Good afternoon Y11
• Please collect your folder and sit down quickly.
• Please read the question on the extract in front of you and underline
the key words.
• Think about this question: what is morality and how does
Shakespeare use it in Macbeth?
How is the theme of morality used in
Macbeth?
• Turn and talk: discuss the above.
• Through the theme of morality, Shakespeare teaches us that to be a
moral person, you must not let your desires control you and that
ultimately, you will be punished if they do.
• Macbeth’s ‘vaulting’ ambition is in direct conflict with his embedded
moral code and drives him to attain his desire for power.
Now look for evidence. Extract first. Annotate
as you go. Find three quotations.
• Extract
• Elsewhere in the play
• “We still have judgement here.”
• “a little water will clean us of
these deeds”
Start to write
• Begin by
addressing the
question
(thesis)
• Then write
about the way
this is
portrayed in
the extract and
elsewhere in
the play, using
your evidence.
• Shakespeare shows us that Macbeth’s ‘vaulting’
ambition is in direct conflict with his embedded
moral code
• In this extract, this is apparent when Shakespeare
has him say: “We still have judgement here”
• Here, Shakespeare suggests that (paraphrase the
quotation)
• His use of the personal pronoun ‘we’ in (close
word analysis, methodology)
• Perhaps he wants us to believe that (speculative
language)
• In this era, many would have ….
Guilt has the potential to be a destructive force that can undermine even
the most devious plots. It can also reveal weaknesses in what might have
initially appeared to be the most powerful, assertive or robust personalities.
In the extract, Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a fallen hero who
immediately feels guilty for what he has done – he has committed the act
of regicide by killing the King. Although this scene is from early in Act 2,
Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a very changed man since the play’s
opening scenes where we had heard him praised as ‘brave’ and then,
later, seen him rewarded for his loyalty to King Duncan. This scene shows
how Macbeth begins to descend into madness through much of the rest of
the play, as a result of the guilt he overwhelmingly feels.
In Jacobean England, people believed that the King had been chosen by
God. Shakespeare wanted to show how Macbeth’s guilt haunts him,
eventually leading to his own demise.
Addresses the question –
particularly the key words and
defines it. Also examines how it
can be a good plot device.
Examines how this is being
presented in the extract.
Overview. Orders it – shows that
they understand the sequence
in the play. Focuses on the
presentation of Macbeth. Looks
at the importance of the scene.
Reminds us of the context and
places this scene within the
context of the time to help us
understand it further.