Act 3: Scenes 1 & 2

ACT-ivity: Let's get angry!

Working in pairs you'll examine the fifth main soliloquy: 3.1.49-73. Macbeth contemplates why he wants Banquo out of the way, and his speech rises toward the close to a pitch of dramatic intensity. This intensity is created through the use of vivid metaphors.

1. Identify the key metaphors in the lines
2. Explain how they serve to heighten the expression of Macbeth's feelings
3. Figure out how you and your partner are going to deliver the lines (think tone, volume, etc; one of your will be Macbeth and the other will be Banquo .... I'll fill you in).
4. Film: 1:02.29

Discussion

• In Scenes 1 & 2 the audience discerns significant changes in Macbeth's character and in his relationship with his wife. What evidence of these changes do you see in the two scenes (please cite scene and line numbers)?
• The pervading sense of a dark and anguished world of horro is sustained in these scenes, particularly in Macbeth's speeches to Lady Macbeth, in which he describes his own state of mind and his sense of the world he inhabits. Find 2-3 such passages in Act 3, Scene 2, an comment on the key images in each passage. Look for vivid and effective description. (Think about where else in the play we've heard an appeal to evil and darkness.)
• Why doesn't Macbeth just give the order to kill Banquo? Why does he have to convince the murders to do it? How does he employ a little Lady Macbeth-style convincing?
• Compare Macbeth's last lines before killing Duncan to his last lines before killing Banquo. How do the lines compare and contrast?

Macbeth: Act 2

Continuation of the previous class discussion...

Best. Soliloquy. Ever. Watch each version and respond to the question.

But first: What's the difference between observation and interpretation?

Viewing 1: What did you observe in this performance?
Viewing 2: What did you interpret from this performance?


Start at 3:15



Some questions:
1. How do you explain the appearance of the dagger apparition in terms of Macbeth's psychology as you know it?
2. Irony contributes to the mounting dramatic effect of the scenes in Act 2. What irony can be found in each of these passages:

• "A little water clears us of this deed: / How easy is it, then!"
• The humorous speeches of the porter as he pretends to be the porter at the gates of Hell

Macbeth: 1.4-7

ACT-ivity & Discussion in ONE!

Four BIG speeches hold up the action and intention of latter half of Act 1.

• 1.5.1-29 (Lady Macbeth)
• 1.5.37-53 (Lady Macbeth)
• 1.7.1-28 (Macbeth)
• 1.7.35-72 (Lady Macbeth)

In your groups, please answer the following questions and post the answers to your content questions to the comment section of this post.

Content

1. What is the person saying? Do a line-by-line translation.
2. How does this speech play into the major action of the play?
3. What does this speech reveal about the character? Other characters?
4. What major themes are expressed?

Delivery

1. How are the lines delivered? (think about the different ideas being conveyed and make each idea clear and compartmentalized)
2. Where does the actor pause?
3. How does the actor gesture?
4. Where is the actor looking?
5. Each group will share the performance of the assigned lines, so think about how you can break up the lines seamlessly.

Macbeth Begins: 1.1-3

ACT-ivity 1.1

Working in groups of three, please respond to the following questions. You'll also be acting out this scene, so assign parts, practice lines, and have some fun.

• How do the witches enter?
• How do they move? Are they old? young? male? female?
• How are the witches different from each other?
• How do they speak?
• How are they dressed?

Discussion

1. In what ways do the actual words of the witches in the first scene help to create the feeling of a nightmare world of evil and confusion? What particularly is the effect of the antithesis and paradox in the last lines?
2. What impressions of Macbeth's character are created, before his actual appearance in the play, by the details of the battle accounts of the sergeant and Ross in Scene 2?
3. What do Banquo's remarks about "the instruments of darkness" tell the reader about his character at this point? (1.3.23) Relate Banquo's ideas to the thoughts included in Macbeth's soliloquy. 
4. The most significant insight about Macbeth's secret thoughts comes in the soliloquy (first of seven), "This supernatural soliciting ..." (1.3.129-141).
1. What is the suggestion "whose horrid image doth unfix my hair"?
2. What moral conflict appears to exist in Macbeth's mind? Reference and explain the lines in which this conflict is expressed.
3. What conclusions about Macbeth's character can you draw from this soliloquy?
4. Why does the thought of killing Duncan so strongly affect a man (Macbeth) who has killed so many others on the battlefield?

Part 3

The final part!

Frankenstein Project: Part 2

Part 2!

Final project: Part 1

Here's STEP ONE!