Intro Quiz: The Ghost of Banquo

Video: The Ghost of Banquo

﻿Hello, and welcome to the next lesson. In our Macbeth series. This lesson is going to be all about the ghost of Banquo. For today's lesson, all you need is a pen and some paper or something to write on. I would like you to clear it away any distraction and distractions, including your mobile phone, if possible, and try to find a quiet place to work so that you won't be distracted or disturbed. Okay. Feeling ready. Let's go. So here is the key question of today. How does Shakespeare present Banquo's ghost to highlight Macbeth's state of mind further? So let's test our understanding of the word prophecy. Below are two sentences. One contained in the word prophecy being used correctly, and it is your job to spot the correct sentence. I'm going to read them out to you and then you're going to pause the video to complete the task. Sentence number one. Macbeth believed the witches' prophecy about becoming King. Sentence Number two. Macbeth like to prophecy about his future. Which sounds correct to you. Please pause the video now to make your decision. So the correct answer was sentence number one. Macbeth believed the witches' prophecy about becoming King. I hope that you got that one, right? The second word we'll be looking at today is resolute. Now, resolute means to be determined and steady. Steph was as resolute as ever and refused to come back into the house. Another example would be MacBeth is resolute that no one can harm him. Which of the following would not be considered a synonym of the word resolute. Is it fearless, purposeful, afraid, or undaunted. Which does not mean something similar to resolute Three, two, one. Afraid. All the others show a kind of steadiness and affirmness, fearless, purposeful and undaunted. I hope that you got that one right as well. Part two, the summary. So let's learn about a natural order. It was believed at the time that the goodness of a King directly affected the condition of the natural world. the natural order referred to the idea that Kings were chosen by God. They had a divine right to be King. A King chosen by God would be good and moral, and therefore the natural word would be, as it should be. Macbeth has not been chosen by God to be King. He does not have a divine right to be King. By killing Duncan and becoming King, Macbeth has disrupted the natural order. Because of this, when MacBeth becomes King, the natural world is plunged into chaos and disorder. For example, storms appear, and animals behave unnaturally. In order for the natural world to return to its rightful state, Macbeth must be removed from the throne. Let's look at some true or false statements. The natural order refer to the idea that Kings were chosen by God. Is that true or is that false? Three, two, one. That's absolutely true. On to our next to a true or false statement. MacBeth has been chosen by God to be King. Is that true or is that false? Three, two, one. That was false. Macbeth has disrupted the natural order. Is that true or Is that false? Three, two, one. That's absolutely true. Since Macbeth has become King and the natural world has been plunged into chaos and disorder. Is that true or is that false? Three, two, one. That's true. Macbeth must be removed from the throne for their natural order to be restored. Is that true or false? Three, two, one. That's true again. I hope that you did really well. Part two, the recap. We are now competing activity called who said it. you are watching a short video, which will provide you with a number of quotations and then you'll be tested on them on the next slide. So make sure that you watch very carefully. Good luck. Here are the five quotations that you have just watched in that short video. However, you need to match up the quotation with the person that said it. I will read these out to you. Then you can pause the slide and you can copy them down with the correct character next to the sentence. Next to the quotation. If you wish to, you can watch the video again, before you have a shot at this. It's no problem at all. So we will speak further. My hands are of your colour. Is this a dagger which I see before me. W`e will proceed no further in this business. Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here. Please pause the video now to complete the task. Good luck. Here are the answers. So it was Macbeth who said we will speak further. It was lady Macbeth who said her hands are of your colour. It was Macbeth who talked about the daggers. Is this a dagger which I see before me. It's also Macbeth who was torn and said we will proceed no further in this business. And finally it was Lady Macbeth who said come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts unsex me here. Part three, key quotations. We were looking at some key quotations linked to the ghost of Banquo. And these will all be from act three, scene four. We will start by watching a short clip from the Royal Shakespeare company. I really hope that you enjoy the clip. So, as you can tell from the clip that we've just watched, Macbeth has become increasingly paranoid. He believes that he can see Banquo seated at the banquet table. He believes that someone has tricked him and he States which one of you have done this. He also begins to speak to Banquo's ghost. He says, thou canst not say that I did it. So he's saying you cannot prove that I've done something to you. And here's a really famous quotation, never shake thy gory locks at me. So the image there of Banquo steps dead corpse is seated at the table and that's really horrific for Macbeth to endure. The gory locks means the blood mattered in his hair. So for an audience, as well as Macbeth, this would be really, really shocking and frightening. So the other gentlemen around the table feel uncomfortable. So Ross tells everybody let's get up, let's just go. But lady Macbeth doesn't want them to. She wants to defend his behaviour because she doesn't want anyone to be suspicious. And also, she does always protect her husband. That's one thing that