Hello, my name's Ms. Grant, I'm so glad you've decided to learn with me today.

I'm really looking forward to looking at Macbeth specifically, Act 1, Scene 3, and looking at the witches in a bit more detail.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we go through this lesson, let's get started.

By the end of this lesson, you're gonna be able to describe how the witches are used to present key messages.

We're gonna look at their language in Act 1, Scene 3, what they do, what they say, how they appear, and then we're gonna understand how this impacts the rest of the play.

There's some key words which we're going to reference throughout this lesson.

They're gonna help us achieve our outcome.

They are Jacobean, status quo, hierarchical, natural order, and masculine.

Their definitions are gonna come up one at a time on the next slide, read through them, and if you want to spend some more time with our keywords, pause the video at the end of that slide.

So our lesson outlined for today, first of all, we're going to look at how the witches disrupted the natural order, then we'll look at Macbeth's reaction to the witches, and finally, we will answer this question, how do the witches disrupt the natural order? Let's start off by looking closely at their language in Act 1, Scene 3, disrupting the natural order.

Jacobean society was intensely hierarchical.

The monarch was at the top of the hierarchy.

Indeed, Jacobeans believed that the monarch was chosen by God.

Thus, to challenge a monarch's power was to challenge the will of God and threaten the natural order.

Even though Macbeth is set in 11th century Scotland, Macbeth's first audiences were Jacobean.

I'd like you to pause the video and discuss, how might a Jacobean audience respond to the regicide in Macbeth? Think about the contextual knowledge we've just gone through and answer this question.

Some really interesting and pretty profound ideas there because you're absolutely right that it will be shocking for a Jacobean audience to see a regicide on stage, they'd think it was wrong.

They'd know that it was theatre, but still it would destabilise the very foundations on which their society was built.

Whilst there were many layers to the Jacobean hierarchy, women were always subservient to men and obliged to obey them.

Women who disobeyed or sought equality with men were disrupting the natural order and threatened to destabilise the community.

I'd like you to pause the video and discuss this question, what examples of female disobedience do we find in Macbeth? Pause the video and discuss this question.

Fantastic to hear people talking about Lady Macbeth showing their fantastic knowledge of her characterization.

Lots of people arguing that she is disobedient because she does not adhere to the Jacobean hierarchy, she seeks to override it by telling Macbeth what to do and some people thinking about the witches just by being witches, they are being disobedient to the Jacobean society because they're not adhering to stereotypical norms. So two examples there are female disobedience in Macbeth.

In Act 1, Scene 3, the witches disrupt the natural order and the hierarchy in three important ways.

So through their prophecies, let's have a look at their prophecies, the third witch says to Macbeth, "All hail Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter." The third witch says to Banquo, "Thou Banquo shall get kings, though thou be none." I'd like you to discuss this question, what do the witches actually tell Macbeth and Banquo and why would this be seen as subversive and dangerous? Pause the video and discuss the question.

Some really lovely ideas there, looking at the short bit of text, but with some fantastic analytical ideas.

So they tell Macbeth he will be king and that Banquo's children will be kings.

They're predicting the line of succession.

This is a real challenge to God's authority, He selects the monarch not witches.

Let's look at the second way they disrupt the natural order through their actions.

Macbeth says to the witches, "Speak, I charge you." And the stage direction says, "The witches vanish." Discuss this question, why would this action, why would this be seen as disobedient, why would it be seen as disruptive to the natural order? Pause the video and discuss the question.

Fantastic to hear people engaging with that stage direction.

Always nice, this is after all play designed to be performed on stage.

So Macbeth demands the witches speak to him, "Speak," he says, but they disobey rather than obey the hierarchy, which saw men as women's superiors.

So they are really disrupting the natural order and hierarchy through their actions.

Now, let's look at their appearance.

Banquo says, "You should be women and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so." Discuss, what are the disruptive implications of this masculine appearance? Pause the video and have a think about this question.

Again, really nice to look at this slightly longer bit of text and use it to have a think about this complicated question.

So this is a really unsettling appearance that's why banquet mentions it and it suggests that the witches can manipulate the natural order, but also, that they won't necessarily obey the men in the play, after all, they have some masculine attributes too.

