a teacher guide for studying the play and attending Southwest Shakespeare Company’s performance
a teacher guide for studying the play and
attending Southwest Shakespeare Company’s performance
January 2014
Letter to Educators …………………………………………………………………………………………
3
General Information
Meeting Arizona State Standards …………………………………………………………………
4
About the Play
Comments from the Director …………………………………………………………………………
Helpful Tips for Seeing and Exploring Shakespeare …………………………………….
Macbeth – An Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………
Macbeth – Sources and History ………………………………………………………………….
Shakespeare’s Critics ……………………………………….……………………………………………
The Curse? ……………………………………………………………………………………………….……
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Classroom Applications
Anticipation and Reaction Guide ……………………………………………………………………
Concept Map ………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Staging Activities ……………….....…………………………………………………………………..…
Act-By-Act Writing Topics ………………………………………………………………………………
Journal Writing ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Additional Activities ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Recommended Reading ………………………………………..……………………………………….
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Educator Comments ………………………………………………………………………………………
26

Southwest Shakespeare Company
Mosaic Educational Services, LLC and Southwest Shakespeare
MACBETH
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Dear Educator:
Thank you for joining us for Southwest Shakespeare's 20th Anniversary Season! We are
thrilled you are bringing your students to one of our productions, especially during our
Winterfest offerings. We are hard at work updating our teacher guides to reflect the
changes in the Arizona common core curriculum to ensure these guides are helpful for
you and your students.
While we revamp our guides to match your new curriculum, we are keeping the same
helpful content you have come to expect from this supplementary material including
background about the play, questions with the director, and additional enrichment
material.
As always, we hope that you find the enclosed information, activities, and resources to
be helpful and entertaining. If you have any suggestions for activities and topics not
already found in this study guide, please feel free to contact me via e-mail:
[email protected]. We are always interested in hearing new ways to excite
your students (and you!)
See you at the show!
Amanda Trombley
Director of Education
Southwest Shakespeare Company
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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Along with viewing Southwest Shakespeare Company's production of Macbeth, the activities
and information included in this study guide will help teachers create lesson plans that
support the following Arizona Common Core Standards:
• Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says. (9-10.RL1,1112.RL1) through class discussion prompts, writing prompts, and staging activities.
• Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text (9-10.RL.2, 11-12.RL.2) through class discussion prompts and writing prompts.
• Analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including language
that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful (9-10.RL.4, 11-12.RL.4) through writing prompts and
the staging activities.
• Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem... evaluating how each version interprets
the source text (11-12.RL.7) through class discussion prompts, staging activities, and seeing the
Southwest Shakespeare production. (A talkback can be especially enriching for this goal.)
• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research (910.W.9, 11-12.W.9) through class discussion, writing prompts, and staging activities.
• Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions, respond thoughtfully to
diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement. (9-10.SL.1, 11-12.SL.1)
through class discussion prompts and staging activities.
• Demonstrate effective speaking skills and behaviors for a variety of formal and informal purposes.
(9-10.SL.4, 11-12.SL.4) through class discussion and staging activities.
Additional Learning Opportunities:
• Demonstrate effective listening skills for a variety of purposes, and demonstrate understanding by critically evaluating and analyzing oral presentations.
• Use appropriate eye contact, body movements, and voice register for audience engagement in formal and informal speaking situations.
• Think critically about staging issues and how to translate Shakespeare's works from the page to the
stage
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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These comments can be used to help you prepare your students to see Southwest Shakespeare
Company’s performance of Macbeth and may also answer any questions about changes or
modifications made to the stage performance as compared to the written play.
Name of Production
MACBETH
Name of Director
Sabin Epstein
In what time period is
this production set?
Based on the 1930s/40s with additional influences. I am interested in
the rise of the totalitarian state and Stalin is a good reference point.
Costumes will vary a bit, sticking with a set color palate and pattern
Is this switched from
the original text?
Have any characters
been cut?
Yes.
Is there any crossgender casting?
Have any characters or
scenes been added?
Are there fight scenes?
No.
Is there stage blood?
Yes.
Weapons?
Yes, as called for in the fight scenes.
Sexual innuendo?
Yes, again we are doing the plays Shakespeare wrote and there are
love scenes and sexual inuendo in those plays and we include them as
they are necessary and vital to the action and development of the
story.
Other comments:
As we are producing this play as part of Winterfest, we've been
thinking of both Shrew and Macbeth as part of a rotating rep, meaning:
how do these stories relate to one another and how are they different?
We want to suggest and arena or combat zone without being too literal
and bring up ideas of war, role playing, and shifting identities in each.
At the same time, we tried to follow the basic principles of Elizabethan
theater. It is our hope that an audience member could see one
production and feel satisfied, or both and be drawn to comparing the
plays.
Southwest Shakespeare Company
Yes. Though all major characters are present as written, I've edited
down the script and cut or combined characters who are not vital to the
story telling such as the English doctor, Hecate, some messengers...
No.
Yes. They are called for by the script, though we have to be
imaginative in how we present the fights to make them engaging and
dynamic and still maintain a sense of theatricality about them.
MACBETH
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Before seeing the play …
Before you see the characters of Macbeth
brought to life on stage by the vision of the
director, spend some time imagining your
own version. Go back to the text of the
play and look for clues that suggest what
the characters might look like and how they
might behave. What movie stars might you
cast in the various roles? Where would you
set the play? What would the characters
wear? It is up to you … you are only
limited by your imagination!
A director will often choose to “dramatize” a play by portraying a wordless scene that
