Macbeth - Penguin Readers

Teacher’s notes

PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme

LEVEL 4

Macbeth William Shakespeare

Act 1 On a wild and stormy night, Macbeth, the Thane (or lord) of Glamis, and his friend Banquo meet three witches on an open road. The witches predict that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland, and that Banquo’s children will be future kings. Macbeth jokes about it at first, but when he is rewarded by King Duncan for his heroism in battle by being made Thane of Cawdor, he begins to take the rest of the prophecy seriously. Duncan and his sons come to Macbeth’s castle to spend the night. Lady Macbeth learns of the witches’ prophecy and, although Macbeth is somewhat reluctant, she persuades him to kill the king.

About the author

Acts 2−3

Although William Shakespeare is one of the world’s greatest writers, surprisingly little is known about his life, especially his early years in Stratford-upon-Avon. However, we do know that he was born on 23rd April 1564 and died on 23rd April 1616. His mother, Mary Arden, came from a higher social background than his father, who was a civil servant. He went to a good school but did not attend university. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway and they had three children.

Banquo and his son, Fleance, meet Macbeth in the hall of his castle, late that night. After they leave, Macbeth imagines he sees a bloody dagger inviting him to commit murder. Lady Macbeth has given Duncan’s guards wine mixed with drugs. As they sleep, Macbeth enters Duncan’s room and kills him. He is worried that Duncan’s sons, sleeping in the next room, have heard him. Lady Macbeth tells him to put blood on the drunken guards, so that they will appear to be the murderers. However, Macbeth is too frightened to do it, so his wife does it for him.

From 1590, his plays began to be performed on the London stage. Over a period of 23 years (1590–1613), he wrote 37 plays, sometimes writing three plays a year! He also wrote poetry, including a number of beautiful sonnets. His plays were performed before the king ( James I) and enjoyed critical and popular success. By the time he died he was a wealthy man. Shakespeare’s plays are famous throughout the world for their poetry and their insights into the nature of life and the human condition. A large number of them are set in the south of Europe, particularly Italy. However, he chose gloomy northern European landscapes for three of his darkest tragedies, Hamlet (1601), King Lear (1605) and Macbeth (1605). Some of his other plays are The Taming of the Shrew (1591), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1594), Romeo and Juliet (1595), The Merchant of Venice (1596), Henry V (1599), Much Ado About Nothing (1599), Julius Caesar (1599), Othello (1604) and The Tempest (1611).

Summary Macbeth is a brave, thoughtful soldier in eleventh-century Scotland. His desire to be king, however, leads both him and his strong and ambitious wife along a bloody road to power that ends in tragedy. c Pearson Education Limited 2008

The thane, Macduff, arrives at the castle and soon everyone knows that King Duncan has been murdered. Macbeth kills the two drunken guards, explaining that he did it out of love for the king. Malcolm and Donalbain, Duncan’s sons, leave for England and Ireland secretly, afraid that they too will be murdered. The sons are suspected of paying the guards to kill Duncan, and Macbeth is crowned king of Scotland. The second part of the prophecy has come true. Macbeth, now king, invites his friend Banquo to a special dinner at his castle. By now, Banquo suspects that Macbeth is the real murderer. Macbeth worries about the witches’ prophecy concerning Banquo’s children becoming kings, so he arranges to have his friend and son murdered. Banquo is killed, but his son escapes, and Macbeth is haunted by Banquo’s ghost at the dinner. More people suspect Macbeth of the murders and begin calling him a tyrant.

