1. Learning Objective Read and understand Act 3 Scene 1 and 2
Macbeth
Learning Objective
Read and understand Act 3 Scene 1 and 2

2. Starter
Quick Fire Quotes
When you hear your name – call out a quote.

3. We are going to read Act 3 Scene 1.
Reading
We are going to read Act 3 Scene 1.

4. Language
Macbeth’s last two lines before he has Banquo murdered (140-1) are in the form of a rhyming couplet. His last two lines before murdering Duncan are in the same form (Act 2 Scene 1, lines 63-4).
Write out these two sets of rhyming couplets. Why do you think Shakespeare used this device to craft Macbeth’s language before the death of two significant characters?
Extension: Imagine that Macbeth intends to kill
the two Murderers after they have murdered
Banquo. Write a rhyming couplet of your own,
revealing Macbeth’s intention to kill the killers.
Shakespeare has used rhyming couplets at these points in the play because… This suggests…

5. Reading – Act 3 Scene 2
This scene marks a change in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Both are uneasy about their present position: Lady Macbeth says ‘Nought’s had, all’s spent’ and Macbeth is full of ‘sorriest fancies’. However, Lady Macbeth’s advice to her husband is simply to forget the events of the past because they cannot be changed – ‘what’s done, is done’.
As we read Act 3 Scene 2 identify some of the reasons Macbeth gives about why it is impossible for him to forget the past.
Extension – what does this suggest about Macbeth?

6. Language
Shakespeare uses animal imagery for sinister and dramatic effect in lines 36 (‘O, full of scorpions is my mind’) – 53 (‘Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse’). For example, a bat is associated with witches. The words ‘seeling’ and ‘scarf’ relate to falconry, where the falconer would temporarily blind the hawk so that it would remain dependent on him until it was fully trained.
List the animals mentioned and describe the roles they have in the creation of a chillingly dark atmosphere in this part of the scene.

7. Plenary
Macbeth’s language in lines 46 (‘Till thou applaud the deed.’) – 50 (‘Which keeps me pale.’) is rich in its personification of night and day. It evokes vivid images of blood and blindness, evil and darkness, adding to the drama of the scene.
Spider diagram with your neighbour the effects of Macbeth’s strikingly poetic language when contrasted with the sinister atmosphere created by his evil intentions.

8. Homework
Must: Write a paragraph that summarises the ideas of the plenary starting with Shakespeare has done this because…
Should: Develop the paragraph into a full PEE on Macbeth’s use of language.
Could: Repeat the above for a second PEE.