Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
Macbeth
William Shakespeare
Act 1
On a wild and stormy night, Macbeth, the Thane (or
lord) of Glamis, and his friend Banquo meet three witches
on an open road. The witches predict that Macbeth will
become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland, and
that Banquo’s children will be future kings. Macbeth
jokes about it at first, but when he is rewarded by King
Duncan for his heroism in battle by being made Thane
of Cawdor, he begins to take the rest of the prophecy
seriously. Duncan and his sons come to Macbeth’s castle
to spend the night. Lady Macbeth learns of the witches’
prophecy and, although Macbeth is somewhat reluctant,
she persuades him to kill the king.
About the author
Acts 2−3
Although William Shakespeare is one of the world’s
greatest writers, surprisingly little is known about his life,
especially his early years in Stratford-upon-Avon. However,
we do know that he was born on 23rd April 1564 and
died on 23rd April 1616. His mother, Mary Arden, came
from a higher social background than his father, who was a
civil servant. He went to a good school but did not attend
university. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway and they
had three children.
Banquo and his son, Fleance, meet Macbeth in the hall
of his castle, late that night. After they leave, Macbeth
imagines he sees a bloody dagger inviting him to commit
murder. Lady Macbeth has given Duncan’s guards wine
mixed with drugs. As they sleep, Macbeth enters Duncan’s
room and kills him. He is worried that Duncan’s sons,
sleeping in the next room, have heard him. Lady Macbeth
tells him to put blood on the drunken guards, so that they
will appear to be the murderers. However, Macbeth is too
frightened to do it, so his wife does it for him.
From 1590, his plays began to be performed on the
London stage. Over a period of 23 years (1590–1613),
he wrote 37 plays, sometimes writing three plays a year!
He also wrote poetry, including a number of beautiful
sonnets. His plays were performed before the king
( James I) and enjoyed critical and popular success. By the
time he died he was a wealthy man.
Shakespeare’s plays are famous throughout the world for
their poetry and their insights into the nature of life and
the human condition. A large number of them are set in
the south of Europe, particularly Italy. However, he chose
gloomy northern European landscapes for three of his
darkest tragedies, Hamlet (1601), King Lear (1605) and
Macbeth (1605). Some of his other plays are The Taming
of the Shrew (1591), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1594),
Romeo and Juliet (1595), The Merchant of Venice (1596),
Henry V (1599), Much Ado About Nothing (1599), Julius
Caesar (1599), Othello (1604) and The Tempest (1611).
Summary
Macbeth is a brave, thoughtful soldier in eleventh-century
Scotland. His desire to be king, however, leads both him
and his strong and ambitious wife along a bloody road to
power that ends in tragedy.
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
The thane, Macduff, arrives at the castle and soon
everyone knows that King Duncan has been murdered.
Macbeth kills the two drunken guards, explaining
that he did it out of love for the king. Malcolm and
Donalbain, Duncan’s sons, leave for England and Ireland
secretly, afraid that they too will be murdered. The sons
are suspected of paying the guards to kill Duncan, and
Macbeth is crowned king of Scotland. The second part of
the prophecy has come true.
Macbeth, now king, invites his friend Banquo to a
special dinner at his castle. By now, Banquo suspects that
Macbeth is the real murderer. Macbeth worries about the
witches’ prophecy concerning Banquo’s children becoming
kings, so he arranges to have his friend and son murdered.
Banquo is killed, but his son escapes, and Macbeth is
haunted by Banquo’s ghost at the dinner. More people
suspect Macbeth of the murders and begin calling him a
tyrant.
Acts 4−5
Macbeth consults the witches again, and is reassured
to hear that he will be killed by ‘no man born from a
woman’, and will be safe from danger until the trees
Macbeth - Teacher’s notes
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Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
Macbeth
of Birnam Wood march against him. He has the wife
and family of his arch-enemy, Macduff, murdered, and
confidently awaits battle with his enemies. Just before the
battle, Lady Macbeth kills herself. A messenger then tells
Macbeth that a forest is moving towards the castle (in
order to attack Macbeth’s castle, Macduff and the soldiers
camouflage themselves with branches cut from trees in
Birnam Wood). The battle is lost, but Macbeth refuses to
surrender because he still believes that he cannot be killed.
