1. Lesson 2
Characterisation and Foreshadowing in ‘Macbeth’ Objective: to reflect on how characters are developed through the narrative device of foreshadowing. [Foreshadowing] To tease the audience about what will happen later in the narrative using signs, symbols and suggestions.

2. TEACHER’S GUIDE Objective Starter Reading Scene Analysis PPTs
Phase
2 – Characterisation and Foreshadowing
Objective
To reflect on how characters are developed through the narrative device of foreshadowing.
Starter
Mini-whiteboards – Context recap – write 3 facts from last lesson.
Reading
Act 1 Scene 5 - Introduction of Lady Macbeth.
Scene Analysis PPTs
Act 1 Scenes 4-5
Film Clip (on estream – Macbeth Fassbender version)
18:00-20:00 – Lady Macbeth Soliloquy.
Main (optional – could be set as Homework tasks).
Discuss why Shakespeare uses foreshadowing and soliloquys in his plays.
Plenary
In books – write one question of what you would like to ask about the play and your learning so far.
Key terms
Foreshadowing, Soliloquy, Femininity.

3. MINI-WHITEBOARD STARTER
Write up to 3 facts learned in the last lesson on Shakespeare and the Context of his plays.

4. Act 1 Scene 5 Introduction to Lady Macbeth
CLASS READING
Act 1 Scene 5 Introduction to Lady Macbeth

5. Act 1 Scene 4 Analysis
Pretext – the Thane of Cawdor (considered traitor) has been executed – the audience is told about how he died (in this honorbound, masculine society, this is very important) – according to Malcolm, he died a good death – in contrast to how Macbeth takes on the title of Cawdor. - audience already know that Macbeth is planning to kill Duncan (devised in Act 1 Scene 3). - irony: Macbeth takes on the title of the worst traitor – - Duncan on previous Thane of Cawdor (poor judge of character): “from the mind’s construction in the face” “he was a man in whom I built absolute trust” - Duncan on Macbeth – considers him “peerless kinsman” – unaware that Macbeth is plotting to kill him.
The descent - we are shown how Macbeth’s journey into deception, evil and brutality is already beginning (not long after witches made prophecies). - Duncan heaped praise on Macbeth for his part in the battle – “my plenteous joys, wanton in fullness seek to hide themselves, in drops of sorrow” – he’s so happy he could cry – Macbeth’s contrasting short, sharp sentences show that he is not on the same wavelength. - The contrast – hyperbolic, overblown language of Duncan (shows his naivety – unaware what is really happening) – Shakespeare uses this to create a sense of anticipation with the audience – he heaps lavish praise on the man who wants to kill him. - Macbeth – “the service and loyalty I owe, in doing it, pays itself” – hides his real thoughts with false words – decided he will hide his treachery – duplicitous.
Context - in Scotland at the time, the King was allowed to name his successor – didn’t have to be in his family – this was to prevent fighting and disputes between noblemen in the event that the King died suddenly – Duncan names his son Malcolm as his successor – named the Prince of Cumberland – this seals Duncan’s fate – Macbeth feels that now he has no choice but to kill Duncan and to be King – goes home to wife after announcement to prepare for the King and noblemens’ impending visit. - “The Prince of Cumberland, that is a step on which I must fall down or else o’er leap, for in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires.” – he admits to himself that he will need to do something terrible to become King (knowing that Malcolm is currently the successor – obstacle to overcome) – theme: appearance vs. reality – things being hidden from sight – what is versus what is not.
Dramatic irony – when the audience is aware of information that the character is not aware of.

6. Act 1 Scene 5 Analysis
Soliloquy - an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself especially by a character in a play.
Introduction of Lady Macbeth: - the private side of Macbeth beyond the courageous warrior is revealed. – clear on what needs to happen – she is aware that her husband is incapable of acting dishonourably - Lady Macbeth’s fears his “nature” and “human kindness” (as if this is a failing) – she fears that he is incapable of killing Duncan (an act that would make her Queen).
Theme: appearance vs. reality – reminder of Witches oxymoronic “fair is foul and foul is fair” speech, just like Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth’s “kindness” as a weakness. - Lady Macbeth invokes evil spirits to help her achieve her goals (crossing over to the dark side) – possessed? - later becomes an insomniac. - LM decides Duncan is to be murdered – “your face my Thane is as a book where men read strange matters” – wishes Macbeth to be more covert about his intentions. - LM: “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” - M: “we will speak further” (slights his wife a bit even though he is going to murder Duncan – interesting power dynamic).

