Hello, my name is Miss Grant.

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

We're going to be looking at the play "Macbeth," in the unit Macbeth, Lady Macbeth as a Machiavellian Villain.

Today we're going to be exploring Lady Macbeth's downfall.

I'm gonna be your support and guide throughout today's lesson.

Let's get started.

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

We're gonna look at act five, scene one, the final appearance of Lady Macbeth.

And we're gonna explore what does she say and what does this tell us about this character.

We're going to reference some keywords throughout today's lesson to help us achieve our objective.

They are salvation, guilt, symbol, echo, and foreshadowing.

Their definitions 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 back at act two, scene two, and then we're going to look at Lady Macbeth's final appearance in act five, scene one.

Let's start off with looking back at act two, scene two.

Immediately after the regicide, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth speak.

Macbeth worries, "Methought I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep,'" reflecting that, "the innocent sleep." Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he could not say amen when he heard the guards say their prayers "I had most need of blessing, and amen stuck in my throat," he says.

I'd like you to discuss this question.

Through his dialogue, how does Shakespeare reveal Macbeth is worried about his salvation? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Some lovely discussions there, looking at the symbolism of sleep, and some people bringing in contextual knowledge saying, "Well, committing regicide is the worst sin that you could commit, according to the play's first Jacobian audiences." And they would have believed that Macbeth had severed his relationship with God, who was meant to appoint the monarch.

And so his not being able to say amen is because he feels he's altered that relationship with God.

Let's look at some other ideas you might have had.

So Macbeth is not innocent, so he won't sleep, but he's also murdered sleep, suggesting he has murdered innocence itself with the regicide.

So this is why he cries, "Sleep no more." And Macbeth has altered his relationship with God.

Lots of you mentioned this, bringing in that fantastic contextual knowledge.

And so he's not able to have a prayerful dialogue with him.

Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth, "These deeds must not be thought after these ways, so it will make us mad." So her response to Macbeth's distress is say, "These deeds must not be thought after these ways, so it will make us mad." And, "You do unbend your noble strength, to think so brain sickly of things." I'd like you to discuss this question.

Although Lady Macbeth does not feel guilty herself, how does she acknowledge that guilt is a very powerful emotion? Pause the video.

Look at these two pieces of dialogue from Lady Macbeth and answer the question now.

Some beautiful discussions there, looking at these two short moments from Lady Macbeth in act two, scene two.

Here's some ideas that you might have had.

Well, she says, "These deeds not must not be thought, so it will make us mad." Well, she uses the euphemism deed rather than the word murder, perhaps suggesting some uneasiness about what they've done.

And she commands, "Must not be thought," showing how important it is to avoid thinking about something as awful as regicide.

So she's not diminishing it, she just says, "We must not think about it because it is so awful, and it will make us mad." She acknowledges the strength of guilt by realising it has the power to make them extremely unwell.

Again, she's not diminishing it, she's just acknowledging that they must not think about it because of its power.

She says, "You do unbend your noble strength to think so brain sickly of things." Well, she acknowledges the power of guilt physically, "You do unbend your noble strength," so it can affect you physically, but also mentally, brain sickly.

She's warning Macbeth what will happen if they give in to guilt.

The dialogue between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth continues.

Macbeth focuses on the blood on his hands.

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" he questions.

And Lady Macbeth tries to combat his fears in three ways.

First of all, she's angry.

She says, "Why did you bring these daggers from the place? Smear the sleepy grooms with blood." She's annoyed that he's exposed them to the idea that they might be accused of committing the regicide because he's brought the murder weapon with him.

She also tries emasculation.

She says, "My hands are of your colour.

I've got blood on my hands, but I shame to wear a heart so white, I shame to be a coward." And finally, practicality.

She says, "A little water clears us of this deed." So Macbeth is worried, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" But Lady Macbeth is more practical.

She says, "A little water will wash our hands and it will clean us of this deed." Now I'd like you to discuss, in this play, blood symbolises guilt.

And what do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's reactions suggest about their relationship with guilt at this point in the play? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Some lovely discussions, looking at the real contrasting reactions that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have to guilt at this point in the play.

And contrast was the word I heard most often.

That Lady Macbeth does not seem to feel guilty at all.