helps draw the audience into the action and
mood. If you were directing Macbeth and
wanted to dramatize a scene just prior to
Act I, Scene 1 being spoken, what would
your scene portray?
“Neither the professor nor the actor has a monopoly on
Shakespeare.
His genius is that he wrote
texts to be studied
and scripts to be
performed.”
--Leonora Eyre
After seeing the play …
Did your views about the play or the
characters change after seeing the live
production? If so, how? Try to be very
specific about moments in the action that
affected you.
Which actor best portrayed his/her
character? What made the performance
so effective?
How was the live production different
from the written play? What decisions did
the director make about staging? Were
these effective decisions? Why or why
not?
What did you think of the production
values (sets, costumes, lighting, sound)?
Did they help you to better understand
the plot of the play?
If you would like to share your opinions or
ask questions of the director, actors, or
crew of play, send your letters to:
Southwest Shakespeare Company
Education Committee
P.O. Box 30595
Mesa, AZ 85275-0595
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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Theatre Ettiquette
A Note About Technology:
As you probably know from movies or other plays you have attended, nothing ruins an
emotional moment in a story like the sound of a cell phone interrupting the action.
However, unlike at a movie, even having your phone on silent or texting during a
performance will distract not only your fellow audience members, but the performers
who are reacting in the moment to what is going on. Of course, this goes for taking
pictures or trying to record any of the performance as well. While Shakespeare's works
are now in the public domain, the work of the actors and set and costume designers still
has copyrights, so we ask that you save your instagramming and facbook posts for the
lobby. Once the show is over, we encourage you to tell all your social networks about
how much fun you had at Southwest Shakespeare, just save it for after the show!
Additional Tips:
*Arrive with enough time to get to your seats and use the restroom before the play
begins. Getting up during the performance is distracting to your fellow audience
members. There will also be an intermission during which you can use the restroom or
purchase refreshments.
*Do not talk to your neighbors during the performance. There is no rewind button in live
theatre to help others catch the lines they missed while you were talking.
*Have fun! Allow yourself to enjoy the play- listen, react, laugh, cry, and feel free to
applaud at the end.
*If you have a scheduled talkback after the show, please wait for directions on where
and when to move seats. If you do not have a scheduled talkback, please exit the
theatre efficiently and courteously, listening to your teachers for more further
instructions.
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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From the Witches entering through the “fog and filthy air” to Macduff avenging the murder of his family, the non-stop action of Macbeth carries us
through the story from one horrifying scene to
another. In the shortest of his tragedies,
Shakespeare draws us in with a protagonist whose
murderous ambition and active imagination repulses
yet fascinates us … because it is perhaps all too easy to see a little bit of Macbeth in ourselves.
The play begins with those most intriguing of
characters, the three Witches, who agree to “meet with Macbeth” when the latest battle has been “lost and won.” This short scene sets the tone of the play and invites an intriguing question: are the witches going after Macbeth because of their
own evil machinations … or was this a meeting that Macbeth arranged himself? To Shakespeare’s audience, it would not have made a difference;; they believed that evil spirits like the witches would appear when summoned, whether by our conscious or unconscious minds.
However, to the modern audience, this makes all the difference because one viewpoint puts
Macbeth in control of his actions (and thus a monster), while the other viewpoint makes him a
victim of outside influences.
The next scene introduces us to Duncan, the King of Scotland. When Duncan learns that
Macbeth has killed the traitor Macdonwald, he decides to give Macbeth the title of Thane of
Cawdor, another traitor who is to be executed. This information is revealed to Macbeth and
Banquo in the next scene when they encounter the Witches, who also predict that Banquo will be
the father of kings. Macbeth’s imagination and ambition are sparked by their predictions, and he begins to imagine himself as king, and what needs to be done to attain the crown.
After reading a letter sent to her by her husband describing what the Witches predicted, Lady
Macbeth prepares herself to convince Macbeth that he should do whatever it takes to be king.
She encourages Macbeth to kill Duncan while he is visiting their castle, Inverness. And thus the
plot is set in motion: with the prediction of the Witches and the support of his wife, Macbeth
resolves to kill Duncan, which begins the bloody trail of bodies that leads to his own destruction.
“The sublimity of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is overwhelming: they are persuasive and valuable personalities, profoundly in love with each other.
Indeed, with surpassing irony Shakespeare presents them as the
happiest married couple in all his work.
And they are anything but two fiends, despite their dreadful crimes and
deserved catastrophes. So rapid … is their play that we are given no leisure to confront their descent into hell.”
--Harold Bloom
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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Enlivened
by
witches,
apparitions,
prophecies, sword fights, sensational
murders, and a bloody, severed head,
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most spectacular and frequently produced
plays.
It also provides a fascinating
glimpse into two important chronological
periods: the history of medieval Scotland
and the reign of James I.
Shakespeare’s principle source for his plot was Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles
of Scotland (1587), which was itself
indebted to earlier histories by Hector
Boece, John of Fordun, and Andrew of
Wyntoun. By the time the story of Macbeth’s reign (1040-1057) reached Holinshed, it had
become more fiction than fact. Shakespeare’s script omits, for example, Macbeth’s legitimate claim to the throne and his ten years as a good ruler between the murders of Duncan and
Banquo, while the play makes Duncan older and more reverent in order to blacken the guilt of
the usurper and his murderous wife. Enough historical similarities remain, however, to allow
audiences an unflinching look at the brutality and lust for power extant in eleventh-century
Scotland.
Written soon after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the script commemorates the accession
of her successor to the throne of England through its focus on the Scottish heritage of James I,
his notorious bouts with insomnia, and his interest in witchcraft and magic (evidenced by the
king’s publication of a treatise entitled Demonology in 1597). Shakespeare even provides a
