WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Welcome to Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace of the

most well-known British playwright: William

Shakespeare.

It’s time to get to know William Shakespeare a

little better, via his father: John Shakespeare.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FATHER OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Interviewer: Good evening Mr Shakespeare. Will you forgive me if I begin with one

of the oldest questions in the book? What was it like to be the father

of the world’s most famous playwright?

John: If you must know, it was much like being the father of any normal,

healthy, intelligent boy, who often got into trouble and took his

beatings like anyone else.

Interviewer: But he must have had a special place in your affections when he was

very young – not because he was clever, but because your first two

children had died in infancy, I believe.

John: Yes, Joan and Margaret. Will was our third, born in April of 1564 when

the plague was at its height. There were over two hundred deaths in

Stratford alone between the July and December – many of them

children. We thanked the Lord that Will was spared.

Interviewer: And after Will?

Interviewer: Will was our first, you might say. Then came Gilbert, Joan – the

second Joan, that is – Anne, Richard and Edmund. Edmund was a full

sixteen years younger than Will.

Interviewer: Eldest sons used to follow in their father’s footsteps in your day, I

think. Did William help you in your business and your other duties?

John: He grew up knowing all about my trade as a glover, but I didn’t insist

that he followed me in it. And he learned a lot about constables and

bailiffs too when he was at home; but Will had a mind of his own –

and a better one than mine! He wasn’t going to follow in his father’s

footsteps.

Interviewer: Well, I suppose he had already started off in a new direction by going

to King’s New School, the grammar school in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Did he like it? Or was he like the schoolboy in one of his speeches –

‘creeping like snail unwillingly to school?

John: Like all the boys, he was glad when home-time came! Yes, they

worked them hard at that school, especially at their Latin and Greek.

Interviewer: We know that students in Elizabethan times used to

read the Bible in Greek. Do you remember Will doing that?

John: Yes, I do. And those Roman dramatists in Latin. What were their

names now?

Interviewer: Seneca and Plautus?

John: Aye, that sounds something like … Seneca … and … Plautus … yes…

Interviewer: He obviously had a good grounding in classical authors, as we can see

from his frequent references to them in his plays. But what about the

school day itself? What time did school begin?

John: He had to be up at half-past five in the morning in summer to be at

school by six o’clock. Though it became seven in winter. They had a

break for breakfast, then lessons until eleven. Will’s school was only a

quarter of a mile from our house in Henley Street and he used to

come home to dinner. Afternoon school began at one o’clock and

went on till five. Six days a week that was, with two afternoons off.

Interviewer: Hm! We’ve eased up a little since then. Perhaps that’s why we aren’t

producing as many Shakespeares!

John: One is enough!

Interview: Yet many people have argued that because your son left school when

he was fifteen and grew up in such a quiet, remote town in rural

England, he couldn’t possibly have written the remarkable plays we

call Shakespeare’s.

John: Well I can’t say I’m surprised! We found it hard to believe ourselves at

first, but then we got used to the idea of Will being famous and

successful. Mind you, it was London that developed his talents, not

Stratford, though he was slow to mature, even in rural England!

Interviewer: Which brings us to his marriage. William, aged eighteen, married

Anne Hathaway, aged twenty-six, and six months later their first child

was born. All the world knows the story. One half says ‘tut, tut!’ and

the other half says ‘he must have been quite a lad, this Shakespeare!’

What did you say?

John: I’d better not repeat what I said! But he did the honourable thing, he

married her, and when Susanna was born, she became a playmate for

Will’s youngest brother Edmund, who was no more than three at the

time! Then, less than two years later, Anne gave birth to twins,

Hamnet and Judith.

Interviewer: So by the time he was twenty, Will was the father of three children!

Living with you in Henley Street?

John: Yes, living at home, but longing to get away.

Interviewer: You mean Stratford was too small for a man of his talents?

John: Yes, he was restless. London was the place. Everything was happening

there and the acting companies that came to Stratford in the summer

months gave Will a taste of what it would be like to perform in

London. There was no holding him. Wife and children or no – he was

away – joined one of the companies and began a new life! Cause

problems that did! But you must remember he didn’t desert us

altogether. He came back often. Never lost his ties with his family or

Stratford.

