Grade 9 Kingship Lesson: Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 8

This lesson covers key Jacobean context, an audience and reader’s expectations, extensive analysis and questioning of the scene and possible extracts, key quotes with grade 9 analysis notes, critical theorists and relevant quotes surrounding gender, thoughtful extensive analysis on gender expectations and context, as well as a writing frame to support all students. Key vocabulary, terminology, and paragraph structuring is included, as is an option for debate, a second writing question template, and opportunities for students to mark and improve their own work.

Quotes include:

• “Behold where stands the usurper’s cursed head”
• “tyranny”
• “this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen”
• “The time is free”
• “nation miserable, With an untitled tyrant bloody-scepter’d”

Works towards:
Starting with this speech, explore how Shakespeare presents the theme of Kingship in Macbeth.