So three important ways in which they disrupt the natural order and hierarchy.

So quick check for understanding, in what ways do the witches challenge the natural order? Select all that apply.

Pause the video and select your responses.

Well done if you selected C, they disobey male orders and D, they predict the future monarch.

We're gonna reread this section from Act 1, Scene 3 where the witches tell Macbeth that he will be king and Macbeth demands to know more.

Macbeth says, "Speak if you can, what are you?" And then, "Stay, you and perfect speakers, tell me more.

To be king stands not within the prospect of belief, no more than to be Cawdor.

Say from once you owe this strange intelligence or why upon this blasted heath, you stop our way with such prophetic greeting." I'd like you to discuss how the witches' appearance and prophecies threaten to disrupt the hierarchy and natural order.

Using the subheadings to help you, you're gonna look at their prophecies, you're gonna look at their actions, and finally, I'd like you to think about their appearance.

Pause the video using this section of Act 1, Scene 3, discuss how the witches' appearance and prophecies threaten to disrupt the hierarchy and natural order.

Some really rich discussions there looking at this short section of Macbeth speech in Act 1, Scene 3.

Here are some ideas that you might have had.

Their prophecies, they say that Macbeth is gonna be king.

This is a strange intelligence according to Macbeth and he calls it a prophetic greeting.

The witches are talking about who's gonna be the next king and this is a threat to the natural order, which sees this decision as in the hands of God.

Let's look at their actions.

Macbeth says, "Speak, stay, tell me more, say, why." But the witches outside is an inferiors who've after all stopped two important things, they ignore these demands.

This is a challenge to the hierarchy because women in this hierarchy had to obey men, and finally, their appearance, a tricky one, but the witches clearly appear unnatural and inhuman to Macbeth.

He says, "Speak if you can, what are you?" He doesn't say who.

So there are three ways in which the witches very clearly disrupt the natural order.

Well done, for those rich discussions tied to the text.

Now, we're gonna look at Macbeth's reactions to the witches.

Shakespeare makes it clear that the witches have enough power to disrupt the natural order.

They disrupt the weather, seemingly creating a storm, they exhibit supernatural powers, they appear masculine, and they disobey Macbeth.

Furthermore, we see the strength of the witches' power through Macbeth's immediate reactions to their prophecies.

Let's have a look at Macbeth's immediate reactions to their prophecies.

Firstly, he asks the witches to tell him more and wishes they had stayed.

I'd like you to discuss what could his commands and wishes reveal.

Pause the video and have a quick think and discussion.

Lots of people focusing on this verb, tell, tell me more, he's clearly intrigued by the prophecies and quite a strange thing for him to wish that these supernatural creatures had stayed, that they'd stayed with him.

He should be rejecting them, not embracing them.

Another reaction, Banquo twice describes Macbeth as rapt, spellbound by the prophecies.

Why might Shakespeare have chosen the word rapt? Pause the video, have a think and a discussion.

Some really interesting ideas here and a range of ideas.

Some people saying, "Look, if Macbeth is spellbound, he's clearly under the influence of some kind of spell the witches have put him under, he is not.

He's not responsible for his actions from this point, he's under a spell," and others saying that this word shows his attraction to the supernatural and his desire to commit the regicide, his ambitious side coming through.

So it's nice to look at one word and have lots of different arguments about how we could interpret at this moment in Macbeth.

Macbeth says twice to Banquo, "Your children will be kings." Let's look at this reaction.

What is interesting about Macbeth's focus? Pause the video and have a think.

Some really nice discussions there about Macbeth's worries, his fears, he's already thinking about his legacy.

He's not thinking, "Hooray, I'm going to be king," instead, he's thinking what will happen after.

So not seeming able even to enjoy the prophecies at this point.

Nice to look at that repetition as well, really showing that it is one of his fears even at this point in the play when he's not even king, and let's look at another final reaction from Macbeth.

He does contemplate the regicide, he calls it a horrid image and my question is, is Macbeth drawn to or repulsed by the regicide? Pause the video and have a think about this question.

Again, some quite heated discussions there with people having different arguments about what this moment in the text might mean.