Interviewer: One more question, Mr Shakespeare, if I may. It’s about his reasons

for leaving Stratford. One story – or rumour, or tradition – has it that

he fled Stratford because he was charged with stealing deer from the

park of Sir Thomas Lucy. It sounds very unlikely, I know, but how

much truth is there in it?

John: None at all! Mind you, I wouldn’t have put it past Will – but the fact is

that Sir Thomas Lucy didn’t have a licence to keep deer, so there were

none to steal! That story’s a rumour. No, Will left Stratford for

mightier reasons than stealing deer!

Interviewer: And when we next hear of him, he was an actor, a poet and a

dramatist. But what happened to him in the intervening years has

remained a mystery. They are sometimes called ‘the lost years’ and I

would dearly like to ask you about them, Mr Shakespeare.

John: And I would dearly love to tell you, but that would be breaking the

rules, wouldn’t it? And we can’t do that!

Interviewer: No, I suppose we can’t. They will just have to remain ’the lost years’

and we’ll have to draw our interview to a close. But for all you have

told us about William, thank you very much, Mr Shakespeare.

John: Thank you. Now I can go back to my quiet little corner of history.

Besides, why bother with what I have to say when you have Will’s

plays themselves!

Comprehension: You must answer in detail, in full sentences that make sense on their

own.

1. What was John Shakespeare’s occupation?

2. In which street in Stratford-Upon-Avon did he live?

3. What was one of the functions of a councillor in Stratford-Upon-Avon then?

4. What job did the constable do?

5. What responsibility did a chamberlain have?

6. What was the highest position John Shakespeare rose to in Stratford?

7. How many children had John and Mary Shakespeare?

8. Where did William come in the family?

9. Which school did William go to?

10. Which languages did he study?

11. What time did the school begin in summer?

12. How long was the school day?

13. How old was William when he got married?

14. How old was Anne Hathaway at the time?

15. What was the name of their first child?

16. What were the names of their twins?

17. What name is given to the period between Shakespeare’s leaving Stratford and his

appearance in London as an actor and a poet?

Translate Shakespeare’s Language Into

Modern English

● Prithee, let us repair post-haste to yonder

tavern for a pot of sack and some capon.

● Yon wench seems in a choler. Her

humour hath been this sith days of yore.

● Ifaith, the caitiff hath been justly

punished for cozening divers townfolk.

● Yon jade hath not the worth of one groat.

avaunt – go away

avouch – prove

betimes – soon

caitiff – cowardly wretch

capon – chicken

choler – bad temper

con – study

conceit – idea

cozen – cheat

divers – various

drab – an immoral person

entreat – beg

e’re – before

enow – enough

fain – rather

fardel – burden

fell – terrible

forsooth – honestly

groat – a small coin

humour – mood

husbandry – maintenance

ifaith – honestly

jade – worn out horse

jakes – lavatory

lest – unless

lief – prefer

methinks – I think

naught – nothing

noisome – harmful

o’er – over

parley – talk

pate – head

prithee – I beg you

quaff – drink

repair – make your way to

riggish – playful

rude – rough

sack – wine

sith – since

taper – candle

varlet – low class rogue

visage – face

yore – long ago

zounds – God’s wounds!

Translate Modern English Into

Shakespeare’s Language

● Honestly, I think your face has the look of

a worn out horse.

● Go away! I’ve had enough of this

quarreling between you two.

● I cannot drink this unpleasant wine.

● Let’s make our way to the pub and have a

talk about this terrible business

immediately.

● That wretched coward has cheated you. I

would be inclined to testify how he has

treated you in a harmful manner.

Reading Shakespeare

Four Important Rules:

1. ‘Thou’ means ‘you’.

2. You don’t pause at the end of a line unless there is punctuation telling you to.

3. An apostrophe in a word just means there is a letter missing (like when we say ‘don’t’).

4. Adding ‘eth’ to a verb doesn’t make it Shakespearean.

Task:

● Practice speaking some Shakespeare aloud with a partner.

● This extract comes from his play Macbeth…

cauldron = a witch’s pot

entrails = guts

sweltered = heated, venom =

poison

thou = you

toil = work

fillet = a piece of meat

fenny = from a swamp

fork = forked tongue

owlet = baby owl

broth = soup

WITCH 1. Round about the cauldron go;

In the poison’d entrails throw.—

Toad, that under cold stone,

Days and nights has thirty-one;

Swelter’d venom sleeping got,

Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot!

