Unit 4: Act 1 – Fortunes foretold
Assessment focus: A01, A02
Suggested number of lessons: 3-4
Resources:
Outcomes:
Resource sheet 6:The set-up
Resource sheet 7: Lady Macbeth transformed
Resource sheet 8: Man or mouse?
 To gain a basic understanding of the key
action of Act 1
 To explore the developing relationship
between Macbeth and his wife
►Initial work
Write, or display, the following line on the board: False face must hide what the false heart
doth know. Ask students to suggest what this might mean. Elicit the idea that ‘false’ can
mean both ‘untrue’ and ‘not to be trusted’. Then explain that this is the last line of Act 1,
and is spoken by the main protagonist (key active character) of the play. The key question
is: How does Macbeth come to be in a position where, by the end of this stage of the play,
he is saying that he must disguise the evil inside him? This will be useful to bear in mind
as students are introduced to Macbeth at the start of the play.
▲ Activity 1: Students read Act 1 Scene 1 aloud in small groups. Ask them what
information is revealed by this scene: that there will be a battle; that Macbeth will meet with
them on ‘the heath’, ‘ere the set of sun’. Also, ask students which of the lines echoes the
line they looked at earlier (‘Fair is foul, foul is fair’).
Feed back. Draw out, even at this early stage, that Shakespeare’s ideas – like repeated
motifs in music – are conveyed through the language choices, sometimes with direct
repetitions, such as the repeated use of the word ‘blood’ in later scenes, or in this case
through alliteration: foul/fair/false.
Now read Act 1 Scene 2 as a class, drawing out the key elements of the narrative:
Macbeth and Banquo’s courage in winning the battle; the introduction of King Duncan; the
treachery of the previous Thane of Cawdor. Act 1 Scene 3 should also be read closely,
especially in relation to what the witches promise Macbeth and Banquo, and the latter’s
timely warning at the end of the scene: ‘…oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/The
instruments of darkness tell us truths’ – which again echoes the fair/foul idea.
►Focused work
The main focus of this unit is on the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Students will need to have a working knowledge of what happens in the remainder of the
act, and should focus particularly on Act 1 Scene 5 and Act 1 Scene 7.
▲ Activity 2: Distribute Resource Sheet 6: The set-up. Students should scan Act 1
Scenes 1 to 4 in order to fill in the table, and then tackle the last task on the sheet. They
can then feed back what they have learned, to show they understand the situation as it
has been ‘set up’ by Shakespeare – namely, two ambitious people are about to have the
king and his entourage staying at their castle for the night.
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▲ Activity 3: Now ask students to read carefully Lady Macbeth’s speech at the start of Act
1 Scene 5, and to discuss the following questions in groups:

What does Lady Macbeth say she fears about her husband?

What does she say she intends to do when he arrives back?
▲ Activity 4: Lady Macbeth’s second monologue gives an insight into her feelings and
how her mind is working. Display or print out the monologue and ask students to highlight
any words, lines or phrases that make references to evil, hellish, or murderous things.
What is the dramatic effect of a woman making these sorts of statements?
Feed back responses. You might like to use Resource Sheet 7: Lady Macbeth
transformed to display some possible highlighted phrases.
Then, with the text displayed, elicit from students what the effect is of Lady Macbeth
speaking directly to ‘spirits’ and ‘murd’ring ministers’. Does it make her sound like one of
the witches?
 Aim High
More confident students could select any one of the soliloquies from Act 1 (for example,
Lady Macbeth’s speeches in Act 1 Scene 5, Macbeth’s speech at the start of Act 1 Scene
7) and prepare a short performance, having made conscious decisions about how to
interpret and play the role. Ideally, their preparation should include annotating the
speeches to show how they intend to move and speak.
 Moving On
Students can trace the developing relationship between Macbeth and his wife as it evolves
in Act 1 Scene 7. Distribute Resource Sheet 8: Man or mouse? and ask students to
complete it for homework, or in a follow-up session.
 Check the web
www.shakespeare4kidz.com/education/askjc.htm has a set of questions about various
aspects of staging Macbeth, including some about the relationship between Macbeth and
his wife.
Summary of key learning
 Shakespeare ‘sets up’ a situation that has all the elements to launch the action of the drama
 We have learned, by the time Macbeth appears, quite a lot about his relationship with his
wife and about what may or may not happen.
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Resource Sheet 6:
The set-up
The table below shows what we have found out by the end of Act 1 Scene 4. Scan the text
and identify where this information is revealed.
Information
Scene
lines
Scotland, under the rule of King Duncan, has been under
attack, but two generals, Macbeth and Banquo, have won a
key battle.
A traitor, the Thane of Cawdor, has had his title taken away
from him by the king. Macbeth has been given the title.
Three witches have met with Macbeth and Banquo and
made a series of mysterious statements, saying Macbeth
will become Thane of Cawdor.
The witches also say Macbeth will become king; and that
Banquo will give birth to kings, even though he won’t be
one himself.
The king has announced that his son, Malcolm, will
succeed him to the throne (he is giving him the title ‘Prince
of Cumberland’).
The king has also said he plans to come to Macbeth’s
castle to stay.
At the start of Act 1 Scene 5 we see
Now complete the final two rows. In the first of these, write down who appears at the start
of Act 1 Scene 5 and what she is reading. In the final row write what she has found out by
the time Macbeth appears.
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Resource Sheet 7:
Lady Macbeth transformed
deadly
Deadly
intention
Bile, a
bitter
fluid
produced
by the
intestines
A dark, black bird often seen as
an omen
The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood,
Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
Th’ effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry ‘Hold, hold!’
Wrap,
like in a
coffin
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Take away my
female side
Block up the path
to guilt in me
Resource Sheet 8:
Man or mouse?
Task 1: By the time Act 1 Scene 7 has opened, Macbeth is considering murdering the
king. But he has doubts. Below are three of his reasons why he shouldn’t kill Duncan. Find
Macbeth’s lines from the play which describe these.
Reason One: If the murder could be a one-off, and there would be
no comebacks, then that would be okay, but it won’t be. It will
have consequences.
Reason Two: Duncan’s a really good man, and killing him would
be a sin against heaven.
Reason Three: Duncan has rewarded him for his loyal service,
and Macbeth now has the respect of many people for what he has
done.
Task 2: Lady Macbeth senses Macbeth might not be up to the task of carrying out the
murder. She uses several techniques to get him ‘on side’. In each case, find the actual
lines she says:
Technique One: She questions how much he loves her, if he can’t even carry
this out.
Technique Two: She wonders if he is afraid to carry out in reality what is in
his mind?
Technique Three: She questions whether he is really a man at all, saying he
was a ‘man’ when he first mentioned the idea to her, but that he’ll be even
more of a man if he actually does it.
Technique Four: She explains carefully how she has planned the murder so
they won’t be caught or blamed for what happens.
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