fictitious genealogical line of descent through which James becomes a descendant of Banquo’s son, Fleance, thereby dignifying his reign through antiquity.
Published in the 1623 First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s plays, Macbeth was probably written
and first performed in 1606, soon after the infamous Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy by Catholic
extremists to blow up the Parliament building and all the heads of state on November 5, 1605.
The many references to Jesuits, equivocation, and the role of divine providence in protecting the
realm all point to Shakespeare’s use of this specific historical event, which is now celebrated
throughout England as Guy Fawkes Day. Although the play was initially produced in 1606, the
first historical evidence of a performance at the Globe Theatre occurs in April 1611, when the
astrologer Simon Forman recorded it in his diary.
Macbeth has remained one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays for nearly four hundred years. It even has its own superstitious mystique, which forbids actors from saying the name “Macbeth” inside a theatre lest it bring down a curse upon them.
--Michael Flachmann
Shakespeare: From Page to Stage
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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“Macbeth is visually dark, a Shakespearean film noir … the play opens on a ‘blasted heath,’ where the air is so filthy and foggy (like the smoky streets of Los Angeles in a classic film noir) that one can barely see.
Visual obscurity here suggests moral ambiguity, the boundaries between
good and evil incomprehensibly blurred.”
--Norrie Epstein
“The universal reaction to Macbeth is that we identify with him, or at least his imagination … Shakespeare rather dreadfully sees to it that we
are Macbeth; our identity with him is involuntary but inescapable.
Macbeth terrifies us partly because that aspect of our own imagination is
so frightening.”
--Harold Bloom
“In no other Shakespearean play do we identify to such an extent with
the evildoer himself … Macbeth is more like us … Evil is presented first as (an) illusory promise of gain, then as a frenzied addiction to the
hated thing by which we are possessed.”
--David Bevington
“On an obvious level Macbeth is free to refrain from murdering Duncan. On an only slightly less obvious
level he was bound to do it. One does not have to opt for one of these versions of the play, for they are
both intolerably superficial. What Shakespeare makes us feel, and feel inwardly, is the extremely tenuous
division between the 'free' act and the 'determined' one, and the imaginative possibility of a world in
which the balance has been imperceptibly tipped towards evil, so that man writhes and sprawls vainly on
a greased slope that ends in perdition.”
--Wilbur Sanders
“To mankind in general Macbeth and Lady Macbeth stand out as the supreme type of all that a host and hostess should NOT be.”
--Max Beerbohm
Shakespeare and Macbeth by the Numbers
BORN: April 23, 1564, in Stratford-uponAvon, England
DIED: April 23, 1616 (on his 42nd
birthday)
PLAYS: 37 (give or take) – 10 tragedies,
10 histories, 13 comedies, and 4 romances;
however, it is possible that he may have
written a few more!
260: Hours it takes to read the 936,443
words in The Complete Works of William
Shakespeare, if you read at the rate of 60
words per minute
18,301: Number of spoken words in the
uncut version of Macbeth*
24: Number of times the word “blood” appears in Macbeth – more than in any
other Shakespeare play**
1 PENNY: Price of the cheapest theatre
ticket in Shakespeare’s day
90%: Percentage of U.S. high schools
that require the study of Shakespeare
* according to the Complete Public Domain Text
** according to Scholastic Scope Magazine, January 2006 issue
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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Is MACBETH really cursed? Jared Sakren, SSC’s Artistic Director, shares some of the events that have led many people to believe that the play is truly cursed. After reading this, you can decide for yourself!
My mentor John Houseman once related a story about his experiences with Orson Welles when they
produced the first professional African-American production of a Shakespeare play. Often referred to
as The Voodoo Macbeth because it was set in Haiti, they had employed actual voodoo drummers.
After the play opened, the only bad review they got was from Percy Hammond, drama critic of the
New York Herald Tribune, who vilified the production. At the theatre, John was met by the group of
drummers who, pointing at the newspaper review, asked, “He bad man?” Houseman replied, “Yes, he bad man.” “He VERY bad man?” they asked again. Houseman said, “Yes, he VERY bad man.” The next day Houseman and Welles returned to the theatre to be told by the theatre manager that the
drummers had been up all night drumming and chanting in the basement. John and Orson looked at
each other with amazement, for in that afternoon’s paper, it was reported that the critic, Percy Hammond, had been taken ill and hospitalized. He died within the week.
The so-called “curse of Macbeth,” which forces many in the theatre to refer to it as “The Scottish Play” for fear of bringing “something wicked” upon themselves, is the stuff of theatre legend. In the very first known production of the play in 1606, Hal Berridge, the boy who played Lady Macbeth, died
backstage. It’s reported that Shakespeare himself had to go on in the role. In Amsterdam in 1672, the actor playing Macbeth substituted the blunt stage dagger with a real one, and with it killed the
actor playing Duncan right in front of the live audience.
In his last performance on stage, the great Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn claimed he saw a fourth
Witch. He retired. In 1849, supporters of rival actors, the American Edwin Forrest and the British
John Macready, rioted in front of the theatre in which Macready was appearing as Macbeth. Thirtyone people were killed. In 1934, the Scottish Play went through four different lead actors in ONE
WEEK at the Old Vic. Also in 1934, British actor Malcolm Keen turned mute on stage and his
replacement developed a high fever and had to be hospitalized. Both the director and the actress
playing Lady Macduff were involved in a car accident on the way to the theatre, and the proprietor of
the theatre died of a heart attack during the dress rehearsal.
In the 1937 Old Vic production starring Laurence Olivier and Judith Anderson, Michel Saint-Denis
(another of my mentors at Julliard) nearly died in a traffic accident. Olivier himself almost died when
a falling sandbag just missed his head. In addition, Olivier’s sword broke on stage, flew into the audience, and hit a man who later suffered a heart attack. Just before the production opened, the
favorite dog of Lilian Baylis, the theatre’s founder, died. The next day, Lilian Baylis herself died. In
the Stratford Festival production of 1938, an old man had both his legs broken by his own car in the
parking lot and Lady Macbeth ran her car through a store window.
In 1942, three actors in another production of Macbeth died, and the costume and set designer
committed suicide. Diana Wynyard sleepwalked off the rostrum in 1948 and fell down 15 feet. In
Bermuda, 1953, Charlton Heston suffered severe burns on his groin and leg from tights that were
