Have fun with the mysteries of Macbeth
Four resources that amp up the intrigue
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Macbeth is a gift to high school English teachers. When you use silly dollar store props to accompany scenes like, the reappearance of Banquo as a ghost at the dinner party, the witches conjuring apparitions out the cauldron, and Macduff returning with “the usurper’s cursed head,” everyone’s entertained. The charged-up action has the power to make a 45-minute period of reading by untrained teenagers fly by. Nevertheless, a Macbeth unit get dull at the times when you’re not reading. Repetitive activities like adding to graphic organizers about themes and character development after each act (especially if you’ve already noted these things during the reading) are a common way for students to become disengaged.
So here’s an alternative approach: leverage the mysteriousness of Macbeth before you start the play, in between the acts, and after you finish reading. Who doesn’t love an unsolved mystery? And even most skeptics will even entertain a hair-raising conspiracy theory for a minute before replacing it with reasonable beliefs, so take advantage of the delightful uncertainties about who or what is in control of the future of Scotland. They put a wonderful coat of sugar on reading and writing tasks!
Here are four ideas for pulling the thread of mystery throughout a Macbeth unit:
Consider how and why humans attempt to predict the future
Macbeth’s desire to know about and influence his future is the most relatable situation in the play. We’ve all felt that way at different points in our lives. As teenagers, we’re desperate to know what will happen with our grades, our crushes, our driver’s tests, and our college applications. As adults, we worry about the outcomes for our finances, health, and wellbeing. We’re all bound to engage in some magical thinking when our emotions are running high.
I created an anticipation guide that helps students recognize how the desire to prognosticate is part of human nature, using questions about the validity of superstitions, methods people use to attempt to predict the future, and self-fulfilling prophecies. The activity primes students to simultaneously enjoy the bewitching aspects of the play and recognize when Macbeth’s thinking becomes irrational.
Get the resource (it’s a freebie!):
Macbeth Anticipation Guide: Predicting the Future
Examine multiple interpretations of the dagger scene
Is the dagger that appears before Macbeth in Act II just a hallucination or is it a supernatural signal sent by another force? And if so, why? Anyone who directs a production of Macbeth has to determine the answers to these questions in order to decide how the dagger should be represented. When you’re reading the script in class, though, students don’t recognize that the moment is up for a crucial interpretation, so it helps to watch film clips of it.
I created an activity that requires students to compare two interpretations of the dagger scene and explain what they believe each director is implying about the dagger’s origins. After considering textual evidence, their own beliefs, and/or entertainment value, students also explain how they would represent the dagger if they were directing. Students find the open-endedness of the text surprising and enjoy sharing their takes on it.
Get the resource:
Macbeth Act II Worksheet: Comparing Dagger Scenes
P.S. This assignment presents a rare opportunity to address the Common Core standard RL.11-12.7, Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. The clips (available on YouTube) only take a few minutes to watch, but students will be able to do robust thinking and writing in response!
Investigate the identity of the Third Murderer
Macbeth conferences with two hitmen about killing Banquo, but a third one shows up for the attack. Who is it? A servant or thane? Macbeth? A witch?? Shakespeare sets it up to be perfectly unknowable, but students can use evidence from the text to identify reasons why a several suspects would be motivated to kill Banquo and also why they would avoid it. The exercise highlights how the casting of the Third Murderer relates to bigger messages about fate and free will in the world of the play and real life.
Get the resource:
Macbeth Act III Worksheet: The Third Murderer Mystery
Speculate about what Shakespeare leaves unexplained
To keep the plot of Macbeth zipping along, Shakespeare didn’t provide background about the characters’ lives or follow up with a “Where are they now?”-type of epilogue (perhaps out of consideration for the busy schedule of King James I and the groundlings’ sore feet). Still, within the action we do see, the characters’ lines contribute so consistently to building their personalities that we’re able to form solid speculations about the before and after.
Students get a good mental workout when they consider the questions that remain about Macbeth, such as:
Why did Lady Macbeth say she knew what it was like to nurse a child?
What led the witches to disobey Hecate?
Why did Ross switch from supporting Macbeth to Macduff?
Again, trying to solve a mystery tends to motivate high school students to read and write more than most other prompts, so these questions can get students excited about crafting short narratives that provide answers. I created a resource with 15 of these questions, so only 1 or 2 students will cover each one, which makes for a more interesting class discussion (and less plagiarism). The assignment encourages students to use textual evidence to inspire their stories that extend beyond the play, which reinforces the importance of tracking cause and effect—a practice that supports success in all subjects and areas of life. And guess what? Writing narratives addresses another Common Core standard (W.11-12.3)!
Get the resource:
Macbeth Wrap-Up: The Unanswered Questions of Macbeth
Almost everyone loves the chance to play detective, so assignments that get students to make sense of the clues sprinkled throughout Macbeth will increase engagement. If you just need a few items to refresh your unit, the resources described in this post are available individually, or if you’re just getting started (or want to start over!) you can purchase them as part of my full Macbeth Unit Bundle.
But wait, there’s more! I have a new Shakespeare Bundle that includes the Macbeth unit in addition to a fun intro to Shakespeare’s life (framed as a BuzzFeed-style personality quiz), sonnet resources, and a Hamlet unit. If you teach both plays, this bundle will save you lots of search time and get you fully prepared!
