Macbeth Essay Plan
Discuss the ways that Shakespeare presents female characters in Macbeth. Explore the varying interpretations that audiences might have.
Introduction:
Introduce the period the play was written in and what it’s about. Explain who the main female characters in the play are, and that a Shakespearean audience might view these characters in a different way to a modern audience.
Section 1: The Witches
- Act 1, scene 1
- Act 1, scene 3
- Act 4, scene 1
Analyse the purpose and effect of our first meeting with the weird sisters
-How do we meet them? What does it tell us about their characters?
-How the characters fit into traditional roles at the time - how does this make the audience feel?
-Analyse the language used, such as the establishment of the theme of the supernatural vs. religion
-How and why are they used for dramatic effect?
-Include context – how does Shakespeare’s use of the witches link to James I and Demonology?
-Interpretation: What different reactions might an audience have now, to an audience in Jacobean England?
-In Act 4, scene 1, what role do the witches fulfil? How could they been seen to be ‘typically’ female; nurturing and comforting on one level, yet powerful and manipulative on another?
Include some interpretation about the layers of meaning.
Section 2: First impressions of Lady Macbeth
- Act 1, scene 5
Explore the initial presentation of Lady Macbeth.
-How is her character introduced?Link to the Jacobean audience’s expectations of a nobleman’s wife. How might this be in contrast to a modern audience?
-The content of her language – is it respectful? Is it ambitious?
-References to Duncan’s murder – link to the context
-Dramatic irony – Duncan’s visit
-The stagecraft of how Lady Macbeth is introduced – why is a soliloquy used?
-Include some analysis and interpretation of the context
Section 3: The presentation of Lady Macbeth through her power over Macbeth
- Act 1, scene 7
Explore the ways that Shakespeare develops the character of Lady Macbeth
-How Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan
-The dramatic effect of her involvement in Duncan’s murder
-Lady Macbeth’s use of imagery to emasculate Macbeth
-The representation of Lady Macbeth’s personality – explore her ‘masculinity’ and the reaction of both a modern and Shakespearean audience
Include some interpretation about the layers of meaning.
Section 3: The development of Lady Macbeth’s character
- Act 2, scene 2
- Act 3, scene 2
Explore the ways that Shakespeare develops her character in Act 2, scene 2
-Why couldn’t she murder Duncan, and how does this link to expectations of gender?
-What is her reaction to the murder of Duncan?
-How does Shakespeare present the relationship between the couple here?
-How might an audience view her actions here, and how might this vary between audience now and when the play was first performed?
Explore Shakespeare’s presentation of Lady Macbeth in Act 3, scene 2
-How does Shakespeare contrast Macbeth and Lady Macbeth here?
-How might an audience now view their contrasting states of mind – which would be considered the more ‘feminine’?
Include some interpretation about the layers of meaning.
Section 4: Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness and suicide
- Act 5, scene 1
- Act 5, scene 5
Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness – her stability in Act 3 Scene 2 to her suicide
-How does Shakespeare show development of character here?
-Shakespeare makes many references to sleep – how does this link to conscience and morals?
-Think about why she commits suicide in Act 5, scene 5 - what does this show us about power and the role/abilities of women?Morality? Stagecraft - props? - how is it revealed?
Section 5: Lady Macduff
- Act 4 Scene 2
Explore Shakespeare’s presentation of the murder of Lady Macduff:
-Why does Shakespeare include the murder of Lady Macduff? How does it develop the key themes in the story?
-Compare the characters of Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff. - How do the audience react to the characters?
-How does this link to the context of the role of women within society then and now?
Include some interpretation about the layers of meaning.
Section 6: The play’s form and structure
Explore how Shakespeare uses conventions of a 5 Act tragedy to present women.
-How do we see the progression and deterioration of Lady Macbeth in the play? How does Shakespeare use the 5 Act structure?
-How does the form of a play affect the way that the women are presented?
-What is your personal response to the downfall of Lady Macbeth – is it a stereotypical presentation of women as hysterical and ultimately weak?
-How might a Shakespearean audience interpret Lady Macbeth differently to a modern audience?
Conclusion:
-Consider all of the women in the play – are they presented as powerful, weak, or a mixture of the two?
-Give your personal opinion on the women in the play and whether they are responsible for the tragedy of the story.