She does acknowledge its power, but she doesn't feel its guilt, and she combats any feelings of guilt that Macbeth might have with anger, emasculation, and practicality.

But for Macbeth, guilt is this overwhelming emotion.

He's using this great metaphor to show the depth of his guilt, that he feels all of great Neptune's ocean will not clean his blood, clean the blood from his hand, and therefore he will never be rid of the guilt.

Here are some additional ideas that I had going around.

Macbeth feels very guilty.

He knows this guilt will keep him from sleeping the innocent sleep and praying.

His sinful behaviour has altered his relationship with God.

And the idea that a whole ocean of water can't clean his hands symbolises the depth of his guilt, which I heard lots of people talking about.

Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, has no time for guilt, only practicalities, and she's happy to pass the guilt on to the guards who, remember, are going to be accused of committing regicide, which is this terrible, terrible crime, and they could face some severe punishment for it.

She does acknowledge guilt's power.

So lots have said yeah, she does acknowledge that it is powerful.

She says it can affect you mentally and physically, and thus tries to combat Macbeth's feelings, knowing that a terrible fate awaits them if he doesn't.

Really nice exploration of this question and the symbolism of guilt, but also the characterization and their relationship with guilt.

A check for understanding.

How does Shakespeare symbolise Macbeth's guilt? Select two that apply.

A, he's worried about the guards' salvation when they pray.

B, he's preoccupied with Duncan's blood.

C, he's worried that he will never sleep again.

D, he feels guilty about how much water is needed to clean his hands.

Pause the video and select your responses now.

Congratulations if you selected B and C.

Now I'd like you to use the three comparative sentence starters below to answer the question.

How do the Macbeths respond to their regicide? Here are the sentence starters.

Whilst Macbeth worries, Lady Macbeth.

Whilst Macbeth is horrified by, Lady Macbeth is.

And despite Macbeth's fears about, Lady Macbeth.

So using those comparative sentence starters, answer this question.

How do the Macbeths respond to their regicide? Pause the video and complete the task now.

Lovely to see people tying together all of their understanding of act two, scene two, and looking at both of these characters, using these sentence starters to support them.

Here are some ideas that you might have had.

Whilst Macbeth worries that he can no longer pray, and thus his relationship with God has been forever broken, Lady Macbeth is more worried about framing the guards.

Whilst Macbeth is horrified by the blood on his hands, Lady Macbeth is focused on smearing the grooms with the blood.

She is seemingly not affected.

And despite Macbeth's fears about never being able to sleep again, Lady Macbeth tells him to stop thinking about what he has done for fear of going mad.

These are just some ideas that you might have had.

There are a whole range of ideas that you could have selected from act two, scene two, in order to answer that question.

Let's move on to our second learning cycle.

Let's look at Lady Macbeth's final appearance.

Act five, scene one begins with a doctor and one of Lady Macbeth's servants observing Lady Macbeth in slumbery agitation.

She's asleep, but sleepwalking and talking.

I'd like you to discuss what does slumbery agitation suggest about the quality of Lady Macbeth's sleep? What might this symbolise about her character at this point in the play? Pause the video and discuss this question.

Some fantastic discussions there, looking at this just two word quotation, which is indeed very rich and tells us a lot about Lady Macbeth's character, that she no longer has this good quality of sleep.

And like Macbeth, it seems like her sleep symbolises her relationship with guilt.

And so if she is not sleeping, if she's sleepwalking and talking, if her slumber, her sleep is agitated, then maybe she is now feeling this guilt which she was so scared of, so fearful of, and also tried to combat in act two, scene two.

Lady Macbeth begins to speak.

Remember, she is asleep.

She says, "Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One, two, why then, 'tis time to do it.

Hell is murky! Fie, my Lord, fie, a soldier and afeard.

What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account? Yet who would've thought the old man to have so much blood in him? What, will these hands ne'er be clean? Here's the smell of blood still.

All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand, oh, oh, oh." I'd like you to discuss these three questions.

How is Lady Macbeth's distress signalled? She's thinking about the afterlife.

What are her fears? And how does she reveal her preoccupation with blood? And what does this suggest? Pause the video and discuss these three questions now.

Some beautiful discussions, exploring this moment from act five, scene one, so the start of act five, and looking at Lady Macbeth's incredibly revealing, powerful speech here, but powerful in a very different way to her speeches in act one, act two, and even act three.