accidentally soaked in kerosene. An actors’ strike crippled Rip Torn’s 1970 production in New York City; two fires and seven robberies plagued the 1971 version; and, Kenneth Campbell, who played
Macduff, was mugged soon after the play’s opening in the 1981 production.
And finally, Abraham Lincoln was reading Macbeth to a group of friends – the scene following the one
in which Duncan was assassinated. A week later, President Lincoln was assassinated.
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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Part One: Before seeing or reading the play Macbeth, read the statements below. Write an “A” if you agree with the statement, a “D” if you disagree, or a “?” if you are unsure. Then write a brief explanation for each of your decisions. After you have finished reading and/or seeing the play, revisit the statements
and see if you would change your responses.
1
Disagree Strongly
2
Disagree
3
Agree
4
Agree Strongly
Rating
Rating
(BEFORE
seeing/reading
Macbeth)
Statement
(AFTER
seeing/reading
Macbeth)
You can’t always be in control of what you do because some things are “meant” to happen.
Explanation:
People are in charge of their own lives; fate has nothing to do with it.
Explanation:
It is inevitable that people will let power go to their heads; absolute
power corrupts absolutely.
Explanation:
If you love someone, you will do what he/she asks you to do.
Explanation:
You can always choose to do the right thing.
Explanation:
If you want to succeed, you have to remove the obstacles that are in
your way, no matter the consequences.
Explanation:
There is no such thing as pure evil; everyone has a conscience.
Explanation:
Covering up a lie is easier than telling the truth.
Explanation:
Revenge is sometimes necessary.
Explanation:
Guilt is a powerful emotion.
Explanation:
Part Two: What reactions would Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Macduff, or the Witches have to these same
statements? After reading and/or seeing the play, respond to these statements from the viewpoint of one
of these characters. Then, taking on the role of the character, debate these issues!
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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BEFORE/DURING READING: Circle one of the concepts in the middle box and complete the
graphic organizer. Add information to your concept map if your opinions develop or change as
you read Macbeth.
DEFINE IT
GIVE EXAMPLES TO ILLUSTRATE IT
FATE
HONOR
AMBITION
GUILT
CONSEQUENCES (GOOD/BAD) ASSOCIATED WITH IT
OTHER CONNECTIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO IT
AFTER READING: What role did this concept play in Macbeth? Which character exemplified this
concept? Cite specific examples from the play to support your opinion.
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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Presentation skills are becoming more and more important in today’s society. The ability to speak well, whether it is with one person or in front of a large group, is a skill that people use
everyday. By encouraging your students to memorize and perform a scene written by William
Shakespeare, you will be immersing them in great thoughts and language. Not only that, but
you will help students remember that Shakespeare wrote Macbeth as a play to be heard and
seen, not just read on a page.
One of the great things about staging scenes is the way your students can explore multiple
performance choices. You can then compare and contrast these choices with what you will see
(or already saw) at our Southwest Shakespeare Company performance. We will give you a few
examples of staging choices in various scenes to help you get started, we have also provided
additional scene suggestions for you to explore in class!
Although your students may be initially nervous about performing in front of their classmates,
you can make the experience non-threatening by participating in it yourself … you will show your students that even YOU can do it, and probably provide them with some good laughs!
Staging Activity 1: THE WITCHES
One of the notable things about Macbeth, both when it was written and continuing today, is its
use of the witches or the "Wyrd Sisters" and the way they interact with Macbeth throughout the
play. Have students break into groups and pick one of the scenes in which the witches appear
(Act 1, Scene 1; Act 1, Scene 3; Act 3, Scene 5; or Act 4, Scene 1). Have students consider
what staging choices make the witches scariest, the most dangerous, or the most
strange/unique.
Be sure to discuss:
*Vocal Choices (deep voices? high shrieks? monotone possessed voices?)
*Costume (rags? traditional pointy hat? something more monstrous? bloody? animal skins?)
*Movement (slow? erratic? strong? excessively still? isolating one part of the body?)
*Makeup (Strange markings? blood? zombie-like? faces covered with masks of some sort?)
If students do not have access to their dream make-up or costume, have them sketch a picture
to show the class before or after they perform their selection.
This activity is also a great moment to teach about choral speaking and when the witches might
do or say things in unison for greater effect. Make sure you discuss the effects the various
choices had not only on the scene, but also the way those choices could carry through to affect
the witches in the other scenes, as well as the theme of the play based on these staging choices.
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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Staging Activity 2: LOOK TO THE LADY
In Act 2, Scene 1, Macbeth admits to killing Duncan's guards which causes Lady Macbeth to say
"Help me hence, ho!" and Macduff to reply, "Look to the lady." Various productions choose to
take Lady Macbeth's call for help as an embedded or implied stage direction that she is going to
faint. Have your students look at the following lines employing these four different staging
choices:
MACBETH
O, yet I do repent me of my fury,
That I did kill them.
MACDUFF
Wherefore did you so?
MACBETH
Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious,
Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man:
The expedition my violent love
Outrun the pauser, reason. Here lay Duncan,
His silver skin laced with his golden blood;
And his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature
For ruin's wasteful entrance: there, the murderers,
Steep'd in the colours of their trade, their daggers
Unmannerly breech'd with gore: who could refrain,
That had a heart to love, and in that heart
Courage to make 's love kno wn?
LADY MACBETH
Help me hence, ho!
MACDUFF
Look to the lady.
1. Lady Macbeth does not faint but merely feels queasy or light headed to divert attention from
Macbeth.
2. Lady Macbeth pretends to faint in order to shut her husband up because she sees that he is
over-playing the part of the loyal, outraged subject and is concerned that by doing so he will
invite rather than divert suspicion.
3. Lady Macbeth really faints because she is startled that Macbeth killed Duncan’s guards.
4. Lady Macbeth really faints because she is reminded how horrible the murder of Duncan was.
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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The following scenes are suggestions for student performances:

Act I, Scene 3, Lines 30-88 (five characters) The three Witches makes predictions for
Macbeth and Banquo.

Act I, Scene 7, Lines 32-82 (two characters) Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth that he
must murder Duncan if he wants to be king.

Act II, Scene 3, Lines 1-38 (two characters) Macduff wakes up the Porter.

Act III, Scene 3, Lines 1-24 (five characters but one does not have lines) The three
Murderers attack Banquo and Fleance.

Act III, Scene 4, Lines 32-122 (five characters but one does not have lines) Banquo’s ghost appears to Macbeth.

Act IV, Scene 1, Lines 1-104 (eight characters) The three Witches gather around the
cauldron and reveal further predictions to Macbeth.

Act V, Scene 1, Lines 1-69 (three characters) Lady Macbeth has been driven insane by her
guilt.

Act V, Scene 8, Lines 1-34 (two characters) Macduff avenges the death of his family and
kills Macbeth.
Southwest Shakespeare Company
MACBETH
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Act I

Shakespeare commands our attention immediately with thunder, lightning, and the
appearance of the three Witches, the “Weird Sisters.” How does this brief yet intense scene set the tone for the rest of the play?

Throughout the play, there is a great deal of comparison between opposites, as is
established in the first scene by the lines, “When the battle’s lost and won” and “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” In your own words, explain how a battle could be “lost” and “won” and how “fair” could be “foul.”