Acts 4−5 Macbeth consults the witches again, and is reassured to hear that he will be killed by ‘no man born from a woman’, and will be safe from danger until the trees Macbeth - Teacher’s notes

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Teacher’s notes

PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme

LEVEL 4

Macbeth of Birnam Wood march against him. He has the wife and family of his arch-enemy, Macduff, murdered, and confidently awaits battle with his enemies. Just before the battle, Lady Macbeth kills herself. A messenger then tells Macbeth that a forest is moving towards the castle (in order to attack Macbeth’s castle, Macduff and the soldiers camouflage themselves with branches cut from trees in Birnam Wood). The battle is lost, but Macbeth refuses to surrender because he still believes that he cannot be killed. He fights Macduff and almost wins, but Macduff tells him that he was not born naturally – he was cut from his mother’s body. Macbeth knows all is lost but still doesn’t surrender. Macduff kills him, and King Duncan’s son, Malcolm, is hailed as the new king of Scotland.

Background and themes Ambition and evil: Set in eleventh-century Scotland, Macbeth is a play that explores the nature of evil and ambition. Macbeth is more than just a straightforward villain. He has some good qualities: he is brave and heroic. We are drawn into Macbeth’s mind and we experience his torments and temptations. But he is also a proud, violent and fundamentally weak man. It is said that evil cannot exist without the will behind it, and Lady Macbeth is the force which allows Macbeth to act without will. Although we are appalled by his terrible actions, we are fascinated by his complexity. In this way, we learn something of the conflicting natures of people. Men and women: Another theme of the play is the relationship between men and women. Lady Macbeth is seen by many feminists as a heroic figure. She has a stronger character than her husband. She has manoeuvred herself into the highest circles through a combination of intelligence and cunning. She easily manipulates her husband into doing what she wants. She takes her husband’s good qualities (ambition, bravery) and turns them into instruments of wickedness. The supernatural: A third interesting aspect of the play is the role of the supernatural. Would Macbeth have been led to murder without the vision of a knife or the predictions of the three witches? Would his crimes have escaped detection had Banquo’s ghost not turned up at the feast? Are the witches and ghost real, or a product of Macbeth’s imagination? It is worth remembering that, when Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, witches and ghosts were taken very seriously. Even King James I believed that they were real! c Pearson Education Limited 2008

Discussion activities Before reading 1 Discuss: Tell students they are going to read a play by Shakespeare in which ghosts and witches appear, and tell other characters about the future. Get them to ask the others in their group: Name another play or story in which ghosts or witches appear. What happens in the story? Have you ever had someone tell you about your future? What did they tell you? Did you believe them? Name another play by Shakespeare. What it is about? Name some of the characters in the play. 2 Discuss: Write these words on the board: armour – battle – betray – crown – fate – predict – surrender – trust – tyrant. Ask students to check any words they don’t know in their dictionaries. Then have students work in pairs or small groups to write sentences using the words. Write the best ones on the board. 3 Discuss: Tell students in pairs to look quickly through the book and find a picture of: a dagger – witches – a sword – a crown – a lamp – a moor – armour – a ghost. You can ask them to tell you the page or pages on which they find the things.

Introduction 4 Discuss: Ask students to read the Introduction and discuss these questions. a Was Macbeth printed before or after Shakespeare died? b When does the story take place? c Where was Shakespeare born? d How many plays did he write? e Where is Macbeth’s castle? f Was Macbeth based on a real story? g What do some actors call Macbeth? Why?

Act 1 While reading 5 Predict: In class or as homework, get students to write on the following. Read what the three witches predict about Macbeth and Banquo (pages 3 and 5). Then write down three or four things you think will happen later in the story.

After reading 6 Role play: Put students into pairs. Ask them to act out this conversation. Student A: You believe in supernatural experiences. Tell your partner about one (invent one if you like). Say why you believe it. Student B: You don’t believe in supernatural experiences. Listen to your partner’s story and say why. 7 Discuss: Based on Scenes 5 –7, ask students what they think is the difference between the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. How do they feel about each other? Do you think they are good, evil or a combination of both? Macbeth - Teacher’s notes  of 3

