PREMIÈRE · UPPER SECONDARY · B1+ towards B2

Session 6: Witches, ghosts and Halloween: why Macbeth still frightens us

Part 6. Why do witches, ghosts and guilt still fascinate us, four centuries later?

Objectives

Warm-up

Image analysis. Look at the painting for one minute in silence.
John William Waterhouse, The Magic Circle, 1886, Tate, London
John William Waterhouse, The Magic Circle, 1886, Tate, London. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
  1. Waterhouse painted a witch alone, drawing a circle. Is she frightening or fascinating?
  2. How have images of witches changed since Shakespeare's time?
Class rule: we talk about the play, its characters, history and fiction only. Nobody shares a personal fear, a family story or anything private.

Documents

Document 4: the Scottish play. Many actors believe it is bad luck to say the name "Macbeth" inside a theatre, so they call it "the Scottish play". This superstition is a tradition of the theatre world, not a historical fact about curses.
Document 5: fate or choice? The witches never tell Macbeth to kill anyone. They announce; he decides. For some critics, the witches embody fate; for others, they only reveal desires that were already there.

Activities

  1. Halloween in the play: list everything that belongs to the night, the supernatural and fear.
  2. Formal debate: "The witches are responsible for Duncan's murder." Two teams, three arguments each, a quotation for each argument, a rebuttal.
  3. Essay method: thesis, antithesis, synthesis; how to embed a short quotation; how to analyse a word.

Sentence starters

Role play

Mock trial: Macbeth on trial. Roles: prosecutor, defence lawyer, the witches as witnesses, Lady Macbeth, Banquo's ghost, a jury. The jury votes at the end.

Gap-fill worksheet

QR code to this worksheet
Word bank: superstition, supernatural, fate, rebuttal, thesis, responsibility, embody, tradition
  1. Saying "Macbeth" in a theatre is a ______.
  2. Ghosts and witches belong to the ______.
  3. Some critics think the witches represent ______.
  4. An answer to the other team's argument is a ______.
  5. The main idea of an essay is its ______.
  6. Who has the ______ for the murder?
  7. The witches may ______ Macbeth's hidden desires.
  8. Calling it "the Scottish play" is a theatre ______.
Answer key
  1. superstition
  2. supernatural
  3. fate
  4. rebuttal
  5. thesis
  6. responsibility
  7. embody
  8. tradition

Homework

Write your final essay.

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.

Assessment grid

CriteriaLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4
ArgumentsNoneOneThree clearThree clear with quotations
RebuttalNoneAttemptedClearSharp and relevant
InteractionRarely reactsReacts simplyReacts and arguesReacts, argues and rephrases
PronunciationHard to understandUnderstandableClearClear and expressive

Links reminder