MYPNA_TE_G12_U3_web.pdf

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making meaning

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH,

ACT I

analyze Craft and Structure

Author’s Choices: Structure During the late 1500s, Elizabethan

drama blossomed. Using models from ancient Greece and Rome, writers

reintroduced tragedies, plays in which the main character, through some

fatal flaw in his or her personality, meets a tragic end. Tragedies from

Shakespeare’s era also feature these characteristics:

•   They are written in carefully crafted, unrhymed verse, using powerful

language and vivid imagery. Since there were no sets, the words

themselves created the illusion of time and place.

•   They have a heavy dose of internal conflict, opposing thoughts and

feelings that war with each other in a character’s mind.

Dramatists reveal characters’ internal conflicts in a variety of ways. One

method is the soliloquy, a long speech delivered by a character who is alone

on stage. In a soliloquy, the character voices thoughts and feelings to the

audience as though he or she were thinking them out loud. In Shakespeare’s

soliloquies, the audience gets valuable inside information about a character’s

fears, confusions, and desires, as well as his or her intentions to betray or

even murder other characters.

WHAT Is IT ABOuT?

WHY usE A sOlIlOquY?

WHO spEAks IT?

Practice

Review the soliloquy at the beginning of Act I, Scene vii, lines 1–28. Use the chart to

explore why Shakespeare uses a soliloquy here. What information does it provide that

audiences could not obtain from dialogue?

CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

to support your answers.

 sTAnDARDs

Reading Literature

Analyze how an author’s choices

concerning how to structure specific

parts of a text contribute to its

overall structure and meaning as well

as its aesthetic impact.

278 UNIT    3   •   FACING  THE FUTURE, CONFRONTING THE PAST

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TEACHING

Formative assessment

analyze Craft and structure

•   if students are unable to identify why

Shakespeare uses a soliloquy, then have

students review the definition of soliloquy by

first writing its definition in the third row of

the chart.

For Reteach and Practice, see analyze Craft and

structure: structure (rP).

Analyze Craft and Structure

author’s Choices: structure Explain that

Shakespeare uses the concept of a character’s

fatal flaw in all of his tragedies. Fatal flaws are

character traits that are taken to an extreme,

such as in Macbeth’s case, his consuming

ambition and self-doubt. Other fatal flaws that

show up in Shakespeare’s characters are lack of

self-knowledge, excessive pride, impulsiveness,

and indecisiveness. For more support, see

analyze Craft and structure: structure.

MAKE IT INTERACTIVE

Project Macbeth’s soliloquy from Scene vii,

lines 1−28, and read it aloud. Then read it aloud

again, pausing to discuss what Macbeth is

revealing about himself.

See possible responses in chart on student

page.

PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING

english Language support

Using Cause and effect in tragedies Have

student pairs identify causes and effects in Act I

related to Macbeth’s flaws. After speaking with the

witches, he writes to Lady Macbeth; she convinces

him to kill Duncan, and the two begin plotting.

EMErging

Have students write down causes and effects in

Act I related to Macbeth’s fatal flaw of ambition.

After speaking with the witches, he writes to Lady

Macbeth; she convinces him to kill Duncan, and the

two begin plotting. Lady Macbeth strengthens his

resolve. EXPAnding

Have students write a paragraph explaining Macbeth’s

fatal flaw of ambition. After speaking with the

witches, he writes to Lady Macbeth; she convinces

him to kill Duncan, and the two begin plotting. Lady

Macbeth strengthens his resolve, and he reminds

himself to stay the course. Bridging

An expanded english Language support Lesson

on Cause and Effect in Tragedies is available in the

Interactive Teacher’s Edition.

Macbeth

Macbeth debates about whether or not to kill Duncan. He says that if he can be

assured there will be no consequences, he would risk his soul. He ponders on

the attributes of the king and how he should be loyal to him. He knows the king

will be deeply mourned. In the end, he decides to move forward with his plan

acknowledging his own ambition.

Macbeth reveals his inner thoughts and conflicts to the audience. He admits his

own fatal flaw, his ambition.

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