Teacher’s notes

PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme

LEVEL 4

Macbeth 8 Write: Ask students to choose to write one of the following. • Imagine you are Banquo. It is the end of Scene 3. You and Macbeth have heard the three witches’ predictions, and Ross and Angus have just announced that Macbeth is the new Thane of Cawdor. Write an entry in your diary. Say how you feel and what you think will happen. • Imagine you are Macbeth’s friend. You have just overheard the conversation between him and Lady Macbeth in Scene 7. Write a letter to him in which you try to persuade him not to kill Duncan.

c How does Macbeth feel about his wife’s death? Why does he feel this way? d Why doesn’t Macbeth surrender to Macduff ? 15 Role play: Put students into groups of three. Ask them to act out this conversation. Student A: You think everything is Macbeth’s fault. Say why. Student B: You think everything is Lady Macbeth’s fault. Say why. Student C: You think everything is the witches’ fault. Say why.

Acts 2–3 After reading

16 Pair work: Ask students to work in pairs to discuss the character of Macbeth and/or Lady Macbeth. They can ask questions like these: Why does Macbeth do the things he does? How good or bad do you think he is? Does he love his wife? How would you feel if you met Macbeth? What would you say to him? Why does Lady Macbeth do the things she does? What are her strengths and weaknesses? How does she feel about her husband? How would you feel if you met Lady Macbeth? Do you think you would like her? 17 Write: Ask students to write on the following points. • You are Lady Macbeth’s doctor. Write a short report about her after you see her in Scene 1. Describe what she does, and say what you think is really the problem. • Imagine that Macbeth killed Macduff in their fight in Scene 6. What do you think would happen? What would Macbeth think? What would he do? What would the other characters do? 18 Pair work: Write these words on the board. predictions – lies – bravery – visions – war – ambition – marriage – the supernatural – fate – indecision – promises – children – power – love – fear Ask students to check any words they don’t know in their dictionaries. Then have students work in pairs or small groups and arrange the words in order of most to least important in the story. Then have a class discussion asking students to explain their decisions. 19 Research: Choose one of these topics. Decide what you would like to learn about it. Use the library or the Internet to find out. Then give a short presentation on it. • life in England around the year 1600 • another famous play by Shakespeare (e.g. Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, The Tempest), including the characters, setting and story of the play • the poetry of William Shakespeare Encourage students to use illustrations or diagrams in their presentations.

9 Art work: Ask students to draw an illustration of one of the following. • Macbeth sees a bloody dagger (p. 14) • Lady Macbeth faints (p. 20) • Banquo and Fleance meets the three murderers on the road (p. 27) 10 Discuss: Macbeth hears a voice cry ‘Macbeth has murdered Sleep’ (p. 16). What do you think this means? Who said this, do you think, or did Macbeth imagine he heard it? 11 Write: Get students to re-tell part of the story changing the point of view. a In Scene 3, the three murderers kill Banquo but his son, Fleance, escapes. Say what happened from Fleance’s point of view. What were he and his father doing before they saw the murderers? How did he feel when he saw the murderers? What was he thinking when he escaped? b In Scene 4, Macbeth hosts a dinner for some lords and sees the ghost of Banquo. Say what happened from one of the lord’s point of view. What did he see Macbeth do? What did he see Lady Macbeth do? What did he think about Macbeth? 12 Role play: Put students into pairs. Ask them to act out this conversation. Student A: You are Macbeth’s doctor. Macbeth is leaving the great hall at the end of Scene 4. You think Macbeth needs a holiday. Tell him why. Student B: You are Macbeth. You think it’s impossible to have a holiday now. Say why. 13 Discuss: Put students into groups. Ask them to discuss these questions. a What can Macbeth do to save his kingdom? b What advice will the witches give him now? c The next act is called ‘Death of the Innocents’. Who will die next? Why?

Acts 4 –5 After reading 14 Discuss: Put students into groups to discuss these questions. a Why does Macbeth kill Macduff ’s family? b Why does Macbeth’s wife kill herself ? c Pearson Education Limited 2008



After reading

Vocabulary activities For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to www.penguinreaders.com.

Macbeth - Teacher’s notes  of 3