So some people saying, "Of course, he's drawn to the regicide, otherwise he wouldn't immediately think of murdering King Duncan just because some witches said something strange to him on a heath." And others saying, "He's clearly repulsed by the regicide, he can barely even contemplate it." So let's look at all of these reactions and use them to fuel our discussion about how you might interpret Macbeth's immediate reactions to the prophecies.

Pause the video and have a think about this question and a discussion.

Some wonderfully rich discussions there and again, lots of argumentative discussions, which is exactly why Macbeth is such a fantastic play to study.

Lots of people saying Macbeth is immediately drawn to the regicide and he's clearly ambitious because he doesn't think, "I wonder how I will become king," but really, really thinks I'm going to have to kill King Duncan.

Also seeing him as quite a fearful character because he's thinking about Macbeth, about Banquo, his children and his legacy, but others saying it's very, very clear that the witches are in control here.

Macbeth is spellbound by the prophecies, perhaps they have implanted this horrid image into his head and it's the witches who have done this to this noble, brave thing and Macbeth is not at fault.

So lots of different interpretations of Macbeth's immediate reactions.

A quick check for understanding.

True or false, Banquo is right to notice that Macbeth is wrapped by the prophecies.

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? Macbeth should be rejecting the witches and their prophecies, not embracing them or Macbeth should be demanding to know more about the prophecies before embracing them.

Pause the video and select your response.

Well done, if you selected A, Macbeth should be rejecting the witches in their prophecies, not embracing them.

So I'd like you to discuss this question, how do the witches disrupt the natural order? And I want you to think about these things to frame your discussion.

The staging of their first two scenes, the range of ways they're presented as subversive, how Macbeth reacts to them, and how this disruption manifests later in the play, either in the plot or other characters.

Pause the video and discuss the question using the bullet points to guide your discussion.

Some really precise, accurate, and in-depth discussions there.

Nice to look at those first two scenes.

Nice to look at context and also lots of people linking this moment, Act 1, Scene 3, to moments later in the play.

Let's share and collect some ideas.

So the staging of the first two scenes.

It's during a storm suggesting their control over the weather, they're on a heath isolated from the community and therefore, rejected outsiders who don't need to conform to the status quo, the range of ways they're presented as subversive, they are presented as supernatural and otherworldly outsiders who threaten the status quo, and they appear masculine, signalling potential disobedience and manipulation of the natural order.

How Macbeth reacts to them.

Lots of really rich discussions in response to this bullet point.

So he's immediately wrapped with a prophecy, signalling he might act on them and try and become king, the ultimate disruptive act, and he immediately sees Banquo's children as a threat, suggesting he's already thinking about his legacy as king, despite still just being a thing, and finally, it was lovely to hear how people looked at other moments in the play, either characters or other plot points showing a real depth of knowledge there.

So some people say, "Well, regicide is the ultimate disruptive act to the natural order and lots of people focusing on Lady Macbeth, she disrupts the natural order too by being a powerful woman who manipulates her husband." So we can see how this question about the witches allows us to look further in the play too.

Now, a single paragraph outline is a way of planning for an essay question.

A single paragraph outline contains a topic sentence, bullet pointed supporting detail from the text, a concluding sentence.

I'd like you to discuss this question, why would gathering multiple pieces of supporting detail to include in a paragraph support you when you start writing? Pause the video and discuss this question.

Some lovely ideas there, which make me really excited for your extended writing because everyone was talking about how.

Well, if you've got a really powerful topic sentence, you need to support that with lots of evidence from the text that's gonna make a rich and developed paragraph.

A student created a single paragraph outline in order to answer this question, how do the witches disrupt the natural order? This is their topic sentence, "Shakespeare characterises the witches as powerful, but crucially powerful outsiders.

In this way, he suggests their responsibility for disrupting the status quo, but that this disruption is undesirable and wrong." So it's a really powerful topic sentence and I'd like you to discuss what supporting evidence might they have selected to support this idea? Pause the video and discuss.

Some lovely ideas, they're selecting really precise bits of evidence from the play to support this powerful topic sentence.

