually, if you think about the society in which she lives, she has to appear a dutiful subject because otherwise she would be rejected by her society.

And finally, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan.

He becomes king, lots of people identified this.

He becomes king, not Lady Macbeth, and she's just a consort.

So her ambitious nature is actually for her husband, not for herself.

Well done for looking at both sides of this argument that the witches and Lady Macbeth could be presented as powerful, or the witches and Lady Macbeth could be presented as powerless.

So in what ways might these seemingly unconventional characters reinforce the status quo? We've looked at how they might seem powerful.

We've looked at how they might seem powerless.

Now I want you to think, we know they're quite unconventional.

How does that unconventionality actually reinforce the status quo? And I'd like you to consider the importance of the hierarchy in Jacobean England.

Common beliefs about the role of women, and common beliefs about witches.

Pause the video and discuss this question using the bullet points to guide you, now.

Well done for engaging with that difficult question.

I had lots of people using the keywords from this lesson unconventional and status quo, as well as tying their knowledge of the text to their contextual knowledge.

Here are some ideas you might have had.

The importance of the hierarchy in Jacobean England.

"Whilst Lady Macbeth and the witches challenge the hierarchy, arguably, the message is that this challenge is wrong.

Death and disorder happen because of this challenge." Common beliefs about the role of women.

"In many ways, Lady Macbeth fulfils the role of dutiful wife, she seeks power for Macbeth, not herself.

Ultimately, she's consumed by guilt." I had a lot of people talking about Lady Macbeth's fate at the end of the play, which was really nice to hear.

And perhaps this being consumed by guilt is a punishment for her subversive qualities.

And finally, common beliefs about witches.

"The witches reinforce common stereotypes.

They reinforce ideas that women were easily tricked into working for the devil." So these non-examples of women actually reinforce the status quo in the world of the play.

A quick check for understanding.

"In what ways might the unconventional characters reinforce the status quo?" Is it A, by being close to power rather than inherently powerful? B, by being supernatural.

For example, Lady Macbeth calls on spirits to unsex her.

C, by reinforcing stereotypes.

For example, Lady Macbeth is a dutiful wife, or D, by being conventional in their appearance.

Pause the video and select your responses, now.

Well done if you selected A and C.

I'd like you to discuss this question.

In what ways might the unconventional characters reinforce the status quo? Now, you've talked a lot about this question, had some fantastic ideas.

I'd like you to structure your talk using these sentence starters arguably, more specifically, and ultimately.

So using the same ideas that we discussed previously, but you're gonna structure your talk using the sentence status below.

Pause the video and discuss the question, now.

Lovely to hear people putting those fantastic ideas, which you had before into a structured argument.

Here are some ideas that you might have had.

"Arguably, Shakespeare's unconventional female characters reinforce the status quo." "More specifically, Lady Macbeth's ambition can only be for her husband, not for herself.

The idea that she is his, 'Dearest partner of greatness' is loving, but it doesn't mean very much in the context of the play.

She's in fact, a dutiful wife and his inferior according to the hierarchy." "Ultimately, Lady Macbeth's language might sound subversive, but her motivations and actions are not." Now let's look at some ideas about the witches, which I heard lots of you discussing as well.

"Arguably, Shakespeare's unconventional female characters reinforce the status quo." "More specifically, the witches start the play and seem to target Macbeth for their own fun.

The witches are outsiders and always presented as such.

We find them on the heath or in a cave rather than in the community." "Ultimately, this presentation underlines that witches should be rejected from society and emphasises that they are a threat to it." It was great to hear those discussions structured by those sentence starters and with key words so that the language, your argument, the language of your argument was really, really precise.

Let's move on to our second learning cycle.

We're gonna answer this question, How conventional is the Macbeths' relationship? A student wanted to answer this question.

How conventional is the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?" This is the argument that they came up with.

"Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth's behaviour as unconventional, however, her motives are not.

She wants to be a dutiful and supportive wife." I'd like you to discuss why is this such a powerful idea? Pause the video and discuss this question, now.

Lovely to hear you picking apart the student's argument and working out why it is so powerful.

Here are some ideas that you might have had.

"Shakespeare presents," a fantastic way to start an argument because it acknowledges that Shakespeare purposefully crafted his characters.

The student goes on, "Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth's behaviour as unconventional." Well, this is very clear what their argument is.

And because they've used that word unconventional, it allows them to bring in evidence from the text, but also context.

And finally, the final section of their argument, "However, her motives are not, she wants to be a dutiful and supportive wife." This complicates their idea and that allows 'em to have a developed response because they will have to prove both sections of that powerful idea.

So a fantastic moment in this student's writing, a really powerful way to start their argument in answer to the question, how conventional is the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? Now, I'd like you to think about the same question and what would your own powerful idea be in response to this question? And I'm gonna put up the appearances of the unconventional characters to help you.

The appearances that we looked at in learning cycle one.

So, pause the video, look at these appearances of the unconventional characters, and have a think about this question.