He fights Macduff and almost wins, but Macduff tells
him that he was not born naturally – he was cut from his
mother’s body. Macbeth knows all is lost but still doesn’t
surrender. Macduff kills him, and King Duncan’s son,
Malcolm, is hailed as the new king of Scotland.
Background and themes
Ambition and evil: Set in eleventh-century Scotland,
Macbeth is a play that explores the nature of evil and
ambition. Macbeth is more than just a straightforward
villain. He has some good qualities: he is brave and heroic.
We are drawn into Macbeth’s mind and we experience his
torments and temptations. But he is also a proud, violent
and fundamentally weak man. It is said that evil cannot
exist without the will behind it, and Lady Macbeth is the
force which allows Macbeth to act without will. Although
we are appalled by his terrible actions, we are fascinated
by his complexity. In this way, we learn something of the
conflicting natures of people.
Men and women: Another theme of the play is the
relationship between men and women. Lady Macbeth
is seen by many feminists as a heroic figure. She has a
stronger character than her husband. She has manoeuvred
herself into the highest circles through a combination
of intelligence and cunning. She easily manipulates
her husband into doing what she wants. She takes her
husband’s good qualities (ambition, bravery) and turns
them into instruments of wickedness.
The supernatural: A third interesting aspect of the play
is the role of the supernatural. Would Macbeth have
been led to murder without the vision of a knife or the
predictions of the three witches? Would his crimes have
escaped detection had Banquo’s ghost not turned up at
the feast? Are the witches and ghost real, or a product of
Macbeth’s imagination? It is worth remembering that,
when Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, witches and ghosts
were taken very seriously. Even King James I believed that
they were real!
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
Discussion activities
Before reading
1 Discuss: Tell students they are going to read a play by
Shakespeare in which ghosts and witches appear, and
tell other characters about the future. Get them to ask
the others in their group:
Name another play or story in which ghosts or witches
appear. What happens in the story?
Have you ever had someone tell you about your future?
What did they tell you? Did you believe them?
Name another play by Shakespeare. What it is about?
Name some of the characters in the play.
2 Discuss: Write these words on the board: armour –
battle – betray – crown – fate – predict – surrender –
trust – tyrant. Ask students to check any words they
don’t know in their dictionaries. Then have students
work in pairs or small groups to write sentences using
the words. Write the best ones on the board.
3 Discuss: Tell students in pairs to look quickly
through the book and find a picture of: a dagger –
witches – a sword – a crown – a lamp – a moor –
armour – a ghost. You can ask them to tell you the
page or pages on which they find the things.
Introduction
4 Discuss: Ask students to read the Introduction and
discuss these questions.
a Was Macbeth printed before or after Shakespeare
died?
b When does the story take place?
c Where was Shakespeare born?
d How many plays did he write?
e Where is Macbeth’s castle?
f Was Macbeth based on a real story?
g What do some actors call Macbeth? Why?
Act 1
While reading
5 Predict: In class or as homework, get students to
write on the following.
Read what the three witches predict about Macbeth and
Banquo (pages 3 and 5). Then write down three or four
things you think will happen later in the story.
After reading
6 Role play: Put students into pairs. Ask them to act
out this conversation.
Student A: You believe in supernatural experiences. Tell
your partner about one (invent one if you like). Say why
you believe it.
Student B: You don’t believe in supernatural experiences.
Listen to your partner’s story and say why.
7 Discuss: Based on Scenes 5 –7, ask students what they
think is the difference between the characters of
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. How do they feel about
each other? Do you think they are good, evil or a
combination of both?
Macbeth - Teacher’s notes of 3
Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
Macbeth
8 Write: Ask students to choose to write one of the
following.
• Imagine you are Banquo. It is the end of Scene 3.
You and Macbeth have heard the three witches’
predictions, and Ross and Angus have just announced
that Macbeth is the new Thane of Cawdor. Write an
entry in your diary. Say how you feel and what you
think will happen.