Here's some ideas you might have had.

She says, "Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One, two, why 'tis time to do it.

Hell is murky! Fie, my Lord, fie! A soldier and a feard? Oh, oh oh." How does this signal Lady Macbeth's distress? Well, it's very disjointed sleep talk, her, "Oh, oh, oh," are very different from the powerful language she used in acts one to three.

Had lots of people talking about referring to earlier in the play in order to understand this moment in Lady Macbeth's characterization.

She says, "Hell is murky," and absolutely she is thinking about the afterlife.

She's worried that she's going to Hell potentially, and she fears its darkness.

And how does she reveal her preoccupation with blood? Well, her speech is, all the time she's focused on the idea of blood.

She starts with, "Out, damned spot! Who would've thought the old man to have so much blood in him? Will these hands never be clean? Here's the smell of blood still.

All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." So she's overwhelmed by the quantity of blood, so much blood, never, smell of blood, all the perfumes, she seems to be consumed by guilt.

Remember that blood symbolises guilt in this play.

I'd like you now to look at act five, scene one, the section that we've just read, and think about the language we looked at in learning cycle one, act two, scene two.

How does Lady Macbeth's language echo Macbeth in act two, scene two? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Lovely to hear people being able to connect these two moments in the play and using that keyword echo.

So indeed, Lady Macbeth's language does echo Macbeth.

Macbeth was worried that all great Neptune's ocean would not wash the blood clean from his hand, and Lady Macbeth has the same preoccupation that all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand, so both using metaphorical language to expose the depth of their guilt.

I'd like you to discuss why do you think Shakespeare included this echo.

Why do you think he had these two characters echo each other, one speaking in act two, scene two, Macbeth, and then Lady Macbeth in act five, scene one? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Some lovely exploratory discussions there.

Some people saying, "Well, I think he's trying to explore the nature of guilt, and that it will sort of catch up with you." So Macbeth being incredibly consumed by guilt immediately after the regicide, it shows that Lady Macbeth, even though she tries to escape it, that she cannot.

And also showing maybe a connection between these two characters and the connection, not just that they're married, not just that they've committed the regicide, but that their reaction is the same, but they seem to be having this sort of quite separate reaction.

So Lady Macbeth would not acknowledge Macbeth's guilt, feelings of guilt, his overwhelming feelings of guilt in act two, scene two, and now Lady Macbeth, here she is alone in act five, scene one, and just as overwhelmed.

They don't seem to be able to help each other with their feelings of guilt.

They have to experience those alone.

And finally, I'd like you to discuss this question.

How does Lady Macbeth foreshadow her own downfall in act two, scene two? Remember, she's told Macbeth, "These deeds must not be thought after these ways, so it will make us mad." And, "You do unbend your noble strength to think so brain sickly of things." Pause the video and discuss the question.

How does Lady Macbeth foreshadow her own downfall in act two, scene two? Pause the video now.

It was lovely to hear people talking about the echoes for the previous question and now using this other keyword, this other literary device, the idea of foreshadowing.

And she does seem to foreshadow her downfall in act five, scene one.

She says in act two, scene two, "These deeds must not be thought of or they will make us mad," and now she cannot stop thinking about the regicide, and she does indeed seem very, very unwell, so much so that a doctor is observing her, is watching her because they are so worried.

And this second quotation, "You do unbend your noble strength." I really enjoyed hearing some discussions about the idea that Lady Macbeth was presented as a very strong character earlier in the play, and now her strength does seem to be broken because she's thinking about the regicide, and she's worried about the impact it will have on her, both on the earthly life, because she is consumed by the idea that blood is on her hands, but also in the afterlife.

This is Lady Macbeth's final appearance in act five, scene one.

Macbeth is told later in act five that she's dead, and we infer that she has chosen to take her own life.

I'd like you to discuss why might Shakespeare have chosen this ending for the character of Lady Macbeth.

And I'd like you to consider her initial characterization, her response to Macbeth in act two, scene two, how her punishment is foreshadowed, and the nature of her crime and the punishment for that.

So the big rich question here.

I'd like you to pause the video and, using the bullet points to support your discussion, discuss the question now.

Lovely to hear such rich discussions about this incredibly important question about Lady Macbeth's character arc and Shakespeare's intentions with this character.

