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Lady Macbeth: The power of deadly persuasion

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Man holds woman's face with hands
Lady Macbeth: The power of deadly persuasion

SUBJECTS:  Arts, English

YEARS: 7–8, 9–10


Macbeth Act 1.7 1–82


After considering the matter carefully, Macbeth decides not to carry out the plan to murder King Duncan.

Until, that is, he is persuaded to by his wife. Lady Macbeth is a fascinating character. Devoted wife or villainess?

Watch this performance from Kate Mulvany and Ivan Donato of Bell Shakespeare to decide for yourself.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Following successful battles against forces from Ireland and Norway, Macbeth and his fellow general Banquo come across three witches who inform Macbeth that he will become King of Scotland. Macbeth recounts the strange prophesy in a letter to his wife, who then seeks to manipulate Macbeth into killing King Duncan.
  2. 2.What reasons does Macbeth give for not murdering King Duncan? What is the 'spur' that makes him consider otherwise? How does Lady Macbeth taunt her husband into action? In what way does she imply that Macbeth has made a solemn vow to kill Duncan? Why does Macbeth pronounce to his wife that she should 'bring forth men-children only'?
  3. 3.'Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem'st the ornament of life and live a coward in thine own esteem …?' To what aspects of Macbeth's character is Lady Macbeth appealing? Is she successful?
  4. 4.In Act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth admits that she believes her husband is 'too full o' th' milk of human kindness' to murder Duncan. Read this scene carefully and note how Lady Macbeth plans to manipulate her spouse. In the passage beginning, 'The raven himself is hoarse …' (line 38) what techniques does Shakespeare employ to influence our perception of Lady Macbeth?


Teachers

Visit Bell Shakespeare's website

Discover programs, workshops and more performances at one of Australia's great theatre companies.

Download a PDF with the full synopsis for each play.

Full plot summaries of Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, and Romeo and Juliet.


Acknowledgements

Created by ABC Splash in collaboration with Bell Shakespeare.


Production Date: 2014


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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