BOTH. Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

WITCH 2. Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,

Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

William Shakespeare and his tragedies:

Elizabeth I was queen of England when William Shakespeare was born in 1564. He

was the son of a glove-maker in a small town called Stratford-Upon-Avon and he

was educated at a grammar school in that town. He didn’t go to university – it is

thought that he worked for his father when he left school. When he was 18 he

married Anne Hathaway. She was the mother of his daughter, Susanna, in 1583,

and of twins in 1585.

There are no real records of Shakespeare for a while after that, until he popped up in London in

1592. Here, he had become an actor and a playwright.

He started out by writing history plays about England (these earned much money because English

people liked to see their history told on stage).

He then had a period of writing romantic comedies – these usually featured young people falling in

love and ended with marriages and happy endings.

One of his twins died in 1596. Some people think this is why his plays became quite sad and bitter at

this point. Many plays were sad at this time, though – not just Shakespeare’s. Some people thought

this was because Queen Elizabeth was ill – people loved her and were afraid she might die.

Comprehension:

You must answer in detail, in full sentences that make sense on their own.

Where and when was Shakespeare born?

________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Why were Shakespeare’s history plays so popular?

________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Why did Shakespeare’s plays become sadder after 1596?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in his parents’ house

in _____________________ ______________ ___________.

His mother and father were called Mary and John. John was

a glove maker but later became Mayor of Stratford.

When he was a boy, Shakespeare went to the local grammar school. He would have learnt

Latin, Greek and history. Only boys went to school and here was only one classroom. The

school day was long and tiring, lasting from ______ to ______. Children went to school six

days a week and did not get many holidays. If pupils were naughty they were hit with a

birch rod.

Outside of school Shakespeare might have enjoyed fishing or

swimming in the river Avon, visiting country fairs, or watching

performances by travelling entertainers.

Shakespeare

married Anne

Hathaway when he was 18 and had three

children by the time he was 21. Shakespeare left

his family and travelled to London soon after his

children were born. He stayed there and

became an __________________.

As well as working as an actor, Shakespeare also began to write his own plays. From about

1592 to 1613 Shakespeare wrote __________ plays! Shakespeare’s plays were very popular

and he became famous and wealthy. He joined a group of actors called ____ ________

___________________ _________ and began writing just for them.

__________________ I was Queen of England for most of Shakespeare’s

life. His plays were often performed for her at her palace.

In 1598 Shakespeare and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men built their own

theatre in London called _______ _____________. It was circular and

open air.

In 1612, Shakespeare retired and returned to Stratford. He bought the

second biggest house in Stratford for his family. Shakespeare died on his

birthday in 1616.

Why do we have to study Shakespeare?

● It will help me to understand how people used to live 400 years ago

● I will learn how words have changed

● I will understand how human behaviour hasn’t changed

● To realise that just because a story is old doesn’t mean it’s rubbish

● Because Shakespeare is famous

● It’s in my exams

● It will help me to understand how to read and understand more

difficult texts

● To learn how to select important pieces of information

● To be able to explain how words and phrases are used to create emotions or a sense of

place

● I will learn about putting on a play in Shakespeare’s time

ADD SOME IDEAS OF YOUR OWN:

Life in Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon

Statford-Upon-Avon is situated in the West

Midlands and s the birthplace of William

Shakespeare, the most famous writer in the English

language.

Shakespeare is known for his sonnets and plays

such as 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Hamlet'.

The population of Elizabethan England was less

than five million, London had a population of

200,000 and Stratford-Upon-Avon had about 1,500

inhabitants. Towns grew in size throughout the

Elizabethan era, as changes in agriculture during

the period led to people leaving the countryside to search for employment in the town.

The life of William Shakespeare and his family was devastated by the Black Death, also

known as the Bubonic Plague and Black Plague. It killed many members of his family when

he was young, He lost his sisters Joan, Margaret (just babies) and Anne (aged 7) to the

deadly plague. He also lost his brother Edmund (aged 27).

But the greatest loss to William Shakespeare was his only son, Hamnet, who died when he

was just eleven years old. This caused Shakespeare to have a lifelong fear of the disease. It is

no wonder that William Shakespeare was known to be terrified of the Bubonic Plague

throughout his lifetime.

