William
Shakespeare
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Explore the two main characters
Use discussion matrix to figure
out who is responsible/to blame
Turn your response into a
practice essay which will go
through the editing process
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Further Questions
* Did Lady Macbeth love Macbeth?
Costs/Consequences
* Goes mad (guilt)
* Lost her innocence/ can’t be pure again
* Unclean (bloody hands)
Lady Macbeth
Perceptions of the character
* Sly/evil/clever
* Dies (kills herself
Facts
* Framing the chamberlains
* Persuades Macbeth to follow through with the
murder (morals)
Questioned his morals, promise to her and
‘manhood’
*Tries to look and remain innocent
* Not a main part of the plot away for much of the play
* Macbeth treats here as an equal
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Further Questions
*Love?
*Values? (marriage vs. power)
Costs/Consequences
* Dies
* Wife dies
* Loses trust
* Banquo’s kids will be king
* Loses friendships
* Rep tarnished
Macbeth
Facts
* Killing (10+)
Perceptions of the character
* Responsible for turmoil in Scotland
 Divided loyalties
* Power hungry
* Ambitious
* Believes the witches
 Brings down the ‘rep’ of the country
* Jumps into the line of the king (before his time)
* Lies/betrayal
* Responsible for Lady Macbeth’s death
* Hiding plans from Lady Macbeth
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
1
Murder/
Thoughts
2
Deception
3
Power
(Desire)
4
Ambition
5
FATE
Total
/25
Macbeth
/25
Lady
Macbeth
/25
Introduction
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Body
Conclusion
Lead in Idea
Contention
3 Examples
(Criteria)
• Responsibility
• Complexity
• Title
• Author
• Ultimate responsibility
• Primary responsibility
• Murder
• Deception
• Power
Introduction
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Body
Conclusion
Lead in Idea
3 Examples
Criteria
Contention
•Tragedies, defined by great human suffering, is often the product of
human actions. William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ is a play where
tragedy is a pervasive thread which binds the narrative.
• More difficult to discern is the individual ultimately responsible for
these tragedies. Responsibility is manifested by both thoughts and
actions, particularly thoughts and acts of murder, deception and
power.
• Considering this, the character ultimately responsible for the
tragedies in ‘Macbeth’ is Macbeth.
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Tragedies, defined by great human suffering,
is often the product of human actions.
William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ is a play
where tragedy is a pervasive thread which
binds the narrative. More difficult to discern
is the individual ultimately responsible for
these tragedies. Responsibility is manifested
by both thoughts and actions, particularly
thoughts and acts of murder, deception and
power. Considering this, the character
ultimately responsible for the tragedies in
‘Macbeth’ is Macbeth.
Introduction
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Body
Conclusion
1st
•T
•E
•E
•L
2nd
•T
•E
•E
•L
3rd
•T
•E
•E
•L
Introduction
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Body
Conclusion
T
• Topic Sentence
E
• Example/s
E
• Explanation/s
L
• Link
Essay Sentence Starters
However…
In another way…
Whenever…
Associated with…
This…
Evidence of…
Not only…
Another important reason…
In…
Therefore…
As the…
Furthermore…
In addition…
Connective words and phrases
Otherwise
Nevertheless
Again
Besides
Consequently
For example
In addition
In fact
Instead
More specifically
Obviously
Of course
On the contrary
Similarly
Therefore
Above all
Although
Briefly
Firstly
For instance
In comparison
In other words
Likewise
Nonetheless
Specifically
Otherwise
Rather
Therefore
However
Afterwards
As a result
Certainly
Secondly
Furthermore
In contrast to
In particular
Meanwhile
Not only
Though
Still
That which
Whenever
Accordingly
Admittedly
As soon as
Clearly
Thirdly
Hence
In brief
In short
Moreover
Not surprisingly
On the other hand
Thus
Until
Introduction
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Body
Conclusion
Tip 1
Tip 2
• Restate the main argument.
• Reiterate the most important
evidence supporting the argument.
•NOT simply a repetitive summary
Tip 3
Who is responsible for the tragic
events in Macbeth?
Begin essay
Bring to next
class to be
peer assessed
SAC date:
Thursday 27th
August