TERMINALE LV1 · UPPER SECONDARY · B2 to C1 · C1/C2 extension track in every session

Session 2: Act I: prophecy and ambition

Part 2. How do the witches' words awaken Macbeth's 'black and deep desires', and what role does Lady Macbeth play?

Objectives

Close read key speeches of Act I
Analyse imagery of darkness and nature
Understand the asides and soliloquies

Warm-up

Image analysis. Look at the painting for one minute in silence.

Théodore Chassériau, Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Witches on the Heath, 1855, Musée d'Orsay, Paris — Théodore Chassériau, *Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Witches on the Heath*, 1855, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

Who are the two riders? Who are the figures on the ground?
How does Chassériau use the landscape and the light?
Compare with Fuseli: which painting is more frightening, and why?

Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Macbeth and the Witches, 1858 to 1859, The Wallace Collection, London — Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, *Macbeth and the Witches*, 1858 to 1859, The Wallace Collection, London. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

Documents

All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene 3, First Witch

Glossary: hail: greetings · thane: Scottish lord

Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene 4, Macbeth

Glossary: desires: wishes

yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth about her husband

Glossary: thy: your · the nearest way: the quickest way, murder

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!
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth

Glossary: tend on: serve · direst: most terrible

look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't.
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth

Glossary: serpent: snake · under't: under it

I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself And falls on the other.
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene 7, Macbeth

Glossary: spur: a metal point that makes a horse go faster · intent: plan · vaulting: jumping · o'erleaps: jumps too far

But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we'll not fail.
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth

Glossary: sticking-place: the point where it holds firmly

Activities

Close reading, "Stars, hide your fires": light and darkness, the separation of eye and hand. Why does Macbeth speak in an aside?
Lady Macbeth's invocation: imperatives, the body, the spirits. How does she reject her gender role?
Imagery: the innocent flower and the serpent. Find the biblical echo.
"Vaulting ambition": the image of the rider and the horse. What does it say about the danger of ambition?
Intermediary task (interaction): perform the persuasion scene of Act I, Scene 7 in your own words, then read the two lines of "screw your courage" aloud.

Sentence starters

The imagery of darkness reveals...
Lady Macbeth uses imperatives to...
The metaphor of the serpent suggests...
Macbeth admits that his only motive is...
This aside allows the audience to...

Role play

Pairs: Lady Macbeth and Macbeth on the night of Duncan's visit. Macbeth wants to stop; Lady Macbeth attacks his courage and his love. Use your own words, and finish with one line from Shakespeare.

Gap-fill worksheet

Word bank: aside, soliloquy, imperative, invocation, ambition, serpent, prophecy, thane

A ______ is a speech spoken alone on stage to reveal thoughts.
An ______ is a short remark the other characters do not hear.
The witches' ______ announces that Macbeth will be king.
A Scottish lord is called a ______.
Lady Macbeth's ______ calls on evil spirits.
"Come, you spirits" uses the ______.
Lady Macbeth tells her husband to be the ______ under the flower.
Macbeth's only spur is vaulting ______.

Answer key

soliloquy
aside
prophecy
thane
invocation
imperative
serpent
ambition

Homework

Choose one quotation and write a commentary of 200 words: context, language, effect.

Watch the film at home

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), directed by Joel Coen, with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, in black and white. Where to watch: JustWatch France.
Macbeth (2015), directed by Justin Kurzel, with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. Where to watch: JustWatch France.
DVD: ask at your local library or médiathèque.
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.

Assessment grid

Criteria	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Close reading	Paraphrase only	Some analysis	Analysis of language	Precise analysis of language and effect
Quotations	None	Copied	Embedded	Embedded and commented
Interaction	Rarely reacts	Reacts simply	Persuades	Persuades with rhetorical skill
Language	Many errors	Some errors	Few errors	Accurate and varied

Terminale LV1 · C1/C2 extension track

For strong or anglophone students. Ambition is analysed through Lady Macbeth's language.

Extended extract

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!
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, scene 5 (public domain)

Critical analysis

What does 'unsex me' suggest about gender roles in 1606?
How do imperatives build power?
Is Lady Macbeth a villain or a victim of her era?

Nuanced vocabulary

Word or phrase	Meaning and use
invocation	a call to supernatural powers
gender norms	social expectations linked to sex
hubris	excessive pride before a fall
arguably	to present a view as defensible but open to debate
to hinge on	to depend entirely on