This terrible disease was not confined to the main English town of London. It stretched out

all over Elizabethan England, claiming the lives of countless victims in the small towns and

villages such as Stratford upon Avon. In 1564 alone, the Black Death (aka the Bubonic

Plague) killed one out of seven of the 1,500 inhabitants of Stratford-Upon-Avon.

William almost certainly went to one of Stratford's 'petty' or junior schools where he would

have learnt his letters with the help of a hornbook. From the age of seven or thereabouts,

he would have progressed to the King's New School where the emphasis would have been

on Latin, it still being the international language of Europe in the 1500s. Shakespeare

probably left school at the age of 14 or 15.

Shakespeare’s plays reveal a detailed knowledge of the curriculum taught in such schools

which were geared to teaching pupils Latin, both spoken and written. The classical writers

studied in the classroom influenced Shakespeare's plays and poetry; for example, some of

his ideas for plots and characters came from Ovid's tales, the plays of Terence and Plautus,

and Roman history.

It is not known what Shakespeare did when he left school, probably at the age of 14, as was

usual.

William Shakespeare’s Strafford-Upon-Avon

Comprehension: You must answer in detail, in full sentences that make sense on their

own.

1. Where is Stratford-Upon-Avon based in the United Kingdom?

2. How many people lived in Stratford-Upon-Avon?

3. Why did the Black Death have such a terrible impact on Shakespeare’s life?

4. What was the name of Shakespeare’s son who tragically died and how old was he when

he passed away?

Task: This is William Shakespeare’s school day. In the space next to it, write the details of

your school day too

A typical day at school My school day

6.30am: start of lessons

Latin: just the thing to help you wake up on

a cold winter’s morning. Pupils would begin

their Latin studies by learning maxims (or

sayings) by heart and later move on to read

classic texts

8.30am: break for breakfast – bread and

then a small amount of fruit. Then…

Divinity: (Religious Studies) followed by…

Arithmetic (in other words, maths)

12.30pm: break for lunch – which might

involve translating a part of the Bible.

Classical History: i.e. the Ancient Greeks and

Romans (as you probably gathered, school

teachers were quite keen on the Greeks and

Romans)

Rhetoric: the art of public speaking. Rhetoric

was a favourite of (guess who?) the Romans,

who loved nothing better than a rip-roaring

public debate. Being taught how to speak in

public wouldn’t have done William

Shakespeare any harm though!

5.30: home time (the end of a long day)

What do you think are the major similarities and differences?

We are going to be looking at two of Shakespeare’s famous plays: ‘As You Like it’ and

‘Macbeth’. Both texts look at issues which are still relevant today: family, life, death,

ambition and love.

The first extract we will be looking at is a famous monologue from Act 2, Scene 7 of ‘As You

Like it’, spoken by a character called Jaques who talks through the ‘seven ages of man’.

What are the seven ages of man according to Shakespeare? What stage do you think you

are at now?

Stage 1

‘First, the infant'

Stage 2

‘Then the….’

Stage 3

‘And then the…’

Stage 4

‘Then a…’

Stage 5

‘And then a…’

Stage 6

‘The sixth age shifts…’

Stage 7

‘The last scene of all…a second childishness’

● Before we read the speech together as a class, listen to an actor performing the speech.

● See if your own predictions of the seven ages of man links in with what you see and

hear. Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtEUySDDg-I

Here’s the speech. As you’re reading, consider the accompanying questions:

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,

Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,

In fair round belly with good capon lined,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

William Shakespeare

W

h

y

d

e

s

c

r

i

b

e

m

e

n

a

n

d

w

o

m

e

n

a

s

p

l

a

y

e

r

s

o

n

a

s

t

a

g

e

?

W

h

y

a

‘

s

t

a

g

e

’

Analysing ‘The Seven Ages of Man’ Speech

The Seven Ages of Man speech describes__________________________________________

and uses the metaphor of a __________________to describe life in general. Other words

such as ‘__________’ and ‘_______________’ also support this.

The first stage of man is____________________. Shakespeare uses the words ‘__________’

and ‘____________’ to describe this. These words are good/bad/effective/not effective

because____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

The second stage of man describes a school boy who is described as ‘__________’ which

implies that_________________________________________________________________.

