Starter quiz
- 'Macbeth' is a play. Which of the following are features of plays?
- dialogue ✓
- designed to be performed ✓
- divided into chapters
- divided into acts ✓
- stage directions ✓
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- What was William Shakespeare famous for writing?
- sonnets (poems) ✓
- plays ✓
- narrative poems ✓
- pamphlets
- articles
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- Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616. He experienced life under two monarchs. Which monarchs?
- Queen Victoria
- King Edward VII
- Queen Elizabeth I ✓
- King James I ✓
- Queen Anne
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- 'Macbeth' is a tragedy. Which of the below are also considered Shakespearean tragedies?
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Othello ✓
- Hamlet ✓
- The Tempest
- Romeo and Juliet ✓
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- 'Macbeth' is a tragedy. Which of the following are features of Shakespearean tragedies?
- the supernatural
- the death of the hero ✓
- marriage
- the rise and fall of a character ✓
- mistaken identity
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- 'Macbeth' starts with terrible weather - thunder and lightening - and three witches. What inferences could we make about this opening?
- It is designed to make us laugh
- It is designed to make us think
- It is designed to scare us ✓
- It is designed to signal the supernatural themes ✓
- It is designed to signal it is a play about a hero
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Exit quiz
- Match the Act from 'Macbeth' to the plot points.
- Act 1⇔Macbeth is told he will be King by three witches ✓
- Act 2⇔The Macbeths commit regicide ✓
- Act 3⇔Macbeth is an unhappy monarch ✓
- Act 4⇔Macbeth asks the witches for further prophecies ✓
- Act 5⇔Macbeth is killed ✓
- Match the first four scenes of 'Macbeth' to their plot points
- Act 1, Scene 1⇔The witches prepare to meet Macbeth ✓
- Act 1, Scene 2⇔An account of Macbeth's bravery in battle; Macbeth promoted ✓
- Act 1, Scene 3⇔The witches give the prophecies ✓
- Act 1, Scene 4⇔Previous Thane of Cawdor killed ✓
- If you kill your monarch, you commit the crime of ______.
- 'regicide' ✓
- In Act 1, Scene 2 of 'Macbeth' what are we told about Macbeth's actions in the recent battle?
- he used his sword to 'carve' through the enemy ✓
- he killed the Thane of Cawdor to get his title
- he displayed an enemy's head on battlements as a warning ✓
- he was distracted as he was 'rap't' by the witches prophecies
- he cut an enemy soldier in half ✓
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- What do the witches' prophesy in Act 1, Scene 3 of 'Macbeth'?
- that Banquo will be King
- that Macbeth will be King ✓
- that Banquo's children will be Kings ✓
- that Macbeth will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor ✓
- that they will meet with Macbeth
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- After receiving the prophecies in Act 1, Scene 3 of 'Macbeth', how does Macbeth act?
- He kills the Thane of Cawdor so he can get promoted
- He has a number of asides which reveal his interest in the throne ✓
- He immediately decides to commit regicide
- He is described as 'rap't' by the prophecies by Banquo ✓
- He tries to find the witches again
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The supernatural is a key theme of the play
- At the start of the play, Macbeth is presented as a brave warrior
- The current Thane of Cawdor is plotting to betray King Duncan
- The witches prophecy that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and then King
- The witches prophecy that Banquo's sons will become kings
Common misconception
Macbeth is a Jacobean.
'Macbeth' is set in 11th century Scotland. However, it was first performed in 1606 in front of a Jacobean audience.
Keywords
Ambition - If you have ambition, you have desire and determination to achieve success.
Regicide - If you kill your monarch, you commit the crime of regicide.
Jacobean - ‘Macbeth’ was first performed in 1606 when James I was King of England (1603-1624). The people he ruled were called Jacobeans.
Prophecy - A prophecy is a prediction of what might happen in the future.
Thane - Thane is an old Scottish term for a noble warrior. In ‘Macbeth’, Macbeth is Thane of Glamis at the start of the play.
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