she does always try to do in her own unusual way. So she defends his behaviour by claiming it's a fit and it's a temporary fit. It will pass, and that the fits that he's had since a child. So there's nothing really to worry about. So anything that he's saying and anything that he's doing and nothing really to worry about. Sit where the friends sit back down, pray, you keep seat, just stay exactly where you are. This fit is momentary. It means it's temporary. It will pass. He will be well again. The other important thing here is, that Lady Macbeth doesn't want anybody to think that Macbeth is a weak King. He cannot be seen to be a weak King because in that opens him up to attack from other people as well, that want his throne. So there are lots of reasons why she wants people just to think it is just a childhood illness and just a temporary fit. Lady Macbeth obviously is very frustrated and very annoyed with her husband. So she tells him off. She chastises him. She says, you know, she pulls into a side the side and just says, look, it's just another hallucination. It's just like the daggers. And you should really be ashamed of yourself. And if you look, it says o proper stuff and this is the air-drawn dagger, which you said led you to Duncan. So it's just another hallucination. This isn't real life. She says, shame itself. You should be ashamed of yourself. You're not acting like a man should. Why do you make such faces? Why are you, you know, you're looking so scared. Why are you giving yourself away? When all is done, everything's done. It's all over. We do not have anything to worry about. Your King and I am queen. Everything is done. But Macbeth continues to talk to the ghost. And he States, If the dead are going to return, then why bother burying them when they die? And if you look, cruisers are graves, my son, those be buried back on monuments, shall be the malls of caves. So he thinks, you know, what is the point of, of murdering someone and burying them in the ditch for them just to come back anyway. He's a very, very traumatised, he's very, very paranoid. And, you know, arguably quite rightly so for committing the ultimate sin of regicide. We're now going to examine blood as a metaphor for guilt, through a number of acts and scenes in the back. So in act two, scene one. Macbeth makes reference to the gaps of blood. So this is a very private moment for MacBeth. This is still when he is torn and it's kind of the internal monologue of whether or not he is going to go and kill King Duncan. So he visualises this dagger and his dagger has blood on it. And this is the last thing that he really sees before he goes and commits this sorry commits regicide. And then in act two, scene two, Macbeth returns from the crime scene covered in blood. And he says, we're all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hands. Now he's not on his own this time. He's now with Lady Macbeth but what's really significant about this is the amount of blood that is there has increased. ` Okay, so there's blood on it obviously on his clothes, but there's blood all over his hands from where he used the daggers to murder King Duncan. And what's really significant about this quotation is that he makes reference to the biggest expanse of water that there possibly is, an ocean being unable to clean his hands free from all of the blood. And obviously as well as this, he doesn't just mean wash away all of the bloods. He means wash away all of the sin and obviously wash away all of the guilt because the blood continues to be the metaphor for the guilt. But what we really need to remember here is that the blood has increased from gout. And then, and also the guilt has increased. And if we move to act three, scene four, and this is one that we've just looked at this lesson, he makes reference to the blood that is on, Banquo, never shakes thy gory locks at me. So what we've got here is again, we've got it in a public place, far more public Lady Macbeth, and also lots of other things and nobles around the banquet table are witnessing the fact that Macbeth can still see the blood. And what that means is he sees Macbeth, sorry. He sees Banquo covered in blood. And therefore, he sees him covered in guilt. He feels guilt for what he's done. He feels guilt for all the matter that he's committing and it's increasing, increasing, increasing, and that's what's making him even more paranoid, but the irony is it doesn't stop him murdering. And lastly, in act three, scene four. He says, I am in blood. I am in blood, stepped in so far. And what this means is is that he feels that he's walking through blood. He is surrounded by blood everywhere he goes. And to be fair, he has committed so many murders. He is to blame for so many lives being lost. That that makes complete sense. But also if we link it back to the metaphor of the guilt, that there is guilt everywhere, he is a guilty man walking. So again, that is why blood has, is such a fantastic metaphor for the guilt that this character feels. So let's have a look at some true or false statements. Lady MacBeth pretends her husband suffered a childhood illness that is causing them to behave in a strange manner. Is that true or false? Three, two, one. That's true. Lady Beth belittles her husband's behaviour yet again. Is that true or false?n Three, two, one. That's true. Well done. I hope you got that one, right? MacBeth apologises to Banquo's ghost. Is that true or false? Three, two, one. That's false. He doesn't. He says, you cannot say that I did it, which is the opposite really to an apology. Isn't it? MacBeth believes that the dead no longer stay in their graves. Is that true or false? Three, two, one. That's true. Macbeth regrets, killing Banquo. Is that true or false? Three, two, one. That's false. He doesn't regret it. And the fact that he says, you cannot say that I did it. He doesn't show regret. He may feel guilt but he doesn't show regret. He's done it because he wants his throne. And therefore his ambition to be King is stronger than his regrets. So let's move on to