ADAPTED VERSION · dyslexia and neurodiverse students · B1

Session 5: Act V: guilt and the end

Question: How do Macbeth and Lady Macbeth end?
Step 1

Goals

Step 2

Warm-up

Image analysis. Look at the painting for one minute in silence.
John Singer Sargent, Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, 1889, Tate, London
John Singer Sargent, Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, 1889, Tate, London. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
  1. Who is this woman? What is she holding?
  2. What colours do you see?
  3. Is she happy, proud or afraid?
Step 3

Read

The story. Lady Macbeth walks in her sleep. She tries to wash invisible blood from her hands. She dies. Macbeth is alone. He fights Macduff and is killed.
Out, damned spot! out, I say!
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene 1, Lady Macbeth, sleepwalking
Glossary: damned: cursed · spot: a stain of blood
What's done cannot be undone.
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene 1, Lady Macbeth
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene 5, Macbeth
Glossary: petty pace: small slow steps · syllable: part of a word
Step 4

Tasks

Task a. Mime: wash your hands like Lady Macbeth.
Task b. "Tomorrow, and tomorrow": why does he repeat the word?
Task c. Small task: one minute: is the end fair?
Step 5

Sentence starters

  • Lady Macbeth sees...
  • She feels guilty because...
  • Macbeth feels...
  • I think the end is fair because...
Step 6

Role play

Pairs: the doctor and a servant watch Lady Macbeth. What do they see? What do they say?

Step 7

Gap-fill worksheet

QR code to this worksheet
Word bank: sleep · wash · spot · tomorrow · alone · killed
  1. Lady Macbeth walks in her .
  2. She tries to her hands.
  3. "Out, damned !"
  4. Macbeth repeats "".
  5. Macbeth is at the end.
  6. He is by Macduff.
Answer key
  1. sleep
  2. wash
  3. spot
  4. tomorrow
  5. alone
  6. killed
Step 8

Homework

Write the plan of your final task.

Watch the film at home

  1. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), directed by Joel Coen, with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, in black and white. Where to watch: JustWatch France.
  2. Macbeth (2015), directed by Justin Kurzel, with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. Where to watch: JustWatch France.
  3. DVD: ask at your local library or médiathèque.
  4. Scenes to watch: the witches on the heath (Act I), the dagger and the murder of Duncan (Act II), the banquet and Banquo's ghost (Act III), the sleepwalking scene (Act V).

Watch with English subtitles if you can. The films contain violence.

Step 9

Assessment grid

CriteriaLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4
OpinionNoneSimpleClearClear with reason
UnderstandingNoA littleGoodVery good

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