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