part four, which is applying our learning, where we complete a very short writing task. Let's return back to the key question of the day, which is how does Shakespeare present Banquo's ghost to highlight my best state of mind further. You expected to write a short response to the question above. I'd advise to spend at least 15 minutes writing, but that does include your proofreading and your planning time. Is really important as well that you include the key words and phrases on the right hand side of the screen. And for today, the words and phrases are metaphor and natural order. Now you may wish to mention some of the things that I've listed below. Just as a little support but if you don't need those and you want to start independently you can do so now. So you may wish to per mention your impressions of Macbeth at the Banquet. How does he behave, etcetera? You may wish to mention his interactions with Banquo's ghosts. You may choose to use some of the quotations that I've highlighted for you. And you may also wish to mention the significance of the references to blood not just in the scene that we've studied today, but also in some of the previous scenes. And finally, it's always helpful if you can use some quotations to support your ideas. So if you're ready to get started, you can do so now. Your 15 minutes will start straight away. However, if you'd like some sentence starts, there are some on the following slide. Good luck. So here are some sentence starts. And as always, I've given you some that start with Shakespeare, because this is a question about how Shakespeare does something. You've also got one that starts with the audience because you may decide to talk about the effect or the impact on the audience. You've got the opportunity to talk about events when Macbeth or you've got an opportunity to talk about methods when I say Shakespeare uses or includes. So I want to wish you the very best of luck. 15 minutes hard work. starting now. Good luck. Let's have a look at some example responses, Macbeth interactions with Banquo's ghost show that he is feeling guilty and confused. By the end of the scene, Macbeth states that, he is in blood stepped so far but has also decided to visit the witches again for advice. When MacBeth killed Duncan, he disrupted the natural order, resulting in a number of a unnatural events, including the appearance of Banquo's ghost. However, the path now feels he can only remain King by committing more unnatural deeds, such as seeking advice from the weird sisters. Macbeth refers to Banquo's gory locks. Shakespeare has established blood as a metaphor for guilt with the appearance of the gouts of blood on the dagger before Macbeth killed the King. The scale of the blood and Macbeth's guilt has increased from drops on a dagger to Macbeth feeling as if he's walking through blood. MacBeth is so ashamed of his actions that he no longer feels able to confide in his partner of greatness. However, even though he is ashamed, the fact he is going to visit the witches again, suggest that he has no plans to stop his murderous acts. So how does yours compare to this example? What things do you really like? Which things do you think maybe you could add into your written work next time. Let's have a look at more developed response. MacBeth's interactions with Banquo's ghosts are presented by Shakespeare as a turning point for MacBeth. By the end of the scene, MacBeth appears to be driven by two seemingly contradictory feelings. He is so consumed by guilt that he feels that he is in blood stepped so far, but also determined to continue along this unnatural path, resolving to visit the weird sisters. Now that he has disrupted the natural order, MacBeth can only hold onto his power by committing further unnatural deeds. Prior to this scene, Shakespeare has established blood as a metaphor for guilt with the appearance of the gouts of blood on the air-drawn dagger. As MacBeth's guilt has intensified, so has the volume of the blood and the nature of the apparitions. Within the space of a small number of scenes, the scale of blood and therefore Macbeth's guilt has increased from gout on a dagger to Macbeth feeling as if he is walking through blood His inner conflict is clear to the audience at this point in the play. MacBeth has clearly appalled and scared by what he has done as a result of the witches influence. Shakespeare uses Banquo's ghostly apparition as a physical manifestation of both of these feelings The very painting of his fear as Lady Macbeth has asserts. But also feels that only the witches can help him. He no longer feels able to confide in his partner of greatness. Perhaps the fact that now, sorry, perhaps the fact that he now deems it necessary to keep his murderous action secret from his wife is adding to his sense of shame. So, how does your work compare to this more developed response? One thing I really like about the more developed response is the fact that there are a number of quotations from previous lessons in there. And it shows that this person has a really well-rounded understanding of Macbeth's motivations and MacBeth's feelings. And he has or she has quotations to support that. So don't worry if yours doesn't look exactly like that one, but make a little list of targets of things that you're going to do differently that means that your work will be better next time. But I'm sure there are lots of fantastic things in yours as well. So there you go. You've made it to the final part of the lesson, which is the review quiz. It's a very short quiz. Only five questions long. So please make sure that you do complete it. All that's left for me to say is goodbye from Miss Power. Take care of yourself. And I cannot wait to see you next lesson.

Worksheet: The Ghost of Banquo

Exit Quiz: The Ghost of Banquo

Completed: The Ghost of Banquo

In this lesson, we will explore how Shakespeare presents Banquo's ghost to  further highlight the disturbed nature of Macbeth's state of mind.

English

The Ghost of Banquo

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