Macdonwald is a traitor because he joined forces with the Irish against Duncan. Macbeth
defeats Macdonwald and “unseamed him from the nave to th’ chaps/And fixed his head upon our battlements” (sliced him from his navel to his jaw, cut his head off, and stuck it
on the castle wall). King Duncan’s reaction is “O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!” Does this description of Macbeth’s behavior make you think he is a loyal subject willing to do whatever it takes to defend his king, or is he simply capable of great violence? How is
Macbeth’s behavior both “fair” and “foul,” considering which point of view you take?

Not only was Macdonwald a traitor, but the Thane of Cawdor was also a traitor by joining
forces with the King of Norway. What does this suggest to you about the state of affairs
in Scotland?

Shakespeare opens Scene 3 with the Witches discussing evil deeds they have been up to
or are thinking about doing. Considering that Shakespeare’s audience truly believed in
witches, compare and contrast the way his audience and a modern audience could react
to this scene.

The Witches predict that Macbeth will be king and that Banquo’s children will be kings. Which do you think would be better: to be a ruler yourself or your children and
grandchildren to be future rulers? Why do you think this?

How do Banquo and Macbeth differ in their reactions to the Witches’ predictions? 
Although he did not need to kill the Thane of Cawdor to earn that title, Macbeth’s thoughts immediately turn to thinking of murdering Duncan to earn the title of king. What does
this reveal about Macbeth’s character and the effect the Witches’ predictions have on him?

In Scene 4, Macbeth considers the necessity of murdering Malcolm, Duncan’s son, after Duncan gives the title of Prince of Cumberland to Malcolm: “The Prince of Cumberland –
that is a step/On which I must fall down or else o’erleap,/For in my way it lies.” Thinking about Macbeth’s behavior so far in the play, do you think he is a cold-blooded murderer,
or is he a victim of the Witches/Fate?
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
What does Lady Macbeth mean when she says of Macbeth, “Yet do I fear thy nature./It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/To catch the nearest way.” Based on his actions thus far, does Macbeth’s nature really seem full of “human kindness”? What does this tell you about Lady Macbeth’s character?

Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy in Scene 5 that begins “The raven himself is hoarse,” has been viewed by some scholars as a frightening expression of unnatural evil and somewhat
misogynistic. How do you interpret this speech? Does she hate being a woman? Is she
truly evil? Or is she extremely ambitious and willing to do whatever it takes to get her
husband on the throne?

Based on Scenes 5 and 7, describe the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

In the soliloquy beginning “If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well,” Macbeth is having second thoughts about murdering Duncan. What are the reasons he gives as to
why he shouldn’t kill Duncan? He says the only thing motivating him is ambition, “which o’erleaps itself/And falls on th’ other.” What do you think he has decided at this point in regards to murdering the king?

In Scenes 5 and 7, Lady Macbeth makes several violent references to motherhood and
infants: she wants her breast milk to turn to “gall,” and would dash “the brains out” of her baby rather than break a promise she made to Macbeth. However, the Macbeths do not
have children. There is textual evidence that Lady Macbeth had a child: “I have given suck, and know/How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me.” However, it seems that the child has died. Do you think her words reveal hidden feelings about being childless?
Act II

Why do you think Macbeth is imagining that he is seeing a dagger? What does this tell
you about his state of mind before killing Duncan?

After killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth has to take the bloody daggers from Macbeth and
plant them at the murder scene. Why do you think Macbeth is unable to do this himself?
What line from the end of Scene 2 shows that Macbeth is already feeling remorse for
killing Duncan?

Duncan’s sons, Donalbain and Malcolm, are sleeping in the room next to their father. Why do you think Shakespeare included this information in this scene? What do
Donalbain and Malcolm decide to do after discovering their father has been murdered?

Lennox in Scene 3 and Ross and Scene 4 talk about unusual events from the night before.
What are these unusual events and how do they tie into Shakespeare’s audience’s belief about the divine right of kings and what happens when a king is murdered?

Macduff discovers that Duncan has been murdered. Write a letter from Macduff to his wife
describing what has happened, who he suspects has killed the king, and how he feels
about Macbeth being appointed as the new King of Scotland.
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Act III

Banquo was supposedly an ancestor of King James I; thus Shakespeare would have
wanted to portray him in a favorable light. However, there is some evidence that Banquo
was actually Macbeth’s co-conspirator in Duncan’s murder, but of course Shakespeare would not want to include that in a play about his monarch’s ancestor. In comparison to Macbeth, how does Shakespeare make Banquo appear to be a virtuous character?

In Scene 2, how do you think Lady Macbeth is feeling about the murder of Duncan? What
does she mean when she says, “Tis safer to be that which we destroy/Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy”?

Macbeth arranges to have Banquo and Fleance killed while they are out riding their
horses. He doesn’t discuss this with Lady Macbeth: “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,/Till thou applaud the deed.” Why do you think he isn’t sharing this information with her, considering that she was helped him murder Duncan? Do you see
other signs that there is a shift in their relationship since Duncan’s murder?

In Scene 3, a third Murderer joins the two Murderers. Who do you think it is: Macbeth,
Lady Macbeth, one of the Witches, or someone else? Why do you think this?

