YEARS: 7–8, 9–10
Macbeth 5.5 Explainer
Shakespeare seems to be obsessed with using theatre as a metaphor for life, as the imagery of playacting and performance features in many of his plays.
Hear what Bell Shakespeare's Ivan Donato and John Bell have to say about this symbolism in Macbeth's final soliloquy.
As you watch, consider the life lessons that Macbeth — and therefore the audience — learns from his 'hour upon the stage'.
Things to think about
- 1.Have you ever come across the word 'nihilistic'? Bell Shakespeare's Artistic Director John Bell says that Macbeth's speech in Act 5, Scene 5 is the most nihilistic in all of Shakespeare's works. Take the time to look up the meaning of this word.
- 2.Actor Ivan Donato identifies some indicators of Macbeth's decline in the play … 'a clear trajectory of just a downhill slope'. What are they? John says that in his effort to become king, Macbeth loses everything. What in particular does John say Macbeth has lost?
- 3.
According to Ivan and John, why does Shakespeare using the theatre as a metaphor for life in his works? What do you think John means when he says, '… we're all playing parts … dressing up, not telling the truth about ourselves all the time, and that life is really a performance and you've got to give a good one.' Do you agree? Why, or why not?
- 4.
If you found the meaning of 'nihilistic' you might understand what John means when you watch this soliloquy (it's on ABC Splash). To speak of life as '… a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing' is the conclusion of a man who lost everything in his ambition to become King. How can we avoid the downward trajectory that Macbeth followed?
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).