Shakespeare describes the school boy’s movement as ‘___________’. This means

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

The third stage of man is someone falling in love who ‘sighs like a ___________’. Then in

the fourth stage a soldier is ‘bearded like a _________________________’

The fifth stage of man is _____________________. The language used to describe this stage

is ______________________________________________which makes me think of

____________________ and suggests that _______________________________________.

The sixth stage of man describes early old age. Shakespeare describes the man here as

wearing ‘_________’ and also ‘__________________’. This stage appears to be

___________________________________________________________________.

The final stage of man is described as a ‘second chidhood’, which suggests that

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Task 1: storyboard this speech:

● Fill in your storyboard, using your own words to explain what Shakespeare says.

● Using this grid to help you, create your own storyboard of Shakespeare’s seven ages of

man, drawing pictures of each one in each box.

● Label it with the right quotations from the text

Task 2: create the seven ages of a school pupil.

● Make a list of what they could be. Who can think of one to start us off?

● Your storyboard should have:

– Seven boxes

– A name for each stage

– A short description of each stage

– An illustration of each stage.

Task 3: your opinion

Which of the seven ages of man is the best? Explain why

Use these sentence stems:

The best age of man is…

This is most enjoyable because….

Moreover…

Therefore…

Finally…

Use the following persuasive techniques, and cross or tick when you have used each at

least once.

Listing in threes Anecdotes Emotive language

Facts and figures Exaggeration Use of opposites

Storyboarding

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

______________________________ ______________________________

S

t

a

g

e

1

:

S

t

a

g

e

2

:

S

t

a

g

e

3

:

S

t

a

g

e

4

:

S

t

a

g

e

5

:

S

t

a

g

e

6

:

______________________________

______________________________

The second extract we will be looking at is from an extract from Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’.

A summary of the play MACBETH

The play begins with the brief appearance of a trio of witches and then moves to a military

camp, where the Scottish King Duncan hears the news that his generals, Macbeth and

Banquo, have defeated two separate invading armies—one from Ireland and one from

Norway.

Following their battle with these enemy forces, Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches

as they cross a moor. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will be made thane (a rank of

Scottish nobility) of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. They also prophesy that

Macbeth’s companion, Banquo, will start a line of Scottish kings, although Banquo will never

be king himself.

The witches vanish, and Macbeth and Banquo treat their prophecies sceptically until some

of King Duncan’s men come to thank the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell

Macbeth that he has indeed been named thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed

Scotland by fighting for the Norwegians and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbeth

is intrigued by the possibility that the remainder of the witches’ prophecy—that he will be

crowned king—might be true, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits King Duncan, and

they plan to dine together at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, that night. Macbeth writes ahead

to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has happened.

Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband’s uncertainty. She desires the kingship for him

and wants him to murder Duncan in order to obtain it. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness,

she overrides all of her husband’s objections and persuades him to kill the king that very

night.

He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan’s two chamberlains drunk so they will black out;

the next morning they will blame the murder on the chamberlains, who will be defenceless,

as they will remember nothing.

S

t

a

g

e

7

:

While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of

supernatural portents, including a vision of a bloody dagger. When Duncan’s death is

discovered the next morning, Macbeth kills the chamberlains—pretending to be outraged at

their crime—and soon becomes king. Duncan’s sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England

and Ireland, respectively, fearing that whoever killed Duncan desires their deaths as well.

Fearful of the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs will seize the throne, Macbeth hires a

group of murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. They ambush Banquo on his way to a

royal feast, but they fail to kill Fleance, who escapes into the night. Macbeth becomes

furious: as long as Fleance is alive, he fears that his power remains insecure.

At the feast that night, Banquo’s ghost visits Macbeth. When he sees the ghost, Macbeth

raves fearfully, startling his guests, who include most of the great Scottish nobility. Lady

Macbeth tries to neutralize the damage, but Macbeth’s kingship now falls under suspicion

from his nobles and subjects.

Frightened, Macbeth goes to visit the witches in their cavern. There, they show him a

sequence of demons and spirits who present him with further prophecies: he must beware

of Macduff, a Scottish nobleman who opposed Macbeth’s accession to the throne; he is

incapable of being harmed by any man born of woman; and he will be safe until Birnam

Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle. Macbeth is relieved and feels secure, because he knows

that all men are born of women and that forests cannot move. When he learns that Macduff

has fled to England to join Malcolm, Macbeth orders that Macduff’s castle be seized and,

most cruelly, that Lady Macduff and her children be murdered. When news of his family’s

execution reaches Macduff in England, he is stricken with grief and vows revenge.