Some people focusing on the staging of the opening of the play, which is on an isolated heath and it's in a storm and some people looking later in the play and saying, "Well, they are powerful outsiders, they disrupt the status quo." And we see this disruption of the status quo later on with the ultimate disruptive act, the regicide.

There were lots of other ideas as well, but those were two I just wanted to pull out.

Looking at the staging and the opening of the play, but then also being able to lead into the rest of the play as well to show off your knowledge of the whole play.

So let's read this student's plan.

Here's their topic sentence, we've read that, and here is their supporting detail.

First of all, they wanted to talk about how the witches are first presented in a storm on a heath.

The storm is powerful, it's ominous, and the heath is isolated, it's outside of society.

So lots of you picked up on that idea as well.

Secondly, the student want to focus on the fact that the witches are presented as genderless.

So they're supernatural, but they're also presented as masculine, selecting that quotation from Banquo about the fact that they have beards.

This could signal disobedience or the fact that they might be able to manipulate the hierarchy.

So that's the first two bits of their supporting detail.

I'm gonna give you their concluding sentence as well, their summary sentence, which says, "Ultimately, by presenting the initial disruptive influence coming from subversive outsiders, Shakespeare reinforces ideas about the malign influence of witches and the legitimacy of maintaining a strong hierarchy." So a nice summary sentence there too.

Now, I'd like you to add two additional pieces of supporting detail to develop this paragraph even further.

Pause the video, what supporting detail would you add? Lovely to see people writing down ideas so that they can write a fully coherent, but developed paragraph using this single paragraph outline.

Here are some ideas that you might have had.

Firstly, that Macbeth is rapt, he's spellbound, maybe the witches did this so there's a subversion of the sanctioned hierarchy where men are more powerful than women.

Really like just using a one word quotation can be very helpful in an essay.

Macbeth is already worried about Banquo, your children will be kings, so the natural allyship of thanes is destroyed.

Some people talked about the fact that Macbeth is already thinking about the regicide, horrid image rather than rejecting the witches prophecies, which is the ultimate disruptive act.

Another idea where people were looking further into the play is that the witches have illegitimate power, and this maybe foreshadows Macbeth's illegitimate power over Scotland, and it was nice to see people thinking about foreshadowing because Lady Macbeth's nontraditional characterization definitely is foreshadowed by the witches' subversiveness.

So lots of really nice ideas to create a fully developed paragraph in answer to the question, how do the witches disrupt the natural order? So let's look at our final learning cycle, how do the witches disrupt the natural order? We're just gonna return first to the single paragraph outlines.

We're gonna think why they're useful.

Well, they're useful 'cause you can turn your notes into coherent sentences.

The bullet pointed supporting detail means you'll have multiple ideas to write about in your paragraph and we call this a developed paragraph.

So a quick check for understanding, what is one way to interpret the phrase developed paragraph, is it A, B, or C? Pause the video, read the responses, and select which one you think is correct.

Well done, if you selected B, a paragraph with multiple pieces of evidence.

So you're now gonna use your single paragraph outline to create a coherent and developed paragraph in answer to the question, how do the witches disrupt the natural order? Pause the video, use the single paragraph outline to support your writing.

Lovely to see people writing so carefully about this play, tying together all their contextual ideas, their close analysis of the text and their own interpretation of what Shakespeare is doing with these witches, how they disrupt the natural order.

Before we celebrate your fantastic writing, let's do some self assessment.

I'd like you to reread your response and identify where you have written a clear topic sentence, included all pieces of supporting detail from the single paragraph outline, and written a summary sentence.

Pause the video and just check your response.

Well done, for doing part of that editing process and important part of any piece of writing.

Wonderful to see those developed and coherent paragraphs where you were really using your single paragraph outline to support some fantastic writing.

You should really celebrate the work you've done today.

So in summary, Jacobean men believed that women had a duty of obligation to them, Jacobean society was intensely hierarchical, the witches' masculine appearance suggests that they can manipulate the natural order of the world, a single paragraph outline contains a topic sentence, a concluding sentence, and a bullet pointed supporting detail.

Thank you so much for joining me in today's lesson.

I loved hearing all of your ideas and arguments about Act 1, Scene 3, the presentation of the witches and their influence, please join me for the next lesson.