This document provides context and analysis for studying Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" for a GCSE English Literature course. It includes summaries of key scenes and characters, with a focus on analyzing Macbeth's character development and declining mental state over the course of the play through his increasing guilt and paranoia. Lady Macbeth is also discussed, highlighting clues about her role in Duncan's murder revealed in her sleepwalking scene in Act 5.

1. “Macbeth”
GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE COMPONENT 1

2. Practice Activity
 How does Shakespeare present Macbeth’s
reputation in Act I scene ii?

3. Let’s look at the evidence…
Evidence (Quotation)
Evaluation (What this reveals about Macbeth’s
reputation)
“…brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)” (I, i,
15)
“…like Valour’s minion...” (I, i, 19)

4. PETER Paragraph
P oint
E vidence
T echnique
E valuation
R eader response
Using details from your table of
evidence, write a PETER paragraph in
answer to the question:
How does Shakespeare present
Macbeth’s reputation in Act I scene
ii?

5. Act I scene iii
What do the Witches predict for Macbeth and Banquo?
How do Macbeth and Banquo react to the Witches’ words?

6. Exploring Language
In your book, brainstorm the connotations of the
following words:
Light Dark

7. Act I scene iv
“(Aside) The Prince of Cumberland! – That is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,
For in my way it lies! Stars, hide your fires!
Let not light see my black and deep desires!”
(I, iv, 48-51)

8. Theme: Light versus Dark
Write a PETER paragraph, exploring Shakespeare’s presentation of
the theme of light versus dark in the following quotation:
“Stars, hide your fires!
Let not light see my black and deep desires!”
(I, iv, 50-51)

9. Theme: “Fair is Foul”
“Stars, hide your fires!
Let not light see my black and deep desires!”
(I, iv, 50-51)
“look like the innocent flower
But be the serpent under’t”
(I, v, 64-65)

10. Learning Objective
 To understand the concept of ‘hamartia’ and how it
applies to Macbeth’s character.

11. Hamartia
 The term hamartia is a Greek term which means “to miss the mark”
or “to err” and is most often associated with Greek tragedy.
 Hamartia, as it pertains to dramatic literature, was first used by
Aristotle in his Poetics.
 In tragedy, hamartia is commonly understood to refer to the
protagonist’s error or flaw that leads to a chain of plot actions
culminating in a reversal from their good fortune to bad.
 What qualifies as the error or flaw can include an error resulting
from ignorance, an error of judgement, a flaw in character, or sin.

12. Activity
“Yet do I fear thy nature.
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way...
...wouldst not play false,
And yet would wrongly win.” (I, v, 15-21)
 How do Lady Macbeth’s words in this quotation add to
the audience’s understanding of Macbeth’s character?

13. Activity
Read Lady Macbeth’s Soliloquies (I, v, 14-29 & I, v, 37-53)
1. Which phrases in these soliloquies suggest that that she has
decided that they have to kill Duncan?
2. In lines 37-53, find examples of language to do with darkness
and night.
3. In what ways are they involving the natural world in their
plots?

14. Macbeth’s Soliloquy
Act I, scene vii, lines 1-27
Macbeth’s reasons for not killing
Duncan
Macbeth’s reasons for killing
Duncan

15.  What does this soliloquy reveal about Macbeth’s attitude
to killing Duncan?
Macbeth’s Soliloquy
Act I, scene vii, lines 1-27

16. Lady Macbeth’s Soliloquy
Act III, scene ii, lines 4-7
“Nought’s had, all’s spent,
Where our desire is got without content.
‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.”

17. Macbeth: Act III, scene ii, line 36
“O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!”

18. Macbeth: Act III, scene ii, lines 45-47
“Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling Night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, ...”

19. Act III, scene iv, lines 23-24
Macbeth’s reaction to Fleance’s escape:
“...But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in
To saucy doubts and fears.”

20. Act III, scene iv, lines 130-131
Macbeth’s paranoia:
“There’s not a one of them, but in his house
I keep a servant fee’d.”

21. Act III, scene iv, lines 136-138
The extent of Macbeth’s guilt...
“I am in blood
Stepped in so far, that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”

22. Act V, scene i
How is Lady Macbeth presented in this scene?
What clues does Lady Macbeth inadvertently
provide about her involvement in Duncan’s
murder?