Macbeth 16 - Lady Macbeth: Before & After and Act V, scene 1
"The Thane of Fife - Had a wife; where is she now?"
Macbeth 16 - A Lesson in Subtext and Act 1 reading continues: If you don't have The Folger Library's Shakespeare Set Free - skip down to continuation of our in-class reading of Macbeth. The first part of today's Lesson can be found in Shakespeare Set Free Volume 1 - Macbeth: Lesson 18 - "Hell is Murky" (pgs 256-258). I won't be repeating those instructions here - just to let you know where I made some changes for my classroom. After this incredible activity (worth buying Shakespeare Set Free - just for this one), we continue our reading aloud of the play with Act 5, Scene 1 - the sleepwalking scene (which is one of the most popular scenes when the students choose their scenes that they will be putting on).
Lesson Overview - A Lesson in Subtext and Macbeth Act I in-class reading 2
No Quiz today - the students were tested on Act 5 - as always get started right away (you'll need every second).
Here are the variations that I made from the Lesson as put forward in Shakespeare Set Free:
1) Depending on the size of the class - each group (Letters A-I) would 2-3 students. If there are 2 students - one students acts out Lady Macbeth (BEFORE) the other does Lady Macbeth (AFTER) - BEFORE refers to the earlier quote; AFTER refers to the later quote. If there are three students - the third student directs the other two in their performances.
2. I change the order of the quotes - the earlier (in the play) quote is read first - then the later quote.
3. After each pair of quotes are read - we pause (applaud the performances) and I will ask a brief question about each set of quotes (mainly referring to WHAT has changed?)
Questions / Observations after each set of quotes
(for the sake of brevity I'm putting these in the form of a comment - BUT I always tried to ask them (in class) as a question - to draw them out - to ask "What has changed?":
A) Beware of what you wish for you just might get it! Murkiness
B) She is now talking to herself!
C) Actions have consequences
D) I usually do (after the student) the 2nd quote: "The Thane of Fife had a wife..." in a creepy, scary, sing-song way. Notice, how present day horror films also play with nursery rhymes and our childhoods.
E) Literal vs. Figurative
F) The second one is a list - a going through the motions of a "sick" person
G) It is Death that is coming at the gate
I) What was persuasion - is now regret
After the lesson on Subtext is over, you should have around 20 minutes to begin the reading through of Act V
Reading through the play in class.
See my page on Reading Plays Aloud in Class for more on this. Every student will read - and as they do their reading - you will stop them (hopefully at the completion of a line) and ask questions or point things out (questions are better). You also need to announce (probably every day) that they may also raise a hand if they are confused, have a question, or want to point something out. This last one may be especially true given that they read it on their own and taken notes on the reading. ADVISE (AGAIN PROBABLY EVERY DAY) THE STUDENTS TO USE A DIFFERENT COLOR PEN (OR PENCIL) TO TAKE NOTES IN CLASS - SO THEY CAN SEE WHAT THEY CAME UP WITH VERSUS WHAT THE CLASS CAME UP WITH (this is an invaluable idea - that actually came from a student a long time ago in my class).
Today's Play-Reading Agenda (this is for a 50 minute period):
Continue Act V - scene 1 - starting at the very top of page 33. Read all the way through through and including Scene 6 then stop for the day. If you are short for time -6 after commenting on the irony of Duncan talking about "how nice things are" at Macbeth's castle - we skip the rest of scene 6.
Important Takeaways (there are SO many more important things to point out - mainly through asking - see my Notes on today's reading for more). REMEMBER: Have students see these points for themselves by asking questions to get at these.
Act V scene 1 - Prose! Why in prose here? Keeping with the other very simple reasons from earlier prose (letter, drunk, etc.) - She's sleepwalking - it's hard enough to do that let alone while talking in iambic pentameter.
What is the paper that she is seen folding and unfolding? 1) A suicide note 2) a letter she intercepts about the killing of Macduff's family? 3) The original letter from Macbeth telling her of Duncan's arrival?
line 18- how the Dr. tells the gentlewoman she can tell him anything (contrast with later - HIS reaction)
line 57-58: - What does the gentlewoman mean here? - Answer: She wouldn't be the queen if it meant carrying this guilt.
line 60 - See Macbeth Made Easy - Stephen Booth! Why "well, well, well"? 1) An expression parents still use 2) what he wishes she were: well 3) Well Water to wash away the blood!
Line 78-79 - An expression they may have heard - What does it mean? She is beyond medical help!
Line 73-74 - A GREAT SELF-TEST for the students - "she has mated" - the footnote in the Folger says "stupified" - but show them how important it is to figure this out for themselves. It is a contraction. Of what? CHECKMATED! see how this gives a much deeper understanding that "stupified"
Any time that is left - allow them to get in their groups to plan their scenes for Macbeth Day.
Here is the description from Amazon: "This volume of the Shakespeare Set Free series is written by institute faculty and participants, and includes the latest developments in recent scholarship. It bristles with the energy created by teaching and learning Shakespeare from the text and through active performance, and reflects the experience, wisdom, and wit of real classroom teachers in schools and colleges throughout the United States. "
The Folger Script for today's reading.
Please note that the Folger Online Edition of Macbeth will have the same corresponding page & line numbers that I reference. Also, the script is available to download from them as a PDF, Microsoft Doc, and with or without line numbers. My students had their own copies (which I strongly recommend) that they could take notes directly in - and which have so many valuable footnotes on the left side of the page. See my handout on Reading Shakespeare in my opening Macbeth Lesson.
This is my script - my "promptbook" if you will - that I follow while we do our in class reading. Please see the page on Reading Plays Aloud in Class. The page numbering, pagination, and line number align with the Folger Edition above. There are notes that should prompt discussion (of course you will have your own as well) - but very often it doesn't go much beyond an underline or a word or two. I have included in the Lesson Overview above Important points in that day's reading.
LadyMacbethbeforeafter_andact5s120161216.m4aClass Recordings
Audio - a recording of today's reading and discussion of the play.
First we have an activity where students act out the two Lady Macbeths. The one before Act V and the one in her sleep walking scene - we talk about the matched lines and how they tell us how much she has changed. Next we read and talk about the sleepwalking scene.
Remote Teaching
See my page on Reading Aloud in Class. We did this lesson with students reading remotely - very successfully, including the Lady Macbeth Before & After activity.
The Folger Library has an online edition of the play without the annotations - Shakespeare words (what appears on the right hand page in the paperback edition. It also includes in this online edition the very useful synopses that appear before each scene.
Macbeth Day 17 - "Tomorrow & Tomorrow" Finishing the Play: This lesson will pick up where we left off - after the sleepwalking scene in Act V and continue until the end of the play. I know - since this is the last reading during the years, I've begun the lesson at different points. Since you need to wrap things up - you may end up skipping some of the fighting and planning of battles - it depends on you. One of the most important things covered today is the "Life is a tale told by an idiot" soliloquy. We then go onto finish the play with a flourish! (literally).
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
It may seem a little thing - but the creepiness of Lady Macbeth's sing-songy nursery rhyme recitation of "The Thane of Fife - had a Wife" where is she now, is actually a big thing. What scared Shakespeare's time - scares ours. Things have not changed as much as we think they have.