1. Macbeth Reading 3 Date: Objectives
Read Macbeth Act 2 scene 1 and 2
Understand what’s going on in the story.
Mark important quotes and complete exercises.
Warm-up
In your own words and with an example, define guilt.
As in ‘I feel guilty’ – use who, what, why, where, when questions to help you answer..

2. Audiobooks at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL5wF4pWH4c&t=943s
Today’s Reading
Act 2 Scene 1, (4 minutes)
Banquo; Macbeth’s friend and the only other person besides Lady Macbeth who knows of the witches prophecies, cannot sleep as he is troubled by ‘cursed thoughts’. He tries to talk with Macbeth about these thoughts but Macbeth is busy preparing to murder Duncan.
Act 2 Scene 2 (5 minutes)
Macbeth has now killed Duncan and returns to his wife. Lady Macbeth manages the situation well, having helped drugged the guards, framed them and she controls Macbeth now perfectly. Macbeth however is a crazy mess; his guilt making him seem dazed and confused. Phased one of operation ‘Make Macbeth King’ is complete.
Audiobooks at

3. Notes – Act 2 Scene 1
It is late at night. Banquo cannot sleep as he keeps thinking about the witches and their prophecies. He may suspect that Macbeth is about to do something wrong or he may be excited at the thought his children will be kings. The scene also introduces his son, Fleance, who could be a threat later to Macbeth.
Macbeth and Banquo speak, which reveals much about Banquo. The line “If you shall cleave to my consent” is Macbeth subtly asking Banquo to join him. He refuses however, making his allegiances clear. He will only serve a good king. If Macbeth were to become king without evil deeds, Banquo would follow him.
Macbeth sees a floating dagger, showing that he is losing his mind perhaps. The dagger leads him to Duncan’s room where he readies himself to murder the king. Lady Macbeth rings a bell to signal the guards are asleep and it is time to kill.

4. Notes – Act 2 Scene 2
This scene tells us a lot about the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth is overcome by guilt, wishing that he could undo the murder he has just committed. He is covered in blood which he is convinced will never come off. He is unable to say ‘Amen’, considering himself tainted or impure now. He does not believe he will ever sleep again. He also refuses to go back to the scene of the crime as he had forgotten to frame the guards.
Lady Macbeth is much more composed and ruthless however. She organised all this; poisoning the guards, framing them and she instructs Macbeth what to do in order to avoid suspicion. She also calls him a coward to spur him on, then tries to comfort Macbeth kindly, all in an attempt to manipulate him. One human thing she does though is not kill Duncan, as he reminds her of her father.

5. Time for Reflection - pair work
Write down the two quotes below and what you think about them.
“Is this a dagger I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee” (Act 2, scene 1)
“Methought I heard a voice cry. ‘Sleep no more:
Macbeth does murder sleep’ ” (Act 2, scene 2)
Write and perform a scenario / story about the following, based on what happened in the play but about yourself. You just did something horrible to get what you wanted. You are overcome by guilt; you are seeing things, hearing things and going crazy. Your friend organised everything and tries to get you to calm down. He is also organising it so that no one will know it was you who did the terrible thing.

6. Cooldown
We purposely don’t see King Duncan’s murder. This is meant to affect our view of Macbeth.
So... How would you feel IF you saw him kill the old man?
How does the play want you to see Macbeth instead?
(Hint: Shakespeare referred to the play as ‘Macbeth’s Tragedy’)