What is Macbeth’s reaction to Banquo’s ghost? What does this tell you about Macbeth’s state of mind?
Act IV

This act begins with the very famous “Double, double toil and trouble” scene. Research the ingredients the Witches put in the caldron to create their brew to make the
Apparitions appear.

What are the three statements that the Apparitions say to Macbeth?
respond to these statements?

What does the outcome of Scene 2 reveal to you about Macbeth as a ruler?

How does Malcolm test Macduff’s loyalty?
How does he
Act V

What has happened to Lady Macbeth? What lines are “confessions” to the murders of Duncan, Lady Macduff, and Banquo?

What is the Doctor suggesting when he says to the Gentlewoman, “Remove from her the means of all annoyance,/And still keep eyes upon her”?

What is Macbeth’s reaction when he learns of Lady Macbeth’s death? Do you think he sounds heartless, or do you think he expected this to happen?

When Macduff reveals that he “was from his mother’s womb/Untimely ripped,” what does Macbeth realize about the Witches and their prophecies? Do you think he regrets his
actions? Why or why not?
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Directions:
Give students a list of quotes from which to choose to write a personal response to for five to
seven minutes. After writing, students can share their responses in pairs, small groups, or with
the class. Or, one day each week can be set aside for students to choose their best responses
and share them in small groups or with the class. Their responses can take many forms:

Write a three-part response: 1) indicate the meaning of the quote, 2) connect the
quote with other parts of the play, other literature, or personal experiences, and 3) discuss
your personal feelings about the quote, the character, or the action.

Write a completely personal expression. Take off from the quote and free-write
wherever your thoughts make take you: into fantasy; reflections on your day; problems you
are experiencing or have experienced; or people you care about.

Write a poetic response. Write your own feelings to the quote or continue the dialogue
using Shakespeare’s style. Or, write a poem reflecting a theme or idea suggested by the quote.

Copy the quote and illustrate it. In lieu of writing, draw the characters or illustrate the
action in whatever detail you like, from symbolic representation to realistic characterization.

Reply to the character. Write a letter to the character, either from your point of view
or from the point of view of another character in the play.
Act I
1.
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” (Three Witches, Scene 1) 2.
“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray ’s
In deepest consequence.” (Banquo, Scene 3)
3.
“Nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it.” (Malcolm, Scene 4)
4.
“Stars, hide your fires;;
Let not light see my black and deep desires.
The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” (Macbeth, Scene 4)
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5.
“Yet do I fear thy nature;;
It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way.” (Lady Macbeth, Scene 5)
6.
“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 the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect of it!” (Lady Macbeth, Scene 5)
7.
“If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well
It were done quickly.” (Macbeth, Scene 7)
8.
“Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?
And wakes it now, to look so green and pale
At what it did so freely? … Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem …
But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we’ll not fail.” (Lady Macbeth, Scene 7)
Act II
1.
“Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (Macbeth, Scene 1)
2.
“That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold.
What hath quenched them hath given me fire.” (Lady Macbeth, Scene 2)
3.
“Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more!
Macbeth doth murder sleep’—the innocent sleep,
Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care,
The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,
Chief nourisher in life’s feast.” (Macbeth, Scene 2)
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4.
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.” (Macbeth, Scene 2)
5.
“Who can be wise, amazed, temp’rate, and furious,
Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man.
Th’ expedition of my violent love
Outrun the pauser, reason.” (Macbeth, Scene 3)
6.
“There’s daggers in men’s smiles.” (Donalbain, Scene 3)
7.
“Is ‘t night’s predominance or the day’s shame
That darkness does the face of Earth entomb
When living light should kiss it?” (Ross, Scene 4)
Act III
1.
“Naught’s had, all’s spent,
Where our desire goes without content.
‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.” (Lady Macbeth, Scene 2)
2.
“Oh, full of scorpions is my mind!” (Macbeth, Scene 2)
3.
“It will have blood, they say. Blood will have blood.” (Macbeth, Scene 4)
Act IV
1.
“Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” (Three Witches, Scene 1)
2.
“By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.” (Second Witch, Scene 1)
3.
“For the poor wren,
The most diminutive of birds, will fight,
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl.
All is the fear and nothing is the love,
As little is the wisdom, where flight
So runs against all reason.” (Lady Macduff, Scene 2)
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4.
“But cruel are the times when we are traitors
And do not know ourselves; when we hold rumor
From what we fear, yet know not what we fear,
But float upon a wild and violent sea
Each way and none.” (Ross, Scene 2)
5.
“Alas, poor country!
Almost afraid to know itself. It cannot
Be called our mother, but our grave …” (Ross, Scene 3)
6.
“Did heaven look on,
And would not take their part?” (Macduff, Scene 3)
Act V
1.
“Out, damned spot! Out, I say! … Why, then, ‘tis time to do ‘t. Hell is murky! … Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him … The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?—What, will these hands ne’er be clean? … Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand … To bed, to bed … give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed!” (Lady Macbeth, Scene 1)
2.
“Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles.” (Doctor, Scene 1)
3.
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.” (Macbeth, Scene 5)
4.
“And be these juggling fiends no more believed,
That palter with us in a double sense,
That keep the word of promise to our ear,
And break it to our hope.” (Macbeth, Scene 8)
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
Research the REAL Macbeth, Mac Bethad mac Findlaich, and his wife, Gruoch (or Grauch),
who ruled Scotland from 1040-1057. What did Shakespeare use and what did he change
to make his play more dramatic while also appealing to his monarch, James I? Also
during your research, what do you discover about King James’s ancestors Banquo and Fleance?