• Imagine you are Macbeth’s friend. You have just
overheard the conversation between him and Lady
Macbeth in Scene 7. Write a letter to him in which
you try to persuade him not to kill Duncan.
c How does Macbeth feel about his wife’s death?
Why does he feel this way?
d Why doesn’t Macbeth surrender to Macduff ?
15 Role play: Put students into groups of three. Ask
them to act out this conversation.
Student A: You think everything is Macbeth’s fault.
Say why.
Student B: You think everything is Lady Macbeth’s fault.
Say why.
Student C: You think everything is the witches’ fault.
Say why.
Acts 2–3
After reading
16 Pair work: Ask students to work in pairs to discuss
the character of Macbeth and/or Lady Macbeth. They
can ask questions like these:
Why does Macbeth do the things he does? How good or
bad do you think he is? Does he love his wife? How
would you feel if you met Macbeth? What would you say
to him?
Why does Lady Macbeth do the things she does? What
are her strengths and weaknesses? How does she feel about
her husband? How would you feel if you met Lady
Macbeth? Do you think you would like her?
17 Write: Ask students to write on the following points.
• You are Lady Macbeth’s doctor. Write a short report
about her after you see her in Scene 1. Describe what
she does, and say what you think is really the
problem.
• Imagine that Macbeth killed Macduff in their fight
in Scene 6. What do you think would happen? What
would Macbeth think? What would he do? What
would the other characters do?
18 Pair work: Write these words on the board.
predictions – lies – bravery – visions – war – ambition –
marriage – the supernatural – fate – indecision –
promises – children – power – love – fear
Ask students to check any words they don’t know in
their dictionaries. Then have students work in pairs or
small groups and arrange the words in order of most
to least important in the story. Then have a class
discussion asking students to explain their decisions.
19 Research: Choose one of these topics. Decide what you
would like to learn about it. Use the library or the
Internet to find out. Then give a short presentation on it.
• life in England around the year 1600
• another famous play by Shakespeare (e.g. Hamlet,
Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, The
Tempest), including the characters, setting and story
of the play
• the poetry of William Shakespeare
Encourage students to use illustrations or diagrams in
their presentations.
9 Art work: Ask students to draw an illustration of one
of the following.
• Macbeth sees a bloody dagger (p. 14)
• Lady Macbeth faints (p. 20)
• Banquo and Fleance meets the three murderers on the
road (p. 27)
10 Discuss: Macbeth hears a voice cry ‘Macbeth has
murdered Sleep’ (p. 16). What do you think this means?
Who said this, do you think, or did Macbeth imagine he
heard it?
11 Write: Get students to re-tell part of the story
changing the point of view.
a In Scene 3, the three murderers kill Banquo but his
son, Fleance, escapes. Say what happened from
Fleance’s point of view. What were he and his father
doing before they saw the murderers? How did he feel
when he saw the murderers? What was he thinking
when he escaped?
b In Scene 4, Macbeth hosts a dinner for some lords
and sees the ghost of Banquo. Say what happened
from one of the lord’s point of view. What did he see
Macbeth do? What did he see Lady Macbeth do?
What did he think about Macbeth?
12 Role play: Put students into pairs. Ask them to act
out this conversation.
Student A: You are Macbeth’s doctor. Macbeth is leaving
the great hall at the end of Scene 4. You think Macbeth
needs a holiday. Tell him why.
Student B: You are Macbeth. You think it’s impossible to
have a holiday now. Say why.
13 Discuss: Put students into groups. Ask them to
discuss these questions.
a What can Macbeth do to save his kingdom?
b What advice will the witches give him now?
c The next act is called ‘Death of the Innocents’.
Who will die next? Why?
Acts 4 –5
After reading
14 Discuss: Put students into groups to discuss these
questions.
a Why does Macbeth kill Macduff ’s family?
b Why does Macbeth’s wife kill herself ?
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
After reading
Vocabulary activities
For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to
www.penguinreaders.com.
Macbeth - Teacher’s notes of 3