7. KEY CHARACTERS IN ‘MACBETH’
Lady Macbeth
Banquo
Macduff
King Duncan
Macbeth is a Scottish general and the Thane of Glamis who is greeted by prophecies from three witches that he will be made Thane of Cawdor. This comes true. He longs to become King and is then tempted into murder (partly by Lady Macbeth) to fulfill his ambitions to the throne. Once he commits his first crime (killing King Duncan), he is crowned King of Scotland. He is brave but not virtuous. Macbeth is courageous on the battlefield but ill-suited to politics, quickly becoming a tyrant. He becomes suspicious of even his close friends like Banquo. His response to every problem is violence and murder. Macbeth is never comfortable in his role as a criminal and this leads to a psychological regression.
Macbeth’s wife, a deeply ambitious woman who lusts for power and position. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown. After the bloodshed begins, Lady Macbeth falls victim to guilt and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Her conscience affects her to such an extent that she eventually commits suicide. Interestingly, she and Macbeth are presented as being deeply in love, and many of Lady Macbeth’s speeches imply that her influence over her husband is primarily sexual. Their joint alienation from the world, occasioned by their partnership in crime, seems to strengthen the attachment that they feel to each another.
A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth’s kingship from the start. He eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The crusade’s mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm, on the throne, but Macduff also desires vengeance for Macbeth’s murder of Macduff’s wife and young son.
The brave, noble general whose children, according to the witches’ prophecy, will inherit the Scottish throne. Like Macbeth, Banquo thinks ambitious thoughts, but he does not translate those thoughts into action. In a sense, Banquo’s character stands as a rebuke to Macbeth, since he represents the path Macbeth chose not to take: a path in which ambition need not lead to betrayal and murder. Appropriately, then, it is Banquo’s ghost—and not Duncan’s—that haunts Macbeth. In addition to embodying Macbeth’s guilt for killing Banquo, the ghost also reminds Macbeth that he did not emulate Banquo’s reaction to the witches’ prophecy.
The good King of Scotland whom Macbeth, in his ambition for the crown, murders. Duncan is the model of a virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted ruler. His death symbolizes the destruction of an order in Scotland that can be restored only when Duncan’s line, in the person of Malcolm, once more occupies the throne.
KEY CHARACTERS IN ‘MACBETH’
Malcolm -  The son of Duncan, whose restoration to the throne signals Scotland’s return to order following Macbeth’s reign of terror. Malcolm becomes a serious challenge to Macbeth with Macduff’s aid (and the support of England). Prior to this, he appears weak and uncertain of his own power, as when he and Donalbain flee Scotland after their father’s murder.
Hecate -  The goddess of witchcraft who works to enact her mischief on Macbeth (one of the three witches).
Fleance -  Banquo’s son, who survives Macbeth’s attempt to murder him. At the end of the play, Fleance’s whereabouts are unknown. Presumably, he may come to rule Scotland, fulfilling the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s sons will sit on the Scottish throne.
Macdonwald – Traitor to the King whose army is defeated in battle by Macbeth and executed by King Duncan.
Lennox -  A Scottish nobleman.
Ross -  A Scottish nobleman.
The Murderers -  A group conscripted by Macbeth to murder Banquo, Fleance, Macduff’s family (fails).
Porter -  The drunken doorman of Macbeth’s castle.
The Three Witches
Three “black and midnight hags” who plot mischief against Macbeth using charms, spells, and prophecies. Their predictions prompt him to murder Duncan, to order the deaths of Banquo and his son, and to blindly believe in his own immortality. The play leaves the witches’ true identity unclear—aside from the fact that they are servants of Hecate, we know little about their place in the cosmos. In some ways they resemble the mythological Fates, who impersonally weave the threads of human destiny. They clearly take a perverse delight in using their knowledge of the future to toy with and destroy human beings.

8. THINK – PAIR - SHARE
Discuss why Shakespeare uses foreshadowing and soliloquys in his plays.

9. Key Terms Glossary Language Structure/Narrative Context/concept
Analogy - comparison between one thing and another, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification.
Catalyst – an element which enters a narrative which causes a reaction – usually an increase in conflict and tension.
Ambition - desire and determination to achieve success.
Emotive language - describes words and phrases meant to evoke an emotional response to a subject.
Dramatic irony – when the audience is aware of information that the character is not aware of.
Hierarchy – system where citizens are ranked according to relative status or authority.
Iambic Pentameter - a line of verse ten syllables in length each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable.
Enigma – mystery and ambiguity developed for dramatic effect – withholding of information for the purposes of the narrative.
Historical context - refers to the moods, attitudes, and conditions that existed during a certain time.
Imperatives – command words (usually verbs).
Foreshadowing - a warning and indication of a future event.
Hubris – excessive pride which inevitably leads to one’s downfall.
Oxymoron - a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction – example: “fair is foul and foul is fair”
Irony - the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Loyalty - giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance.
Personification – human characteristics given to a nun-human form.
Motif – a repletion of a certain idea or symbol in a narrative
Machiavellian - cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics
Pun - a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.
Semantic Field - a lexical set of semantically related items, or simply, words and phrases with a similar meaning or context to the subject.
Patriarchy - a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.
Rhetorical question - a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.
Suspense - a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen
Regicide - the deliberate killing of a monarch
Soliloquy - an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself especially by a character in a play.
Tyranny - cruel and oppressive government or rule.

10. Plenary
In books Write one question of what you would like to ask about the play and your learning so far.