Write a diary from the perspective of one of the main characters from the play. The diary
may be from the timeframe before, during, or after the play’s events. You will need several entries, and you may want to include personal keepsakes. Remember that
thoughts and feelings are very important in a diary.

Make several drawings of some of the scenes from the play and write a caption for each
drawing. Put all the drawings and captions in chronological order on a poster board to
create a storyboard of the play.

Create a newspaper that reports the various events of the play. You could include a frontpage story that reports the play’s main conflict and its resolution, a features article about
one of the prominent and wealthy characters from the play (similar to an article about a
celebrity), sports and entertainment relevant to the setting of the play or the interests of
the characters, a society page detailing the various wedding celebrations, a weather
report, etc.

Construct a model of the Globe Theatre. You may construct it out of any materials that
you wish. Be sure to consult reliable sources to help you design your model.

Create a sculpture of a character from the play. You may use any combinations of
materials – soap, wood, clay, sticks, wire, stones, old toy pieces, or any other object – to
create your sculpture.

Create a comic strip that depicts a few scenes from the play. You may draw, use
computer graphics, use pictures from magazines, use photos your take yourself, or any
other way you wish to graphically create your comic strip.

Create a movie poster for the play using two or more of the following media: paint,
crayons, chalk, coloring pencils, ink, markers, etc. You may want to choose modern-day
actors to star in the movie and include their names and/or pictures on the poster. Look at
current movie posters to help you determine what information to include on your poster.
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Macbeth Resources
Macbeth: For Kids by Lois Burdett; Firefly Books Ltd., Buffalo, NY: 2005. Written in rhyming couplets and
illustrated by children, this is a great book for students of all ages. Perfect for students performing
readers’ theatre.
“MACBETH: Read-Aloud Play for the Classroom,” Scholastic Scope Magazine: January 23, 2006, Volume
54, Issue 10, ISSN 0036-6412, pages 4-10. This is an easy to read adaptation of the play written in
modern language. An excellent resource for increasing student understanding of the plot before reading
the full text. Call 1-800-SCHOLASTIC for reprinting information.
No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth; Spark Publishing, New York, NY: 2003. Presents the original text of
Shakespeare’s play side-by-side with a modern version; includes marginal notes and explanations along
with full descriptions of each character. This is an especially useful tool for struggling readers.
Reference Books
Discovering Shakespeare’s Language by Rex Gibson & Janet Field-Pickering
The Friendly Shakespeare by Norrie Epstein
How to Speak Shakespeare by Cal Pritner and Louis Colaianni
Shakespeare From Page to Stage by Michael Flachmann
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom
Shakespeare: To Teach or not to Teach by Cass Foster and Lynn G. Johnson
Shaking Hands With Shakespeare by Allison Wedell Schumacher
Teaching Shakespeare into the Twenty-First Century edited by Ronald E. Salomone
Picture Books
A Child’s Portrait of Shakespeare by Lois Burdett
All the World’s A Stage by Rebecca Piatt Davidson
Shakespeare for Kids: Macbeth by Lois Burdett
William Shakespeare and the Globe by Aliki
Websites
www.swshakespeare.org - see what’s new at Southwest Shakespeare Company
www.folger.edu - access to primary documents and lesson plans for teaching Shakespeare
http://nfs.sparknotes.com - this is the “No Fear Shakespeare” website that presents the original text of Shakespeare’s plays side-by-side with a modern version.
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/educational.htm - includes links to sites designed for teaching
Shakespeare using the Internet; great for finding secondary resources to support the play being taught
www.stratford.co.uk - the official Stratford resource center on Shakespeare
www.teachersfirst.com/shakespr.shtml - on-line quizzes and surveys related to particular plays; also has
related sites with information about Elizabethan England
www.william-shakespeare.info/index.htm - a comprehensive site with links to the complete works,
including background information, biographical information and pictures, information about Elizabethan
theatre, a Shakespeare dictionary, quotes, and a discussion forum
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Please help us to improve. We invite you to share your thoughts about this production. Please return this
form to any Southwest Shakespeare Company volunteer as you leave, OR mail it to us at P.O. Box
30595, Mesa, AZ 85275, OR fax it to 480.924.4310. Thank you for completing this form, for coming to
our performance, and for introducing your students to the wonders of Shakespeare and live theatre!
Please feel free to use the back of this form to include any additional comments.
Name of Play:
Performance Date:
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Did you find the Teacher Guide helpful? What did you particularly like/dislike?
Did you enjoy the performance? Why/why not?
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Could you hear it?
What did you think of it visually?
Would you recommend Southwest Shakespeare to other educators? Why/why not?
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