Macbeth In-Role Speech

General Hints

Body

Intro

Rehearse well.

In YOUR copy of the speech, include notes on how to perform it.

Consider the use of props and costuming. You can hide lines in your props.

Consider the context in which you're speaking - are you about you take your life? Are you ready to face Macduff? Are you brewing something? Are you trying to was a stain from your hand?

Structure it like any other speech/essay, but perhaps consider beginning with a quote or a reference to the weather/an event to set the scene.

Have a clear thesis, make sure we know who you are (the character).

Will you look at one representation spread across three scenes?
Will you look at three representations (three things Shakespeare is saying about power through you)?
Will you look at two representations, in depth?



It's up to you.

Start with a STRONG topic sentence DELIBERATELY related to the representation you develop. Mention VAIs.

Things to talk about from there AFTER discussing social context (Jacobean England) to establish VAIs.

Examine how aesthetic features reveal your VAIs (and society's) and how Shakespeare uses those to influence his audience...

Think about representations of power

RE-STATE YOUR THESIS - CONCLUDE IT.

LOOK AT YOUR CRITERIA SHEET

Power and gender

Power and the supernatural

Power and the Chain of Being (you CAN include the Divine Right of Kings here... or place it elsewhere)

Think about nature and how it responds

Think about corruption, ambition, etc

What happens to the world when Duncan is killed? Land is sick, nature, death, etc.

Lady Macbeth, Macbeth

Insanity and madness

Temptation and resistance

Macbeth realises he is damned to hell

Futility of power seized corruptly

Shakespeare and King James VI

The power to overthrow the natural order