How conventional is the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? You are gonna construct your own powerful idea in response to this question.

Pause the video, now.

Fantastic to hear people composing their own arguments in answer to this essay question, and a real range of arguments.

Some people arguing, it is a very conventional relationship where Lady Macbeth, even though she seems subversive, she actually reinforces the status quo.

And others saying, no Lady Macbeth's appearances and the witch's appearances, they are as subversive as they seem.

And actually the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is very unconventional in the world of the play, and for the play's first Jacobean audiences.

Now let's look at the student's first topic sentence.

They have their powerful idea and they want to start building their essay.

And here's their first topic sentence.

"Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as unusually dominant in the relationship.

I'd like you to discuss what evidence could they use to support their first topic sentence, so they write a developed paragraph.

Pause the video and answer this question, now.

Lovely to hear people showing off their fantastic knowledge of the play and Lady Macbeth's appearances in it.

Most people started off by looking at Act one, scene seven, where Lady Macbeth dominates Macbeth and helps him or supports him in his goal to become king by goading him into committing regicide.

Here's some other ideas you might have had.

"As soon as she hears about the prophecies, she plans to have Macbeth crown'd withal.

Unlike Macbeth, there's no doubt only strategy." "She advises Macbeth to be deceptive, look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it, rather than being silent and obedient, an expectation for Jacobean women." A lot of people bringing in context for this student's topic sentence, which is fantastic to tie the context to the text itself.

And finally, "Perhaps this dominance comes from calling on spirits to unsex her, thus linking her to supernatural and to masculinity." So those are just some ideas that would help this student validate their first topic sentence that Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as unusually dominant in the relationship.

Here is the student's second topic sentence.

"However," they begin, "however, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth's motivations as more conventional.

She wants to support her husband in his ambition to be king." I'd like you to discuss what evidence could they use to support their second topic sentence.

Pause the video and discuss this question, now.

Lovely to hear people thinking about the second part of the student's argument, that Lady Macbeth is actually more conventional than she appears to be.

Here's some ideas that you might have had.

"In Act one, scene five, she greets her husband calling him 'Great Glamis, Worthy Cowdor, Greater than both,' and it's his ambitions that will be achieved, not hers." "In one five, she noted that Macbeth is not without ambition, but without the illness to attended, showing her intimate knowledge of her husband and her desire to support him overcome his flaws." So it's all about Macbeth, not really about Lady Macbeth.

And, "She's completely devoted to her husband, evidenced by her being willing to dash her own child's brain out." And I had a lot of people refer to this quotation, showing the depth of Lady Macbeth loyalty and devotion to her husband.

A strange image, a very powerful and graphic image saying that she would kill her own child, but it is meant to prove her loyalty and devotion to Macbeth nonetheless.

So a quick check for understanding, what are the strengths of this student's idea? So they've got a different idea to the student we were looking at before.

They say, "Arguably Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as subversive.

Her unconventional relationship with Macbeth reveals she reacts against the hierarchy, which sees her as inferior." Do you think think the strength of the student argument is A, the word hierarchy will allow them to bring in context B, this is the correct answer and will allow them to write accurately about the text.

C, the phrase, "unconventional relationship" will allow them to bring in evidence from the text, or D, the phrase, "Arguably" shows they will argue both sides of the argument.

Pause the video and select your response.

Pause the video, now.

Well done if you selected A and C.

So you have crafted your own powerful idea in response to this question.

How conventional is the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? You did that in this learning cycle.

I'd like you to add to this argument with a developed paragraph that has a topic sentence and evidence from the text.

You can use the student's topic sentences if you wish.

As a reminder, they were, "Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as unusually dominant in the relationship." And their second topic sentence was, "However, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth's motivations as more conventional, she wants to support her husband in his ambition to be king." You are now gonna craft your own powerful argument in response to this question.

Pause the video and start writing a response, now.

Good luck and enjoy it.

Lovely to see people writing so extensively about this question, showing off their amazing knowledge of the text and also the context in which the play was written.

We have a range of arguments in answer to this question.

How conventional is the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? Before we celebrate your work, we're going to do some self-assessment.

So I'd like you to read through your work and self-assess it using the following questions to guide you.

Do you have a really powerful idea to start your writing? Do your topic sentences clearly explain what the paragraph will be about? Does each paragraph include evidence from the text to support your topic sentence? And have you included some contextual detail to ground your ideas? Pause the video, read through what you have written, and use these questions to help you self-assess your work.

Pause the video, now.

Well done for committing to that self-assessment, it's such an important part of the writing process.

I have loved hearing the powerful ideas that you've had, the evidence you've used to support those ideas, and the real range of ideas as well.

In summary, in Jacobean England, women had very little power.

The female characters in Act one of Macbeth can seem unconventional in their behaviour.

Arguably, this unconventional presentation doesn't prevent them from reinforcing the status quo.

And Lady Macbeth could be interpreted as a dutiful wife.

Thank you so much for joining me for this lesson.

I'm looking forward to seeing you next time.