Prince Malcolm, Duncan’s son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and Macduff

joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth’s forces. The invasion has the

support of the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth’s tyrannical

and murderous behaviour.

Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes plagued with fits of sleepwalking in which she

bemoans what she believes to be bloodstains on her hands. Before Macbeth’s opponents

arrive, Macbeth receives news that she has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deep

and pessimistic despair.

Nevertheless, he awaits the English and fortifies Dunsinane, to which he seems to have

withdrawn in order to defend himself, certain that the witches’ prophecies guarantee his

invincibility. He is struck numb with fear, however, when he learns that the English army is

advancing on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood. Birnam Wood is

indeed coming to Dunsinane, fulfilling half of the witches’ prophecy.

In the battle, Macbeth fights violently, but the English forces gradually overwhelm his army

and castle. On the battlefield, Macbeth encounters the vengeful Macduff, who declares that

he was not “of woman born” but was instead “untimely ripped” from his mother’s womb

(what we now call birth by caesarean section). Though he realizes that he is doomed,

Macbeth continues to fight until Macduff kills and beheads him. Malcolm, now the King of

Scotland, declares his benevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see him

crowned at Scone.

Sum up the story in this box – you can draw diagrams, summarise the story or use any

other method. You must not go outside the box.

Relevant Vocabulary

Ambition (noun)

A strong desire to do or

achieve something.

Chivalry (noun)

Bravery, military skill,

generosity in victory,

courtesy to women.

Loyalty (noun)

A strong feeling of support

or allegiance to another.

Cowardice (noun)

Fear and self-concern

leading to putting yourself

first.

Soliloquy (noun)

A speech given to the

audience.

Monarchy (noun)

The king, queen and royal

family of a country.

Prophecy (noun)

A prediction of the future.

Superstition (noun)

A belief in supernatural

influences for which there is

no evidence.

Duplicity (noun)

Deceitfulness; being two-

faced.

Task: Write the story Macbeth. Use as many of these new words as possible.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

The extract we are going to look at takes place at the end of the play in Act 5, Scene 5. In

this scene Macbeth is reflecting on life and looks back on actions and events in his life:

As you are reading consider which stage of life Macbeth is currently in.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time.

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Answer these questions and use quotes/words from the soliloquy to support your points:

1. What do you think this soliloquy is about?

2. What is the impact of the repetition of the words “tomorrow and tomorrow’?

3. What does “petty pace” mean and suggest?

4. What are “lighted fools”?

5. Why use the word “dusty’ to describe death?

6. What metaphor does Shakespeare use to describe life? Why do you think this has been

used?

7. Why is the poor player only on the stage for an “hour’?

8. What does “strutting” and “fretting” mean?

9. Why is this a tale told by an “idiot’?

10. What does Macbeth think of life? How can you tell?

Task: Comparing Shakespeare’s speeches

Macbeth: As you Like it (stages 6 and 7 of life only)

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time.

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief

candle.

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the

stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too

wide

For his shrunk shank, and his big manly

voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans

everything

List the words used to detail the last stages of life below and consider which you think has

positive and negative connections/connotations.

How are both characters physically described? Which do you prefer and why?

Of the following two words, which one do you prefer and why: “fret” or “whistles”?

Look at the final lines and compare “idiot” to “childishness”. Which word is more

effective?

Sentence stems:

The speeches from ‘As You Like It’ and ‘Macbeth’ both look at the theme of …

Macbeth’s speech focuses on….

In contrast, Jaques’ speech from ‘As You Like it’ focuses on...

In ‘Macbeth’ life is described as…whereas in ‘As You Like It’…

Interesting words which describe different ideas towards life are…

Personally I think…

The speech which I prefer is…

Commissioned by The PiXL Club Ltd.

This resource is strictly for the use of member schools for as long as they remain members of The PiXL Club. It

may not be copied, sold, or transferred to a third party or used by the school after membership ceases. Until

such time it may be freely used within the member school.

All opinions and contributions are those of the authors. The contents of this resource are not connected with,

or endorsed by, any other company, organisation or institution.

PiXL Club Ltd endeavour to trace and contact copyright owners. If there are any inadvertent omissions or errors

in the acknowledgements or usage, this is unintended and PiXL will remedy these on written notification.