Macbeth oral preparation -

Macbeth oral preparation - get that grade!

I will interview you for about 10 minutes. I would like you to prepare for your talk by reading the play to the end of Act 2 scene 3.

If you do not have your copy of the play, read it online at http://library.thinkquest.org/2888

I would like you to begin with a 1-2 minute talk on what you learned about the characters of Macbeth and his wife from this section of the play. Consider

Macbeth

Scotland's brave hero at first; he has defeated both the Macdonalds and the Norweigian invaders
his bravery is beyond question - he defeated the Macdonalds by personally seeking out their leader and beheading him (leaders normally kept out of the thick of the battle!)
his leadership is beyond question - he rallied an army tired from fighting one enemy to fight and defeat another, the Norse invaders
the witches sow in him an ambition to be king - or perhaps voice a secret ambition he already had
perhaps they cast a spell on him
when their prediction that he would be Thane of Cawdor comes true, he really becomes keen to be king (their third prediction)
his good nature makes him object to his wife's plan to kill King Duncan
however, he cannot stand up to her powerful personality and she sways him to agree to her plan
when he comes to the murder, he is so torn up over it that he hallucinates a dagger
after the murder, he hallucinates a voice; it is his conscience, telling him that he will 'sleep no more' with this crime on his head

Lady Macbeth

immediately she reads Macbeth's letter telling her what the witches said, she is ambitious for him
her first thought is murder - but she thinks that Macbeth is 'too full of the milk of human kindness' to plan it
she therefore prays to the devil to 'unsex' her so that she is hard like a hard man
she is cunning, devising the plot to get the king's guards drunk and then adding drugs to their wine
she is two-faced, smiling at King Duncan, though she plans to murder him
she is cruel, telling us that she would have done it herself, but he looked like her father
she is without conscience, saying ' a little water clears us of this deed'

I will then ask some questions about the tension and atmosphere during the first three scenes of Act 2.

For some help with this, click here