Here are some ideas that you might have had.

She's characterised as a woman who does not conform to the status quo.

She's not silent and obedient like good wives should be, according to Jacobian England, and so she must be punished.

She's initially characterised as very close to Macbeth.

You remember in act one he called her his dearest partner of greatness.

But that relationship has broken down, and thus she breaks down.

Her punishment needs to be suitably severe as she helped commit regicide, one of the worst crimes you could commit.

And her punishment is foreshadowed in act two, scene two.

She acknowledges the power of guilt, and in act one, scene five where she asks the spirits to remove her ability to feel remorse.

And I had lots of people not just referring back to act two, scene two, but also her characterization in act one, scene five and scene seven.

A check for understanding.

What does Lady Macbeth's, "Will these hands ne'er be clean," symbolise? Is it A, the symbolism of blood, B, her sleepwalking, C, her guilt, or D, her foreshadowing? Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected C, it symbolises her guilt.

Now let's look at a summary of Lady Macbeth's journey with guilt.

Anger to begin with, act two, scene two.

"Why did you bring the daggers?" she says to Macbeth.

Emasculation, also in act two, scene two, she says, "I shame to wear a heart so white," when Macbeth is worried about the blood on his hands.

Practicality, "A little water clears us of this deed," she says this in response to Macbeth's worry that all great Neptune's ocean will not clean the blood from his hand.

Act two, scene two, she does have some fear in this scene, because she's worried that guilt will make us mad.

And finally, act five, scene one, she feels guilt, "Out, damned spot!" And we looked at that speech in a lot more detail in this learning cycle.

I'd like you to answer this question.

How is Lady Macbeth's relationship with guilt changed over the course of the play? And I'd like you to use the sentence stems below to support your written response.

Arguably, more specifically, and ultimately.

So pause the video, using those sentence stems to support your response, and Lady Macbeth's journey with guilt, answer the question.

How is Lady Macbeth's relationship with guilt changed over the course of the play? Pause the video now.

Lovely to see people writing their responses there, exploring different moments in these two scenes.

Had a lot of people using those keywords as well, foreshadowing, echo, and guilt.

Before we celebrate your fantastic writing, we're gonna do some self-assessment.

So I'd like you to self-assess your paragraph using the questions below to guide you.

Do you have a clear topic sentence that answers the question? And here's an example.

Arguably, Lady Macbeth's relationship with guilt changes over the course of the play.

So a clear topic sentence that links to the question.

The second self-assessment question, do you focus on specific quotations? For example, more specifically, in act five, scene one, Lady Macbeth is consumed by guilt, asking, "Will these hands ne'er be clean?" believing that, "all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand?" So have you selected some really specific quotations to support your topic sentence? The third self-assessment question, do you use keywords to help you analyse language? I heard them all in your discussion.

They need to also be in your written response.

So for example, this echoes Macbeth's previous worry in act two, scene two, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" This echo helps us understand the change in Lady Macbeth.

Before, she dismissed the blood, "A little water clears us of this deed," now she is obsessed by it, symbolising her guilty conscience.

So making sure that you do use those keywords that you used in your discussion in your written response as well.

And finally, the final self-assessment question.

Do you draw a conclusion to your argument? For example, ultimately, Lady Macbeth ends the play overwhelmed by the emotion she tried to remove, in act one, scene five, she asks the spirits to stop her feeling remorse.

Perhaps Shakespeare makes this decision for Lady Macbeth's character as a fitting punishment for a subversive woman who helped commit regicide.

So just making sure that your written response has all of those fantastic ideas that you had during our discussion.

Pause the video, using the self-assessment questions, assess your paragraph now.

It was lovely to see people self-assessing their paragraphs, editing, changing.

It's such an important part of the writing process, as important as planning and doing the writing itself.

So in summary, Lady Macbeth appears to be suffering from a psychological disorder that causes her to sleepwalk.

This psychological disorder could be interpreted as a result of guilt.

Lady Macbeth's language echoes that of her husband in earlier scenes.

Lady Macbeth's language might be suggesting that there is no salvation for the crime she has committed.

I've so enjoyed looking at act five, scene one with you today, and hearing your fantastic ideas, especially looking at language in such detail, and looking forward to seeing you in the next lesson.